Did you know?

The first recorded women's athletic competition was held in the ancient Greece in honour of Hera, Goddess of marriage, women and protectors during childbirth. According to the Greek geographer Pausanias (180 AD), this festival goes back to the 6th century BC. Isn't that incredible? It is amazing to think about how far women's sports have developed since then.

The Herean games was born as a festival in honour of Hera, and similar to the Olympics was held every four years at Olympia. The games were organised and presided by sixteen married women coming from the region of Elis (Peloponnese). In honour of Hera, the organisers arranged choral dances as they weaved a large rectangular cloth hanging from one shoulder and broad overfold at the waist, known as peplos.

Jastrow. (2006) “Atalanta”: statue of a young girl; the palm branch on the trunk is a symbol of victory. Marble, Pasiteles, Greek artwork, 1st century BC. Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Atalanta_Vatican_Inv2784.jpg.

Now, Imagine going to the gym, for a run or competing in your favourite sports, without any kind of breast support.

Well, the participants wore a tunic, cut just above the knees, hanging from the left shoulder and leaving the right shoulder and breast bare (Chiton).

The hair was left loose to hang down the shoulders.

Interestingly, only unmarried women could take part in the game, as it was possibly used as prenuptial ritual for a fortunate marriage.

But what was the role of women in athletics in Ancient Greece? It's a topic that's often overlooked, but it's crucial to understand the societal norms of the time.

In ancient Greece, girls were generally discouraged from participating in sports. However, there was one exception: the Spartans. The Spartans believed that athletic women gave birth to strong children. In fact, it was not uncommon to see Spartan women riding horses or training in wrestling.

This suggests that initially, most women participating in the games likely came from Sparta. It's also possible that the introduction of the games marked a change in society's view of women.

Caeciliusinhorto. (2019) "Bronze figure of a running girl, 520-500 BC. Spartan. Found in Prizren, Serbia. The short chiton bearing one breast which the figure wears matches the outfit that Pausanias says was worn by athletes competing in the Heraean Games. British Museum).

Women are great endurance athletes, and running seems to be the first ever discipline embraced and allowed.

The participants took part in a footrace organised at the Olympia Stadium. The stadion, one of the oldest events of the Olympics, consists of a sprint competition on the stadium's race track, which measures about 192 meters. At the Herean games, women completed 4/5 of the full race run by men (177 meters). It is also thought, that additional three events took place: 2 (The Diaulos) and 4 (The Hippios) consecutive sprints and an endurance race of 18 to 24 laps around the stadium.

Dwaipayanc. (2006) "Olympic Race Track in modern Olympia, Greece". Available at: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/OlympicRaceTrackOlympia.JPG.

The winners were crowned with olive leaves and gifted a portion of a cow which was sacrificed to Hera.

But that's not all - during the festivals, winners could dedicate portraits and statues to Hera and inscribing their names on the columns of Hera’s temple, located in the sanctuary of Olympia, not far from the Temple of Zeus.

Matěj Baťha. (2007) "Olympia - Temple of Hera".

Available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons.

The games were discontinued in 393 AD when the Roman emperor Theodosius banned the Panhellenic games and other religious festivals that were celebrated in ancient Greece.

It's truly incredible to see how far it's come since its humble beginnings. Back in the day, women's sports were primarily a celebration of fertility and marriage, rather than a focus on improving physical fitness. But fast forward to today, millions of women around the world participate in sports and exercise for their own personal health and well-being.