Streaking - in Sports

In Sports

In a game against the Melbourne Storm at Olympic Park in 2007, a Brisbane Broncos fan streaked across the field waving his supporter jersey over his head. He was apprehended at the other side of the field to large applause.

During an NRL finals match between the Wests Tigers and the New Zealand Warriors at the Sydney Football Stadium on 16 September 2011, a streaker ran onto the playing field forcing the game to come to a halt as security guards attempted to apprehend the man.

Twenty-five-year-old Australian Michael O'Brien was the first known streaker at a major sporting event when on 20 April 1974, he ran out naked onto the ground of an England vs. France Rugby Union match at Twickenham. He was captured by a police man, PC Bruce Perry, who covered his genitals with his police helmet. The photograph of O'Brien under arrest became one of the most reproduced photographs of a streaker. O'Brien, long-haired, bearded and naked in front of a jeering and cheering crowd is surrounded and supported by bobbies as he is arrested. The policeman's helmet is on display in the museum at Twickenham. A later streaker at the same venue, although merely topless, was Erica Roe on 2 January 1982.

On 22 March 2009, a female streaker ran onto the pitch brandishing a green flag during the televised match between London Irish and Northampton Saints. It was in front of the season's largest crowd away from Twickenham, 21,000 fans bearing witness.

In the sport of cricket, it is not uncommon for a male streaker to run out to the field purely for shock and entertainment value or political purposes. One example was in the First Test of the Australia versus the I.C.C. World XI, when a rather drunken man darted out toward the field naked, shocking the Australian and World XI players, halting play until he was spear tackled to the ground by field personnel. In one notable incident in 1977, Australian test cricketer Greg Chappell spanked an invading streaker named Bruce McCauley with his cricket bat; McCauley then fell to the ground and was arrested by police.

Former cricket streaker Sheila Nicholls went on to have a successful career in the American music business. In 1989 Nicholls ran onto Lord's cricket ground fully nude and did a cartwheel to the crowd. She was photographed and filmed full frontal on live TV.

"A Family Legacy", is short film featuring Australian AFI award winning actor Nathaniel Dean. It is a fantastic example of the importance of streaking at large social & cultural gatherings. The pride and freedom of self-expression is presented with a sense social satire and political inaccuracy.

Streaking became popular at Australian rules football matches in the 1980s, particularly Victorian Football League Grand Finals, with a trend started by Adelaide stripper Helen D'Amico in the 1982 VFL Grand Final between Carlton and Richmond, wearing only a Carlton scarf.

In 2005, German football club FC Hansa Rostock successfully sued three streakers who disrupted their 2003 match against Hertha Berlin, to recoup the €20,000 they were fined by the German Football Association for failing to maintain adequate security at their ground. During a 2007 exhibition match between Wellington Phoenix and Los Angeles Galaxy, a female streaker took to the pitch trying to unofficially promote a business run by New Zealand sporting personality Marc Ellis.

In the 2006 Winter Olympics, streaker Mark Roberts interrupted the men's bronze medal curling match between the U.S. team and the UK team, wearing nothing but a strategically placed rubber chicken. For the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, officials warned visitors against streaking, amongst other forms of "bad behaviour". These fears centered around opposition and protest the PRC's conduct in Tibet.

The 1996 Wimbledon's Men's singles final between MaliVai Washington and Richard Krajicek was interrupted by a female streaker just before the toss. Melissa Johnson, a 23-year-old student, thereby became Wimbledon's first streaker. She ran onto the ground with an apron on, which she lifted to reveal her vulva to the players and crowd. In 2006 a quarter-final match between Elena Dementieva and Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon was interrupted by a male streaker, who was escorted off court by police. He was later identified as Dutch radio DJ Sander Lantinga, who was streaking for a TV show called Try Before You Die.

Despite the particularly close up nature of snooker, there have been a number of streakers in snooker tournaments. The first was Lianne Crofts in the final of the 1997 Benson & Hedges Masters between Steve Davis and Ronnie O'Sullivan. Since then there have been two streakers at the World Snooker Championship. The first was Andrew Slater, who appeared in a Sven-Göran Eriksson mask and socks during a match between Paul Hunter and Quinten Hann in 2002. Then, during the final in 2004 between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Graeme Dott, Mark Roberts ran down the stairs and tried to claim asylum under the table.

In Super Bowl XXXVIII, streaker Mark Roberts disrupted the game by running on to the field. He was eventually leveled by New England Patriots Linebacker Matt Chatham, and was subsequently apprehended. Despite the worldwide audience, this event was largely unnoticed due to that game's infamous halftime show in which Janet Jackson's nude breast was revealed due to what was called a "wardrobe malfunction". Roberts would return in 2007 during the first NFL regular season game held in England between the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants, streaking during the game at Wembley Stadium.

During the 2007 Labour Day Classic match between the Calgary Stampeders and the Edmonton Eskimos, a total of four streakers and one partially clothed man disrupted the game.

In 1999, a female streaker Yvonne Robb was arrested for kissing Tiger Woods on the 18th hole at Carnoustie. In 2000, female streaker Jacqui Salmond streaked fully nude onto the British Open in St Andrews. And in the 1970s, at the height of streaking's popularity, a young man who broke into the Augusta National golf course in Augusta, Georgia (albeit not while the Masters was in play) was actually shot with buckshot and slightly wounded.