After the Olympics closing ceremony, I coped with adrenaline rush plummeting at a dizzying pace.
The summer games provided incredible excitement on hot summer days. With streaming, we were able to watch live as the events unfolded and in replay in prime time. This was the year I got into shot put, high jump, pole vault, discus throw and the myriad of other events including swimming, diving, soccer and basketball that had us at the edge of our seats in anticipation of unexpected results.
As I watched the heats, I researched Olympics trivia.
The first question on my mind was about how lanes are assigned in the final races. Who gets lane 1 and who gets 8? The fastest runners in the heats get the middle lanes. The remaining get the outer and inner lanes. Fair enough.
We know that a tie results in two medals of the same color being awarded and skipping of the next color. In the high jump final, athletes from New Zealand and USA were tied at the end of the competition. They were both offered gold medals and declined. They continued to face off until the New Zealander came out on top leaving the American with the silver medal. Athletes are truly the most competitive in the world!
The US is fertile ground for training athletes regardless of their nationality. Several of the athletes from the Caribbean, Asian, African and European countries train at US universities. Some are even NCAA champs. How heartwarming to be able to cheer for our athletes while being thankful their competitors have equally strong footing. Now we are talking!
In ancient Greece, Olympians competed naked. Whoa. Say. What?!
The Olympic Games date back to 776 BC when Greece hosted these events - boxing, wrestling, running, chariot racing (cool!) and pentathlon. The first modern Olympics was held in 1896 with 42 events. In 2021 there were 339 events. 10,500 athletes competed in the Paris 2024 Olympics which is slightly lower than participation in Tokyo and Rio.
The most decorated Olympian of all time is Michael Phelps with 28 medals. The US has the highest total medal count at 1022. Inge Sorensen from Denmark is the youngest to win a medal. At age 12 she won the bronze for the 200m breaststroke in the 1936 games.
The five rings in the Olympics logo represent the five continents that produce Olympians. The colors - blue, yellow, black, green, red - were chosen because at least one of these colors appeared in the flags of all the participating countries when the logo was designed in 1913.
I wonder if there would be fewer wars if we fought in the buff like the ancient Olympians did. Certainly there would be fewer shootings today because where would you hide the weapon?! But then again, the visual of athletes in their birthday suit is a bit mind boggling.
How I wish the Olympics would just go on and on! By bringing together athletes from hundreds of countries under one tent, competing, congratulating and cheering each other, the Games in Paris made us forget our discord for a minute.
I cannot wait for LA2028!
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