Rio hosts naked Olympics on beach to honour ancient Greeks

 Some of the competitors Photo: Courtesy

A very different kind of Olympics is underway in Rio de Janeiro to honour the original games in Ancient Greece - where all the competitors are naked.

The sporty naturists wear just a suntan as they vie for medals in football, beach volleyball, swimming, sprinting and race walking on Rio's only nudist beach.

There are also extra non-Olympic sports such as the tug of war, surfing, which is due to debut at the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo, and Peteca, a traditional game in Brazil which is played with a hand shuttlecock.

The stark-naked games on the dedicated naturist Abrico beach in Grumari are a throwback to the ancient Greek athletes who also played in the nude to honour the gods.

According to Organisers of the Praia do Abrico (Abrico Beach) Olympic Games, people of all ages and all shapes and sizes are welcome.

Elisangela Santiago, who runs Rio's Abrico Beach Naturist Association, said: "We decided we wanted to enjoy the Olympics in a novel and liberating way that paid tribute to the origins of the sport.We have lined up a few fun games for people to get involved in. It doesn't matter if you haven't got an athletic bone in your body, the whole idea is to push out the boundaries and have plenty of legitimate fun while you happen to be naked.

In hilarious footage of the event, bums jiggle as players run for the football, willies wave in the air as competitors jump for the shuttlecock and boobs bounce as the women run the 100 metre race.

"The only thing is that you will have to stand on a rock to receive your medal because we don't have a podium. And we make do with deck chairs for goalposts when we play football."

Abrico beach is located in a remote area of Rio in a steep mountainous region and the nudism section is partitioned off by huge towering boulders that block the entrance to the naturists stretch.