Olympic Trivia

1904-St. Louis, Missouri, USA

2010-04-24T20:43:00.004-04:00

Official Name: Games of the III Olympiad
Host City: St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
Opening Ceremony: July 1, 1904
Officially Opened By: David Francis, president of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Closing Ceremony: November 24, 1904
Stadium: Francis Field
Events: 91 in 17 sports
Participants: 651 (645 men and 6 women)
Countries: 12
Youngest Participant: Vahran Papazyan (Turkey-Athletics)13 yrs. 224 days
Oldest Participant: Charles Newton Robinson (Great Britain-Fencing)52 yrs. 192 days
Most Medals (individual): Leon Moreaux (France-Shooting) and Martin Sheridan (USA-Athletics) 5 each
Most Medals (country): USA (239)

Passings:Juan Antonio Samaranch

2010-04-23T21:47:00.003-04:00

Former International Olympic Committee president, Juan Antonio Samaranch, died Wednesday April, 21, 2010 at the age of 89. According to reports, the Spaniard died of cardio-respiratory failure in a hospital in Barcelona. Samaranch served as the IOC president from 1980 to 2001.

Many consider Samaranch one of the most successful IOC president and the man who brought the Games into the modern era. He was instrumental in the addition of professional athletes participation in the games and also made the Games financially successful with large television deals and sponsorships. Samaranch's term as president began during political turmoil in the world with the boycott of both the 1980 Moscow Games and the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

In 1980, Samaranch was a little-known Spanish diplomat who took the reigns of the largest sporting organization in the world. During his 21 years as IOC president he transformed the Games into an international spectacle. Before Samaranch's tenure, the Games were more of financial burden on the host city than a joyous celebration. With the addition of worldwide sponsorships and large broadcasting contracts the Games became the world's favorite sporting event.

His term wasn't without controversy as his reign included the scandal of the 2002 Salt Lake City bid. Many member's of the IOC were reported to have received improper benefits from the Salt Lake City organizing committee.

Samaranch retired as IOC president in 2001 having served the second-longest term in IOC history behind only Olympic founder, Pierre de Coubertin. Samaranch was the last president to stay in office for longer than 12 years as new rules allow presidents one eight-year mandate with the possibility of a four year extension.

Following his retirement, Samaranch's was honored with honorary IOC president for life and remained active with the Olympic movement. He regularly attended IOC meetings and pushed Madrid's bids for the 2014 or 2016 Games. He continued his IOC loyalty until his death having attended the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.

His son, Juan Antonio Samaranch's Jr. is currently an IOC member since 2001. His daughter, Maria Teresa Samaranch is president of the Spanish Federation of Sports on Ice. He was preceded in death by his wife, Maria Teresa Salisachs Rowe.

Athlete Profile: Sonja Henie (Norway)

2009-11-04T22:33:00.003-05:00

At the tender age of 11, Sonja Henie competed in the inaugural Winter Olympic Games in 1924. She had first won a Norwegian senior championship at nine. While she finished last in her first Olympics, she quickly became a crowd favorite and would become the most famous skater in the world as the years progressed.

In 1927, at just 14, she won her first World Championship title. She would continue her streak of standing on top of the World's podium as she went on to win an unprecedented ten World titles. Those include gold medals at the 1928 and 1932 Olympics. At her fourth Olympics in 1936, many thought she would be upstaged by younger stars but once again Henie showed why she was the queen of the ice as she took her third consecutive gold medal. Following the 1936 World Championships, Henie would give up her amatear status and turn professional, eliminating any further World or Olympic competition.

As a competitor, Henie traveled all over the world and worked with numerous foreign coaches. She was trained at home by Hjordis Olsen and Oscar Holte. During her later career, she would train in London under American Howard Nicholson. She also competed in many exhibition skating competitions and her popularity became so great that police had to control the crowds in such cities as Prague and New York. While Henie was an amatear skater at the time (no professionals could compete in the Olympics at the time) her mother demanded "expense money."

Henie was also an innovator in skating attire as the first to adopt the shorter skirt outfit. She also first incorporated dance chorography into her routines and her innovative skating techniques helped make figure skating one of the most popular Winter Olympic sports.

Even during her figure skating career, Henie had decided that after retiring she would pursue a career in acting. In 1936 she signed a long term contract with Twentieth Century Fox which made her one of the highest paid actresses of all time. She also formed a business in which she produced her own figure skating touring ice shows, "Hollywood Ice Revue."

Henie would be a victim of a plane crash en route to Oslo on October 12, 1969. She was 57.

1900-Paris, France

2009-11-01T19:05:00.003-05:00

Official Name: Games of the II Olympiad
Host City: Paris, France
Opening Ceremony: May 14, 1900
Closing Ceremony: October 28, 1900
Stadium: Velodrome de Vincennes
Events: 95 in 18 sports
Participants: 997 (975 men and 22 women)
Countries: 24
Youngest Participant: Carl Heinrich Gobler (Germany-Rowing) 15 yrs. 130 days
Oldest Participant: Louis Comte de Douet de Graville (France-Equestrian) 69 yrs. 95 days
Most Medals (individual): Walter Tewksburg (USA-Athletics) and Irv Baxter (USA-Athletics) 5 each
Most Medals (country): France (106)

Unusual Events: What happened to the Antwerp Flag?

2009-10-30T20:55:00.004-04:00

As stated in the previous post, the original Olympic flag presented to the IOC by the city of Antwerp, Belgium following the conclusion of the 1920 Olympics was stolen and had to be replaced by the Paris flag at the next Olympics. For years no one knew the whereabouts to the Antwerp flag and many thought it would never be seen again. That changed in 1977.

At a US Olympic Committee banquet a reporter was interviewing American Haig "Hal" Prieste, a bronze medalist at the 1920 Olympics in platform diving, when he brought up the topic of the stolen Olympic flag. Prieste replied, "I can help you with that, it's in my suitcase."

As it turns out, Prieste was dared by American swimmer Duke Kahanamoku to climb the flagpole and take the flag. For 57 years Prieste kept the flag in a suitcase in his home.

The IOC held a special ceremony at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia where Prieste, then 103, returned the Antwerp flag. It is now on display at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland that includes a plaque thanking Prieste for returning it.

Haig Prieste would pass away in 2001 at the age of 104, at the time of his death he was the oldest Olympic medalist.

Olympic Flag

2009-10-29T22:12:00.004-04:00

The Olympic Flag was first designed by modern Olympic founder, Pierre De Coubertin in 1914. According to De Coubertin, "The Olympic flag [...] has a white background, with five interlaced rings in the centre: blue, yellow, black, green and red [...] This design is symbolic ; it represents the five inhabited continents of the world, united by Olympism, while the six colors are those that appear on all the national flags of the world at the present time."

Since the 1960 Winter Olympics, the Olympic Flag is always carried into the stadium horizontally as the Olympic Anthem is playing. The flag is flown throughout the Games as stated in the Olympic Charter that it must "fly for the entire duration of the Olympic Games from a flagpole placed in a prominent position in the main stadium." At the conclusion of the Games, the flag is then lowered from the flagpole and carried out the same way it was brought in.

There are four special Olympic Flags that differ from all others in that they have a six color fringe around it. These flags are displayed by the cities that will next host the Games. The flags are passed to the mayor of the next Olympics during the closing ceremony and will be displayed at city hall.

-Antwerp Flag: The first Olympic flag was presented to the IOC at the 1920 Olympics by the city of Antwerp, Belgium. At the conclusion of the Games the flag was stolen and could not be found. A new Olympic flag was made for the 1924 Olympics.

-Paris Flag: The new Olympic flag was designed and created for the 1924 Paris Olympics and was passed to the next organizing city of each Summer and Winter Olympics until the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway when a separate flag was created for the Winter Olympics. The Paris flag continued to be used for each Summer Olympics until the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

-Oslo Flag: The Oslo flag was presented by the mayor of Oslo, Norway during the 1952 Olympics. It has continued to be passed to each host city of the Winter Olympics since then.

-Seoul Flag: The new flag was presented by the mayor of Seoul, South Korea after the retirement of the Paris flag. It has since been passed to each host city of the Summer Olympic Games.

Amazing Moments: Bob Beamon

2009-10-27T23:23:00.006-04:00

One journalist said Beamon was, "The man who saw lighting." Sports writer Dick Schaap wrote a book about it called The Perfect Jump. What happened on October 18th, 1968 would forever be remember as simply "beamonesque."

Bob Beamon was one of the favorites, along with teammate Ralph Boston, for the long jump gold medal. His best jump prior to the Games was 8.33 m (27 ft. 4 in.) but on that field in the middle of a track in Mexico City, Bob Beamon would jump farther than any human had ever done before.

Coming into the Olympic Games, Beamon had won 22 of his last 23 long jump competitions but he struggled in the qualifications, fouling on his first two attempts. He would finally jump clean on his third to qualify for the finals.

As the finals began the world record was held by American Ralph Boston and Russia's Igor Ter-Ovanesyan at 27 ft. 4.5 in. On his first jump, Bob Beamon sprinted down the runway, took exactly 19 strides before hitting the board and flying through the air. He soared in the thin Mexico City air and finally landed at the other end of the sand pit.

As he landed he danced his way back down the track, realizing he had just jumped an amazing feet but not knowing the exact distance. The announcer finally announced his jump at 8.90 m. Beamon, unfamiliar with the metric measuring system, didn't know how far he had jumped until his coaches and teammate converted the jump to 29 ft. 2.5 in. In pure joy, Beamon fell to the track, covered his face and cried. In a matter of mere seconds he not only became the first man to clear 29 ft. but the first to ever clear 28 ft!

How far was the jump? Well the officially measuring device at the time was too short. Officials had to manually measure the jump.

Sports Illustrated named the jump as one of the top five greatest sport moments of the 20th century and it would take 23 years for someone to better Beamon's mark. American Mike Powell finally took down Beamon's mark with a jump of 8.95 m (29 ft. 4-3/8 in) in 1991. Beamon's record still stands as the Olympic record more than 40 years later and remains the second longest jump in history.

The official IOC video of Beamon's jump:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIgk75Jn9ZQ

Unusual Events: 1904 Marathon

2009-10-26T22:05:00.003-04:00

There have been many strange and unusual stories to come out of the Olympics. One of those was during the marathon at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis.

American runner Fred Lorz was the first runner to enter the Olympic stadium and break the tape at the conclusion of the race; he was greeted by cheers and applause from the many fans who filled the stadium.

However, it was later revealed that Lorz had cheated during the race. With temperatures well into the 100s, Lorz stopped after running nine miles because he was too exhausted to continue. His manager then picked him up in his car and drove eleven miles of the race before the car broke down. Lorz would finish the race from there on foot.

Initially, Lorz went along with the joke and claimed he was the true winner of the event. He later admitted that he had cheated and fellow American Thomas Hicks was declared the winner. Hicks himself had to be assisted with strychnine sulfate during the race (a substance now banned) because of the temperature.

Lorz would be banned from further events by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) but was reinstated after apologizing for cheating and was cleared of intent to defraud. He would go on to genuinely win the Boston Marathon the following year.

Athlete Profile: Jim Thorpe (USA)

2009-10-25T21:28:00.003-04:00

He's said to be one of the most versatile athletes ever. Besides being an Olympic champion, Jim Thorpe played professional football, baseball and basketball. His status as a professional in those sports led to him losing his Olympic medals only to have them returned years later.

Jim Thorpe was believed to be born on May 28, 1888 in Prague, Oklahoma; no birth certificate was ever found. He was of mixed heritages; his father was Irish, his mother a Sac and Fox Indian. His native name, "Wa-Tho-Huk" meaning "a path lighted by a great flash a lightning" or simply "bright path."

As a young boy he attended school in nearby Stroud, Oklahoma with his twin brother. Following his brothers death, Thorpe struggled in school and was sent away to keep him from skipping school. He again ran away following his mother death and it was finally decided to send him to Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. It was there that he met coach Glen Scobey Warner, one of the most influential coaches in early American football history. It was here that Thorpe would develop his natural athletic talent.

It is reported that Thorpe attempted high jump and beat every high jumper on the team by jumping a 5'9" while in street clothes. He also competed in football, baseball, lacrosse and ballroom dancing while at Carlisle. He led the football team to numerous wins including an upset victory over Harvard and national championships.

Leading to the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, two new disciplines were added to the program-decathlon and pentathlon. The original pentathlon consisted of long jump, javelin throw, 200 meter dash, discus and 1500 meter run. Thorpe entered both events at the Olympic Trials and easy won both.

Thorpe's decathlon total of 8,413 would stand for nearly two decades. He won all but the javelin throw in the pentathlon event, easily beating the field. Along with the decathlon and pentathlon, Thorpe also entered the long jump and high jump events but would not medal in either. Thorpe would be awarded his gold medals during the Olympic closing ceremony along with two additional prized, one from King Gustav of Sweden and the other from Czar Nicholas II of Russia. It is reported that when awarded his prize, King Gustav said, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world."

Thorpe would return home to lavish celebrations for his achievements.

However, in 1913, strict rules were put in place to enforce amateurism in sports. Athletes could not receive prize money for competitions. In January 1913, newspaper began writing that Thorpe had played professional baseball and earning money. Later that year the IOC stripped Thorpe of his Olympic titles, medals and awards.

Thorpe would go on to play professionally in basketball, baseball and football. Following his sports career, Thorpe struggled to find work. By 1950 and with no money, Thorpe was diagnosed with lip cancer. In 1953, he suffered his third heart attack; he later died on March 28, 1953 at the age of 64.

Throughout the years many continued to campaign and urge the IOC to reinstate Thorpe as the Olympic champion and return his medals. After many failed attempts, the IOC finally decided to return the medals and Thorpe's name to the record books in 1982.

Olympic Medals

2009-10-24T18:17:00.000-04:00

Today every athlete dreams of wearing an Olympic gold medal around their neck but did you know that during the ancient Olympic Games there were no medals? At the original Olympic Games dating back to 776 BC, first place finishers received an olive branch to wear on their heads while second and third place finishers left with nothing.

During the first modern Olympics in 1896, athletes who finished first would receive a silver medal, second place a bronze and third place nothing. It wouldn't be until the 1904 St. Louis Games that a gold medal was awarded to the winners, second place a silver and third a bronze.

The 1912 Olympics would be the last time a gold medal was made purely of gold. Since then gold medals are made of sterling silver with a coat of pure gold (roughly 6 grams). Exact requirements for the Summer Games medals is that all gold medals must be at least three millimeters thick and 60 millimeters in diameter.

Starting in 1928, all Summer Olympic medals featured the same design on the front: a Greek goddess, the Olympic Rings, the Coliseum of ancient Athens, a Greek vase, a horse-drawn chariot, along with the year, number of Olympiad and host city. Each host city is allowed to add their own design with those requirements. The reverse side is each host cities own design.

The Winter Olympic medals have far less criteria and allow for more modern and unique designs. The 2006 Torino Games featured a circular medal with no center while the design for 2010 is no even round.

1896- Athens Facts

2009-10-24T15:47:00.001-04:00

Official Name: Games of the I Olympiad
Host City: Athens, Greece
Opening Ceremony: April 6, 1896
Officially Opened by: King George I of Greece
Closing Ceremony: April 15, 1896
Stadium: Panathinaiko Stadium
Events: 43 in 9 sports
Participants: 241 (241 men, 0 women)
Countries: 14
Youngest Participant: Dimitrios Loundras (Greece-gymnastics) 10 yrs, 216 days
Oldest Participant: Charles Waldstein (USA-shooting) 40 yrs, 10 days
Most Medals (individual): Hermann Weingartner (Germany-gymnastics) 5 medals
Most Medals (country): Greece (47)

What is this blog about?

2009-10-24T12:59:00.001-04:00

Here at Olympic Trivia we will look at some of the most significant moments in Olympic history. The Olympics is the greatest sporting event in the world and so many outstanding moments have occurred over the last 113 years. From Athens 1896 to Beijing 2008 and beyond, Olympic moments tug at the heart strings, inspire youth, and make the impossible believable.

Each Olympic Games has significant moments that make headlines but behind those are the stories of athletes from all over the World. Some may never win an Olympic medal but are more excited to be taking part that anyone can imagine. We will also highlight each Olympics. Do you know where the 1952 Games were held, what day it began, or how many athletes took part? Stay tuned to olympicstrivia.blogspot.com for everything Olympics!