Hi,
Just some Olympic facts you probably didn't know .............. and probably didn't even realise that you didn't know !!!

1. The earliest known Olympic champion was Coroebus of Ellis, a cook, who won a 200 yard race.

2. The 200 yard dash down the length of the stadium was the only athletics event at the eariest Olympics.

3. The main competitions were in Music, Oratory and Theatre.

4. Women were not allowed at the ancient Olympics, but races for unmarried girls were run at a parallel Festival of Hera.

5. It is said that women who sneaked in to watch the early Olympicsrisked being thrown to their deaths from a cliff.

6. Golf was contested at the 1904 Olympics, when the US took gold, silver and bronze. There were 77 contestants .... three from Canada and 74 from the US.

7. Rugby was an Olympic sport in 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924. The US is the reigning champion.

8. Cricket was only played once in the Olympics ..... in 1900, when Britain beat France. No other country bothered entering.

9. Croquet was also only played at the 1900 Olympics in Paris. All the contestants were French.

10. The 1900 croquet event attracted a single spectator ...... and he was an Englishman.

11. Underwater swimming also featured in 1900. Points were given for time underwater and distance swum.

12. The standing high-jump (starting with both feet together and no run-up) was held until 1912.

13. The men's sailors' 100 metre freestyle swimming event in 1896 was open only to members of the Greek Navy. So, Greece won all the medals.

14. The modern day Marathon distance (26miles385yards) came about at the London Olympics, where the race started at Windsor Castle, and finished at the White City Stadium, 26 miles away. However, the finish line had to be in front of the KIng, seated in the Royal Box, 385 yards away from the entrance to the stadium, so , since then, this has been the world-wide accepted Marathon distance.

Anyone got some "vaguely interesting" trivia about the Olympics?

Hugs,
Angela. xx.

Hi,

The "Headline Writers" at the Christian news outlet OneNewsNow must be grateful that Tyson Gay didn't win the 100 metres Final at the Olympics today !!

The American Family Association uses word replacement software to replace the "gay" in stories, which sparked the following when he won the US trials in Oregon in June .....
"Tyson Homosexual was a blur in blue, sprinting 100m. faster than anyone ever has".

Hugs,
Angela. xx.