The Amsterdam Olympics of 1928 were held in an atmosphere
of peace and harmony that
preceded twenty years of economic uncertainty and war. Perhaps
the Games were best exemplified by the experience of Australian
rower Henry Pearce. Midway through his quarterfinal race, he
stopped rowing to allow a family of ducks to pass single file
in front of his boat. Pearce won the race anyway and, later,
the gold medal as well. At the Opening Ceremony, the team from
Greece led the Parade of Nations and the host Dutch team marched
in last. Greece first, hosts last would become a permanent part
of the Olympic protocol. Athletes from 28 different nations
won gold medals in Amsterdam, a record that would last for 40
years. The number of female athletes more than doubled as women
were finally allowed to compete in gymnastics and athletics.
For the first time, Asian athletes won gold medals. Mikio Oda
of Japan won the triple jump, while his teammate, Yoshiyuki
Tsuruta, won the 200m breaststroke. Meanwhile the team from
India swept to victory in field hockey. Between 1928 and 1960,
Indian teams won six straight gold medals. Another winning streak
began in 1928. Hungary earned the first of seven consecutive
gold medals in team sabre fencing.46 NOCs (Nations)2,883 athletes
(277 women, 2,606 men)109 events
ANTWERP 1920Games of
the VII Olympiad
The 1916 Olympics were scheduled to be held in Berlin, but were
canceled because of
what came to be known as World War I. The 1920 Games were awarded
to Antwerp to honor the suffering that had been inflicted on
the Belgian people during the war. The Opening Ceremony was
notable for the introduction of the Olympic flag and the presentation
of the Athletes’ Oath. In a performance unequaled in Olympic
history, Nedo Nadi of Italy earned gold medals in five of the
six fencing events. Ethelda Bleibtrey of the United States won
gold medals in all three women’s swimming contests. Including
preliminary heats, she swam in five races and broke the world
record in every one. France’s Suzanne Lenglen dominated
women’s tennis singles so completely that she lost only
four games in the ten sets she played. At age 72, Swedish shooter
Oscar Swahn earned a silver medal in the team double-shot running
deer event to become the oldest medalist ever. The 1920 12-foot
dinghy sailing event was the only event in Olympic history to
be held in two countries. The first race was staged in Belgium,
but the last two races took place in the Netherlands because
both entrants were Dutch.29 NOCs (Nations)2,626 athletes (65
women, 2,561 men)154 events
ATHENS 1896Games of
the I Olympiad
The revival of the ancient Olympics attracted athletes from
14 nations, with the largest delegations
coming from Greece, Germany, France and Great Britain. On 6
April 1896, the American James Connolly won the triple jump
to become the first Olympic champion in more than 1,500 years.
Winners were awarded a silver medal and an olive branch. The
German athlete Carl Schumann finished in the top five events
of three different sports. The people of Athens greeted the
Games with great enthusiasm. Their support was rewarded when
a Greek shepherd, Spyridon Louis, won the most popular event,
the marathon.14 NOCs (Nations)241 athletes (0 women, 241 men)43
events
ATHENS 2004 Games of the XXVIII
Olympiad
In 2004 the Olympic Games returned to Greece, the home of both
the ancient Olympics and the first modern Olympics. For the
first time ever a record 201 National Olympic Committees (NOCs)
participated in the Olympic Games. The overall tally for events
on the programme was 301 (one more than in Sydney 2000). Popularity
in the Games reached soared to new highs as 3.9 billion people
had access to the television coverage compared to 3.6 billion
for Sydney 2000. Women's wrestling was included in the program
for the first time. Swimmer Michael Phelps won 6 gold medals
and set a single-Games record with 8 total medals. Leontien
Ziljaard-van Moorsel became the first female cyclist to earn
4 career gold medals and 6 total medals, while canoeist Birgit
Fischer became the first athlete in any sport to win two medals
in each of 5 Olympics. Runner Hicham El Guerrouj won both the
1,500m and the 5,000m, while on the women's side Kelly Holmes
triumphed in both the 800m and the 1,500m. In team play, Argentina
won the men's football tournament without giving up a goal,
and the U.S. softball team won by outscoring their opponents
51-1.
Participation: 201 NOCs (Nations)
10,625 athletes (4,329 women, 6,296 men)
301 events
45,000 volunteers
21,500 media
ATLANTA 1996 Games of the XXVI Olympiad
The 1996 Games were given a dramatic start when the cauldron
was lit by Muhammad Ali. On 27 July during a concert held in
the Centennial Olympic Park, a terrorist bomb killed one person
and injured a further 110 people, but the Atlanta Games are
best remembered for their sporting achievements. A record-setting
79 nations won medals and 53 won gold. Carl Lewis became only
the third person to win the same individual event four times
and the fourth person to earn a ninth gold medal. Naim Suleymanoglu
became the first weightlifter to win a third gold medal. Michael
Johnson smashed the 200m world record to complete a 200m and
400m double.
Participation:
197 NOCs (Nations)
10,318 athletes (3,512 women, 6,806 men)
271 events
47,466 volunteers
15,108 media (5,695 written press, 9,413 broadcasters)
BARCELONA 1992 Games of the XXV
Olympiad
Men's basketball was open to all professionals, and the US sent
a "Dream Team" that included Magic Johnson, Michael
Jordan and Larry Bird. Gymnast Vitaly Scherbo won six gold medals,
including a record four in one day. Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia
won the 10,000m run to become the first female black African
Olympic champion. Her victory lap with silver medallist Elana
Meyer, a white South African, symbolised hope for the future
of the Olympic Movement.
Participation: 169 NOCs (Nations)
9,356 athletes (2,704 women, 6,652 men)
257 events
34,548 volunteers
13,082 media (5,131 written press, 7,951 broadcasters)
BERLIN 1936 Games of
the XI Olympiad The 1936 Olympics, held in Berlin, are best remembered
for Adolf Hitler’s failed attempt to use them to prove
his theories of Aryan racial superiority. As it turned out,
the most popular hero of the Games, was the African-American
sprinter and long jumper Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals.
During the long jump competition, Owens’ German rival,
Luz Long, publicly befriended him in front of the Nazis. 1936
saw the introduction of the torch relay, in which a lighted
torch is carried from Olympia to the site of the current Games.
The 1936 Olympics were also the first to be broadcast on a form
of television. Twenty-five large screens were set up throughout
Berlin, allowing the local people to see the Games for free.
Basketball, canoeing and team handball made their first appearances,
while polo was included in the Olympic programme for the last
time. Thirteen-year-old Marjorie Gestring of the United States
won the gold medal in springboard diving. She remains the youngest
female gold medalist in the history of the Summer Olympics.
Inge Sorensen of Denmark earned a bronze medal in the 200m breaststroke
at the age of 12, making her the youngest medalist ever in an
individual event. Hungarian water polo player Olivier Halassy
won his third medal despite the fact that one of his legs had
been amputated below the knee following a streetcar accident.
Rower Jack Beresford of Great Britain won a gold medal in the
double sculls event, marking the fifth Olympics at which he
earned a medal. Kristjan Palusalu of Estonia won the heavyweight
division in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.
49 NOCs (Nations)
3,963 athletes (331 women, 3,632 men)
129 events
HELSINKI 1952 Games of the XV Olympiad
The 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki started in spectacular fashion
with Pavvo Nurmi, then aged 55, entering the stadium with the
Olympic flame and lighting the cauldron on the ground. Then,
young football players carried the torch up to the top of the
stadium tower, where another Olympic cauldron was lit by 62-year-old
Hannes Kölehmainen.
It seemed appropriate that the most impressive achievements
in Helsinki should be those of another long-distance runner,
Emil Zatopek of Czechoslovakia, who became the only person in
Olympic history to win the 5,000, 10,000 and marathon at the
same Olympics. The Soviet Union entered the Olympics for the
first time. Although their athletes were housed in a separate
"village", warnings that Cold War rivalries would
lead to clashes proved unfounded. Particularly impressive were
the Soviet women gymnasts who won the team competition easily,
beginning a streak that would continue for forty years until
the Soviet Union broke up into separate republics. One of the
first women allowed to compete against men in the equestrian
dressage was Lis Hartel of Denmark. Despite being paralyzed
below the knees after an attack of polio, Hartel, who had to
be helped on and off her horse, won a silver medal. Lars Hall,
a carpenter from Sweden, became the first nonmilitary winner
of the modern pentathlon. Back in 1924, Bill Havens had been
chosen to represent the United States in coxed eights rowing,
but declined in order to stay home with his wife, who was expecting
their first child. Twenty-eight years later, that child, Frank
Havens, won a gold medal in the Canadian singles 10,000m canoeing
event.
69 NOCs (Nations)
4,955 athletes (519 women, 4,436 men)
149 events
LONDON 1908Games of the IV Olympiad
The 1908 Olympics were originally awarded to Rome, but were
reassigned to London. At the Opening Ceremony, the athletes
marched into the stadium by nation, as most countries sent selected
national teams. Archers William and Charlotte Dod became the
first brother and sister medalists. Oscar Swahn, aged 60, was
the oldest ever competitor to earn an Olympic gold medal, winning
the running deer shooting, single shot. 1908 marked the first
appearance of diving and field hockey. In the spirit of sportsmanship,
the final in middleweight Greco-Roman wrestling between Frithiof
Martensson and Mauritz Andersson was postponed one day to allow
Martensson to recover from a minor injury. Martensson won. Ray
Ewry won the standing high jump and the standing long jump for
the third time and became the only person in Olympic history
to win a career total of eight gold medals in individual events.
The event that caught the public imagination around the world
was the dramatic ending of the marathon. After 42 kilometres
(26 miles) of running, the first man to enter the stadium was
Dorando Pietri of Italy, but he collapsed on the track five
times and was disqualified when officials carried him across
the finish line.22 NOCs (Nations)2,008 athletes (37 women, 1,971
men)110 events
LONDON 1948 Games of
the XIV Olympiad
The 1948 London Games were the first to be shown on home television,
although very few people in Great Britain actually owned sets.
A women’s canoeing event was held for the first time -
and won by Karen Hoff of Denmark. 17-year-old American Bob Mathias
won the decathlon only four months after taking up the sport.
He is the youngest athlete in Olympic history to win a men’s
athletics event. Two athletes who were Olympic champions in
1936 managed to defend their titles twelve years later. They
were Ilona Elek of Hungary in women’s foil fencing and
Jan Brzak of Czechoslovakia in the canoeing Canadian pairs 1,000m.
Fanny Blankers-Koen of the Netherlands was the world record
holder in six events, but, according to the rules of the day,
was only allowed to enter four. She won all four: the 100m dash,
the 80m hurdles, the 200m and the 4x100m relay. Concert pianist
Micheline Ostermeyer of France won both the shot put and the
discus throw. Karoly Takacs was a member of the Hungarian world
champion pistol shooting team in 1938 when a grenade shattered
his right hand - his pistol hand. Takacs taught himself to shoot
with his left hand and, ten years later, he won an Olympic gold
medal in the rapid-fire pistol event.
59 NOCs (Nations)
4,104 athletes (390 women, 3,714 men)
136 events
LOS ANGELES 1932 Games
of the X Olympiad
Because the 1932 Olympics were held in the middle of the Great
Depression and in the comparatively remote city of Los Angeles,
half as many athletes took part as had in 1928. Nevertheless,
the level of competition was extremely high and 18 world records
were either broken or equalled. The crowds set records too,
starting with the 100,000 people who attended the Opening Ceremony.
The 1932 Olympics were the first to last 16 days. The duration
of the Olympics has remained between 15 and 18 days ever since.
Between 1900 and 1928, no Summer Olympics was shorter than 79
days. For the first time, the male athletes were housed in a
single Olympic Village. (The women stayed in a luxury hotel.)
At the victory ceremonies, the medal winners stood on a victory
stand and the flag of the winner was raised. Official automatic
timing was introduced for the track events, as was the photo-finish
camera. 14-year-old Japanese Kusuo Kitamura won the 1,500m freestyle
to become the youngest male in any sport ever to earn a gold
medal in an individual event. 21-year-old American Babe Didrikson
qualified for all five women’s track and field events,
but was only allowed to compete in three. She won the javelin
throw and set world records in the high jump and the 80m hurdles.
Ivar Johansson, a Swedish policeman, won gold medals in both
freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. Another Swedish wrestler,
Carl Westergren, won his third Greco-Roman title, each in a
different division. In the spirit of fair play, British fencer
Judy Guinness gave up her hopes for a gold medal when she pointed
out to officials that they had not noticed two touches scored
against her by her final opponent, Ellen Preis of Austria.
37 NOCs (Nations)
1,332 athletes (126 women, 1,206 men)
117 events
LOS ANGELES 1984 Games
of the XXIII Olympiad
Although a revenge boycott led by the Soviet Union depleted
the field in certain sports, a record 140 nations took part.
Joan Benoit won the inaugural women's marathon and Connie Carpenter-Phinney
the first women's cycling road race. Carl Lewis won both sprints
and the long jump and earned a fourth gold in the 4x100m relay.
Pertti Karppinen won single sculls rowing for the third time.
Sebastian Coe became the first repeat winner of the men's 1,500m.
Archer Neroli Fairhall was the first paraplegic athlete to take
part in a medal event. She competed in a wheelchair.
140 NOCs (Nations)
6,829 athletes (1,566 women, 5,263 men)
221 events
28,742 volunteers
9,190 media (4,327 written press, 4,863 broadcasters)
MELBOURNE
/ STOCKHOLM 1956 Games of the XVI Olympiad
Melbourne won the right to host the 1956 Olympics by one vote
over Buenos Aires. Australian quarantine laws were too severe
to allow the entry of foreign horses, so the equestrian events
were held separately in Stockholm in June. The Melbourne Games
were the first to be held in the southern hemisphere. Laszlo
Papp of Hungary became the first boxer to win three gold medals.
American Pat McCormick won both diving events, just as she had
in 1952. Two athletes dominated the gymnastics competition.
On the men’s side, Ukrainian Viktor Chukarin earned five
medals, including three gold, to bring his career total to eleven
medals, seven of them gold. Agnes Keleti of Hungary brought
her career total to ten medals by winning four gold medals and
two silver. The U.S. basketball team, led by Bill Russell and
K.C. Jones, put on the most dominant performance in Olympic
history, scoring more than twice as much as their opponents
and winning each of their games by at least 30 points. U.S.
weightlifter Paul Anderson weighed 137.9kg. In weightlifting,
ties are broken by awarding the higher place to the athlete
with the lower body weight. Incredibly, this worked to Anderson’s
advantage when he tied for first with Humberto Selvetti of Argentina.
Selvetti weighed 143.5kg. Prior to 1956, the athletes in the
Closing Ceremony marched by nation, as they did in the Opening
Ceremony. In Melbourne, following a suggestion by a young Australian
named John Ian Wing, the athletes entered the stadium together
during the Closing Ceremony, as a symbol of global unity.
72 NOCs (Nations)
3 314 athletes (376 women, 2 938 men)
145 events
MEXICO 1968 Games of the XIX Olympiad
The choice of Mexico City to host the 1968 Olympics was a controversial
one because of the city's high altitude, 2,300m, which meant
that the air contained 30% less oxygen than at sea level. Sure
enough, the rarefied air proved disastrous to many athletes
competing in endurance events. On the other hand, the high altitude
led to world records in all of the men’s races that were
400m or shorter, including both relays, and in the 400m hurdles,
in the long jump and triple jump as well. Bob Beamon’s
spectacular long jump of 8.90m would last as a world record
for 22 years. The Mexico City Olympics, the first Summer Games
to include sex testing for women, were blessed with many outstanding
heroines. Mexican hurdler Enriqueta Basilio became the first
woman to light the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony. Eulalia
Rolinska of Poland, Gladys de Seminario of Peru and Nuria Ortiz
of Mexico were the first women to compete in shooting. Wyomia
Tyus of the United States became the first repeat winner of
the 100m dash. The most popular female athlete of the 1968 Games
was Vera Caslavska, the Czech gymnast. After the Soviet invasion
of Czechoslovakia two months before the Olympics, Caslavska
went into hiding for three weeks. She emerged to win four gold
medals and two silvers. On the male side, Al Oerter of the United
States won the discus throw for the fourth time. The 1968 Games
also saw the first drug disqualification, as a Swedish entrant
in the modern pentathlon, Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall, tested positive…for
excessive alcohol.
112 NOCs (Nations)
5,516 athletes (781 women, 4,735 men)
172 events
MONTREAL 1976 Games
of the XXI Olympiad The 1976 Montreal Games were marred by an African boycott
to protest the fact that the national rugby team of New Zealand
had toured South Africa and New Zealand was scheduled to compete
in the Olympics. Women’s events were included for the
first time in basketball, rowing and team handball. Fourteen-year-old
gymnast Nadia Comaneci of Romania caused a sensation when, for
her performance on the uneven bars, she was awarded the first-ever
perfect score of 10.0. She eventually earned seven 10.0s. On
the men’s side, Japan’s Shun Fujimoto broke his
leg while completing his floor exercises routine. The Japanese
team was engaged in a close contest with the Soviet Union, so
Fujimoto kept his injury secret. But when he dismounted from
the rings, he dislocated his knee and was forced to withdraw.
The Japanese women’s volleyball team won all their matches
in straight sets, and in only one of fifteen games did an opponent
score in double figures. Individual stars included Klaus Dibiasi
of Italy, who won his third straight gold medal in platform
diving; Viktor Saneyev of Soviet Georgia, who won his third
triple jump gold; and Irena Szewinska of Poland, winner of the
400m run, who brought her career total to seven medals - in
five different events. Alberto Juantorena of Cuba put together
the first 40m-800m double victory. Miklos Németh of Hungary
won the javelin throw to become the first son of an athletics
gold medalist to win a gold of his own. His father, Imre, had
won the hammer throw in 1948. Clarence Hill of Bermuda earned
a bronze medal in boxing’s super-heavyweight division
to give Bermuda the honor of being the least populous nation
(53,500) ever to win a medal in the Summer Olympics.
92 NOCs (Nations)
6,084 athletes (1,260 women, 4,824 men)
198 events
MOSCOW 1980 Games of
the XXII Olympiad A U.S.-led boycott reduced the number of participating
nations to 80, the lowest number since 1956. Aleksandr Dityatin
earned medals in every men's gymnastics event to become the
only athlete ever to win eight medals in one Olympics. Super-heavyweight
Teófilo Stevenson became the first boxer to win the same
division three times. Gerd Wessig became the first male high
jumper to break the world record at the Olympics and swimmer
Vladimir Salnikov broke the 15-minute barrier for the 1,500m.
In adramatic confrontation, runners Steve Ovett and Sebastian
Coe split the 800 and 1,500m.
80 NOCs (Nations)
5,179 athletes (1,115 women, 4,064 men)
203 events
5,615 media (2,685 written press, 2,930 broadcasters)
MUNICH 1972 Games of
the XX Olympiad The 1972 Munich Games were the largest yet, setting
records in all categories, with 195 events and 7,173 athletes
from 121 nations. They were supposed to celebrate peace and,
for the first ten days, all did indeed go well. But in the early
morning of 5 September, eight Palestinian terrorists broke into
the Olympic Village, killed two members of the Israeli team
and took nine more hostage. In an ensuing battle, all nine Israeli
hostages were killed, as were five of the terrorists and one
policeman. The Olympics were suspended and a memorial service
was held in the main stadium. In defiance of the terrorists,
the International Olympic Committee ordered the competitions
to resume after a pause of 34 hours. All other details about
the Munich Games paled in significance, but it did have its
highlights. Archery was reintroduced to the Olympic programme
after a 52-year absence and handball after a 36-year absence.
Whitewater (or slalom) canoeing was included for the first time.
The 1972 Games were also the first to have a named mascot: Waldi
the dachshund. U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz won an incredible seven
gold medals to go with the two he had earned in 1968. Lasse
Viren of Finland fell midway through the 10,000m final, but
rose and set a world record to win the first of his four career
gold medals. Freestyle wrestler Ivan Yarygin of Russia pinned
all seven of his opponents en route to his first Olympic championship
in the heavyweight division. West German, Liselott Linsenhoff,
competing in the dressage event, became the first female equestrian
to win a gold medal in an individual event. The media star of
the Munich Games was the tiny Soviet gymnast, Olga Korbut, whose
dramatic cycle of success in the team competition, failure in
the individual competition and renewed success in the apparatus
finals captured the attention of fans worldwide.
121 NOCs (Nations)
7,134 athletes (1,059 women, 6,075 men)
195 events
PARIS 1900Games of the II Olympiad
The Games of 1900 were held in Paris as part of the Exposition
Universelle Internationale - the Paris World’s Fair. The
exposition organizers spread the events over five months and
de-emphasized their Olympic status to such an extent that many
athletes died without ever knowing that they had participated
in the Olympics. Women made their first appearance in the modern
Games. The first to compete were Mme. Brohy and Mlle. Ohnier
of France in croquet. The first female champion was in tennis:
Charlotte Cooper of Great Britain. Tennis was one of five sports
in which athletes from different nations competed on the same
team. The others were football, polo, rowing and tug of war.
Alvin Kraenzlein won four athletics events in three days and,
on 16 July, Ray Ewry, who had overcome childhood polio, won
three championships in one day - all in the standing jump events.24
NOCs (Nations)997 athletes (22 women, 975 men)95 events
PARIS 1924 Games of the VIII Olympiad
At the 1924 Paris Games, the Olympic motto, "Citius, Altius,
Fortius", (Swifter, Higher, Stronger) was introduced, as
was the Closing Ceremony ritual of raising three flags: the
flag of the International Olympic Committee, the flag of the
host nation and the flag of the next host nation. The number
of participating nations jumped from 29 to 44, signaling widespread
acceptance of the Olympics as a major event, as did the presence
of 1,000 journalists. Women’s fencing made its debut as
Ellen Osiier of Denmark earned the gold medal without losing
a single bout. Johnny Weissmuller of the United States won two
gold medals in swimming on 20 July alone. That same day he earned
a bronze medal in water polo. He later went to Hollywood and
starred as Tarzan in twelve movies. American swimmer Gertrude
Ederle won a bronze medal in the 100m freestyle. Two years later
she caused a sensation by becoming the first woman to swim across
the English Channel (La Manche) - and in a time almost two hours
faster than any man had ever achieved. Finnish runner Paavo
Nurmi, won five gold medals to add to the three he had won in
1920. His most spectacular performance occurred on 10 July.
First he easily won the 1,500m. Then, a mere 55 minutes later,
he returned to the track and won the 5,000m. Nurmi’s teammate,
Ville Ritola, did not do badly either in 1924: he won four gold
medals and two silver.
44 NOCs (Nations)
3,089 athletes (135 women, 2,954 men)
126 events
ROME 1960Games of the XVII Olympiad
Fifty-four years after Italy had to give up hosting the Olympics,
Rome finally got its chance. They made the most of their dramatic
history, holding the wrestling competition in the Basilica of
Maxentius. Among the other ancient sites that were used were
the Caracalla Baths (gymnastics) and the Arch of Constantine
(finish of the marathon). Paul Elvstrom of Denmark won the gold
medal in the single-handed dinghy class yachting - for the fourth
consecutive time. Hungarian fencer Aladar Gerevich earned his
sixth consecutive gold medal in the team sabre event. In canoeing,
Sweden’s Gert Fredriksson won his sixth gold medal. Yugoslavia,
which qualified for the final by winning a coin toss, won the
football tournament after losing in the final three times in
a row. Sante Gaiardoni of Italy became the only cyclist in Olympic
history to win both the time trial and the match sprint events.
By winning the silver medal in light-welterweight boxing, Clement
"Ike" Quartey of Ghana became the first black African
Olympic medalist. Five days later in the marathon, Abebe Bikila,
running barefoot, outlasted Rhadi Ben Abdesselem of Morocco
to become the first black African Olympic champion. Rafer Johnson
and C.K. Yang were decathlon training partners at UCLA, but
in Rome Johnson represented the United States and Yang represented
Chinese Taipei. In a dramatic finish, they took first and second
places and then, exhausted, fell against each other for support.
Suffering from concussion and a broken collarbone after a fall
in the endurance test of the three-day equestrian event, Bill
Roycroft left his hospital bed to compete in the jumping test
and ensure the gold medal for Australia.83 NOCs (Nations)5,338
athletes (611 women, 4,727 men)150 events
SEOUL 1988 Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Although the drug disqualification
of sprinter Ben Johnson was the biggest story of the 1988
Olympics, the Seoul Games were highlighted by numerous exceptional
performances. Christa Luding-Rothenburger, who was also a
speed skater, earned a silver medal in cycling to become the
only person in history to win Winter and Summer medals in
the same year. Steffi Graf concluded her Grand Slam tennis
season by winning Olympic gold. Greg Louganis repeated victories
in both diving events. Florence Griffith-Joyner dominated
the sprints. For the first time, all the medalists in dressage
were women.
159 NOCs (Nations)
8,391 athletes (2,194 women, 6,197 men)
237 events
27,221 volunteers
11,331 media (4,978 written press, 6,353 broadcasters)
ST LOUIS 1904 Games
of the III Olympiad
The 1904 St. Louis Olympics organizers repeated all of the mistakes
of 1900. The Olympic competitions, spread out over four and
a half months, were lost in the chaos of a World’s Fair.
Of the 94 events generally considered to have been part of the
Olympic program, only 42 included athletes who were not from
the United States. The 1904 Olympics did have a few highlights.
They were the first at which gold, silver and bronze medals
were awarded for first, second and third place. Boxing and freestyle
wrestling made their debuts. Marathon runners Len Tau and Jan
Mashiani, Tswana tribesmen who were in St. Louis as part of
the Boer War exhibit at the World’s Fair, became the first
Africans to compete in the Olympics. One of the most remarkable
athletes was the American gymnast George Eyser, who won six
medals even though his left leg was made of wood. Chicago runner
James Lightbody won the steeplechase and the 800m and then set
a world record in the 1,500m.
12 NOCs (Nations)
651 athletes (6 women, 645 men)
91 events
STOCKHOLM 1912 Games of the V Olympiad
Held in Stockholm, the 1912 Olympics were a model of efficiency.
The Swedish hosts introduced the use of unofficial electronic
timing devices for the track events, as well as the first use
of a public address system. The modern pentathlon was added
to the Olympic program. Women's events in swimming and diving
were also introduced. Sweden would not allow boxing contests
to be held in their country. After the Games, the International
Olympic Committee decided to limit the power of host nations
in deciding the Olympic program. If there was an unofficial
theme of the 1912 Games, it was endurance. The course for the
cycling road race was 320km (199 miles), the longest race of
any kind in Olympic history. In Greco-Roman wrestling, the middleweight
semifinal match between Russian Martin Klein and Finland’s
Alfred Asikainen lasted eleven hours. Hannes Kohlemainen of
Finland won three gold medals in long-distance running. The
most popular hero of the 1912 Games was Jim Thorpe of the United
States. Thorpe won the five-event pentathlon and shattered the
world record in the ten-event decathlon. One member of the Austrian
team that finished second in the team sabre fencing event was
Otto Herschmann, who was, at that time, president of the Austrian
Olympic Committee. Herschmann is the only sitting national Olympic
committee president to win an Olympic medal.
28 NOCs (Nations)
2,407 athletes (48 women, 2,359 men)
102 events
SYDNEY 2000 Games of
the XXVII Olympiad
The Sydney 2000 Games were the
largest yet, with 10,651 athletes competing in 300 events.
Despite their size, they were well organised, renewing faith
in the Olympic Movement. Birgit Fischer earned two gold medals
in Kayak to become the first woman in any sport to win medals
20 years apart. Judoka Ryoko Tamura lost in the final in both
Barcelona and Atlanta, but came back to win the gold medal
in Sydney. Steven Redgrave became the first rower to win gold
medals at five consecutive Olympics. The US softball team
won in stirring fashion, losing three games in a row and then
coming back to defeat each of the teams they had lost to.
Participation: 199 NOCs (Nations) and 4 individual athletes
(IOA) 10,651 athletes (4,069 women, 6,582 men) 300 events
46,967 volunteers 16,033 media (5,298 written press, 10,735
broadcasters)
TOKYO 1964 Games of
the XVIII Olympiad
The 1964 Tokyo Games were the first to be held in Asia. The
Japanese expressed their successful reconstruction after World
War II by choosing as the final torchbearer Yoshinori Sakai,
who was born in Hiroshima the day that that city was destroyed
by an atomic bomb. Judo and volleyball were introduced to the
Olympic programme. American swimmer Don Schollander won four
gold medals. Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia became the first repeat
winner of the marathon - less than six weeks after having his
appendix removed. Russian rower Vyacheslav Ivanov won the single
sculls for the third time, and Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser
won the 100m freestyle for the third time. Al Oerter of the
United States did the same in the discus throw despite a cervical
disc injury that forced him to wear a neck harness and torn
rib cartilage incurred a week before the competition. Hungarian
water polo player Dezso Gyarmati won his fifth medal in a row.
Another Hungarian, Greco-Roman wrestler Imre Polyak, finally
won a gold medal after finishing second in the same division
at the previous three Olympics. By winning two medals of each
kind, Larysa Latynina of the Ukraine brought her career medal
total to an incredible 18. She is also one of only four athletes
in any sport to win nine gold medals.
The
Ancient Olympic Games were held for almost 1200 years until
393 A.D. when Roman Emperor Theodosius I banned all pagan
festivals. He asserted that the Games placed an excessive
public focus on athletic and spiritual affairs and abolished
them. However, the Games were revived in 1894 in modern form
and the first Olympic Games were held in 1896.
preceded twenty years of economic uncertainty and war. Perhaps
the Games were best exemplified by the experience of Australian
rower Henry Pearce. Midway through his quarterfinal race, he
stopped rowing to allow a family of ducks to pass single file
in front of his boat. Pearce won the race anyway and, later,
the gold medal as well. At the Opening Ceremony, the team from
Greece led the Parade of Nations and the host Dutch team marched
in last. Greece first, hosts last would become a permanent part
of the Olympic protocol. Athletes from 28 different nations
won gold medals in Amsterdam, a record that would last for 40
years. The number of female athletes more than doubled as women
were finally allowed to compete in gymnastics and athletics.
For the first time, Asian athletes won gold medals. Mikio Oda
of Japan won the triple jump, while his teammate, Yoshiyuki
Tsuruta, won the 200m breaststroke. Meanwhile the team from
India swept to victory in field hockey. Between 1928 and 1960,
Indian teams won six straight gold medals. Another winning streak
began in 1928. Hungary earned the first of seven consecutive
gold medals in team sabre fencing.46 NOCs (Nations)2,883 athletes
(277 women, 2,606 men)109 events 
what came to be known as World War I. The 1920 Games were awarded
to Antwerp to honor the suffering that had been inflicted on
the Belgian people during the war. The Opening Ceremony was
notable for the introduction of the Olympic flag and the presentation
of the Athletes’ Oath. In a performance unequaled in Olympic
history, Nedo Nadi of Italy earned gold medals in five of the
six fencing events. Ethelda Bleibtrey of the United States won
gold medals in all three women’s swimming contests. Including
preliminary heats, she swam in five races and broke the world
record in every one. France’s Suzanne Lenglen dominated
women’s tennis singles so completely that she lost only
four games in the ten sets she played. At age 72, Swedish shooter
Oscar Swahn earned a silver medal in the team double-shot running
deer event to become the oldest medalist ever. The 1920 12-foot
dinghy sailing event was the only event in Olympic history to
be held in two countries. The first race was staged in Belgium,
but the last two races took place in the Netherlands because
both entrants were Dutch.29 NOCs (Nations)2,626 athletes (65
women, 2,561 men)154 events 
delegations
coming from Greece, Germany, France and Great Britain. On 6
April 1896, the American James Connolly won the triple jump
to become the first Olympic champion in more than 1,500 years.
Winners were awarded a silver medal and an olive branch. The
German athlete Carl Schumann finished in the top five events
of three different sports. The people of Athens greeted the
Games with great enthusiasm. Their support was rewarded when
a Greek shepherd, Spyridon Louis, won the most popular event,
the marathon.14 NOCs (Nations)241 athletes (0 women, 241 men)43
events 
