Olympics Trivia
It is the August of 2012 and most of us all over the world are enjoying the Olympic Games on television, internet or if you're lucky enough to be in London and have got the tickets then Live at London!
Shared below is some random interesting trivia on the Olympics which you can use as part of the daily catch up with friends and family!
The ancient games and initial years..
1. The first ever Olympic Games is said to have been played way back in ancient times of 776 BC in Olympia- today’s Greece.
2. The games in the good old Greek times are said to have consisted of running (now called athletics), long jump, shot put, javelin, boxing, equestrian and pankration, which is a martial art combination of boxing and wrestling.
3. The winners at these Olympic Games would wear ‘krotinos' on their heads which is nothing but the olive tree wreath!
4. The first modern day Olympics took place in 1896 in Athens, Greece.
5. Women were first allowed to participate in the Olympic Games in 1900 at Paris.
The formation of the committee
6. Due to the two world wars - I & II, the Olympic Games were cancelled for the years of 1916 and 1944.
7. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) organizes the Olympic Games every four years and was founded in 1894. They are headquartered at Lausanne.
8. The design of the Olympic medals is different for every summer games event, although the front portion of the medal will usually have a similar image-the Greek goddess of victory stepping out of what seems like the pantheon.
9. The rankings at the Olympic Games are defined by the number of gold medals won by the individual countries and not by the total count of medals won. For example, Country A might have a total of 23 medals and Country B might have 17, but if A has 7 gold medals versus B which has 12, then Country B would be ranked ahead of Country in the medal tally rankings.
10.The first Olympic Games that were telecast on television worldwide were the Tokyo games of 1964.
History & Olympics
11. The most expensive games were the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
12. In 1972, Munich games, there was more drama than just sports – a Palestinian terrorist group attacked the Israeli team residing in the Olympic Village.
13. Many countries including the US boycotted the 1980 Moscow games in protest of Russia’s cold war policies and involvement in Afghanistan.
14. Russia and some East Bloc countries in turn boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles games.
15. The five overlapping Olympic rings signify the five habited continents of Americas, Asia, Europe, Australia and Africa.
16. The Olympic Games have summer and winter games; the latter being specifically focussed on snow and ice sports.
17. In 1960, around 400 differently challenged athletes arrived at Rome to compete in ‘Parallel’ to the Olympic Games and this was the origin of the Paralympics.
18. Equestrian is the only sport which has men and women competing together!
19. The 2014 Olympic summer Games will be hosted by Rio de Janeiro and the winter games at Lillehammer, Norway.
