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46 Fascinating Facts About The Olympics

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Not a sports fan? You’ll still love these interesting facts about the Olympics that we’ve rounded up for you! There’s something fascinating about the Games. Even if you don’t follow sports, you might find yourself cheering for your home team every time they compete. That’s because the Olympics are filled with electrifying moments that take you through a range of emotions. From shedding happy tears for the winners to vibing with strangers – you’ll feel it all.

What makes the Olympics so special, you ask? It’s a melting pot of superhuman achievements. Athletes, who’ve trained for years, push the boundaries of their potential. It’s a celebration of the human spirit that unites nations and brings people together like nothing else.

These fun facts about the Olympics will make your jaw drop and your curiosity soar. Did you know that the ancient Olympic Games were held to honor the Greek god Zeus? Imagine competing in front of a crowd of toga-wearing spectators, showcasing your athletic prowess to gain the favor of the mighty gods themselves. Talk about pressure!

So, let’s dive right into the cool Olympics facts — the unbroken records, the highest medal tally, and the unexpected tales that have unfolded throughout history. So, buckle up, and get ready to win a gold medal in Olympics trivia.

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#1

Abebe Bikila running in Marathon His shoes were ill-fitting and gave him blisters. So he decided to run barefoot! He won a gold in the men’s marathon.

en.wikipedia.org , commons.wikimedia.org Report

34points

El Cucuy 1 year ago

F'n Legend

5points

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#2

Womans running in Olympics It was the first event where every country, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Brunei, sent female athletes. There were also more women referees and coaches.

olympics.com Report

32points

steven mayes 1 year ago

2012 London Olympics were the best Olympics ever. Fact.

5points

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#3

Man standing at platform near swimming pool Phelps was 15 years old at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He finished fifth in the 200-meter butterfly finals. He went on to win 28 medals in his career.

en.wikipedia.org Report

30points

Rocky Wheelwright 1 year ago

His physiology and kinesiology is remarkable.

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#4

Jim Thorpe looking Back in 1912, the Games allowed only amateurs to participate. Jim Thorpe was a professional minor-league baseball player. He won two golds at the 1912 Stockholm Games. However, the Committee stripped him of his medals for violating the rules. They were reinstated in 1983 after the rules were found to be unfair.

en.wikipedia.org , Underwood & Underwood Report

30points

Hugh Cookson 1 year ago

Of course they were unfair, the rules were drawn up by upper class toffs who wanted to keep the contests as a sort of aristocratic athletics club !!

6points

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#5

Horse race Women were neither allowed to participate nor step foot on the sacred grounds of Olympia. However, the princess exploited a loophole. She entered her horses in the chariot race, where the medals were awarded to the owners instead of the chariot racers.

en.wikipedia.org Report

28points

Zophra 1 year ago

Sigh. Why are women always the underdogs?

3points

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#6

Waldi a Dachshund Olympic Mascot He featured in the 1972 Munich games.

olympics.com , shop.olympics.com Report

25points

Mike Fitzpatrick 1 year ago

And he's adorable.

5points

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#7

Fireworks at night It’s followed by the participating countries in alphabetical order. The parade ends with the host country.

olympics.com Report

24points

Chewie Baron 1 year ago

Alphabetic order in the host city’s language. Though that caused problems for Barcelona in 1992. They wanted it in the Catalan alphabet, Madrid insisted it should be the Castillo alphabet. In the end the countries entered in the order of the French alphabet whilst the countries were announced in French, English, Castillo and Catalan. In Beijing 2008, the countries came out in the order of how many brushstrokes it took to write out their name in Mandarin.

10points

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#8

Zeus statue head The Games are believed to have started around the 8th century BCE to honor the Greek god Zeus. They were organized at the sacred site of Olympia, where athletes performed religious ceremonies before competing.

history.com Report

23points

Luke Branwen 1 year ago

This is not a Zeus statue tho, it's a statue of Moses (depicted with very antisemitic horns)

1point

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#9

France flag France, Britain, Australia, Switzerland, and Greece are the only five nations that have never missed the Summer Olympics.

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22points

Chewie Baron 1 year ago

Great Britain is the only country that has won a gold medal at every Summer Olympics.

3points

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#10

Johnny Weissmuller smiling The actor was a champion swimmer who won medals in 1924 and 1928. He went on to star in the Tarzan movies in the ’30s and ’40s.

en.wikipedia.org , MGM studio Report

21points

El Cucuy 1 year ago

He was also responsible for that iconic Tarzan yell. Often imitated, never duplicated.

11points

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#11

Man swimming in pool They first claimed they were robbed by gunmen. Unfortunately for them, Brazilian officials had video footage of their vandalism.

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21points

El Cucuy 1 year ago

With Ryan Lochte being one of the three.

7points

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#12

Olympic rings The five intertwined rings symbolize Africa, the Americas (North and South America), Asia, Europe, and Oceania.

olympics.com Report

21points

Tucker Cahooter 1 year ago

The penguins in Antarctica are outraged at the deliberate snub

8points

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#13

Torch with fire Cosmonauts from Russia, Japan, and America took the Olympic torch on board the Soyuz spacecraft all the way to ISS. The unlit torch was taken for a spacewalk as part of the Sochi 2014 Olympic torch relay.

nasa.gov Report

19points

TheGoodBoi 1 year ago (edited)

*Floating around in space* Yayyy I hope everyone is watching me wave this torch in space! OH NO, IT SLIPPED OUT OF MY HAND! HOUSTON! HOUSTON! Welp, there it goes 😅...

3points

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#14

Persons walking in Tokyo city In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused the Olympics to be postponed for the first time in the 21st century.

olympics.com Report

19points

Julie Snelling 1 year ago

Like we all didn't already know this

4points

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#15

Woman performing gymnastic In gymnastics, a perfect 10 is practically never possible. Any athlete who comes close to achieving this can be considered as exceptionally talented.

en.wikipedia.org Report

19points

Apatheist Account2 1 year ago

It's been happening since Nadia Comaneci. What doesn't seem to be possible is scoring anything less than 9. The commentators talk about dropping 0.1, and the scores are now to at least 3 digits so that they can separate the competitors. One wonders what they have to do to score 3 or 4.

5points

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#16

19points

Chewie Baron 1 year ago

Held in Amsterdam. McDonalds have been sponsoring the Games since 1976, which were held in Montréal.

2points

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#17

19points

Nikki Sevven 1 year ago

...whereas launching yourself into the air whilst spinning rapidly with knives on your feet is completely safe.

12points

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#18

The Beijing Olympics arena The Beijing Olympics were held in 2008 and began on august 8 at 8:00 p.m.

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18points

Silvermidnight 1 year ago

The number 8 is considered lucky in many Asian countries (eight is pronounced as 'ba' in China, which is like 'fa' in the words 'facai' or get rich quick), just like the number 4 is considered unlucky (its pronunciation sounds like die).

2points

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#19

Woman riding a horse Norwegian equestrian Tony André Hansen’s horse tested positive for a banned substance in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The athlete was stripped of his bronze medal, even though he claimed the drug came from treating his horse’s injuries.

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18points

Deborah Rubin 1 year ago

If a horse has injuries it shouldn't be competing at any level, let alone the Olympics.

4points

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#20

Woman performing gymnastic Almost every gymnast struggled to perform on the vault during the 2000 Sydney Olympics and was tumbling on the mat awkwardly. Eventually, an official complaint was raised and the vault height was found to be incorrect. The event was reorganized after replacing the vault.

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17points

Apatheist Account2 1 year ago

Sadly, this was also after some had already been badly injured and could not compete.

6points

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#21

Bob Beamon performing long jump Bob Beamon, an American track and field athlete, made a remarkable long jump of 8.90 meters (29.1 feet) at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. The record stood for 23 years until it was finally broken in 1991 by Mike Powell.

en.wikipedia.org , commons.wikimedia.org Report

17points

Pedantic Panda 1 year ago

This is further than a horse can jump, that record stands at 28ft. (Can you guess which BBC radio 4 programme I listened to today?)

2points

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#22

Person with first place medal In 1904 St. Louis Summer Olympics U.S.A won 231 medals!

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16points

Nikki Sevven 1 year ago

Funny how the negative stuff about the US always has a ton of negative comments, but the positive stuff is completely ignored.

10points

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#23

Different drugs and pills An investigation found a systematic cover-up of positive doping tests, which led to the disqualification of several Russian athletes.

en.wikipedia.org Report

14points

Apatheist Account2 1 year ago

Chinese and Russians cheating. Who'd have thought it?

9points

#24

The United State flags and buildings It has hosted four Summer Games and four Winter Games. It is set to host for the 9th time in 2028.

guinnessworldrecords.com Report

14points

PismoBob 1 year ago

California has had both the summer and Winter Olympics.

1point

#25

Boy bites medal While the winners today commonly bite their medals to show their delight, champions have historically done so to determine whether the medals were made of genuine gold.

olympics.com Report

14points

sofacushionfort 1 year ago

Thank you, Shoeshine Boy. You’re humble and lovable

1point

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#26

Eddie Eagan smiling Eddie Eagan won a boxing gold in 1920 and another gold in bobsleigh at the Winter Olympics of 1932.

en.wikipedia.org , commons.wikimedia.org Report

13points

Kel_how 1 year ago

Wow, interesting mix of sports!

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#27

Skater Tonya Harding performing in Olympics If you’ve heard of the movie I, Tonya, then you would surely know about the controversy. Harding’s ex-husband attacked Kerrigan’s knee with a police baton just before the 1994 Winter Olympics. Luckily, she recovered in time and went on to win a silver.

en.wikipedia.org , Mintaka Alnilam Report

13points

Zophra 1 year ago

I remember this - it was a serious drama!

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#28

13points

Chewie Baron 1 year ago

So did the first few minders Olympics. It wasn’t until the Stockholm Games of 1912 did we first have the first condensed Games that we have now.

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#29

Gold medals Now the winning medal is made of silver, plated with 6 grams (0.2 ounces) of gold.

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13points

Asher Tye 1 year ago

Why though?

1point

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#30

Olive wreath crown with flowers Before this, Olympians were honored with olive wreath crowns.

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12points

LissyPoo 1 year ago

I always thought it was Laurels.

2points

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#31

Girl performing gymnastic 16 is the minimum age to compete. She was stripped of her bronze medal when her real age was revealed.

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12points

Pedantic Panda 1 year ago

But Phelps was 15 at his first games? Is this age restriction just for gymnastics?

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#32

Torch with flame If it goes out, it’s lit by a backup torch, also lit at Olympia. As per tradition, it can never be relit with a regular lighter.

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12points

Grey Aria 1 year ago

Legend has it that once when the torch went out in Texas, there was a man who had lit a cigarette with the torch flame and he saved the flame by relighting the torch with that same cigarette... that man was Dale Gribble.

1point

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#33

Walt Disney looking He added Disney magic to the ceremonies. There were dramatic ice sculptures, an 80-foot Tower of Nations, and dazzling fireworks. 2,000 “peace doves” were also released during the ceremony.

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11points

Mike Fitzpatrick 1 year ago

But the athletes drew the line at wearing mouse ears in the procession. 😂😂😂

6points

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#34

Football stadium First, the US and 65 nations decided to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics as a protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Next, the Soviet Union and 13 more countries boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

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11points

Chewie Baron 1 year ago

The Soviet Bloc boycott was a tit for tat boycott because of the USA led boycott in the 1980 Games. Romania, although a communist country, defied the boycott.

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#35

Man performing at skating competition It happened during the figure skating competition. First, the Russian team was found to be the winner. Later, the French judge of the competition claimed she was pressured to vote for Russia. After this, the officials decided to reward both the Russian and Canadian teams with gold medals.

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11points

Julie Snelling 1 year ago

The Russian's cheating. Shocker.

0points

#36

Room with graffiti and art From 1912 to 1948, the Olympic Games included art competitions to celebrate artistic expression. The winners were awarded medals, just like the athletes. However, it was discontinued after 1948.

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11points

Huddo's sister 1 year ago

When I first heard that painting was held in the 1912 Olympics, I assumed that was the last time it was included. It's even more interesting knowing it was included until 1948.

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#37

Olympic rings at the bridge In 1916 During WWI, In 1940, And In 1944 During WWII.

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11points

Chewie Baron 1 year ago

Berlin was meant to host the 1916 Games. Tokyo was meant to host the 1940 Games, then they were given the 1944 Games. After the attack on Pearl Harbour, they were then given to London. Who eventually held the 1948 Games

2points

#38

Old man running and boy riding near him Both Winter and Summer Paralympic Games are held immediately after the corresponding Olympic Games.

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11points

Chewie Baron 1 year ago

They were previously held as the Wheelchair Games and were held in a place called Stoke Madeville, which is outside London. They became known as Paralympics, as they were held parallel to the Olympic Games. When Seoul held their Summer Games in 1988, they allowed the Paralympics to use the Olympic facilities, something that was added to future Olympic Bids by the IOC after the 1992 Games.

3points

#39

Medicine pills An interesting fact about the Olympics revolves around a doping scandal caused by a cough medicine. Romanian gymnast Andreea Răducan tested positive for pseudoephedrine during the 2000 Olympics. She was taking cough medicine at that time and claimed the substance entered her body because of that. The IOC stripped her gold medal and refused to reconsider its decision.

en.wikipedia.org Report

10points

Zophra 1 year ago

And her coach didn't advise her? No one ? She didn't know a list of substances she couldn't take at this level of competition?

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#40

10points

Apatheist Account2 1 year ago

Being kicked in the Olympics sounds painful.

9points

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#41

10points

Grey Aria 1 year ago

The host city also gets the privilege of spending astronomical amounts of money on venues and facilities that will almost certainly fall into disrepair and never be used again.

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#42

Flaming torch It is lit at Olympia in Greece. It then travels around the world for two years until it reaches the host nation, where it lights the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony.

en.wikipedia.org Report

10points

Huddo's sister 1 year ago

I saw the torch relay go past the Melbourne suburbs before the 2000 Olympics but I wasn't really fussed about it. Stuck in crowds to watch someone I had never heard of run past with a torch...I was 10 and already cynical :)

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#43

Man playing golf Golf made a triumphant comeback in 2016 — 112 years after the last tournament!

olympics.com Report

10points

PismoBob 1 year ago

The golf course in Rio is back to being natural since no body wanted to pay for maintenance and most people can’t afford to play the game.

1point

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#44

9points

Huddo's sister 1 year ago

The first ones on Australian tv were the 1956 Melbourne games. Most of the country still didn't have tvs though, outside of capital cities.

0points

#45

Pigeon watching Live Pigeon Shooting Was Part Of An Archery Event At The 1900 Olympic Games

9points

Satan 1 year ago

Poor pigeons!

2points

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#46

Ruins in Athens Greece However, it is likely they began much earlier.

history.com Report

7points

Jan Dunn 1 year ago

And then there's the world war I 1940 and 1944 thing. Fact check panda!

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Eligijus Sinkunas

I’m a visual editor for Bored Panda, trying to find and select high-quality images to enhance articles across different formats. With a keen eye for detail, my goal is to ensure that each picture helps to attract readers into captivating visual experiences. As a freelancer, I’m also working as a video editor for a YouTube channel that makes music games. After work, I like to play with guitar, go to karate classes or just relax at home at play video games.

I’m a visual editor for Bored Panda, trying to find and select high-quality images to enhance articles across different formats. With a keen eye for detail, my goal is to ensure that each picture helps to attract readers into captivating visual experiences. As a freelancer, I’m also working as a video editor for a YouTube channel that makes music games. After work, I like to play with guitar, go to karate classes or just relax at home at play video games.

Damanjeet Sethi

Damanjeet is passionate about cycling and fascinated by sci-fi movies. When not writing, you can find her conducting silly science experiments with her 5-year-old.

Damanjeet is passionate about cycling and fascinated by sci-fi movies. When not writing, you can find her conducting silly science experiments with her 5-year-old.

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