Olympics have great importance all over the world and if it is called the ‘Mahakumbh’ of all sports, then it will not be wrong at all. Because this game is organized on a very large scale in which the whole world participates. First of all, know that the Olympics are divided into 4 different types: Summer Olympics, Winter Olympics, Youth Olympics and Paralympics for the disabled.
The Summer Olympic and Winter Olympic Games are organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) every four years. The Summer Olympics itself is more popularly considered the main Olympic event, in which more than 200 countries participate. Winter Olympics are organized on a relatively small scale, in which about 90 countries participate.
Although these games are held every four years, the Summer Olympic and Winter Olympic Games are spaced two years apart so that an Olympic event can be held every two years. In today’s article, we are going to talk only about Summer Olympic and Winter Olympic Games.
Interesting facts about the Olympic Games
#1. If we look at the history of the Olympic Games, it started 2794 years ago in Greece’s ‘Olympia’ in 776 BC. Happened in
#2. The Olympic Games have been celebrated as a religious festival. The Olympics is a traditionally celebrated festival dedicated to the Greek god Zeus. These games were dedicated to the ‘Olympian’ gods and continued for about 12 centuries, after which the emperor ‘Theodosius’ stopped it in 393 AD.
#3. In the ancient Olympic Games, winners were awarded olive crowns, also known as ‘cotinos’.
#4. The first description of the ‘Ancient Olympics’ comes in the ‘Iliad’ written by Homer. It was written in 7th or 8th century BC.
#5. The oldest record of the game is found in 776 BC, when only the game of ‘race’ was organized.
#6. In ancient times, women, slaves and atheists were banned from attending or watching the games.
#7. In 1591, William Shakespeare first used the word ‘Olympian’. He mentioned this in his book Henry VI:- ‘Promise them such rewards / As victors wear at the Olympian games.’
#8. The 5 rings on the Olympic flag represent the five important continents: Africa, America, Asia, Europe, Oceana. The rings are colored from left to right, blue, yellow, black, green and red. These five colors were chosen because at least one of these five colors is on the flag of every country. The Olympic flag was created by Pierre de Coubertin in 1914, but it was first flown at the Olympic Games in 1920.
#9. The tradition of the Olympic torch was resumed during the 1928 Summer Olympics. An employee of Amsterdam’s electric utility lights the first modern Olympic flame at the Marathon Tower of the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam. The Olympic flame has been a part of the Summer Olympics ever since.
#10. The first individual medal for independent India was won by Khashaba Jadhav in weightlifting at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Although Norman Pritchard also won two medals in the 1900 Olympics, he was an Anglo-Indian, so the credit for winning the first individual medal for India goes to Khashaba Jadhav.
#11. India has won a total of 28 medals in the Olympic Games (9 Gold, 12 Bronze, 7 Silver).
#12. There is also a fact that neither Olympic Games have been held in India till date nor will be held till 2050.
#13. In 1928, India first entered hockey in the Olympic Games (Amsterdam Olympics, Holland).
#14. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was established in 1894 to organize the Olympic Games, add or remove any sport from the Olympics, select the venue for the Games, etc. But the Olympic Games started after 2 years.
#15. The modern Summer Olympic Games began on 6 April 1896 in the city of Athens, Greece, and the modern Winter Olympic Games began on 25 January 1924 in the city of Chamonix, France. Initially, the Olympic Games were held every four years, but after 1994, the Olympic Games were held every 2 years.
#16. In the modern era, each edition of the Summer Olympic Games has been represented by only 5 countries. The countries represented are Greece, France, Australia, Great Britain and Switzerland.
#17. In the Olympic Games, a maximum of three players from a country can participate in any one tournament.
#18. A torch is lit at the Olympic Games and it has passed through Russia about 70 times.
#19. Horses participating in the Olympics travel in business class and have their own passports.
20. The name of the player who won the first medal in modern Olympics is James B. Connolly and he was an American athlete. He won this medal in the men’s triple jump game.
21. Only men participated in the first modern Olympic Games. Women participated for the first time in the Olympic Games held in Paris in the year 1900. Only 22 were women out of a total of 997 Olympic athletes who competed in five sports: tennis, sailing, croquet, horse riding and golf. But now around 44% women participate in the Olympics.
#22. Women’s athletics and gymnastics debuted in the 1928 Olympics.
#23. Cricket was last included in the Olympics in 1900. In which no other country other than Britain and France participated. Britain won the gold medal in this Olympics, while France won the silver medal.
#24. India participated in the Olympic Games for the first time in the year 1900. In which India won 2 silver medals in athletics.
#25. Tennis was dropped from the Olympics in 1924. But it was added again in 1988.
#26. Olympic medals are prepared each time by the organizing committee of the host city. Each medal is at least 3 mm thick and 60 mm wide.
#27. In 1900, instead of gold medals, the first-place finishers at the Paris Olympics were given paintings.
#28. The Olympic Gold Medal, made entirely of gold, was last awarded in 1912. The weight of this medal was 24 grams and the price was $14.58. But today the Olympic gold medal contains 1.2% (6 grams) gold with 99.9% purity and 98.8% (49 grams) silver with 92.5% purity.
#29. The MOTTO of the Olympics is: Citius, Altius, Fortius (‘Swifter, Higher, Stronger’). It was declared in Paris in 1924.
#30. The Olympic Games of 1916, 1940 and 1944 could not be held due to WW1 and WW2.
#31. Greece, Australia, France, Switzerland and Britain are the only countries that have participated in every Olympics. America could also be included in this list but America did not send its athletes to the 1980 Olympics.
#32. Norway, Austria and Liechtenstein are the only three countries that have won more medals in the Winter Olympics than in the Summer Olympics.
#33. America has won the most medals in the Summer Olympic Games, 2523 medals and Norway has won the most medals in the Winter Olympic Games, 132 medals.
#34. Africa and Antarctica are the only two continents where the Olympic Games have not been held till date.
#35. In the history till date, 207 countries participated in the 2016 Athens Olympics.
#36. There are only four players who have won medals at both Olympic Games (Summer & Winter): Eddie Eagan (American), Jacob Tullin Thams (Norway), Christa Luding-Rothenburger (Germany), and Clara Hughes (Canada).
#37. London is the only city that has hosted the Olympics 3 times.
#38. America’s Michael Phelps holds the record for winning the most medals in the Olympics, he has won a total of 28 medals (23 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze) so far.
#39. The record of winning the Olympic medal at the youngest is in the name of Dimitrios Loundras of Greece. He won the bronze medal in the 1896 Olympics when he was only 10 years 218 days old.
#40. The record for the oldest Olympic medalist is in the name of Sweden’s Oscar Swahn, who won a silver medal in shooting at the age of 72 in the 1920 Olympics.
#41. The first time an Olympian was banned was in 1968 when a man in Mexico drank 2 beers to calm his nerves before pistol shooting.
#42. The longest race in Olympic history is the 199-mile cycle race, which was won by Okey Lewis of South Africa in Stockholm in 1912 in 10 hours, 42 minutes, 39 seconds. This was 4000 times more than the time taken by Usain Bolt to win the gold medal in the 100 meters race at the 2012 Olympics.
#43. The longest wrestling match in the history of the Olympic Games was played in the 1912 Olympics between Martin of Russia and Alfred of Finland. Martin won this match of about 11 hours, but he was so tired that he could not play the final match.
#44. The Coca-Cola Company is the oldest sponsor of the Olympic Games. It has been sponsoring continuously since 1928.
#45. The 1936 Berlin Olympics was the first Olympics to be televised. Earlier people had to listen to commentary on radio and before that they used to read newspapers.
#46. Olympic Anthem, composed by Spyridon Samar. And its lyrics are taken from the poem of the Greek poet Kostis Palamas.
#47. Milkha Singh was the first Indian athlete to reach the final of Olympic athletics (1960, Rome Olympics).
#48. Eleven Israeli athletes were murdered by terrorists during the 1972 Munich Olympics.
#49. Former US President John F. Kennedy once said that spaceships and Olympic gold medals are the symbols of a nation’s prestige.
#50. 5,000 tons of sand were transported from Surrey to London to build the volleyball ground for the 2012 Olympics.
#51. So much was spent on the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, which was more than the previous 13 Olympics.
#52. The Rio Olympics 2016 was the first Summer Olympic Games to be held in the winter season.
