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.
Ancient Greece had sacred fires, but the cross-country relay from Olympia was invented for the 1936 Berlin Games and kept ever since.
Michael Phelps finished with 28, including 23 golds, more than the all-time total of over 100 nations.
