OLYMPIC GAMES: SOME INTERESTING FACTS
The continents of Africa and South America have never held an Olympic Games even though they represent two of the five rings in the Olympic Logo. This will change in 2016 when the event is held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It will also mean that Africa will be the last continent to stage the games at some time in the future. |
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Over the years, approximately 40 English language entertainment-based movies have been made that somehow feature the Olympics. |
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The first ever entertainment film featuring the Olympic Games was 'Nine and Three Quarter Seconds. It was released in 1925 and starred Charlie Paddock, a real Olympic champion. |
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Olympic mascots were only introduced in 1968 when Mexico used both a red jaguar and a white dove to help them communicate their Olympic message. |
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In keeping with the concept of the city states of Ancient Greece all Olympic Games are named after the host city and not the country in which they're staged. |
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The very first attempt to stage a modern Olympic Games took place in the small English village of Much Wenlock. It inspired Baron de Coubertin to found the International Olympic Committee. One of the London 2012 Mascots is named 'Wenlock' after this village. |
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The 1936 Berlin Games were the first to be televised but it wasn't until 1960 that they were first covered by an American TV broadcaster, CBS. |
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The first woman to light the Olympic Flame at an opening ceremony was Mexican hurdler Norma Basilio at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games. |
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At the 1904 Paris Games the winners were awarded paintings instead of medals as the French believed that they would be more valuable. |
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Dimitrios Loundras, a ten year old gymnast from Greece is often quoted as the youngest participant in the Olympic Games but there is a record that a hastily recruited seven year old French boy was part of the Dutch team that won the Coxed Rairs Rowing Race at the 1900 Games. Unfortunately, he became bored and wandered off before anyone recorded his name. |
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Not many people know that the Olympic Torch Relay from Olympia in Greece to the Olympic Stadium of the host city is not an ancient tradition. It's actually less than 100 years old and was conceived by Carl Diem and first introduced at the 1936 Berlin Games during the early years of the Third Reich. |
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The first ever twins to win gold medals at the Games were Gustaf Vilhelm Carlberg and Gustaf Eric Carlberg of Stockholm, Sweden. They were both competitors in the 30 metre 'Duelling Pistol' shooting event. |
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Some of the events that have been dropped from the Olympic Games over the years include the Tug-of-War, Pelote Bisque, Cricket, Polo and the shooting of live pigeons. |
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The first Olympic Games in 1896 featured only nine sectors. These were: Athletics,
Cycling,
Fencing,
Gymnastics,
Shooting,
Swimming,
Tennis,
Weightlifting and
Wrestling. All of these except tennis have been featured at every subsequent Games. Tennis was dropped in 1928 and only reinstated in 1988. A gap 60 years.
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Jamaica, a tropical island in the Caribbean, really did enter a bob-sledding (ice-sledding) team in the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. It was the inspiration for the hit comedy film 'Cool Runnings' starring John Candy as the coach. In reality, the team competed again in France and in Norway. They finally won a Gold medal at the 2000 World Push Championships held in Monaco. |
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The very first champion winner of the Modern Olympics was James Brendan Connolly - an American of Irish descent. He had walked out of Harvard University when they refused him a leave of absence to participate. 52 years later he was offered an honorary doctorate by the same University. He turned it down flat. |
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The Winter Games has never been hosted anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere even though there are suitable locations in New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and Chile. It's not the lack of snow but the lack of infrastructure to support such a huge event.
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MORE OLYMPIC FACTS COMING SOON
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