Nude Olympics Revived by Lone Princeton Freshman 27 Years After Ban

By Elena Eiss '28

Sunday Feb. 22, Princeton’s long-banned tradition of unofficial “Nude Olympics” was brought back to life by a single Princeton first-year with a lot of heart and not a lot of clothes. Richie N.C. West ‘29 was spotted running around completely naked in Holder Courtyard around 7pm Sunday night as a mixture of snow and sleet began to fall on the muddy remains of late January’s snow. Though the Nude Olympics historically occurred during the first snowfall of the academic year, West reports he only heard about the tradition recently–––otherwise, he would have been on top of that earlier. “Yeah, I was talking to my parents on the phone the other day, and they asked if we’d had the Nude Olympics this year or not.” West–––a triple legacy on both sides of his family–––told The Princeton Tiger, “I was shocked. I was like: ‘Nude Olympics??? That sounds epic!’” While the Nude Olympics have been banned in practice since 1999, West saw no reason not to revive the tradition. Whether on purpose or accidentally, West introduced new spins on the Nude Olympics, including the timing of the event. While the Nude Olympics would typically begin around midnight, West began his opening ceremony at 6:30 PM by running a lit lighter he’d found the previous night on the floor of Terrace in circles around the courtyard in lieu of a ceremonial torch. This new take on the tradition led to unexpected results, namely the garnering of an audience of hapless students on their way to and from RoMa dinner and reported “thumb cramps” from West. After a short period of rest, West commenced the event, notably still alone. “My friends told me they’d join in a bit,” he said, though he would continue to race around the courtyard, solo-double luge, and do push-ups (with knees) completely alone for the next half-hour until his eventual arrest by PSafe officers. West’s arrest has stirred up controversy on campus already, with some defending his attempted revival of Princeton tradition as valiant and others criticizing it as a simple case of streaking in the absence of other participants. “Richie’s choice to revive the Nude Olympics so much later in the academic year than normal is really a reflection of the effects of climate change at the local level,” member of Sunrise Princeton Charlotte Sussman ‘29 says. The Whig-Cliosophic Society is reportedly arranging their next student debate to consider the statement: “This House believes that Richie N.C. West should have won gold.” While West identified himself to The Princeton Tiger’s reporters, they cannot confirm it was indeed him they were talking to since they were averting their eyes throughout the interview.