![]() ![]() In 1982, Erika Roe caused a sensation when she ran topless onto the pitch at Twickenham (and how impressive that the ground has been home to two iconic streaks – they should have a display in the visitor’s centre). Michael O’Brienīut you can’t keep a good idea down, and if men were now keeping their trousers on, the women were about to step up. Being whacked by cricket bats probably made the idea of running naked seem a lot less appealing, and the streaking craze seemed to be over by the end of the decade. Famously, in 1977 Australian cricketer downed a streaker with his bat, an unpleasantly aggressive over-reaction by any standards. The amusement level diminished, and sports players seemed less entertained by these invasions, even in plodding events like cricket where a streaker could hardly be said to be interrupting play. But as quickly as it arrived, streaking seemed to fizzle out. Streaking was so ingrained into the public consciousness in 1974 that Ray Stevens could record the hit novelty record The Streak, which hit the number one spot in the USA and sold a staggering five million copies internationally. People magazine would later declare it to be the Picture of the Decade, and it certainly seems to encapsulate the 1970s in all its revolutionary glory. The photo of the long-haired O’Brien with his genitals covered by a policeman’s helmet became legendary, for both the ludicrousness of the situation and the accidental religious symbolism of the image. The most famous streakers of this time were men – Michael Angelow became the most iconic cricket streaker of the age as he vaulted over the stumps at Lords in 1975, a gloriously comedic moment a year earlier, Michael O’Brien became part of the most iconic streaker image of them all at the England-France rugby match at Twickenham. No one looked at streakers as offensive, even if they were naked – at worst, they were an irritant that interrupted a sporting event, at best an amusing distraction, and there was nothing sexual about their exhibitionism. The punishments were light – usually a fine – and the thrills well worth it. Streaking became a regular occurrence, at least in countries where nudity was still seen as outrageous – but not so outrageous that you might face imprisonment for being naked in public. The Opel incident was later exposed as a pre-planned stunt, but the floodgates had by this point been opened. 1974 was the year when it became something of a phenomenon, with Robert Opel running naked across the stage during the 46th Academy Awards, much to the bemusement of host David Niven, and two unidentified streakers at the Australia – New Zealand cricket match in New Zealand. Streaking – that is stripping all your clothes off (or, if you are less daring/more in search of cheap publicity, most of your clothes) and running around in public as a dare or a protest – has been around for centuries – think Lady Godiva – but first reached a peak of pop culture popularity in the early 1970s, when it left the college campuses (where it had been a regular initiation rite) and hit the mainstream. ![]() But changes of attitude and laws, new rules from broadcasters and a certain opportunism from glamour models looking to boost their profile have made streaking something of a diminished spectator sport these days. ![]() If you were a young attractive female, it certainly helped, and some of the streakers who hit the headlines certainly made the most of their fifteen minutes in the spotlight. Taking your clothes off and invading the pitch at some public event could propel you to a passing fame, a level certainly as valid as most of the ‘stars’ of current celebrity reality shows. There was a time when streaking was big news. ![]() Remembering the men and women who livened up tedious public events with unexpected displays of nudity. ![]()
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