21 August 2008

Olympic trivia

  • 1900 Paris - Some unusual events were contested for the first and only time in the history of the Games. The equestrian high and long jumps, swimming obstacle race, two-day cricket and live pigeon shooting being foremost among them.
  • 1904 St. Louis - One of the most remarkable athletes was the American gymnast George Eyser, who won six medals even though his left leg was made of wood.
  • 1908 London - Despite international customs that encourage dipping the flag in respect to heads of state, since 1908 US flag bearers have not done so.
  • 1912 Stockholm - It was the last time that solid gold medals were awarded; modern medals are usually gold plated silver... A Greco-Roman Wrestling bout... lasted 11 hours and forty minutes—the world’s longest wrestling match.
  • 1932 Los Angeles - U.S. President Herbert Hoover did not attend the Games, becoming the first sitting head of government to not appear at an Olympics hosted in that country... Mahatma Gandhi took part in the games as a press reporter.
  • 1936 Berlin - [Jesse] Owens was able to freely use public transportation and enter bars and other public facilities without the difficulty he would face as a black man in the United States.
  • 1976 Montreal - [Japanese gymnast] Fujimoto broke his leg on the floor exercise, and due to the closeness in the overall standings with the USSR, he hid the extent of the injury. With a broken knee, Fujimoto was able to complete his event on the rings, performing a perfect triple somersault dismount, maintaining perfect posture. He scored a 9.7 thus securing gold for Japan.
Credit here, although I think much of the text was transcribed from Wikipedia.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...