Milo of Crotona
Posted on Wednesday, September 14th, 2016 by John Wood
Milo of Crotona, who lived during the 6th century B.C., was the greatest of the ancient Greek Athletes.
He was a six-time wrestling Champion in the ancient Olympic Games and his strength was legendary.
Milo built his strength with an unusual method: Each day he would carry a new-born calf and, as the calf grew larger, so did Milo’s strength.
Eventually Milo was able to carry a full-grown bull the length of the stadium. The stamp above features Milo holding apart a split tree and was created in honor of the 1924 Olympic Games, held in Paris, France (where Charles Rigoulot won the heavyweight-class gold medal.)
Here’s a phone card (remember those?) from Japan which advertises a chocolate flavored energy drink called “MILO.” This drink was originally developed in Australia in 1934 by Thomas Mayne and named for the famous strength athlete of antiquity Milo of Crotona. The iconic green labeled tin usually features sporting activities. Made by Nestle, MILO is popular in Asia and other countries but not available in the US… not sure why though, it would probably do pretty well. 