Every four years, the world’s nations are enraptured by the spectacle of nature-defying physical prowess at the Olympics
Here you can find out the latest and most interesting Olympic facts that will surely make you fall in love with the Olympics even more.
Olympics History Facts
1. Where were the first Olympics held?.
Held in honour of Zeus, the inception of the first Olympic Games is shrouded in mystery and mythology. The first recorded Games occurred in 776 BCE at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia (a valley on the Peloponnese peninsula).
Facts about the ancient Olympics tell us that freeborn Greek men from all over ancient Greece flocked to Olympia for the Games—to earn laurels in front of 45,000 spectators.
Olympics history facts also reveal that the last registered Olympics took place in 393 CE, after more than a millennium and almost 300 Olympiads.
2. In ancient Greece, the athletes competed completely naked.
One of the most interesting facts about the Greek Olympics is that participants competed naked—supposedly for freedom of movement.
Allegedly, this tradition was started by Orsippus in 720 BCE, as he removed his loincloth during the race to run easier.
However, a competing theory also says that Spartans started the tradition since they anointed themselves with oil and exercised in the nude.
3. Back then, women and slaves were not allowed to compete in the Olympics.
Only freeborn male Greek citizens were eligible to compete in the ancient Olympic Games, regardless of their social status and origin.
However, since the horse owners were the wreath winners in equestrian events, not the riders, the daughter of King Archidamos of Sparta became the first female Olympic winner when her four-horse chariot won the event in 396 BCE.
4. Ancient Greek Olympics facts tell us that some of the athletes who broke the rules were physically punished.
In ancient Greece, umpires at the Games had the authority to order corporal punishment for any athlete who they believed was gaining an unfair advantage, whether it was a wrong move in wrestling or a false start in races.
After taking the Olympic oath, athletes who broke the rules were disqualified and publicly flogged, while competitors and judges found guilty of bribery faced huge fines.
Of all ancient greek Olympic facts, one of the most bizarre is the story about the athlete who refused to participate due to cowardice. He was forced to pay an enormous fine to avoid physical punishment.
5. Instead of medals, the winners were given wreaths or crowns made from olive leaves.
The best athletes at the Olympics in ancient Greece received prestigious olive leaf wreaths cut from the sacred trees at Olympia, which remain an important symbol to this day.
After the Olympiad’s conclusion, the victors were also asked to participate in abundant feasts along with their families, and famous poets would write and dedicate odes to them.
6. Doping was introduced for the first time in the 1960 Olympics.
At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, a Danish cyclist named Knut Enemark Jensen died in the 100km team time trial event.
The initial cause of death was attributed to high temperatures; however, his autopsy revealed symptoms of Ronicol, an amphetamine, in his system.
This was the first of many doping scandals in sports since then.
First Olympic Games Facts
7. The modern Olympic Games were inaugurated in Athens, Greece in 1896—their historical birthplace.
Fascinated by the sporting events of ancient Greece, Pierre de Coubertin—a young enthusiastic French baron—proposed a modern revival of the ancient Games during an 1894 international sports congress in Paris.
8. The premiere edition of the modern Olympic Games included competitors from 13 countries.
Modern facts about the Olympics tell us that the world welcomed back the Games at the Panathenaic Stadium which is one of the biggest stadiums in Athens in 1896.
Thirteen nations sent 280 participants (all men) to compete in 43 events. Even tourists who chanced upon the Games were allowed to sign up and compete against the best. The first modern Olympics included various sporting events.
Among the most popular Olympic sports were sports such as gymnastics, wrestling, swimming, cycling, fencing, soccer, weightlifting, tennis, and shooting.
Hopefully, this answers one of the most common questions related to the Olympics, which is soccer in the Olympics.
9. The winners of the first modern Olympic Games didn’t receive gold medals.
Among the most interesting modern Olympic Games facts is the distribution of the medals during the inaugural competition.
Namely, the winners at the 1896 Olympics were not given gold medals but olive branches and silver medals. In addition, bronze or copper medals and laurel branches were awarded to the second-best and third-placers were not granted any medals.
The gold, silver, and bronze medals for first, second, and third place were awarded for the first time at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis.
10. The first modern Olympics cost around $448,000.
The price tag for organising the Games has skyrocketed over the years. Compared to the first Olympiad, the most recent Summer Olympic Games in Rio 2016 cost $13.1 billion.
A budget of $450,000 will barely cover the opening ceremony nowadays. Most modern Olympics facts show us that the greatest honour a country can receive is to host the Olympic Games.
11. The 1924 Olympics in Paris was the first truly successful edition of the modern Games.
The price tag for organising the Games has skyrocketed over the years. Compared to the first Olympiad, the most recent Summer Olympic Games in Rio 2016 cost $13.1 billion.
A budget of $450,000 will barely cover the opening ceremony nowadays.
Modern Olympics Facts
12. The Olympic symbol of five intertwined rings represents the world’s five inhabited continents.
While the Olympic flag—five rings on a white background—was originally adopted in 1914, it wasn’t used until the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.
The five coloured rings represent the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia and Oceania.
In addition to the Olympic rings facts, the Games’ motto—Citius, Altius, Fortius—was officialised in 1924, even though it was proposed in 1896 by Coubertin.
13. Who are the oldest people to compete in the Olympics?
When reading Olympics trivia about the oldest Olympians, you will learn about Lorna Johnstone, who competed in the equestrian disciplines at the 1972 Olympic Games when she was 70 years and five days. During the 1972 Munich Games, Lorna set the record for the oldest female athlete to take the stage at the Games.
On the other hand, Oscar Swahn—a Swedish shooter—is considered the oldest male Olympic competitor and medalist. He won a silver medal at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Olympics at the ripe age of 72 years and 281 days.
14. Who has the most gold medals in a single Olympics?
Phelps beat his fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz’s 1972 record of seven gold medals at a single Olympic Games when he won eight golds at the 2008 Beijing Games.
15. The modern marathon was conceived for the 1896 Athens Olympics.
The marathon race has been present at the modern Olympic Games since its inception in 1896. The first marathon was won by a Greek water carrier in little under 3 hours.
The original route was established between the historic Marathon town and Athens’ Panathenaic Stadium, which is a distance of about 40 km (25 mi).
16. Which country has the most medals in the Olympics?
With 2,828 medals, the United States is the most successful country in the Olympics.
While the United States has won the highest tally of medals since the inception of the Games, modern Olympic facts also tell us that the U.S. has an enormous population (330 million) from which it can develop successful Olympiads.
Facts about the Summer and Winter Olympics
17. Only London has hosted Summer Olympics three times: in 1908, 1948, and 2012.
In 2012, London became the first city in history that has hosted the Summer Olympics on three separate occasions.
However, Paris and Los Angeles will join London at the top in 2024 and 2028, respectively.
18. The Summer Olympics returned to Athens in 2004, with 10,625 competitors from 201 countries.
One of the most interesting facts about the 2004 Summer Olympics is that the shot put competition was held in Olympia, at the site of the ancient Games, which was a proud moment for Greeks and an exciting one for spectators.
19. The 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia cost a staggering $55 billion.
To this day, no Olympic Games (Summer or Winter) have reached the extreme total costs of the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. Sochi was just a popular beach town on Russia’s Black Sea coast before it was transformed into one of the most popular world destinations.
However, only a fifth of the $55 billion spent on the Sochi Olympics was directly reserved for the Olympic Games.
The second most expensive Olympic Games are the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, with a final operating budget of $44 billion.
However, it is worth noting that these winter games were one of the most-watched sporting events on the planet.
20. Which country has the most winter Olympic gold medals?
Norway has won the most gold medals since the Winter Olympics began.
Currently, Norway tops the charts with 368 medals—winning 132 gold, 125 silver, and 111 bronze medals since the first Winter Games in 1924. The U.S. follows second with 305, while Germany is currently third with 240 medals.
21. Great Britain is the only nation to have won at least one Gold Medal at every Summer Olympics.
Australia, Great Britain, France, Greece, and Switzerland are the only five countries that have sent teams to every Summer Olympic Games.
The only country to have earned gold at every edition of the modern Olympics is Great Britain—with a record 56 gold medals during the 1908 Summer Olympics.
Fun Olympic Facts and Trivia
22. “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave at the attempt.” is the athlete oath at the Special Olympics.
The first Special Olympics Games were held in July 1968 in Chicago, U.S., where around 1,000 people with disabilities from Canada and the U.S. proved they can excel in the same struggle as regular athletes.
The most interesting facts about the Special Olympics tell us that the first edition of the Games included some of the oldest sports in the world like swimming, track and field, and floor hockey as the first three official sports.
23. Spiridon Louis, the Greek villager who won history’s first marathon, took a lunch break halfway to the finish line.
If you are looking for fun facts about the Olympics, we got an amazing anecdote for you. The Greek runner who won the first modern marathon was a humble villager named Spiridon Louis.
Supposedly, he claimed victory after completing the course at a steady pace, even stopping halfway to eat an egg and drink a glass of wine.
24. Ethiopian athlete Abebe Bikila became an Olympic marathon champion and set a new world record while running barefoot.
One of the fun facts about the Olympics is that Shuhei Nishida and Sueo Oe tied for second place at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
25. Two Japanese pole-vaulters cut in half one silver and one bronze medal and made two “friendship medals”.
One of the most interesting fun facts about the Olympics is the origin of “The Medals of Friendship”. Namely, Shuhei Nishida and Sueo Oe tied for second place at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Rather than competing again, they chopped the silver and bronze medals in half and fused the two parts together, creating a half-silver and half-bronze medal for each of them.
26. George Eyser competed with a wooden leg and won three gold medals in a single day.
When listing the various Olympics fun facts, we should also mention George Louis Eyser and his extraordinary feat of winning six medals in a single day while competing with a leg prosthesis.
This German-American gymnast took part in the 1904 Summer Olympics and won three gold, two silver, and one bronze medal on the same day.
You might also be interested in the Hottest gymnasts
27. Tarzan won five Olympic gold medals in swimming.
Athlete-turned-actor Johnny Weissmuller, who played Tarzan in 12 films, competed and won numerous medals at the 1924 Paris and the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.
Johnny returned home with three golds and one bronze from Paris, and two golds from Amsterdam.
Despite his athletic achievements, however, Weissmuller is better known for his role as Tarzan at the start of his career and Jungle Jim in the latter half of his movie career.
28. Waldi, the dachshund, was the first official Olympic mascot appearing at the 1972 Munich Games.
Since our list should include facts about the Olympics for kids as well, we decided to write something about the first official mascot of the Olympic Games.
Waldi was introduced to the world at the 1972 Munich Olympics. This dachshund represented agility, tenacity, and resistance and helped institute the mascot as an official symbol of all future Games.
29. Queen Elizabeth II’s daughter, Princess Anne, competed at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games.
The Princess Royal, Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise, was the first Royal Family member to participate in the Olympic Games. She appeared at the 1976 Montreal Games along with the Queen’s horse Goodwill as a member of the British equestrian team.
Even though she did not win a medal at the Olympics, she did manage to triumph three times at the European Championships, winning one gold and two silvers.
The Finish Line
You’ve read about everything from athletes who suffered corporal punishment to a gymnast with a wooden leg who won six medals.
We hope that these incredible Olympic facts will have you waiting with anticipation for this year’s Games.