Euryleonis

Who is Euryleonis?

Euryleonis was a celebrated woman Olympic charioteer.

Euryleonis was an athlete from Sparta who won the 2 horse chariot races of the Ancient Olympic Games in 368 BCE. She is sometimes referred to a princess, wealthy woman, and horse breeder.

Euryleonis was only the second female stephanite in the long Olympic history. Twenty-four years earlier, her predecessor, the Spartan princess Kyniska, had won the 4 horse race in 396 BCE and again in 392 BCE, the first ever woman to win at the Olympics. It is likely that these women were all patrouchoi, or daughters of a man who had no male heirs, which would explain why they could own so much land.