Remember the Olympics used to be Naked

THE WORLD is gettting ready to convene once again for a celebration of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. 

As the news accounts build anticipation for the games, the Bare Platypus would like to remind folks that the original Olympics were played in the nude.  For centuries!  There were some great things about holding these events whilst naked:

• There was no way to get an edge over an opponent by what an athlete wore.  Today whole swimming events are won or lost based upon how scientific a body-suit is designed.  Shouldn't the athlete's ability decide competitions?

• No logos, merchandising, or licensing... at least not on apparel!

• It promoted a natural appreciation of the human body.

• It was much more interesting for the crowds!

You can read more about the nudity in these sporting events by clicking The Naked Olympics and ordering the book of the same title from Amazon.

One of the things that has always bothered your Platypus team is the way that history becomes "sanitized" to somehow conveniently leave out things like the fact that the ancient Greeks played Olympic games in the nude.  Or that they worked out in the nude. Even the fact that "gymnasium" stems from the root gymno, meaning "naked" because you went to the gym to work out in the nude.

We celebrate democracy and trial by jury as gifts from ancient Greek culture, but the naked workout is lost to the ages.  Well fight back!  Go outside into your back yard if you have a privacy fence and run a relay naked. 

For old time's sake.