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31 Interesting Facts To Celebrate The Start Of The 31st Olympics

In celebration of the start of the 31st Olympics, which are being held in Rio de Janeiro Aug 5th to 21st, here are 31 interesting facts about the Olympics.
Gordon Tredgold
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In celebration of the start of the 31st Olympics, which are being held in Rio de Janeiro Aug 5th to 21st, here are 31 interesting facts about the Olympics.

  1. The Rio Olympics will be the first games held in South America

  • The first recorded Olympic Games - 776BCE

  • Women allowed competing for the first time - 1900 (Paris)

  • First use of Gold, Silver and Bronze medals - 1904 (St Louis)

  • First use of a photo-finish camera - 1932 (Los Angeles)

  • Professionals were officially allowed to compete for the first time - 1984 (Los Angeles)

  • Steve Redgrave became the first athlete to win gold medals in five consecutive Olympics - 2000 (Sydney)

  • Olav V, King of Norway, won a gold medal for sailing in Amsterdam 1928, and King Constantine of Greece won a gold medal for sailing in Rome 1960

  • The Oldest competitor to win a gold medal was Oscar Swahn aged 64 - Stockholm 1912

  • The FIRST athlete to be disqualified for drug use was Swedish pentathlete Hans-Grunner Liljenwall, having tested positive for excessive alcohol in Mexico City 1968.

  • American Michael Phelps' Olympic record of 18 gold medals eclipses the entire gold medal tally of hosts Brazil (11 gold).

  • The youngest competitor at the games is Nepal's Gaurika Singh (13 years - DOB 26/11/02), who is competing in the 100m backstroke.

  • The smallest team at the Rio Olympic Games is the South Pacific island nation of Tuvalu. Their sole competitor is Etimoni Timuani in the men's 100m Track Race.

  • Bhutan is the only nation whose team comprises all women. Bhutan has two competitors at the Games -- Karma Karma in the archery and Lenchu Kunzang in the 10m Air rifle.

  • London is the only city to host the summer Games three times: 1908, 1948 and 2012.

  • Greece is the only nation to have participated under its own flag in all modern summer Olympic Games.

  • The only Olympic event in which mother and daughter competed together was the golf tournament of 1900. The event was won by US golfer Margaret Abbott. Her mother Mary, a novelist, also competed in the event, finishing joint seventh.

  • The FIRST Olympic champion of the modern Olympic Games was James Brendan Connolly of United States, the winner of the triple jump (the triple jump was the first final event of the 1896 Olympics).

  • Ethiopian marathon runner Abebe Bikila, ran barefoot all the way to Olympic Gold Medal in Rome, 1960.

  • No women competed in 1896, as de Coubertin felt that their inclusion would be "impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic, and incorrect."

  • Hitler banned alcohol from the Olympic Village in 1936 but permission was given for the French and Italian athletes to be served wine with their meals, and after protests the Dutch and Belgian squads were allowed to have beer.

  • 12-year-old Inge Sorensen from Denmark won a bronze medal in the 200-meter breaststroke in 1936, making her the youngest medalist ever in an individual event.

  • The record for the longest name for an Olympic champion is by female Thai weightlifter Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon.

  • The Beijing Olympics, 2008, began at exactly 8:08:08 PM on 8/8/08 because the number 8 is considered lucky in China.

  • The record for the most appearances at the Olympic Games is held by Canadian show jumper Ian Millar who has competed in 10 Olympics.

  • The FIRST Olympic Games to be covered by television worldwide was the Rome Olympics in 1960.

  • The first Sponsor of the Olympics was Coca-Cola. They sponsored the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, and has supported every Olympic Games since.

  • 92 percent of the revenue for the Rio Olympics will come from Broadcasting rights and Corporate sponsorship, with only 5 percent coming from ticket sales.

  • Non sponsor brands are not allowed to use "Olympics" words in any of their advertisements, promotions, and events. It does not stop here. None of them is allowed to even use Olympics-related words as hash tags, Olympic, Olympian, Team USA, Future Olympian, Gateway to gold, Go for the gold, etc.

  • The Oldest ever Olympian is Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn, who won his sixth Olympic medal at the 1920 Antwerp Games at the age of 72 years and 280 days old.

  • Rio Olympics 2016 will be the FIRST Summer Games to be held entirely during winter time.

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