Lesser-known Facts About the Olympics that Will Blow Your Mind

The Olympics gained popularity as several nations started to take part in international sports events. The Olympics officially became an international sporting event in 1924. Even people who do not like sports feel something magical about the Olympics. In order to present their talents or performances in front of the world, athletes trained themselves for years. If you are a true Olympic fan, instead of having tears in your eyes and sympathizing with losers, you should be well-versed about the Olympics, its history and famous athletes, and many more. If you want to honor your favorite athlete, learn these amazing facts about the Olympics now!

Surprising Facts About Olympics

Scroll down to uncover these Olympics facts that leave you in awe.

• The first Olympic event was held in the 8th century B.C in Olympia, Greece. But, in the 4th century A.D, Emperor Theodosius forbade all pagan-related festivities.
• The first modern Olympics Games took place on April 6, 1896, in Athens, Greece.
• In the first Olympic games, 13 nations participated in 43 events including gymnastics, wrestling, cycling, weightlifting, tennis, shooting, and fencing.
• In ancient Greece, neither athletes followed any fashion, nor were they worried about sponsorship, they competed naked.
• If you are wondering whether the Olympics were ever canceled or postponed, they were canceled a few times. The sporting event didn’t take place in 1916 during World War and also in 1940 and 1944 during World War II. 
• Women athletes have been permitted to take part in the Olympics since 1900.
• The 2012 Summer Olympics, held in London were the first sporting events in which all participating nations sent female athletes.
• French and English became the official languages of the Olympics. 
• The first Winter Olympics were held on January 25, 1924, in Chamonix, France. 16 countries took part in sports like speed skating, figure skating, hockey, curling, and more.
• It is estimated that the cost of the Pyeongchang Olympics is $13 billion, making it four times less than the 2014 Sochi Olympics which was the most expensive sporting event ever.
• Not only are scoring and speed records being broken at the 2018 Olympics, but the United States also sent 242 athletes to PyeongChang, which was the highest record compared to other participating countries. 222 medals were provided in the PyeongChang Olympics. Each medal’s weight was 586 grams, considered a record-breaking weight for a medal.

• Baron Pierre de Coubertin gets credit for introducing the five rings on the Olympic symbol, who is a co-founder of the modern Of Games. These rings represent five inhabited continents in the world -Great Britain, Greece, France, Australia, and Switzerland.
• Gillis Grafstrom and Eddie Eagan hold the record of winning gold medals during the Summer and Winter Olympics.
• Daniel Carrol has won a gold medal in Rugby and he represented Australia in 1908. He again won gold in 1920 for the USA. Kakhi Kakhiashvili earned his first gold medal in Men’s Weightlifting as a member of the Unified Team during Barcelona Games in 1992. He won gold as a Greek citizen in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics.
• Reportedly, Tokyo games 2020 seems to be expensive. The original budget was around $12.6 billion. But it raised to $15.4 billion, making it 22% higher than initially expected.