Euryleonis
4th-century BC Spartan horse breeder / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Euryleonis (Ancient Greek: Ευρυλεωνίς) (Flourished c. 370 BC, Sparta, ancient Greece) was a celebrated woman, owner of a chariot-winner of Olympic games.
Euryleonis was a horse breeder from Sparta whose horse chariot won the two horse chariot races of the Ancient Olympic Games in 368 BC. She is sometimes referred to as a princess and wealthy woman.[1][2]
Euryleonis was only the second female stephanite (crown-bearer) in the long history of the Olympics. Twenty-four years earlier, her predecessor, the Spartan princess Kyniska, had won the four horse race in 396 BCE and again in 392 BCE, the first ever woman to win at the Olympics.[3] Women could not participate in Ancient Olympic games personally and even being a viewer was under strict prohibition for them, with punishment by death. The only possibility of participating and winning for a woman was to be an owner of a chariot and horses in chariot races, because just the owner, not the driver, was recognized as a winner of races.[3][4]