Nudity in sport: Wikis




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Nudity in sport (playing sports without any clothing) is uncommon but has not been totally absent from ancient or current sporting activities.




The famous Discobolus of Myron.

In antiquity even before the Classical era, e.g. on Minoan Crete, athletic exercise played an important part in daily life. In fact, the Greeks credited several mythological figures with athletic accomplishments, and even male gods (especially Apollo and Herakles, patrons of sport) were commonly depicted as athletes.

Nudity in sport however was not common. It was first introduced in the city-state of Sparta, during the late archaic period. The custom of exercising naked was closely associated with pedagogic pederasty and with the practice of anointing the body with olive oil to accentuate its beauty and erotic appeal. Unlike other Greeks, Spartans also sometimes went naked casually, such as in the public city area. They were also the only city-state where women and girls also competed in the nude; the other states banned females both as participants and as spectators from any sporting event where male nudity was visible.





In Hellenistic times, Greek-speaking Jews would sometimes take part in athletic exercises. They were then exposed to ridicule because they were circumcised — a national and religious custom which was unknown in the Greek tradition. In fact the Greek athletes, even though naked, seem to have made a point of avoiding exposure of their glans, for example by infibulation, tying a bit of string around their foreskin. In Roman-occupied Jerusalem, Jews using the gymnasium would wear prosthetic foreskins made from sheep gut in order to avoid ridicule for being circumcised.

The Romans, although they took over much of the Greek culture, had a somewhat different appreciation of nakedness. To appear nude in public was considered disgusting except in appropriate places and context: the public baths (originally open to both sexes) and even public latrines were as popular meeting places for all as the forum.



  • Gladiators were one of many features, especially religious, Rome inherited from its highly respected Etruscan neighbors. This ancient, alien (not Indo-European, possibly originating from Asia Minor) culture even depicts warriors fighting completely naked.
  • When Christianity in the fourth century became the state religion, gladiatorial games were soon abandoned, and the concept of nudity as 'sinful' took root.

In Japan, female sumo wrestlers wrestled in the nude.[1] Today, females are not allowed to sumo wrestle, and the sport, practiced by men in ceremonial dress of loin cloth-size (mawashi) that exposes the buttocks like a jock strap, in general is considered sacred under Shintō.

Nudity in sport in the modern context became popular only in the 19th century. Nudity in this context was most common in Germany and the Nordic countries, where "body culture" (also known as "FKK") was very much revered. However, social nudism was outlawed for a time, and later rigidly controlled by Nazi ideologues in the 1930s and '40s ( - see "History" in the article on Naturism).


A group from the southern U.S., having been invited in the 1950s to participate in a university students' swimming competition in Stockholm, was surprised to find at their arrival at the (indoor) swimming pool that their swimming trunks were out of place; they had to swim stark naked like their Swedish colleagues.

Wearing of shoes

In principle real nudity prohibits wearing of shoes at nudity in sports. Nevertheless in some disciplines wearing of shoes is common.


An occasional, often illegal, naked sideshow is when a member of the public, not an athlete, uses a sports venue to perform as a streaker by running across the sport field naked.

Private clubs

It is not uncommon for private clubs with male-only or female-only facilities to allow (for example) nude swimming.[2] Some argue that in more private environments (whether at home or in, say a single-gender bathhouse), the less clothing one has on when exercising or doing any activity the better.[citation needed]

Nudist clubs traditionally offer members and guests of both sexes the opportunity to swim nude. Many own or lease facilities that allow other sports to be played, including volleyball, tennis, badminton, bowling and the like. Typically these sports are played at a recreational level of intensity, and need not be particularly competitive.

Nude running

Although already in the book The Zen of Running from 1974 it was recommended to run barefoot and "as undressed as possible" to get "well bathed by sun and air"[3] nude running has never gained wide acceptance.

Organized events

Sport contests




Running and biking events

During the yearly Roskilde Festival (Denmark), a race for nude runners has been a popular event since the year 2002. The World Naked Bike Ride is an international clothing-optional bike ride in which participants plan, meet and ride together en masse on human-powered transport (the vast majority on bicycles, and fewer on skateboards, roller blades, roller skates) to "protest oil dependency and celebrate the power and individuality of our bodies".[4]

On June 21, 2008, Sunnyrest Resort in Palmerton, Pennsylvania, hosted the first clothing-optional Mountain Bike Duathlon. Seventy athletes participated and competed during this professionally timed event. Most chose to race completely nude, save the proper footwear.

See also


  1. ^ Chie Ikkai (2003), "Women's Sumo Wrestling in Japan", International Journal of Sport and Health Science 1 (1): 178–181 
  2. ^ The New York Times > Fashion & Style > Thursday Styles > The Tao of Skinny-Dipping
  4. ^ Official World Naked Bike Ride global web site circa June 2004

External links

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