Very Interesting Facts About Olympic Games

1. The second Olympics witness the women’s participation in the games for the first time and from then till now women has been part of the games. Paris, France hosted the second edition of these games in 1900 in which 1319 men and 11 women from 26 countries participated in 75 different sporting event. The next Olympic in 1904 at St. Louis, USA saw the Olympic medals (Gold, Silver and Bronze) for the first time. Between the 3rd and 4th edition of these games, the first and the last intercalated games held in Athens, Greece in 1906, which were considered as unofficial by IOC.

2. In 1912, Stockholm hosted the Olympics and competitors from all five continents came to participate which gave the birth to the symbolism of the five rings of Olympic flag. Next Olympic Games were cancelled because of the ongoing World War 1.The Olympic oath that is uttered by everyone at the opening ceremony was first uttered in Antwerp, 1920; the next Olympics will be the last to be hold under the presidency of the father of Modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin. In the year 1925, IOC stated the reason why professional sportsperson were not allowed to participate and that the games are to be strictly for amateurs, the explanation given was “An amateur is one who devotes himself to sport for sport's sake without deriving from it, directly or indirectly, the means of existence. A professional is one who derives the means of existence entirely or partly from sport". The Olympic torch that travel the whole world around was first lit in 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam and the name Summer Olympics was coined. 

3. Republic of China, the country which remains among the top rank in the Olympics made its first appearance at the games along with Colombia in 1932 Olympics at Los Angles, USA. During the age of racial discrimination, Jesse Owens an Afro-American athlete won 4 gold in sprints and long jump events in 1936, Berlin Olympics. Olympics in 1960 at Rome witnessed the domination of Soviet Union in gymnastics in which they won 15 medals out of 16. 

4. The games at Munich in 1972 added a dark chapter in the history of the Olympic games as on 5th September 1972, 11 of the Israeli athletes were abducted and killed by a Palestinian terrorist group. USA and Soviet boycotted the respective Olympic Games of 1980, Moscow and 1984, Los Angles because of the ongoing conflicts. Another act of Violence occurred at the Olympic Games of 1996, Atlanta as a bomb explosion killed 2 and wounded 111 others inside Centennial Olympic Park.

5. In 2004, the games travelled back to its place of origin in Athens, Greece in which all the 202 nations affiliated to IOC took part in.

6. The story of Olympics has been a perfect mix up of joy , peace, spirit of sport mixed along with unprecedented events, protest, violence and much more, but nothing ever stopped it from becoming “The Greatest Sporting Event on the Planet”. Travelling all across the globe creating new marvels in sports and bringing people together through sports and spreading message of peace, unity and humanity has been the prime motto of the Olympics Games.

7. The latest edition “Olympics 2016’ is now taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It’s the second time that the games are being held in a Latin American country after 1968 games at Mexico.