Not a sports fan? You’ll still love these interesting facts about the Olympics that we’ve rounded up for you! There’s something fascinating about the Games. Even if you don’t follow sports, you might find yourself cheering for your home team every time they compete. That’s because the Olympics are filled with electrifying moments that take you through a range of emotions. From shedding happy tears for the winners to vibing with strangers – you’ll feel it all.
What makes the Olympics so special, you ask? It’s a melting pot of superhuman achievements. Athletes, who’ve trained for years, push the boundaries of their potential. It’s a celebration of the human spirit that unites nations and brings people together like nothing else.
These fun facts about the Olympics will make your jaw drop and your curiosity soar. Did you know that the ancient Olympic Games were held to honor the Greek god Zeus? Imagine competing in front of a crowd of toga-wearing spectators, showcasing your athletic prowess to gain the favor of the mighty gods themselves. Talk about pressure!
So, let’s dive right into the cool Olympics facts — the unbroken records, the highest medal tally, and the unexpected tales that have unfolded throughout history. So, buckle up, and get ready to win a gold medal in Olympics trivia.
This post may include affiliate links.
His shoes were ill-fitting and gave him blisters. So he decided to run barefoot! He won a gold in the men’s marathon.
It was the first event where every country, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Brunei, sent female athletes. There were also more women referees and coaches.
Phelps was 15 years old at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He finished fifth in the 200-meter butterfly finals. He went on to win 28 medals in his career.
Back in 1912, the Games allowed only amateurs to participate. Jim Thorpe was a professional minor-league baseball player. He won two golds at the 1912 Stockholm Games. However, the Committee stripped him of his medals for violating the rules. They were reinstated in 1983 after the rules were found to be unfair.
Of course they were unfair, the rules were drawn up by upper class toffs who wanted to keep the contests as a sort of aristocratic athletics club !!
Women were neither allowed to participate nor step foot on the sacred grounds of Olympia. However, the princess exploited a loophole. She entered her horses in the chariot race, where the medals were awarded to the owners instead of the chariot racers.
He featured in the 1972 Munich games.
It’s followed by the participating countries in alphabetical order. The parade ends with the host country.
Alphabetic order in the host city’s language. Though that caused problems for Barcelona in 1992. They wanted it in the Catalan alphabet, Madrid insisted it should be the Castillo alphabet. In the end the countries entered in the order of the French alphabet whilst the countries were announced in French, English, Castillo and Catalan. In Beijing 2008, the countries came out in the order of how many brushstrokes it took to write out their name in Mandarin.
The Games are believed to have started around the 8th century BCE to honor the Greek god Zeus. They were organized at the sacred site of Olympia, where athletes performed religious ceremonies before competing.
This is not a Zeus statue tho, it's a statue of Moses (depicted with very antisemitic horns)
France, Britain, Australia, Switzerland, and Greece are the only five nations that have never missed the Summer Olympics.
Great Britain is the only country that has won a gold medal at every Summer Olympics.
The actor was a champion swimmer who won medals in 1924 and 1928. He went on to star in the Tarzan movies in the ’30s and ’40s.
They first claimed they were robbed by gunmen. Unfortunately for them, Brazilian officials had video footage of their vandalism.
The five intertwined rings symbolize Africa, the Americas (North and South America), Asia, Europe, and Oceania.
Cosmonauts from Russia, Japan, and America took the Olympic torch on board the Soyuz spacecraft all the way to ISS. The unlit torch was taken for a spacewalk as part of the Sochi 2014 Olympic torch relay.
*Floating around in space* Yayyy I hope everyone is watching me wave this torch in space! OH NO, IT SLIPPED OUT OF MY HAND! HOUSTON! HOUSTON! Welp, there it goes 😅...
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused the Olympics to be postponed for the first time in the 21st century.
In gymnastics, a perfect 10 is practically never possible. Any athlete who comes close to achieving this can be considered as exceptionally talented.
It's been happening since Nadia Comaneci. What doesn't seem to be possible is scoring anything less than 9. The commentators talk about dropping 0.1, and the scores are now to at least 3 digits so that they can separate the competitors. One wonders what they have to do to score 3 or 4.
Held in Amsterdam. McDonalds have been sponsoring the Games since 1976, which were held in Montréal.
...whereas launching yourself into the air whilst spinning rapidly with knives on your feet is completely safe.
The Beijing Olympics were held in 2008 and began on august 8 at 8:00 p.m.
The number 8 is considered lucky in many Asian countries (eight is pronounced as 'ba' in China, which is like 'fa' in the words 'facai' or get rich quick), just like the number 4 is considered unlucky (its pronunciation sounds like die).
Norwegian equestrian Tony André Hansen’s horse tested positive for a banned substance in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The athlete was stripped of his bronze medal, even though he claimed the drug came from treating his horse’s injuries.
If a horse has injuries it shouldn't be competing at any level, let alone the Olympics.
Almost every gymnast struggled to perform on the vault during the 2000 Sydney Olympics and was tumbling on the mat awkwardly. Eventually, an official complaint was raised and the vault height was found to be incorrect. The event was reorganized after replacing the vault.
Sadly, this was also after some had already been badly injured and could not compete.
Bob Beamon, an American track and field athlete, made a remarkable long jump of 8.90 meters (29.1 feet) at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. The record stood for 23 years until it was finally broken in 1991 by Mike Powell.
This is further than a horse can jump, that record stands at 28ft. (Can you guess which BBC radio 4 programme I listened to today?)
In 1904 St. Louis Summer Olympics U.S.A won 231 medals!
Funny how the negative stuff about the US always has a ton of negative comments, but the positive stuff is completely ignored.
An investigation found a systematic cover-up of positive doping tests, which led to the disqualification of several Russian athletes.
It has hosted four Summer Games and four Winter Games. It is set to host for the 9th time in 2028.
While the winners today commonly bite their medals to show their delight, champions have historically done so to determine whether the medals were made of genuine gold.
Eddie Eagan won a boxing gold in 1920 and another gold in bobsleigh at the Winter Olympics of 1932.
If you’ve heard of the movie I, Tonya, then you would surely know about the controversy. Harding’s ex-husband attacked Kerrigan’s knee with a police baton just before the 1994 Winter Olympics. Luckily, she recovered in time and went on to win a silver.
So did the first few minders Olympics. It wasn’t until the Stockholm Games of 1912 did we first have the first condensed Games that we have now.
Now the winning medal is made of silver, plated with 6 grams (0.2 ounces) of gold.
Before this, Olympians were honored with olive wreath crowns.
16 is the minimum age to compete. She was stripped of her bronze medal when her real age was revealed.
But Phelps was 15 at his first games? Is this age restriction just for gymnastics?
If it goes out, it’s lit by a backup torch, also lit at Olympia. As per tradition, it can never be relit with a regular lighter.
He added Disney magic to the ceremonies. There were dramatic ice sculptures, an 80-foot Tower of Nations, and dazzling fireworks. 2,000 “peace doves” were also released during the ceremony.
But the athletes drew the line at wearing mouse ears in the procession. 😂😂😂
First, the US and 65 nations decided to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics as a protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Next, the Soviet Union and 13 more countries boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
The Soviet Bloc boycott was a tit for tat boycott because of the USA led boycott in the 1980 Games. Romania, although a communist country, defied the boycott.
It happened during the figure skating competition. First, the Russian team was found to be the winner. Later, the French judge of the competition claimed she was pressured to vote for Russia. After this, the officials decided to reward both the Russian and Canadian teams with gold medals.
From 1912 to 1948, the Olympic Games included art competitions to celebrate artistic expression. The winners were awarded medals, just like the athletes. However, it was discontinued after 1948.
In 1916 During WWI, In 1940, And In 1944 During WWII.
Berlin was meant to host the 1916 Games. Tokyo was meant to host the 1940 Games, then they were given the 1944 Games. After the attack on Pearl Harbour, they were then given to London. Who eventually held the 1948 Games
Both Winter and Summer Paralympic Games are held immediately after the corresponding Olympic Games.
They were previously held as the Wheelchair Games and were held in a place called Stoke Madeville, which is outside London. They became known as Paralympics, as they were held parallel to the Olympic Games. When Seoul held their Summer Games in 1988, they allowed the Paralympics to use the Olympic facilities, something that was added to future Olympic Bids by the IOC after the 1992 Games.
An interesting fact about the Olympics revolves around a doping scandal caused by a cough medicine. Romanian gymnast Andreea Răducan tested positive for pseudoephedrine during the 2000 Olympics. She was taking cough medicine at that time and claimed the substance entered her body because of that. The IOC stripped her gold medal and refused to reconsider its decision.
It is lit at Olympia in Greece. It then travels around the world for two years until it reaches the host nation, where it lights the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony.
I saw the torch relay go past the Melbourne suburbs before the 2000 Olympics but I wasn't really fussed about it. Stuck in crowds to watch someone I had never heard of run past with a torch...I was 10 and already cynical :)
Golf made a triumphant comeback in 2016 — 112 years after the last tournament!
The first ones on Australian tv were the 1956 Melbourne games. Most of the country still didn't have tvs though, outside of capital cities.
Live Pigeon Shooting Was Part Of An Archery Event At The 1900 Olympic Games
