With the summer Olympic games right around the corner, I thought it would be interesting to look into the history and find out all the random facts that have made the Olympics what they are today. The 2016 summer Olympics will start August 5th through August 21st in Rio de Janeiro.
1. The Olympic flag was created by Pierre de Coubertin in 1914.
The five connected rings are symbolizing the five continents and how they will all come together and gain friendship through worldly competition. The blue, yellow, green, red and black rings were specifically chosen because at least one of them appears on the flag of every country in the world.
2. The gold medals are not 100% gold, and the last time that they consisted of all gold and were awarded was in 1912.
They are mainly silver with gold plating. In 2012, the Olympic gold medal was made of 92.5 per cent silver, only 1.34 per cent gold and the rest was copper.
3. Doves used to be released at the opening ceremony to signify peace, but this tradition ended after what happened at Seoul in 1988.
Instead of flying around the stadium, ten doves decided to sit on the rim of the Olympic cauldron just as it was being lit and instantly were burned.
4. London was the first place to hold opening ceremonies.
It was amazing, using so much money and resources, other countries have been trying to outdo each other ever since. London is also the first and only place that has hosted the Olympics three times.
5. Rio 2016 will be the first time that the games have been hosted in South America.
Before this year, they have never been hosted in Antartica, Africa or South America.
6. About 10,500 athletes from 206 different countries are expected to compete in 306 different events.
7. Around 85,000 soldiers and safety will be deployed to Rio for the games.
This will be the largest security force that has ever been assembled in the entire history of Brazil. It is also double the security that was at the London 2012 Olympics.
8. Women couldn't compete in the Olympics until 1900.
9. The United States leads the Summer Olympics in medals, holding nearly 2,200 and, of course, is hoping to increase that number this year.
10. Three flags are always raised during the closing ceremony.
First, the Greek flag to honor the Games’ birthplace, the flag of the current host country, and the flag of the country hosting the next Games.
11. The winter Olympic games have never been held in the Southern Hemisphere.
Probably because it would be really hard to keep all of the snow and ice as cold as it needs to be in that hot of climate.
12. Walt Disney was the head of the committee in 1960 for the Olympic Opening Ceremonies which was held in Squaw Valley, California.
That must have been one magical ceremony!
13. In the 1900 Olympics, the winners received paintings instead of medals because they were believed to be far more valuable.
14. Golf and Rugby will return to the games this year for the first time after 112 and 92 years respectively.
15. 7.5 million tickets are sold for spectators.
The prices range from about $12.16 all the way up to $1397.84.
