Astylos

Astylos of Kroton won six titles at three Olympic Games, winning the stadion and diaulos successively. However, at the Games of 484 and 480 BCE he proclaimed himself to be a Syracusan to please Hieron, son of Deinomenes. He had been bribed by Syracuse to do so, an inducement which they apparently offered freely to Olympic winners. The people of Kroton decreed his house be turned into a prison and they destroyed his portrait in the sanctuary of Lakinian Hera. He was left without a city or a home, deserted by his friends and relatives. Still, he is remembered as one of the greatest of track athletes. Simonides immortalized him as follows:

Who of men today, has been adorned with so many petals and myrtles, and crowns of roses, thanks to his victories in the Games?