Facts about Olympics

American Myer Prinstein finished runner-up in the 1900 long jump in Paris, despite not even showing up for the finals. Prinstein,
a Syracuse university student, was instructed not to participate in the finals on Sunday, the Christian Sabbath. Qualifying jumps
counted back then so he took second on the basis of those. As legend has it, he was so angry at eventual gold-medal winning
jumper Alvin Kraenzlein for competing in the finals that he punched him in the face.

The 1912 Greco-Roman wrestling match in Stockholm between Finn Alfred Asikainen and Russian Martin Klein lasted more
than 11 hours. Klein eventually won but was too exhausted to participate in the championship match so he settled for the silver.

Did you ever wonder why the official distance of a marathon was exactly 26 miles, 385 yards? In 1908, the marathon standard
had been set at exactly 26 miles. However, at the Olympic marathon in London, it was decided that the royal family needed a
better view of the finish line so organizers added an extra 385 yards to the race so the finish line would be in front of the royal
box. And it's been that way ever since.

The five interlocking rings of the Olympic flag symbolize the five continents of the world (Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and
the Americas) "linked together in friendship." Olympics founder Pierre de Coubertin claimed that at least one of the rings' colors
(blue, yellow, black, green, and red, along with the white background) was present in each country's national flag.

World record, but no gold medal: In 1924, American Robert LeGendre shattered the world long jump record with a leap of 25
feet, four inches. However, the jump was part of the pentathlon competition and LeGendre could muster only a third-place
finish overall. The actual long jump competition was won with a jump of 24 feet, five inches.

Stella the Fella—Poland's Stella Walsh (Stanislawa Walasiewicz)—won the women's 100-meter race at the 1932 Olympics in
Los Angeles, becoming the first woman to break the 12-second barrier. When she was killed in 1980 as an innocent victim in a
robbery attempt, an autopsy declared her to be a male.

Danish rider Lis Hartel won the silver medal in the 1952 equestrian dressage event in Helsinki. Hartel suffered from an
inflammation of the spinal cord known as poliomyelitis, which required her to be lifted on and off her horse each time.

Before there was Kerri Strug, there was Japan's Shun Fujimoto. In the men's team gymnastics competition in 1976, he actually
broke his kneecap while performing in the floor exercise. The following day, however, he needed a top-notch performance in
the rings for Japan to secure the gold. With no pain killers, he performed a near flawless routine and stuck the landing, putting a
tremendous amount of pressure on his injured knee. He grimaced in pain as he held his position for the judges, then finally
collapsed in agony. Japan won the team gold by just four tenths of a point over the Soviet Union.

And you thought they just used a match. Did you know that traditionally the Olympic flame in Olympia, Greece is rekindled
every two years using the sun's rays and a concave reflective mirror?

In 1928, reportedly six of the eight entrants in the women's 800-meter race collapsed at the finish line in an "exhausted state."
Poor training methods and the brutal Amsterdam sun were the two major causes of distress. That event was subsequently
cancelled until 1960.

The early Olympic Games were celebrated as a religious festival from 776 B.C. until 393 A.D., when the games were banned for being a pagan festival (the Olympics celebrated the Greek god Zeus). In 1894, a French educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin, proposed a revival of the ancient tradition, and thus the modern-day Olympic Summer Games were born.

Host Greece won the most medals (47) at the first Olympic Summer Games in 1896.

The first Winter Olympic Games were held in Chamonix, France in 1924.

Norway has won the most medals (263) at the Winter Games.

The United States has won more medals (2,189) at the Summer Games than any other country.

The five Olympic rings represent the five major regions of the world – Africa, the Americas,
Asia, Europe and Oceana, and every national flag in the world includes one of the five colors, which are (from left to right) blue, yellow, black, green, and red.

Up until 1994 the Olympics were held every four years. Since then, the Winter and Summer games have alternated every two years.

The first Olympics covered by U.S. television was the 1960 Summer Games in Rome by CBS.

No country in the Southern Hemisphere has ever hosted a Winter Games.

Three continents – Africa, South America, and Antarctica – have never hosted an Olympics.

A record 202 countries participated in the 2004 Olympic Summer Games in Athens.

Only four athletes have ever won medals at both the Winter and Summer Olympic Games: Eddie Eagan (United States), Jacob Tullin Thams (Norway), Christa Luding-Rothenburger (East Germany), and Clara Hughes (Canada).

Speed skater Bonnie Blair has won six medals at the Olympic Winter Games. That's more than any other American athlete.

Nobody has won more medals at the Winter Games than cross-country skier Bjorn Dählie of Norway, who has 12.

Larrisa Latynina, a gymnast from the former Soviet Union, finished her Summer Olympic Games career with 18 total medals—the most in history.

The United States Olympic Committee established the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983 to recognize outstanding American Olympic athletes, however, a plan to build a hall has been suspended due to lack of funding.

The Summer Olympic sports are archery, badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, boxing, canoe / kayak, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, gymnastics, handball, judo, modern pentathlon (shooting, fencing, swimming, show jumping, and running), mountain biking, rowing, sailing, shooting, soccer, swimming, synchronized swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, track and field, triathlon (swimming, biking, running), volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, and wrestling.

The Winter Olympic sports are alpine skiing, biathlon (cross-country skiing and target shooting), bobsled, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, ice hocky, luge, Nordic combined (ski jumping and cross-country skiing), skeleton, ski jumping, snowboarding, and speed skating.

SEARCH

Enter your search terms

Web www.factsnfacts.com Submit search form

Sponsors

Related Links