Our website Ancient Olympic Games is dedicated to give you sufficient resources about the history behind the Olympic Games. The Games of Olympic was originally the Games of Hera. In the ancient Olympic Games, women were excluded not only as competitors, but as spectators as well. So, women held their own Olympic games in honor of Hera, the sister-wife of Zeus. These were also celebrated every four years, but there was organized only one type of event, the foot-race. The race was categorized into three separate contests for girls of diverse age-groups.
Every fourth year at Olympia a group of sixteen women weave a robe called peplos for goddess Hera. By doing this, they sponsor the Heraia competition. This contest is a footrace especially for virgins of different age groups. The race is organized and the girls made to run in three categories: the youngest first, the slightly older ones next, and then the oldest virgins final. They have their own style of running: their hair hangs loose, attains a little above the knee, and they keep right shoulder bare as far as the breast. For running the race, they use the Olympic stadium, but for them the track is shortened by one-sixth. The winners of the race are rewarded with a crown of olive and a share of the cow sacrificed to Hera. It is customary that those who win the race have the right to dedicate statues with their names inscribed upon them. The sixteen women participating in the games are served and those who are serving them are like the sponsors of these games. Several miniature bronze images of the girls running in this race at Olympia are seen in the new Ancient Olympic Games Museum at Olympia. It is quite unfortunate that, married women are not allowed to watch both the men’s and boys’ games.