Blood Sports Dominated

The pankration was one of the most popular events at the games, and among the combat sports it was the crowd's clear favorite — spectators came for the danger.

• Broken bones, dislocations, and strangulation were all legal
• Matches ended only when one fighter surrendered or died
• One champion, Arrhichion, was crowned despite being dead: his opponent had locked him in a chokehold, and as he was being strangled Arrhichion dislocated the opponent's ankle. The opponent submitted from the pain — but by then Arrhichion had already suffocated, so a corpse took the crown

Boxing was just as vicious. Instead of padded gloves, fighters wrapped their fists in leather strips called himantes. Later Greek versions used harder, sharp-edged thongs that could cut an opponent's skin. The metal-studded glove most people picture — the caestus — was a later Roman gladiatorial weapon, not equipment used at the Greek Olympics.