Reels tagged #olympics

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The marathon is 42.195 km because of a royal request

The 1908 London course was stretched so it could start at Windsor Castle and finish in front of the royal box. That odd distance was locked in for good in 1921.

#sports#running#olympics
Sports

The Olympic torch relay is younger than you think

Ancient Greece had sacred fires, but the cross-country relay from Olympia was invented for the 1936 Berlin Games and kept ever since.

#sports#olympics#history
Sports

One swimmer won more Olympic medals than most countries

Michael Phelps finished with 28, including 23 golds, more than the all-time total of over 100 nations.

#sports#swimming#olympics
Sports

One athlete changed high jump forever by going backwards

Dick Fosbury cleared the bar head-first and face-up in 1968. Within a decade almost every jumper on Earth had copied him.

#sports#athletics#olympics
Sports

The Olympics once gave medals for art

From 1912 to 1948, painting, sculpture, music, architecture and literature were medal events. More than 150 medals were awarded.

#sports#olympics#art
Sports

Gymnastics skills are named after whoever lands them first

Do a brand new element at a world championship and the code of points carries your surname forever.

#sports#gymnastics#olympics
Sports

The five Olympic ring colours were chosen to cover every flag

Blue, yellow, black, green and red on white included at least one colour from every national flag of 1913.

#sports#olympics#design
Sports

The ancient Olympics ran for nearly 1,200 years

From 776 BC until Roman emperors banned them around AD 393, the Games were held every four years without a break.

#sports#olympics#history
Sports

Tug of war used to be an Olympic sport

It was contested from 1900 to 1920, and one London police team won gold while still on duty rosters.

#sports#olympics#history