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h the Olympic Games being the biggest global sporting event, it has also gathered a lot of interesting and surprising facts over the years. Here are some lesser-known facts about the Olympics:
1. Women were included in the Modern Olympic Games only in 1900. This edition saw 22 women competing in five sports.
2. The Olympic Creed, which was introduced in the 1908 London Olympics, reads: “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle.”
3. The Olympic flame, which is lighted during the opening ceremony, is a symbol of the ancient Greek Games where a flame was kept burning throughout the contest.
4. The Olympic gold medal is not entirely made of gold. The medals contain 6 grams of gold plating, with the rest of the medal made of sterling silver.
5. Rio 2016 was the first Olympic Games to have a Refugee Olympic Team, comprising of ten athletes who had to flee their home countries due to war or political persecution.
6. The inclusion of baseball and softball in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics marks the first time in over a decade that new sports have been added to the Summer Olympics.
7. The 1936 Berlin Olympics was the first event where live television coverage was provided. However, the broadcast was only limited to the host country and very few people owned television sets at that time.
8. Gymnast Nadia Comaneci was the first person to score a perfect ten in an individual event at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. She scored a perfect ten on the uneven bars and followed it up with six more perfect scores in different events.
9. The 1904 St. Louis Olympics saw the first and only time that ‘Tug of War’ was featured as an Olympic sport. The event was discontinued after that year.
10 The Olympic Village, where athletes stay during the Games, is built from scratch for each Olympics. These temporary apartments are equipped with facilities such as restaurants, gyms, and medical centers to cater to the needs of the athletes. These are just a few of the many hidden facts about the Olympics that make the event remarkable. With every new edition, the Olympics continue to inspire fans and athletes alike with new stories of achievement and perseverance.