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- The Olympics was once outlawed as a pagan celebration
- The Olympic torch relay was actually not part of the ancient games but was introduced as part of Nazi propoganda during the 1936 Berlin Olympics
- In the 1936 Berlin Olympics, only people from the “Aryan race” were allowed to represent Germany. That year, they also topped the medal tally and won the Olympics
- In the 1956 Melbourne Games, there was a hoax by 9 students where a fake torch made out of a burning pair of underpants and a plum pudding can on the end of a chair leg was presented to the Mayor instead of the Olympic torch
- The Olympic flame traces back to the original Olympia flame and has never been extinguished (due to several backup fires)
- The Olympic flame in Olympia, Greece is rekindled every two years using the sun’s rays and a concave reflective mirror
- At the start of the modern Olympics in 1896, winners were actually awarded Silver instead of Gold
- The ancient Olympiads only had one race, the first of which was won by a chef. In 2008, there are over 300 events
- The youngest Olympic athlete participated at the age of 10 (Dimitrios Loundras in 1896) and the oldest was 72 (Oscar Swahn, 1972)
- The Olympic rings represent the five major regions of the world – Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania
- Poland’s Stanislawa Walasiewiczowna (Stella Walsh) was the first women to break the 12 second barrier in the 100-meter race at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. She later died in a robbery attempt, after which an autopsy declared her to be a male
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