X-Nico

31 unusual facts about Olympic Games


Anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany

In the weeks before and during the 1936 Winter and Summer Olympic Games held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Berlin, respectively, the Nazi regime actually toned down much of its public anti-Jewish rhetoric and activities.

Australian Sailing magazine

He wasn't able to attend the award ceremony because he was covering yachting at the Olympic Games at the time.

Barbados Olympic Association

Formed after the dissolution of the West Indies Federation in 1962, the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA) first competed at Olympic level at the 1968 Summer Olympics and has continued to compete at every Olympics since excluding the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

Bashar Abdullah

He was also in the Olympic team that reached the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

Benjamin Howard Baker

Howard Baker represented Britain at both the 1912 and 1920 Olympic Games.

Birger Tvedt

He was a doctor for the Norwegian athletes at several world championships and Olympic Games.

Bouclier de Brennus

Charles Brennus sculpted the shield himself in 1892, based on an original design from his friend and fellow USFSA co-founder Pierre de Coubertin, the man who founded the modern Olympic Games.

Cedar Crest College

Diane Moyer, former Olympic field hockey player, current chair of the psychology department

Crash 'N' The Boys: Street Challenge

The game featured Olympic style contests without rules or regulations, between five teams.

Eddie Gaven

Gaven played every minute for the U.S. in the 2003 Under-17 World Championship in Finland and then became the youngest player in CONCACAF history to appear in an Olympic qualifier when he played for the U.S. Under-23 team.

Exclusive First Editions

Gilbow was also chosen as the brand under which a series of White Star Line ocean liners were produced, the models were issued between 1998 & 2000 and depicted the Titanic, Britannic and Olympic liners in various guises, these models no doubt came about because of the huge success of the Titanic Hollywood movie released in the late 1990s.

Fred Rust Ice Arena

The Facility houses two ice sheets the main ice arena, the Fred Rust Ice Arena, is a 2,500-seat regulation Olympic sized ice arena on the UD campus.

Greece at the team sports international competitions

The Greece at the team sports international competitions has achieved 12 victories at the Olympic Games (1), World Championship (3) and European Championships (8).

James Enright

After retiring in 1964 from a refereeing career that saw him officiate the 1954 NCAA tournament Final Four and the 1948 and 1952 Olympic basketball qualifying tournaments, Enright resumed a career he had abandoned for refereeing in 1930 and covered basketball and baseball for such publications as The Sporting News and the Chicago Evening American.

Kevin Sylvester

From 1999 to 2006 he was a popular sportscaster for national radio sports on CBC Radio, and anchored the radio coverage for four Olympic Games.

Manon Rhéaume

An Olympic silver medalist, she achieved a number of historic firsts during her career, including becoming the first and only woman ever to play in a National Hockey League exhibition game.

Micky Stewart

He had hoped to play for his country in the Olympic Games to be held in Melbourne in November that year, but because he was a professional cricketer the Olympic Committee ruled that he was ineligible.

Morten Frost

During his tenure as coach, the Danish national squad achieved over 20 major international wins, including an Olympic gold medal in 1996, six gold medals and three silver medals at the European Championships in 1996, the men's singles titles at the 1995 and 1996 All England Championships, and a gold, two silver and four bronze medals at the World Championships in 1995.

Nigeria Olympic Committee

In January 2011 the NOC announced that it had chosen Loughborough University as training camps for Team Nigeria prior to the London 2012 Olympic Games, a location that would also be used by the Japanese athletes.

The Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) is the National Olympic Committee for Nigeria, responsible for co-ordinating and supporting Nigerian competitors in the Olympic Games.

Olds-Robb Recreation-Intramural Complex

The Jones Pool is an Olympic-sized 50M pool with spring (1M and 3M) and platform (5M, 7M, and 10M) diving boards.

Olympic Charter

The Olympic Charter, last updated 9 September 2013, is a set of rules and guidelines for the organization of the Olympic Games, and for governing the Olympic movement.

Ray Bourque

Bourque is also an Olympian and has become near-synonymous with the Boston Bruins franchise, for which he played 21 seasons and became its longest-serving captain.

Regal Classic

Regal Classic was trained by Olympic Games equestrian Gold Medalist and Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Jim Day.

Robert Gerard

He is a Founder Member of the Quarter Club, which raises over $250,000 per annum for Australian Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games athletes.

Saad Attiya

Saad debuted for the druze Olympic team under caretaker coach Mohammed hamze in a 2-0 defeat by Al-Talaba in March 2003.

Salih Sadir

The talented player from the southern city of Najaf, is one of Iraq's most gifted individuals, who excelled playing for the Olympic team in the qualifying rounds – his performances compensated for the absence of Nashat Akram in Iraq's midfield.

Scot Hollonbeck

At the 2004 Olympic Games, he finished 4th in the demonstration sport of Men's 1500m wheelchair.

The Loneliest Runner

Ten years later, John Curtis (played by Landon himself) is an Olympic marathon runner and a gold-medal-winner.

Thomas Cup

For many they trump major tournaments for individual competitors such as the venerable All-England Championships, the BWF World Championships, and even the badminton competitions at the Olympic Games.

Tom Lingenfelter

An active athlete, Lingenfelter won a bronze medal in indoor sprinting at the National Masters, was Pennsylvania's champion indoor sprinter, was a Keystone Games medalist in field hockey and shooting, and won a bronze medal at the Pan American Games as a member of the United States' Olympic field hockey team.


1992 College Baseball All-America Team

The 1992 All-American class featured three Major League Baseball All-Stars, two Olympians, one Major League Baseball record holder and a two-time World Series champion.

Alexander Petrovskiy

: 8th Olympic Games (Team pursuit with Alexei Markov, Alexander Serov, and Nikolay Trusov), Beijing (CHN)

Australian Sailing magazine

She has helmed 18 ft skiffs, completed 15 Sydney to Hobart races and written about all major yacht races including the Olympic Games.

Belgrave Harriers

The club's membership contains several of Britain's leading athletes, including Olympic silver medallist and World Champion Phillips Idowu, Goldie Sayers, Dwain Chambers and Chicago Marathon winner Paul Evans as well as GB & NI 110m Hurdler William Sharman.

Bermuda at the 2014 Winter Olympics

Bermuda Olympic Association's president, Judy Simons said there are no plans to have Tucker Murphy withdraw due to the terrorist threats on the Olympic Games.

Bert Solomon

He was a member of the Cornwall rugby union team, which on 26 October 1908 won the Olympic silver medal for Great Britain.

Bike boom

In the United Kingdom, 2012 is cited by the British press as a bike boom period, fuelled by the successes of the Tour de France and the Olympic Games by its cyclists.

Billy Richardson

At the end of that season, he represented Ireland in the Olympic Games against Holland at Portsmouth.

Bishop Feehan High School

Mark Coogan (1984): Decorated track athlete, former collegiate track star at University of Maryland, and member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team.

Byron Lars

In 2012, Lars designed dresses for Olympic gold medalists Sanya Richards-Ross, Carmelita Jeter, and Allyson Felix.

Daly Cherry-Evans

Cherry-Evans was named after one of his English-born mother's favourite British athletes, 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games Decathlon Gold Medallist Daley Thompson.

Duluth Entertainment Convention Center

It is the largest curling venue in the United States, and has hosted two World Championships, the US Olympic Trials, and numerous National events.

Farr 40

Featuring the highest level of competition with the Olympic, America's Cup and Volvo Ocean Race Veterans amongst this strictly Owner/Driver Class.

Figure skating at the 1924 Winter Olympics

The events held at this Games were not the first figure skating events contested at the Olympic Games, as the sport had also been on the programme at the 1908 and 1920 Summer Olympics.

Fletcher Gilders

Fletcher Gilders is the older brother of Barbara Gilders-Dudeck, a 1956 Olympic Games finalist in the three-meter springboard diving event; she finished a half-point from the bronze medal.

Forbes Carlile

Together with his wife, Ursula, and their assistant, Tom Green, he produced many notable olympians such as Shane Gould, Karen Moras, Gail Neall, John Davies, Terry Gathercole, John Ryan and Ian O'Brien.

Gianmarco Pozzecco

New Italian coach Carlo Recalcati let him return to the team, and although he lost the calling for Eurobasket 2003, Pozzecco was part of the roster that won the silver medal at the Olympic Games in 2004.

Ingrid Becker

Ingrid Mickler-Becker (née Ingrid Becker; born September 26, 1942 in Geseke, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a former West German athlete and a double Olympic champion.

Jared Connaughton

He finished 3rd in the 200m at the Drake Relays with a time of 21.10 into a headwind of 1.1 m/s behind World and Olympic Champion Jeremy Wariner and Jamaican Richardo Williams.

Jean-Marie Dedecker

Dedecker became well-known first for his long career as a judo coach, with his judokas winning a for Belgium unprecedented number of medals (among them four times Olympian gold), and then for his politics.

Jeff Conine

Though sidelined for two months by the accident, he still managed to compete in the Ironman as well as the St. Anthony's 32 mile Olympic-style race in St. Petersburg, Florida, the half Ironman at Disney and the Timberman 70.3 in New Hampshire.

K-Zone

There are also temporary categories for special events, such as the Olympic Games, Australian Idol, Celebrity Idols, etc.

Landy Field, Geelong

At the conclusion of the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, the Geelong City Council held a dinner on 15 January 1957 to honour the six Geelong Guild athletes (Ron Blackney, John Chittick, Robert James "Bob" Joyce, John Landy, Don MacMillan and John Vernon) who had represented Geelong and Australia at these games.

Lázaro Vargas

Lázaro Vargas Álvarez (born January 18, 1964, in San Miguel del Padrón) is a Cuban baseball player and Olympic gold medalist.

Liberia at the Olympics

Liberia (LBR) has sent athletes to every Summer Olympic Games held since 1956 with the exception of 1968, 1976 and 1992, although the country has never won an Olympic medal.

Maureen G. Mulvaney

Dara Torres, 2008 Beijing Olympian, said, "If I can do it, you can too. Don’t put an age on your dreams."

Mhardeh

Ghada Shouaa, the first Syrian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal, was born in Mhardeh as well as Patriarch Ignatius IV of Antioch.

Michael Melford

From 1946 to 1950 he had been the athletics correspondent for The Observer, a position he subsequently held for a while at the Telegraph, covering the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956 and in Rome four years later.

Mieke Buchan

SPORTS - Throughout her career Buchan has covered events including the Olympic Games, the US Open, and French Open tennis tournaments (for Tennis Channel), Australian Open Tennis (for Triple M) World Cup Soccer (SBS), the Super Bowl, Formula One, the Red Bull Air Race World Championship (Fox Sports America), the Crown Australian Poker Championship (Aussie Millions), Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Mike Penner

Initially reporting on high school sports, Penner went on to cover a variety of national and international sporting events including the Olympics, Major League Baseball, tennis, and World Cup soccer.

Nick Kisner

As an amateur boxer he accomplished (3x National Silver Gloves Championships, 2x Junior National Golden Gloves Championships, Junior Olympic Gold Medal, Ringside World Championship, Ohio State Fair Championship, Under-19 National Championship, and a National Pal Championship, where he defeated 2012 Olympian Lenroy Thompson in the finals.

Olga Šplíchalová

Olga Šplíchalová (born September 1, 1975 in Třebíč, Vysočina) is a retired female freestyle swimmer from the Czech Republic, who twice competed for her native country at the Olympic Games: in 1992 and 1996.

Olympic Broadcasting Services

It is speculated that in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympic Games, an extra ring of security was put around the trailer of Danny Boyle (the ceremony director) following "friction" between his crew and Olympic Broadcasting Services.

Olympic Spirit Toronto

Olympic Spirit Toronto was an Olympic-themed attraction featuring the moments of high drama and emotion experienced by Olympians and fans throughout Canada’s history with the Olympic Games.

Papua New Guinea at the Olympics

Papua New Guinea first participated at the Olympic Games in 1976, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except when they participated in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics.

Paul Elvstrøm

He competed in eight Olympic Games from 1948 to 1988, being one of only four persons ever (the others are sailor Ben Ainslie and athletes Carl Lewis in the long jump and Al Oerter in the discus) to win four consecutive individual gold medals (1948, '52, '56, '60), first time in a Firefly, subsequently in Finns.

Ryan Rohlinger

He was rumored to be dating United States Olympic gymnast Chellsie Memmel however Rohlinger stated in San Francisco Chronicle that "It isn't true," Rohlinger said, "I don't even know her."

Salford Triathlon

The event was not held in 2008 because of its proximity to the Olympic Games, the absence of BBC Sport coverage, and major building work (part of MediaCityUK) close to the area usually used for transition.

Syracuse Crunch

It is not retired, as it would later be worn by former US Olympian Darby Hendrickson and Serge Aubin.

Teddy Afro

Several tracks quickly caught the ear of many listeners in Ethiopia - "Halieselassie", a tribute to the late Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie I; "Haile, Haile", a single in honor of the Olympic long distance champion Haile Gebrselassie; and "Mona Lisa", a song about the measure of human beauty.

Thailand at the Olympics

Thailand first participated at the Olympic Games in 1952, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except when they participated in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics.