The Heraia festival was held to honor Hera

Every fourth year, the Heraia, an all-female athletic competition, was conducted in various ancient Greek cities. The competition, which was held to commemorate the Greek goddess Hera, mostly consisted of foot races for single women. However, the race was just one-sixth as long as the male equivalent.

Sixteen women in total presided over the celebration. After the games were held, these ladies would weave Hera a robe. The youngest of the maidens took the lead and was followed by those who were the next older, and so on until the eldest of the maidens took the lead. The maidens' hair would fall when they ran, and their right shoulder and breast would be exposed beneath a tunic that hung just above the knee. For the competition, the Olympic stadium was set aside. As part of the celebrations, the winning maidens received olive leaf crowns and a piece of the cow that was sacrificed to Hera. They were also allowed to honor Hera with sculptures bearing their names.