If you’re like us, there’s nothing better to watch when it comes to the Olympics Games. Besides the fact that it is said to be the world’s biggest sporting event, the Olympic Games are an amazing celebration of the human spirit, togetherness, fairness, excellence, and world peace. What many people don’t really know is that the Olympic Games have a story of its own. Keep reading to learn some of the most interesting facts about the Olympics.
Interesting Facts About The Olympics You Probably Didn’t Know About
The First Olympic Games
The first Olympics took place in 776 BC as part of an Ancient Greek festival that celebrated Zeus, the Greek God of sky and weather. These games included wrestling, boxing, long jump, javelin, discus, and chariot racing, and lasted for roughly 6 months. Coroebus, a cook from the city of Elis, was the first Olympic champion.
Olympic Rings
The five rings of the Olympics are probably one of the most famous and symbolic items of the Olympics. They were designed by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, co-founder of the modern Olympic Games. The rings represent the five inhabited continents of the world. The six colors blue, yellow, black, green, red, and white background is metaphoric as every nation’s flag contains at least one of the colors. This way everyone is represented and included in the event. The overlaps of the rings also represent international cooperation, and the coming together of athletes from all over the world. We really love this idea!
Two Incredible Athletes
In the history, of the Olympic games, there have only ever been two people to have won gold medals in both the summer and winter Olympic games. Gillis Grafstrom and Eddie Eagan are the names of the two remarkable athletes. Grafstrom who hails from Sweden won gold in figure skating in the 1920 Summer Olympics as well as the 1924 and 1928 during the Winter Games. Then Eagan was just as successful, however, he accomplished this in different disciplines. He took home gold in boxing in 1920 and then later won a gold medal again at the 1932 Lake Placid Winter Games in the team-bobsled event. Impressive, right?
The Paralympics
The first Paralympic Games took place in 1960 in Rome. It was initially designed to allow war veterans a chance to compete and rehabilitate. Prior to this, there were many instances where physically disabled athletes competed in the Olympics games. Olympic gymnast George Eyser famously won six medals with a wooden leg in the 1904 Games. Fortunately, the Paralympics is an international event on its own that offers people with a range of disabilities the chance to compete. Over the years, The Paralympics has grown immensely, it includes thousands of competitors from over 100 different countries. In 2014, Egyptian native, Ibrahim Hamato made history as he became a world champion in table tennis despite having no arms and playing with the racquet in his mouth.
Number Of Sports
The list of Olympic sports has changed enormously since the first Olympic games back in 776 BC. Currently, the Olympic games include 35 different sports, 53 disciplines, and over 400 events that take place over both the summer and winter Olympics. Naturally, the majority of the sports are featured in the Summer Olympics. Of course, some sports are more popular than others. It is said that the top 5 Olympic sports to watch are, gymnastics, swimming, volleyball, water polo, and track and field events.