Olympics Trivia

Vote for your favorite Olympics Bears from the Sept/Oct 2008 issue (mailing to subscribers on July 29) at: www.teddybearandfriends.com/forum.

In the meantime, here is some Olympics Trivia to dazzle your friends and family!

• The first modern Olympics Games were held in Athens in 1896. The first Winter Olympics Games were held in France in 1924.
  
  The Olympic Creed: "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well."
  
  The Olympic Flame was first introduced into the modern Olympics at the 1928 Amsterdam Games. The flame represents "the light of spirit, knowledge, and life." The Torch Relay began in ancient times and was revived at the 1936 Berlin Games.
  
  Women first participated in the Olympics in 1900.
  
  Tug-of-war was an Olympic event from 1900-1920.
  
  The 1936 Berlin Games were the first to be televised – 25 big TV screens were set up throughout the city so locals could follow the Games. The 1948 London Games were the first to be shown on home television.
  
  The 1904 Olympics were the first at which gold, silver, and bronze medals were awarded for first, second, and third place.
  
  The Olympics have been cancelled three times in the past century: 1916, 1940, and 1944.
  The 1972 Munich Games were the first to have a named mascot: Waldi the dachshund.
  
  Los Angeles was the only city to bid for the right to host the 1984 Olympic Games.
  
  In Atlanta in 1996, for the first time in Olympic history, all 197 recognized National Olympic Committees were represented at the Games.
  
  In 1904, the American gymnast George Eyser won six medals even though his left leg was made of wood.
  
  At the 1972 Munich Games, the U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz won a medal count unique in the history of the Games: seven Olympic titles and seven world records.
  
  At the 1976 Montreal Games, 14-year-old gymnast Nadia Comaneci of Romania was awarded the first-ever perfect score of 10.0. She eventually earned seven 10.0s.
  
  At the 1980 Moscow Games, the Soviet gymnast Aleksandr Dityatin became the only athlete ever to win eight medals in one Olympics.
  
  At the 1996 Atlanta Games, the Austrian sailor Hubert Raudaschl became the first person ever to compete in nine Olympics.
  
  At the 2000 Sidney Games, Brit Steven Redgrave became the first athlete to win gold medals in five consecutive Olympics.