Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Olympic Trivia


Whether you are a regular "sports fan" or not, chances are you've watched at least some of the Olympic Games. I find myself fascinated, even mesmerized, by the athletic ability, sportsmanship, and showmanship displayed in the Games.

Corey and Laura's Olympic Site has an amazing collection of facts, statistics, and trivia about the Olympics. Here are 13 bits of information from their site. Click on the link to see more!


1. More athletes than spectators attended the 1900-Paris Games.

2. The idea of an Olympic Flame burning from the start of the games to the closing was first introduced at the 1928 Amsterdam games.

3. Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci scored perfect 10's seven times at the 1976 Montreal games.

4. The first games to be televised were the 1936 Berlin Games.
Hungarian Aladar Gerevich won medals in 6 consecutive Olympic games.

5. The Olympic Flag made its debut at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium. At the end of each Olympic Games, the mayor of that host-city presents the flag to the mayor of the next host-city. It then rests at the town hall of the next host-city for four years until the Opening Ceremony of their Olympic Games.

6. The five rings represent the five major regions of the world: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. Every national flag in the world includes at least one of the five colors, which are (from left to right) blue, yellow, black, green, and red.

7. Although the ancient games were staged in Olympia, Greece, from 776 BC through 393 AD, it took 1,503 years for the Olympics to return.

8. Hungarian Aladar Gerevich won medals in 6 consecutive Olympic games.

9. The Olympic motto is "Citius, Altius, Fortius." These three Latin words mean "Swifter, Higher, Stronger."

10. Communist China entered its first games in 1984-Los Angeles.

11. American Mildred "Babe" Didriksen won medals in high-jumping, hurdling, and the javelin in 1932-Los Angeles. She is the only athlete to ever medal in all three events.

12. Ethiopian marathoner Abebe Bikila was the first man to successfully defend the marathon title. (1960 and 1964). He only wore shoes for the second victory.

13. At the start of each Olympics, every athlete promises to play fairly and obey all of the Olympic rules. One athlete from the host country takes this oath at the Opening Ceremonies on behalf of all athletes. The chosen athlete holds a corner of the Olympic Flag while repeating the oath.

11 comments:

  1. Great TT...and here's one for JESSE OWENS-- The first games to be televised were the 1936 Berlin Games.
    And Hitler was pissed that a person of color did as well as JESSE did. hehe.
    Fellow TT Participant

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  2. These were fun! Watching the Olympics right now in fact!

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  3. Another excellent, informative list. I can never remember the colour of the rings, though.

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  4. Very informative! I like these kinds of TT where I learn interesting historical factoids :)

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  5. I wish Id known I would have bought myself a better seat in 1900

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  6. Great info! I love it!!!! =) Do you mind if I repost this?!?!?

    Yep, I was on your side of town this past weekend!!! =)

    You are sooooooooooo right about Noah's Ark...lol =) We went there for $1.50 Bloody Mary's they have the BEST around! It was such a NICE day to sit outside...there was a cool breeze coming off the bay!

    Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww the Mexican Food was the BEST!!!!!!

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  7. Definitely some interesting facts I did not know.
    Hope you'll drop by for my TTs
    The Cafe at the END of the Universe
    and
    Mama Bear Reads

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  8. Great trivia - you must be busy watching and watching! :) I hope it's fun. We haven't seen much of it.

    Happy TT!

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  9. Thanks for the walk down memory lane and for the link to Corey and Laura’ Olympic Site. I’ve been caught up in the games myself.
    Hugs and blessings,

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  10. i love the gymnastics. nadia comaneci was my idol growing up and i got to meet her twice. it's too bad the romanians aren't the powerhouse they used to be.

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