TRIVIA TODAY - Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Greetings Infomaniacs,

Has everyone been watching the Olympics? I haven't been able to catch too much of it, but I did watch the Opening Ceremony last week. I really like watching the Parade of Nations and seeing all of the proud faces marching through the stadium. That has to be such a proud moment. After so much hard work and dedication, to actually be there to participate in the Olympic Games. What an incredible feeling!

Enjoy!
Melissa

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Questions? Comments? Email Melissa


TODAY'S MYSTERY QUOTE
QUOTE: "The first thing is to love your sport. Never do it to please someone else. It has to be yours."

HINT: (1948-), American figure skater. She is the 1968 Olympic Champion in Ladies' singles and a three-time World Champion (1966-1968).


RANDOM TIDBITS
With the 2012 Summer Olympics, London will become the first city to ever host a modern Olympics three times. In addition to that record, London also has the honor of being the first city to host the Paralympics, which took place in 1948 for wounded war veterans.

The 1936 Berlin Olympics (also known as the 'Nazi' Olympics) were the first Olympic Games to ever be televised. Before the advent of television, sports fans had to make due with radio commentary, and before radios were ubiquitous, you could only read about the results of the events in the newspaper.

In the past, the modern games were only canceled three times, always on account of war. The 1916 Summer Olympics in Berlin were canceled because of WWI. The 1940 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, as well as the 1944 Summer Olympics in London were canceled because of WWII. When people are fighting for basic survival, global athletic events tend to hold a lot less meaning.

Oscar Swahn, a Swedish shooting expert, won his first Olympic medal in 1908, when he was a spry 60-year-olds. Apparently he got a taste for winning, even if it came later in life than most people. (He would go on to compete in two more Olympic Games.) After WWII, Swahn attended the Antwerp Games (his last) and won a silver medal. He was 72 at the time.

The American James Connolly won the first medal given out (of the modern era) at the inaugural Athens Games, staged in 1896. Connolly competed in the triple jump and emerged victorious, becoming the first Olympic champion since the last Olympics were held, about 1,500 years prior. Instead of a gold medal, the top prize at the time was a silver medal and an olive leaf.

Even though the top athlete in his or her field wins the 'gold,' the medals aren't really made out of solid gold. In fact, they haven't been pure gold for around 100 years. The gold medals awarded now are actually silver, with gold plating.

(Courtesy of thefw.com)


VIDEO CLIP
The Hurdles - The First Olympics
The hurdles coach, John Graham, gets an important tip on negotiating this unfamiliar obstacle from an unlikely source. When the maid does show the American boys how to run the hurdles they give her a well deserved cheer!

Watch It Now: The Hurdles - The First Olympics


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TODAY'S MYSTERY QUOTE
QUOTE: "The first thing is to love your sport. Never do it to please someone else. It has to be yours."

ANSWER: Peggy Fleming.

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