A court ruling this month has thrown the spotlight on what some consider a quintessentially British pastime: streaking, or running around naked in public, preferably with a large crowd watching.
Serial streaker Mark Roberts, 42, managed to avoid a court order banning him from exposing himself at public events last Tuesday.
Over the years, Roberts has stripped off at events including Golf's Ryder Cup, the UEFA and European Cup football finals, the Super Bowl in the US and, more chillingly, the Winter Olympics in Italy.
PHOTO: AFP
But he is not the only one: big British sporting events, particularly in the summer, have long been the scene of public clothes-shedding.
"Ever since the kindly Lady Godiva rode naked through the streets to help the people of Coventry, the British have had a soft spot for streakers," the Independent said, alongside a photo spread of top past streaking moments.
These include the almost-iconic picture of 25-year-old Australian accountant Michael O'Brian -- bearded, arms held out by police and with a strategically placed bobby's helmet -- at Twickenham rugby ground in 1974.
Cricket fans were briefly diverted from slow ball action on a stiflingly hot afternoon at Lord's in 1975 when Michael Angelow ran onto the pitch and leapt acrobatically over the stumps, stark naked.
There has even been celebrity streaking. Scottish comedian Billy Connolly stripped off and ran round London's Piccadilly Circus naked as a charity stunt in 2001, watched by over 12 million TV viewers.
Serial streaker Roberts had faced being slapped with an anti-social behavior order after he breached security at the last hole of the British Open Golf Championship last year.
But his lawyer, Laurence Lee, pointed out that his client, who over the years had performed some 380 streaks, had not offended in the past year.
"My client has turned over a new fig leaf. He accepts that some people might be offended," he said.
Judge Nick Sanders rejected the police application with the explanation: "What Mister Roberts does may be annoying but, in my opinion, it does not amount to anti-social behavior."
Speaking afterwards, Roberts was unrepentant.
"I thought it was absolutely ridiculous, accusing me of anti-social behavior. What I do is something totally the opposite. I try to entertain people," he said.
Of course, he enjoys the adrenalin rush. He recalled his first-ever streak in 1993 at the Rugby Sevens in Hong Kong, the result of a drunken bet the night before.
"I ran out onto the pitch and there were 65,000 screaming their heads off with excitement," he said, also recounting being chased by police at half-time in the 2004 Super Bowl.
Doctor Glenn Wilson, of the Institute of Psychiatry in London, said streaking is the result of a basic urge in a certain personality type.
"There is an ancient urge, it's like `daddy, mummy look at me' as a child jumps into a swimming pool. We all crave attention, some more than others," he said.
Also fueling the phenomenon is the premium that is put on fame in the modern world, in particular in the modern celebrity-obsessed culture of countries like Britain, he said.
"Fame equals exposure. It's not a case of great achievements in art or science or the military that counts for fame any more, it is simply exposure in the tabloids or on television," he said.
Not everyone is sure that streaking is entirely harmless, however.
MONEY GRAB: People were rushing to collect bills scattered on the ground after the plane transporting money crashed, which an official said hindered rescue efforts A cargo plane carrying money on Friday crashed near Bolivia’s capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on highway, scattering bills on the ground and leaving at least 15 people dead and others injured, an official said. Bolivian Minister of Defense Marcelo Salinas said the Hercules C-130 plane was transporting newly printed Bolivian currency when it “landed and veered off the runway” at an airport in El Alto, a city adjacent to La Paz, before ending up in a nearby field. Firefighters managed to put out the flames that engulfed the aircraft. Fire chief Pavel Tovar said at least 15 people died, but
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: By showing Ju-ae’s ability to handle a weapon, the photos ‘suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,’ an academic said North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
RSS