The Classical Olympic Games were held at Olympia from 776 B.C. until Emperor Theodosius abolished them in 394. In fact, the four-year period between each edition of the Games was called the Olympiad. And although they were not the only games in Greece -the Pythic ones were also held in Delphi, the Isthmian ones in the Isthmus of Corinth and the Nemean ones in Nemea-, they were the oldest and, above all, the ones that brought the most prestige to the winner and the cops he represented. Once the Games were promulgated, the Olympic peace was signed and Greek and free men, representing various city-states, competed in different tests for glory. In the words of the poet Pindar:
The winner, the rest of his days, will have a joy flavored with honey.
One of the most famous athletes of the classical era was Diagoras of Rhodes , which in addition to being the great winner in the Games held in 464 B.C. started a saga of Olympic champions. His sons Diamageto, Acusilao and Dorieus , as well as the grandchildren of him Eucles and Pisirodo they followed in his footsteps. When the legend that, on the day that Diamageto and Acusilao were crowned champions, approached his father, they carried him on their shoulders and gave him the triumphant return. It was too much emotion for his old heart, and Diagoras passed away right there.
Women were prohibited from participating and attending the Games, but Calipatira , daughter of Diágoras and mother of Pisírodo, she was so sure of the triumph of her son that she decided to risk it and live that day live. She dressed in the trainers' clothes and managed to sneak in. Just as she had dreamed, her son managed to win but, carried by her joy, she jumped the fence to congratulate her son and her clothes got stuck... Calipatira stood naked in front of to all. According to the rules that governed the Games, the punishment for women who broke the law would be to be thrown down Mount Tipeo. In honor of her father, brothers and son, Olympic champions, the judges spared her life; and from that moment a new rule was enacted that forced coaches to go naked, just like athletes, so that it would not happen again.
Some sources speak of a woman who managed to win the Games, specifically in the equestrian events, but without being present. And the explanation is that the winner was not the rider who, logically, was a man, but the owner of the horse. It didn't matter who rode it, so let's say the rider was a complement to the horse. Cynic of Sparta , daughter of King Archidamus II, was the owner of the horses that won victory in the chariot races at the 396 and 392 BC Olympics.
Still, some women decided not to give up and, since they could not participate in the men's Games, they created their own. In honor of the goddess Hera, also every four years and just a few days before the men's games, the Heraean Games were also held in Olympia. . At the head of the organization of these Games was a selected group of 16 women. The participants competed divided into three groups according to age, and they did so in a single test that consisted of a foot race with a slightly shorter route than the men. The women did not compete naked, they wore a short tunic, above the knee, and the right shoulder was exposed to the chest. In addition, they had to wear their hair down. Like the men, the victors in the Hereo Games, usually Spartans, were crowned with olive trees. Knowing that the women of Sparta exercised their bodies from a very young age, it is normal that they were the ones that monopolized all the honors.
Source:Neither stupid nor crazy