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Chionis of Sparta
Chionis of Sparta was an athlete of ancient Greece who was most notable for his jumping records in the ancient Olympics. Records suggest that in the 656 BC Olympics Chionis jumped a then record of 7 meters and 5 centimetres. If accurate, such a record would have won Chionis the inaugural Olympic title of the modern Olympic Games in 1896 and placed him among the top eight at a further ten Olympics, up to and including the 1952 Games of Helsinki.
As well as his amazing achievements in long jump, Chionis was also noted as a triple jumper capable of reaching up to 15.85 metres (52 feet). Although the rules of such jumps are unclear, such a distance under modern rules would have won Chionis the modern Olympic title right up to the 1952 games in Helsinki.
Chionis was also credited with winning three consecutive titles in the diaulos and stade between 664, 660, and 656 B.C.. The diaulos was an event that involved a race of two laps around the track, or about 384 metres (420 yards). The stade was the signature contest of the 476 BC Olympics that involved a sprinting race that was run the length of a straight track, perhaps similar to the modern 100m sprint.
Chionis' record was not matched until the 480 BC Olympics where a man called Astylos (representing Syracuse, Sicily) achieved the same feat, but also demonstrated his versatility by winning the hoplites, which was a race completed in an armoured suit. Defending the honour of Chionis, the Spartans amended the inscription on his memorial stele in Olympia, pointing out that there was no hoplites event in his time.
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Cynisca
Cynisca (Kyniska - meaning "puppy") was a Spartan princess who was born around 440 BC. She was the sister of Spartan king Agesilaus II. She became the first woman in history to win at the ancient Olympic Games. While most women in the ancient Greek world were kept in seclusion and forbidden to learn any kind of skills in sports, riding or hunting, Spartan women by contrast were brought up from girlhood to excel at these things and to disdain household chores.
Although the ancient Games were almost entirely male-only, women were allowed to enter the equestrian events - not by running, but by owning the horses. Cynisca won in the four-horse chariot race in 396 BC and again in 392 BC.
However according to Plutarch, she was encouraged by her brother Agesilaus in an attempt to discredit the sport. He viewed success in chariot racing as a victory without merit, due to the limited involvement of the horses' owner. By having a woman win, he hoped to show the sport to be unmanly, but Cynisca's victories did not stop wealthy Spartans' engagement in the sport.
In the sanctuary of Olympia, Cynisca had an inscription written declaring that she was the only female to win the wreath in the chariot events at the Olympic Games.
Kings of Sparta are my father and brothers.
Kyniska, conquering with a chariot of fleet-footed steeds,
Set up this statue. And I declare myself the only woman
In all Hellas to have gained this crown.
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Leonidas of Rhodes
Leonidas of Rhodes (born 188 BC) was one of the most famous Olympic runners of antiquity. Competing in the Olympic Games of 164 BC, he captured the crown in three separate foot races — the stadion, the diaulos, and the hoplitodromos. He repeated this feat in the next three subsequent Olympics, in 160 BC, in 156 BC, and finally in 152 BC at the age of 36. Leonidas's lifetime record of twelve Olympic crowns was unmatched in the ancient world.
Leonidas was renowned not only for his unsurpassed number of victories but for his versatility as a runner. His favored races required speed and strength in differing degrees; the stadion and the diaulos, 200-yard and 400-yard races respectively, were best suited to sprinters, while the hoplitodromos, a diaulos performed in full bronze armor, required more muscular strength and endurance. Philostratus the Athenian wrote in his Gymnastikos that Leonidas's versatility made all previous theories of runners' training and body types obsolete.
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Astylos of Croton
Astylos of Croton was an athlete from ancient Greece that starred in the ancient Olympics of the 5th century BC. He was mentioned in records from General Pausanias that claim he excelled in three successive Olympic games from 488 to 480 BC, in the running events of stade and diaulos.
Astylos was famous for equalling the achievements of previous champion athlete Chionis of Sparta. Astylos not only matched the achievements of Chionos, in that he won on three separate occasions the stade and diaulos events, he also won the hoplites event, which was a running race with full amoured suits.
Despite his fame, Astylos died a lonely man. When he agreed to participate in the 484 and 480 BC Olympic games as a Syracusan citizen in honor of the tyrant Hieron, the people of Croton expelled him from the city and demolished his statue in their city. It is also said that Astylos was bribed by officials in Syracuse to compete under their name, giving Astylos the unusual claim-to-fame of being the worlds first free agent. His house was also turned into a prison as a sign of disrespect, while his family also renounced him.
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Milo of Croton
Milo or Milon of Croton (late 6th century BC) was the most famous of Greek athletes in Antiquity.
He was born in the Greek colony of Croton in Southern Italy. He was a six time Olympic victor; once for Boys Wrestling in 540 BC at the 60th Olympics, and five time wrestling champion at the 62nd through 66th Olympiads. Milo kept on competing, even well after what would have been considered a normal Olympic Athlete's prime: by the 67th Olympiad, he would have been over 40 years of age. He also attended many of the Pythian Games.
He was most likely a historical person, as he is mentioned by many classical authors, among them Aristotle, Pausanias, Cicero, Herodotus, Vitruvius, and the author of the Suda, but there are many legendary stories surrounding him. Diodorus Siculus wrote in his history that Milo was a follower of Pythagoras and also that he commanded the Crotonian army which defeated the Sybarites in 511 BC, while wearing his Olympic wreaths and dressed like Hercules in a lion's skin and carrying a club.
Ancient sources report he would show off his strength by holding his arm out, with fingers outstretched, and no man could even bend his little finger. He would sometimes stand on a greased iron disk, and challenge people to push him off of it. Other sources speak of him holding a pomegranate in one hand, and daring others to take it from him. Nobody ever could, and despite him holding the fruit very tightly, it was never damaged. Another legend has it that he would train in the off years by carrying a newborn calf on his back every day until the Olympics took place. By the time the events were to take place, he was carrying a four year old cow on his back.
Another story relating to his strength was that he claimed to carry a calf a mile every day. After 4 years, he carried the full-grown cow the length of the stadium, then proceeded to kill, roast, and eat it.
Another legend says that he offered to cut down a large tree for a woodsman, who was grateful for the help and promised to return with food later in the day. However, the woodsman never returned, and while Milo was working the tree collapsed on his hand, trapping him. The legend says that Milo was then eaten by wolves or a lion.
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This text comes from Wikipedia.
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