Olympics Trivia

The first Olympic Games were held in ancient Greece in 776 B.C.


The Olympic symbol is made up of five interlocking rings. The five rings stand for the five continents - Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North America.


In the ancient Olympics, no medals were awarded. The first-place winner was given an olive branch to wear on his head. The second and third place winners did not receive anything.


In 1921, Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, borrowed a Latin phrase from his friend, Father Henri Didon, for the Olympic motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius ("Swifter, Higher, Stronger").


The first games to be televised were the 1936 Berlin Games.


The first team sport to be added to the Olympics was football in 1900.


According to Olympic rules, national anthems cannot be longer than 80 seconds, which means that some countries had to create a shortened version of their national anthems.


In the opening procession of the Olympics, the team representing the host nation always marches last.


The Olympic flame is a practice continued from the ancient Olympic Games. In Olympia (Greece), a flame was ignited by the Sun and it kept burning until the closing of the Olympic Games. The flame first appeared in the modern Olympics at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. The flame, among other things, represents purity and the endeavor for perfection.


A sport can be included in the Olympics only if is "widely practiced by men in at least 75 countries and on four continents, and by women in at least 40 countries and on three continents."


The youngest ever Olympian is 10 years old Greek gymnast, Dimitrios Loundras. He competed in the 1896 Athens Olympics.


There are only two Olympic sports where men and women compete against each other - sailing and equestrian.


When choosing locations for the Olympic Games, the IOC specifically gives the honor of holding the Games to a city rather than a country.