There was one legendary exception—Kallipateira of Rhodes, who disguised herself as a male trainer so she could watch her son’s boxing match. “When caught, she defended herself by saying that she of all women should be allowed to attend.
Having had a father, three brothers, a son, and a nephew who had among themselves won eight times,” says Giannopoulou. “Her life was spared, but in the aftermath the trainers were required to attend the Games in the nude.” Disclaimer: Mankind’s earliest sports grew out of survival skills. Wrestling is considered one of the very first, with depictions found in the Lascaux cave paintings in France dating back over 15,000 years. Running also has prehistoric roots, since speed was crucial for both hunting and escaping danger; by around 3,000 BCE, footraces were already being held in Egypt and Mesopotamia, and the very first Olympic event in Greece in 776 BCE was a sprint known as the stadion.
