The post Nero, the most decorated Olympic champion in history appeared first on Minuto30.
The term “games” for a great sporting competition would be inappropriate today. The term remained in use over time and they are called that because of their origins. More than a sporting competition, they were a playful, festive, theatrical contest with a lot of spectacle, since above all the people had to be entertained with a “circus”. They were born in Olympia (Greece) in an emulation format but based on theatre, art and allegories. Despite the strict athletic training that the Greeks received from the age of 12, the playful sense prevailed, especially when the Roman Empire accepted them with conditions.
The first sport officially included was running at the modern Games in Athens in 1896, recreating the Battle of the Plain of Marathon. According to legend, it is a tribute to the hemerodromus (messenger man) Pheidippides, the brave man who ran almost 40 km in a single sprint, without assistance, to announce the victory over the Persians, information that had to be received urgently in Athens, since the loss of that battle would induce suicide due to demoralization and honor. Pheidippides arrived exhausted and with his last breath he shouted “we have won” and fell dead.
The distance between Marathon and Athens is about 40 km, but at the 1908 Games in London, it was extended to finish at Buckingham Palace, at the foot of the royal box. The exact distance turned out to be 42 km and 195 m and that is how the marathon was officially established.
The Olympic Games (Olympic Games), both ancient and modern, are full of curious, epic and unusual stories. Ancient athletes practiced naked and barefoot. Women were excluded from the games. Failure to comply was punishable by death. Once, a widow went dressed in a coach’s tunic to watch her son win; when discovered, she was pardoned because she was the daughter, sister and mother of Olympic champions. The Hellenic origin of the Olympics is incontrovertible.
In ancient times, one of the greatest obstacles to their realization was the rivalry between Greeks and Romans. Most Caesars vetoed the games on Olympus, opposing their celebration and even more so their expansion, despite the popularity they had gained. One of the few emperors who decisively supported them was Nero, who did not doubt the benefits due to the enormous plebeian support they enjoyed.
Nero was born in 37 AD. He became emperor of the Roman Empire at the age of 16 and reigned until his self-induced death at the age of 30. He committed suicide in June 68 shortly before being captured by the Christian crowd, shouting: “Oh, what a great artist the world is missing!” His life is apparently a story of excess and abuse of power, although some historians recognize him as having important achievements for Rome. He was fond of chariot driving, the harp and poetry, with some flashes of brilliance that allowed him to perform in public as an artist and “sportsman.” It is said that this emperor executed spectators who did not applaud his plays enthusiastically.
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As a ruler, he participated in the Olympic Games of 66/67, in order to improve relations with Greece and to demonstrate Roman hegemony to the Hellenistic people and the world at large. To gain popularity and support, he proclaimed all Greeks free and exempt from paying tribute. He competed in most events with complete dominance and drove a ten-horse chariot, where he almost died when he fell. Despite not being the best, he won all the laurel wreaths (equivalent to gold medals today) and took them to Rome where he displayed them in a parade, being anointed as the “greatest” athlete of all time (at the time).
His victories are attributed to his status as emperor, to the bribery of the judges and to the fear of his opponents who were prudent in the face of such a rival hungry for glory at any price and who of course facilitated his victory. In theory, Nero was the most decorated Olympic athlete in the first millennium or in the Olympic Games of antiquity. The disciplines were so diverse that there were even competitions in theatre, music and dance. Mathematically, even if it was cheating and he was never disqualified, he is the Olympic competitor with the most gold medals (laurel wreaths), more than 20 in a single edition, that any athlete has ever achieved.
The only one who disputes his throne is swimmer Michael Phelps, who has collected the astonishing number of 28 medals in four Olympics (23 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze). Unlike Nero, Phelps has done it through talent and discipline, without buying judges and without prerogatives. He has won six golds in Athens 2004, eight in Beijing 2008 and four in London 2012 and five in Rio 2016. The 23 gold medals make him the most decorated athlete in the modern Olympics. He has surpassed greats in the history of the Olympics such as: Paavo Nurmi, Larisa Latynina, Mark Spitz and Carl Lewis, all with nine golds. Battilmore’s dolphin is, for now, unbeatable, as the best of the modern Olympians.
Nero, by his number of laurels, was recorded as the “best” of the ancient Olympiads. Phelps, at least in terms of medals, is the greatest athlete in the history of the modern Games. Nero and Phelps, each in his era, each in his style and each in his strategy, became the most accomplished Olympic legends in history. Paradoxically, the Roman emperor far surpasses Michael Phelps and all our contemporary champions in mathematics.
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The post Nero, the most decorated Olympic champion in history appeared first on Minuto30.
2024-08-07 15:37:50
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