The ancient athlete: amateur or professional?

你知道吗？古希腊奥运选手也像现代运动员一样要进行专业训练，他们甚至会聘请职业教练给予自己辅导，包括常规训练和饮食。当然少数业余选手也能凭借个人实力赢得比赛。古希腊社会为退役的奥运冠军提供了非常优厚的福利待遇，使他们在退去奥运的光环后依然安度晚年。除此之外，他们还可塑造个人雕像供人景仰，委托诗人为其创作赞美诗，真可谓风光无限。

Athletic¹ training was a basic part of every Greek boy's education, and any boy who excelled in sport might set his sights on competing in the Olympics. The Olympic competition included preliminary matches or heats to select the best athletes for the final competition.

Ancient writers tell the stories of athletes who worked at other jobs and did not spend all their time in training. For example, one of Alexander the Great's couriers, Philonides, who was from Chersonesus in Crete, once won the pentathlon, which included discus, javelin², long jump, and wrestling competitions as well as running. However, just as in the modern Olympics, an ancient athlete needed mental dedication³, top conditioning, and outstanding athletic ability in order to make the cut.

Self-confidence was also an asset. A Libyan athlete, Eubotas, was so sure of his victory in a running event that he had his victory statue made before the Games were held. When he won, he was able to dedicate his statue on the same day.

Many athletes employed professional trainers to coach them, and they adhered to training and dietary routines much like athletes today. The Greeks debated the proper training methods. Aristotle wrote that overtraining was to be avoided, claiming that when boys trained too young, it actually sapped them of their strength. He believed that three years after puberty should be spent on other studies before a young man turned to athletic exertions⁴, because physical and intellectual development could not occur at the same time.

Victorious⁵ athletes were professionals in the sense that they lived off the glory of their achievement ever afterwards. Their hometowns might reward them with free meals for the rest of their lives, cash, tax breaks, honorary appointments, or leadership positions in the community. The victors were memorialized in statues and also in victory odes, commissioned from famous poets.