Nutrition and athletic performance

The subject of nutrition and athletic performance is by no means a recent one. In those far off days of the first Olympic Games held in Greece from 776 BC‐400 AD the athlete was concerned with what he ate. The first competitor whose special diet we are told anything about was Charmis of Sparta. He was victor of the sprint race at the Games held in 668 BC and is known to have trained on a diet of dried figs. Tradition indicates that as a sprinter he found the extra sugar in fruit helpful. Later, Dromeus of Stymphalus, a trainer who won the long race in 460 and 456 BC introduced a ‘meat’ diet which rapidly became popular.