Tag: Olympics

How often are the Olympic Games held?

A) Every year

B) Every 2 years

C) Every 4 years

D) Every 8 years

If you answered C, you are correct. The Olympic Games are normally held every 4 years, alternating between the Summer and Winter Olympic Games every 2 years, within that period. However, before this two-year period was decided, from 1924-1992 the two games used to occur in the same year. 

Why are the Olympic Games held every 4 years?

The Olympic Games are held every 4 years to respect the ancient origin of the Olympic Games, which were held every four-years in Olympia. The four-year interval between Ancient Games was named an “Olympiad”, and was used for dating purposes as time was counted in Olympiads, and not years. 

The five Olympic Rings below are symbolic of 5 continents. Which 5 continents?

A) North America, South America, Eurasia, Africa, Oceania ( Australia)

B) Europe, Asia, America, Africa, Oceania

C) America, Europe, Antarctica, Asia, Africa

D) North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa

The answer is B, Europe, Asia, America, Africa, and Oceania. North and South America are counted as one- America. Plus, I don’t think we have any Penguin athletes that compete. If we do, I would love to see them at the Winter Games. Penguin athletes, fighting!

What do the colors of each ring correspond to?

Each Olympic ring corresponds to…national flags. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the Olympic Movement, specifically chose these colors- blue, black, red, yellow, green, and white from the flag background- because at least one color appear on all the national flags of the world. Impressive, right?

Which medal is the only “pure” medal? ( Which one is made completely out of the metal it is?)

A) Gold

B) Silver

C) Bronze

The answer is B, Silver. Despite the popular belief that Gold medals are made of pure gold, this hasn’t been the case since the 1912 Olympics. Today’s Gold Medals are composed of only 6 grams of gold– to meet the standard laid out in the Olympic Charter- and the rest is silver. Bronze, on the other hand, are made up of red brass. Not bronze. So, Silver medals are the only medals you could say are “pure”. 

Why do athletes bite their medals? ( Hint: It involves merchants)

Well, it all goes back to ancient times when merchants would check coins to see if they were a forgery or the precious metal they needed. To do so, they would bite on the coin, as lead coins would be left with bite-marks, while a gold coin would not. However, since pure gold is a soft metal with a 2.5 score on the Mohs scale, it would leave mark if bitten. But, lead coins are softer than gold coins, and would have more visible bite marks. Ironically, as I mentioned before, gold medals are not of pure gold, so, if bitten they would not leave dent marks. Eventually, biting a coin has more become a tradition for fun, or simply as an iconic shot for photographers to capture. 

Athletes in the ancient Olympic Games used to compete in nude.

A) True

B) False

The correct answer is A, true. The word gymnasium actually originated from the Greek root, gymnos, which means nude. The literal translation for gymnasium is, “school for naked exercise”.  While nudity in today’s sporting events are onsidered scandalous, in ancient times, it proved a sign of fearlessness, courage, power, and even a considered a tribute towards the gods. 

Note: The Bonus part will not consist of any questions, but instead share some more unknown facts. Enjoy!

We’ve all seen the torchbearers lighting up the Olympic Cauldron at the Opening Ceremony. It’s considered a tradition that marks the official start the Olympic Games, and has been done every Olympics.  It may seem like it’s an ancient tradition when it actually isn’t. In fact, the Olympic Torch Relay has its roots in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Carl Diem, Chief Organizer of the Olympic Games, “conceived the relay as a propaganda tool for the Nazi party to showcase the supposed superiority of the Aryan Race.” The relay passed through Greece, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, and Czechoslovakia, who would all succumb to Nazi rule within 10 years. Still, it is a remarkable tradition. 

In all honesty, I only learned about the relay this morning and I was very confused with the relay route. I was surprised at how torchbearers would often run from one to another across countries to pass the torch to the hosting country. So, from Olympia, Greece, the first torchbearers will travel to the previously hosting country, and from there, they will run to the current hosting country. The Olympic torch is lit in the old-fashioned way in an ancient ceremony at the temple of Hera, in Greece. Actresses, wearing costumes of Greek priestesses, use a parabolic mirror and sun rays to kindle the torch. What amazed me even more was how sacred each fire was. If the flame in the torch goes out, which is very rare, there are lanterns with those specific flames from the lit fire to reignite it if necessary. 

However, after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the torchbearers no longer ran, and instead the flames travel by plane. 

Did you know there are two special friendship medals? At the 1936 games in Berlin, two Japanese pole vaulters, both tied for second place, and were set for a tie-breaker to decide who took silver and who took bronze. The two declined the offer, and instead cut the two medals in half. They then fused the bronze and silver medals, creating two new ‘friendship medals’. 

London 2012 is one of the most landmark moments for the Olympics. The 2012 Olympic Games was known as the Women’s Games because it was the first summer Olympics that showed true equality. Women were not at all barred for any sport and for the first time in history, each nation sent a female competitor. 

The United States is currently leading in the current Olympics with 63 medals in total which is very impressive. Not only that, the United States has a total of 2,827 medals, the highest number, while everyone else is still below 1,000. 

The Olympics have been on a 1500 year long hiatus before. The original Olympic Games ran from 776 BC to 392 AD, but were abolished by Roman Emperor Theodosius in an attempt to rid his empire of paganism. The Olympics were then revived 1503 years later. Pierre de Coubertin formed the IOC, and the first modern Olympics took place in Athens, Greece. 

The Olympic Motto: “Faster, higher, stronger- together.” 

 From 5 continents, skilled athletes from countries all over the world come together to compete against one another, and fight for the gold.