by Madison Montanero
As this year’s Olympic Winter Games come to an end let’s take a moment to look at some fun facts about this amazing worldwide tradition.
Did you know…?
Gold, silver and bronze medals weren’t always the awards for first second and third place. In the original Ancient Greek games olive branch wreathes were awarded to worthy competitors. It wasn’t until the modern day games that the well-known medals started to be given, and even then it wasn’t until 1904 that the medals were officially established. Before 1904 in the modern games competitors were given trophies or other fairly normal awards, but sometimes athletes were given a bit more out-there awards. In France one year paintings were given out to first place winners, and it is even on record that a track runner was once given an umbrella!
The Winter Olympics were not established until 1924. Figure skating and ice hockey somehow made it into the Olympics that occurred during the summer every four years, but it really wasn’t plausible to have sports such as skiing or snowboarding. There was a sporting even called the Nordic Games which is very similar to the modern day Winter Games, the main difference being that only Scandinavian countries competed. Eventually the Olympic Comity adapted this event into the Olympic Winter Games we know today, the first of these being held in France.
Women weren’t always allowed to compete as an athlete in the games. The first time women competed was in 1900 in Paris. Only twenty-two females competed out of nine hundred ninety- seven athletes. It also wasn’t until the 2012 Olympic Games in London that women competed in all sports in the program! Now, any sport being added to the games must have a women’s competition or allow women to compete.
The Olympics are a fabulous and historically rich tradition that we all find interesting. I hope you enjoyed these fun facts and learned something you didn’t know before!