5 August: The Olympic Games

The Rio Olympics begin today, so here are some facts about the Olympics you may not know:

1. The first Olympic Games ever was held in 776BC in Greece, and the games were held regularly until 393AD. The games in those days were a religious festival in honour of the Greek God Zeus, which is why they ended - they were deemed a pagan festival by the Christians and therefore banned. In the very early days there was only one event - a foot race. Competitors back then didn't need expensive kit - they competed naked although they might oil themselves up in order to look good. Incidentally, the word “gymnasium” comes from the Greek “gymnos,” which means “naked.” Women were not allowed to take part.
2. The tradition was revived briefly in 1612 in Chipping Campden, England which held an “Olimpick” games. Later on, it was England again which set up a National Olympic Association to establish a National Olympic Games, held in a different city every year. The first National Olympic Games took place in London in 1866, the last in Hadley, Shropshire in 1883.
3. The Olympic Games as we know it today was proposed in 1894 by French educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin. He proposed Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger) as the official Olympic motto. His proposal came to fruition in 1896 when the first modern era Olympic Games was held in Greece. Greece won the most medals that year - 47. The first person to win a medal at these games was an American triple jumper named James Connolly. Again, women weren't allowed to take part in 1896, but in 1900, women competed for the first time. The first female winner was Charlotte Cooper, a tennis player from Ealing, west London. Mostly, men and women compete in separate events, but there is one sport where they compete against each other - equestrianism.
4. The prize hasn't always been a medal. In ancient times it was a laurel wreath. In 1896, it was a silver medal and an olive leaf. In 1900, France hosted the games and gave paintings as prizes instead as they deemed paintings to be much more valuable. Incidentally, today's gold medals aren't solid gold, and haven't been for about 100 years. The regulations say they must be plated with six grams of gold, but it is up to the host city to decide the composition of the centre.
5. Some facts about medal winners. The country which has won the most medals throughout the history of the games is The USA. However, they are not the only country to have won at least one Gold medal at every single Summer Olympics - that is Great Britain. The athlete to win the most medals throughout their career was Larrisa Latynina, a gymnast from the former Soviet Union, who clocked up 18. The person who won the most in a single games was the American swimmer Michael Phelps who won eight at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Abebe Bikila, from Ethiopia, was the first African to win gold for the Marathon in Rome in 1960. He competed barefoot. Eddie Eagan (United States), Jacob Tullin Thams (Norway), Christa Luding-Rothenburger (East Germany), and Clara Hughes (Canada) are the only athletes to win medals at both the summer and winter games.
6. The youngest Olympic athlete ever was Dimitrios Loundras, a Greek gymnast who took part in the Athens Olympics in 1896. He won a medal at the tender age of 10 years and 218 days. Later in life he became an admiral in the Greek Navy. The oldest was Oscar Swahn, a Swedish shooter who was 72 when he won a silver medal in Antwerp in 1920.
7. London is the only city to have hosted the games three times, in 1908, 1948, and 2012. In 1908, the paint used to paint the Olympic site in Shepherd's Bush became the name of a district in London - White City. In 2012, It took the London Philharmonic Orchestra 50 hours to record the individual National Anthems of all the countries taking part.
8. The 1908 games in London also had the distinction of being the first to stage an opening ceremony for the lighting of the Olympic flame. The Olympic Anthem, played when the Olympic Flag is raised during the opening ceremony, was composed by Spyridon Samar. The lyrics come from a poem by Greek poet Kostis Palamas.
9. The five Olympic rings represent the five major regions of the world – Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceana, and every national flag in the world includes one of the five colours, which are (from left to right) Blue, Yellow, Black, Green, and red.
10. The 2016 Olympics in Rio will mark the first Olympic Games to be held in South America. The only continents then not to have hosted one will be Africa and Antarctica.