I'm curious. Certainly everyone here knows that the Ancient Olympics featured nude athletes, and eventually trainers, for most of their history. And that they ended in the 4th Century, much due to the rise in influence of the Christian church of the day. (You may or may not know that many Christians today, myself included, practice nudism/naturism in a variety of ways. For more info look up Garden of Eden Church and Frank Answers. Perhaps we can avoid that particular rabbit hole for now...) At any rate, while it will never happen, I would advocate for the return of nude athletes in the men's track and field events of ancient times. And for women in those events if they chose. (Yeah I know- another potential rabbit hole presents itself. Can't be helped...) My rationale as a male is greater equality in the acceptance of the male body as of equal beauty as the female. I'm tired of the double standard that a woman who sunbathes nude et cetera in a somewhat non traditional venue is daring, and the guy that tries it is a pervert, gets arrested, and has a sex criminal record as his reward. A simplified example but you get my drift. Thoughts
I’d be watching. Unfortunately to reinforce your views on unequal acceptance of nudity, I’d be watching the females much more enthusiastically.
Couldn’t agree with you more, Jim! Acceptance of the nude body by society at large is largely a battle of getting society to accept the naked male body. Popular culture is full of nearly naked women in advertising etc. while most men wear swimming trunks that go down to the knees. Seeing finely sculpted male nudes in the Olympics would go a long way towards redefining the norms, but like you, I agree it will never happen at least in my lifetime.
Modern Nude Olympics: The Nude Olympics started in the early 1970s and became an unofficial school tradition for almost 30 years. The nationwide streaking craze of 1974 heightened interest in the Nude Olympics, though Princeton's tradition predated the fad. Nude Olympics | Princetoniana
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Australia to hold nude Olympics (2011) Over 500 competitors will take part in a nude Olympics to be held in Australia during the weekend. A range of physical competitions including tug of war, marathon and beach sprint will test participants' prowess and capabilities. A range of physical competitions including tug of war, marathon and beach sprint will test participants' prowess and capabilities. Less conventional events like the "best bum" competition, conga lines and egg throwing will also take place. The event will be held at the Noosa National Park in Queensland - 130 km north of Brisbane. It was earlier postponed from its original schedule in March after catastrophic floods hit northeastern Australia. An organiser said having fun was the aim of the tournament, rather than winning medals. "There's a whole bucket-load of stuff we do, but like I say, the emphasis is more on fun and camaraderie than out-and-out blood and guts glory," he said. "As in most events the umpire's decision is final, but when we get down to events like the men and women's 'best bum' or the 'magnificent mums' we usually have to fight the judges off with a stick because everybody wants to get involved with presenting those medals."
And then there was... = Nudo Lympics First held in 1983, though the event was canceled for five years after 2007 because of a lack of sponsorship. It started up again in 2013 About the Nude Olympics (topendsports.com)
Nudo Lympics Events := . . . . . . = . . . . . . . . . . Sprinting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Beach Sack Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Best 'Bum' competition
As much as I enjoy nudity, nude track and field events in the quadrennial Games of the Olympiad is a silly idea. For one thing, footwear is important for both performance and safety during such activities. For another, it's international. 205 nations plus a team made up of refugees from 11 nations competed in Tokyo. Establishing nudity in competition would effectively close the door to countries such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, and it would therefore be contrary to the Olympic spirt and charter. Even the ancient Panhellenic Games (the inspiration for the modern Games of the Olympiad that began in Athens in 1896) didn't feature fully nude athletes. The boxers wore wrappings on their hands. The runners wore a textile cord or leather strap called a kynodesme on their genitals or on their genitals and waist. Every athlete wore something. Women weren't even allowed as spectators. Even in the clothing-optional 5K races I've run, essentially everyone wore shoes. Nude competition would work reasonably well for some competitive aquatic events, but track and field? Not a good idea.
Even in most aquatic events, goggles are worn - full nudity would be impractical, impossible even if you consider an Olympic-level athlete's training regimen and the amount of time spent in the water.
BeatrixPothead, whatever it is your smoking........has got your head all fogged up. Several years ago, Nude Olympics were held in SF and also in Vancouver. It wasn't a big event, but it was an event. Since the competitions were held indoors, many of the "nude Olympians" were completely naked. Granted, none of the athletes broke any world records, but that wasn't the point........it was a fun event. Bummer it never caught on.
New Zealand Black's rugby team often plays in the nude . So yes there are sports that you can play that way. I have also seen soccer games played in the nude with arm bands to tell the teams apart. Most games that I have seen were males against females. And except for foot wear and chin pads they played nude
