Seven+1 Ancient Olympic Habits We Won’t Miss

Since the first Olympic Games in 753BC until today, many things have changed. At first, the Olympics lasted one day only and featured one event: a short sprint. Later on, more sports were added and the Games lasted more days, of course.
As a result, one can spot seven+1 major differences between the ancient and the modern Olympics. Here they are:
1) no more naked athletes: ancient athletes were competing completely naked. In a sense, they looked like modern trendy swimmers, I dare to say, since they wore a thin coating of olive oil all over their body.
2) during the ancient Olympics opening ceremony, the athletes had to swear on a bloody slice of boar flesh in front of the statue of Zeus. Modern glamorous parades, fireworks and dances on stage have taken its place today.

3) no more oxen sacrifices: about 100 oxen were sacrificed to Zeus on the first day of the Games. Fortunately, the dead meat was cooked on the last and fifth day of the sports event.
4) Pankration is over- it was a wild sport similar to wrestling matches, where even strangulation was permitted.
5) Prostitutes were working hard during the Olympic Games in antiquity and earned as much money in five days as they would earn in the rest of the year. The same happens today but more unofficially.
6) In antiquity, watching or participating in the Olympics was rather a privilege. As a result, women were not allowed to be involved in the Games in any way.
7) No more olive wreaths are awarded to the winners. However, both ancient and modern athletes enjoyed lots of fame!
7+1) When we talk about ancient Olympic spirit, one thing that comes to mind is of course, truce! During the ancient Games, conflicts and wars had to stop. Fighters had no other choice but to take a short break since the Olympic Games were regarded as a highly distinguished event. Unfortunately, the modern army does not care about the Olympics or anything else in general and people keep dying no matter what the season. The concept is similar today; Queen Elizabeth II falling off a helicopter to entertain attendants of the London Olympics opening ceremony- soldiers falling off military aircrafts all over the world to fight.
(Source: maccleans)