When did male elite runners begin shaving their legs?

689 doesn't seem to have shaved legs, and 96 is blurry, but I don't think he does either.

Still curious, though, if anyone has any other input.

Never heard of distance runners shaving their legs; although, I do it as a trail runner. It's just a lot easier to clean wounds and avoid infection without the hair.

u cant tell from the pic if any of them shaved. leg hair is very light

Mud Man wrote:

Never heard of distance runners shaving their legs; although, I do it as a trail runner. It's just a lot easier to clean wounds and avoid infection without the hair.

I used to run up and down a mountain every weekend and never had one wound or infection, what are you playing at?

Assuming you don't include slight scrathes!

The leg shaving thing is pretty new, the poser runners around now like the look of the tri guys with their shaved legs, better definition etc..

If you ask me they are a bunch of self absorbed posers.

The guys from the '76 race did not have shaved legs, you can take that to the bank. I was there, got Lasse's autograph, he had hair, just wasn't thick.

Is it my imagination or were people just uglier back in the 70's? Whenever you see pictures of runners in the 70's most of them were just ugly. Other than that I can't tell from the picture if legs are shaved or not.

Jeffster!!!!! wrote:

Is it my imagination or were people just uglier back in the 70's? Whenever you see pictures of runners in the 70's most of them were just ugly. Other than that I can't tell from the picture if legs are shaved or not.

I think just the opposite. Not speaking to that picture specifically, but men were more attractive in the 70s. They didn't look like metrosexuals with gelled hair and shaved bodies.

They had shaggy hair and sweet beards. And they were fitter.

Leg hair or not, that's a homely group of men.

Also some guys naturally have no hair on their legs or very light hair. It doesn't mean they're shaving, especially back in the 70's.

In every close up pic of Dixon from '72 until he retired, he is as wooly as a Sasquatch.

None of these guys shaved.

They also tended to run in long pants for extended periods of the year which wears away a significant amount of leg hair.

have you ever seen 70's porn? They didnt shave anything

victor.. wrote:

The leg shaving thing is pretty new, the poser runners around now like the look of the tri guys with their shaved legs, better definition etc..

If you ask me they are a bunch of self absorbed posers.

The guys from the '76 race did not have shaved legs, you can take that to the bank. I was there, got Lasse's autograph, he had hair, just wasn't thick.

Oh, how I love the "back in the day" attitude.

What would be awesome is to grab anyone of those '76 guys, bring them to the here and now, stick them in world class 10k and watch them all get lapped.

Hahahah wrote:

Oh, how I love the "back in the day" attitude.

What would be awesome is to grab anyone of those '76 guys, bring them to the here and now, stick them in world class 10k and watch them all get lapped.

No dumb ass, you are wrong. Those guys would be training with all the treadmills, alter g's etc. that runners these days are privy to, along with all the PED's. I'm guessing they would still be at the front, guys like Brendan Foster still pushing the pace, guy's like Viren still running away at the end, he just wouldn't be alone.

No, you have no idea what it's like to have balls, at least balls with hair on them.

I love how people who don't shave their legs are so critical of whose who do. Almost like they are trying to hide something. Bottom line: WHO CARES?? I started shaving my legs because I like how it feels. I am not gay. I am not elite, but I am also not a poser jogger by any means.

On topic to the OP's question, I think it is really a recent trend. A lot of people do it now in college. Look at the NCAA 1500m and like half the guys shave their legs. I don't remember this being the case a few years ago. Also, I think it is much more common in Europe and Aus/NZ. Like every runner I have met from NZ or AUS has shaved legs.

I actually look rather like Galen Rupp, or maybe his older brother or his wayward uncle (I'm not saying he has one, but if he had, it would be me). It's possible we are actually related although apart from Galen Rupp the runner I have never heard of anyone called Rupp (or indeed Galen). It's a fine name though. Anyway, my legs are almost entirely hairless. That's it. That's all I wanted to say.

ukathleticscoach wrote:

...

I used to run up and down a mountain every weekend and never had one wound or infection, what are you playing at?

Assuming you don't include slight scrathes!

That's the same excuse cyclists and tri-guys use, though when queried, most can't even remember the last time they crashed. It's a vanity thing, plain and simple.

As for the picture, it's bad a$$.

I've also got news for some of the haters...with modern technology and training, the guys of yesteryear would still be elite today, at the least they would be on the level of our current crop non East Africans.

and clearly, 20-something men are shaving their chests so they can run bare chested without matted chest hair

it's wrong, man. It's just wrong.

I shave my legs in the summer because it's hot. Years ago I heard from a swimmer that shaving legs makes a noticeable difference in how hot/cold you get, which is one reason girls bitch so much more about how cold they are all the time. I stop shaving them around October when it cools off and start up in May/June.

I never noticed elite runners shaving their legs until 2001 when I ran a US champs roadrace. But thanks for posting probably the greatest finsish line photo of all-time for the sport. Viren out kicking the kickers, Quax and Dixon in total agony and Hildebrand diving to steal the Bronze.