Olive Oil in Sports

In ancient sports, the olive tree facilitated three different, yet equally important , needs. It served as a cleanser, a muscle relaxant and a symbol of glory. Ancient plates written in Linear B provide detailed descriptions of the use of olive oil in Ancient Greece as a substitute for soap and other cleansers, which back then were not available. According to those scriptures, athletes coated their bodies with olive oil of the finest quality, flavored with wild herbs and aromatic plants. Following, they used a special tool called “stlegida” (picture) to scrape off their body the greasy mix of olive oil, sweat and dirt. Olive oil was also very popular among ancient Greek and Roman athletes for its properties as a muscle relaxant that helped a great deal in the prevention of injuries. Before training or competing, athletes coated their muscles with olive oil to retain and enhance their suppleness. Right after finishing with their exercise, they used drops of olive oil to massage those muscles in order to relieve the fatigue and eliminate the buildup of lactic acid^[1]. Finally, the olive tree was used to symbolize the glory of the winner. In the first Olympic Games ever held in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece, winners were crowned with wreaths made from the leaves and twigs of sacred olive trees. The same wreaths were used in the Great Panathenean Games (5^th cent. BC), a major sport event organized every 4 years in Athens to honour goddess Athena, protector of the city of Athens. Apart from those wreaths, decorated amphorae filled with olive oil^[2] were awarded to the winners of the Panathenean Games as a prize for their victory.        

In present days, victors of the Marathon run in the Olympic Games are still crowned with wreaths made from olive tree leaves and twigs, continuing a tradition almost 3000 years old.