Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know

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Did you know 1

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/1

...that Wyndham Halswelle was winner of the controversial 400 metres run at the 1908 Summer Olympics?
...that the men's tournament of football at the 2004 Summer Olympics was played by "U-23" (under 23-years-old) player) teams, with up to three over-age players allowed per team?
...that former American decathlete Rafer Johnson ignited the Olympic Flame during the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics?
...that gender verification in sports is no longer practiced at the Olympic Games?
...that when Lauri Lehtinen narrowly won his gold medal at the 1932 Summer Olympics, he was booed?

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Did you know 2

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/2

...that Joseph Guillemot, winner of the 5000 m at the 1920 Summer Olympics, was a pack-a-day smoker?
...that the 2000 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the heptathlon was Denise Lewis?
...that past Olympic mascots include several bears named Misha, Coal, Howdy and Hidy, and dogs Cobi and Waldi ?
...that the 2002 Winter Olympic bid scandal was a scandal involving allegations of bribery to get the 2002 Winter Olympic Games to Salt Lake City, Utah?
...that the Olympic Javelin is a high-speed rail service announced as part of the public transport regeneration of London in readiness for the 2012 Summer Olympics?

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Did you know 3

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/3

...that Barbara Cassani founded the budget airline Go Fly before becoming the initial leader of London's bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics?
...that Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav was independent India's first individual Olympic medalist when he won the wrestling bronze medal at the 1952 Helsinki games?
...that the 2012 Summer Olympic Games will be the third London Olympics, and was the first city that hosted the games three times?
...that Christine Witty is both a speed skater and a cyclist who has won three Olympic medals in speed skating and helds the 1000-metre World record?
...that Michael Bates was an Olympic bronze medalist sprinter and a Pro Bowl American football player?

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Did you know 4

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/4

...that the Finnish speed skater Clas Thunberg is the oldest Olympic speed skating champion, winning gold at the 1928 St Moritz games at the age of 35?
...that Mina Wylie won silver at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, and was one of the first two women to represent Australia in Olympic swimming?
...that Mikhail Shtalenkov enjoyed a stellar career, including the win of a silver medal in hockey in the 1998 Winter Olympics, but never became a starting goaltender in the National Hockey League?
...that Australian sprinter Stan Rowley is the only Olympic participant to win medals for two countries at the same Olympic Games?
...that canoe racer Josefa Idem, a 1984 Olympic bronze medalist for West Germany, later took an Italian citizenship and became the first female Olympic medalist in canoeing for her new country?

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Did you know 5

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/5

...that John Konrads, an Olympic gold-medal winning swimmer who set 26 individual world records, later became the Australasian director of L'Oréal?
...that amateur wrestling Olympic gold medalist Robin Reed could pin every member of the 1924 United States Olympic wrestling team, despite being in the second lowest weight class?
...that James Foster was a Scottish-born Canadian goalie who helped lead Great Britain to its first and only Olympic gold medal in ice hockey in 1936?
...that Ilsa Konrads, former editor of Belle, was an Australian Olympic swimmer who set 12 world records?
...that Harold Hardwick, an Australian swimming gold medallist at the 1912 Olympics, was also a national boxing champion and later an army colonel?

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Did you know 6

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/6

...that Duke Kahanamoku won the 100m freestyle at the 1912 Olympics after the eventual silver medallist Cecil Healy lobbied against Duke's semifinal disqualification for turning up late?
...that John Davies, the U.S. District Court judge who presided over the trial of a group of LAPD officers in the Rodney King incident, won gold for Australia in the 200m breaststroke at the 1952 Olympics?
...that Kevin Berry, former Pictorial Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, won the 200m butterfly at the 1964 Summer Olympics?
...that Kevin O'Halloran, a swimming gold medallist at the 1956 Summer Olympics, died after accidentally tripping and shooting himself?
...that Michael Matz, who trained the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, saved the lives of four children on the ill-fated United Airlines Flight 232 in 1989, and also carried the U.S. flag at the 1996 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremonies?

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Did you know 7

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/7

...that disqualification protests were lodged against Clare Dennis, the winner of the 200 m breaststroke at the 1932 Summer Olympics, on the grounds of her "inappropriate" costume, which exposed her shoulderblades?
...that Michelle Ford was the first woman to win individual swimming medals at the Olympics in two distinct specialized strokes?
...that Frank Beaurepaire, a Lord Mayor of Melbourne, member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly and multi-millionaire tyre businessman was a six-time Olympic medallist in swimming who set 15 world records in his swimming career?
...that John Devitt was awarded a gold medal in the 100m freestyle at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome despite all three timekeepers awarding a faster time to the silver medallist?
...that former movie actress Vera Ralston personally insulted Adolf Hitler in the 1936 Winter Olympics, and won a silver medal?

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Did you know 8

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/8

...that Australian Olympic medal-winning swimmer Gary Chapman died in a fishing accident, after retiring from swimming to pursue this very hobby?
...that the 1960 Summer Olympics champion heavyweight weightlifter Yury Vlasov was a candidate in the Russian presidential election, 1996 but received only 0.02% of the vote?
...that Boy Charlton won gold in the 1500m freestyle at the 1924 Olympics despite his coach jumping overboard on the sea voyage to Europe?
...that Olympic pair skating champions Andrée Brunet and Pierre Brunet refused to defend their title at the 1936 Winter Olympics because Nazi Germany was hosting the Games?
...that in 1908 Nikolai Panin became Russia's first Olympic champion by winning the figure skating special figures event, the only year in which it was an Olympic event?

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Did you know 9

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/9

... that Ken Richmond, the last gongman of the Rank Organisation, was a 1952 Summer Olympics wrestling medalist and actor in Jules Dassin's Night and the City?
...that Frederick Lorz was greeted as the winner of the 1904 Summer Olympics marathon but later admitted to having travelled by car for ten miles of the race?
...that Bobby Pearce won the single sculls at the 1928 Summer Olympics despite stopping mid-race for a passing flock of ducks?
...that Brian Boitano narrowly won the Battle of the Brians, a 1988 Winter Olympics figure skating rivalry between two elite skaters named Brian?
...that Australian cricket captain Brian Booth also represented Australia at the 1956 Summer Olympics in hockey?

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Did you know 10

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/10

... that Matthew Robinson, older brother of Baseball Hall of Fame member Jackie Robinson, was a world-class sprinter and won a silver medal in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin?
...that British athlete Don Thompson was nicknamed "Il Topolino" (Italian for "Little Mouse") when he raced to victory in the 50km walk at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome while wearing a képi and sunglasses?
...that French Olympic shooter Léon Moreaux won his first of seven Olympic medals at the age of 38?
...that W. Harry Davis, who helped desegregate Minneapolis, overcame childhood polio to become a Golden Gloves coach and manager of U.S. Olympics boxing teams?
...that Luan Jujie is the first East Asian person to have won an Olympic gold medal in the sport of fencing?

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Did you know 11

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/11

...that Czech decathlete Roman Šebrle, world record holder and 2004 Olympic winner, was injured in January 2007 when a javelin which had been thrown 55 metres pierced his shoulder?
...that Australian Olympic swimming gold medalist Neil Brooks retired after being suspended for drinking 46 cans of beer on a flight from Britain back to Australia?
...that aged 14, Sandra Morgan became the youngest Australian to win a gold medal at the Olympics?
...that Leo Arnaud is the composer of the well-known Olympic theme "Bugler's Dream"?
...that at the 2008 Olympic Torch Relay the Olympic torch was carried across 22 countries on 6 continents between March and August 2008?

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Did you know 12

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/12

...that Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler Raatbek Sanatbayev was running for President of the National Olympic Committee of Kyrgyzstan, when he was assassinated, as the previous head of the Committee had been?
...that between 1952 and 1976 members of the Soviet Armed Forces sports society won more than a hundred gold medals at Summer Olympics?
...that Tan Howe Liang is the first Singapore's Olympic Games medallist?
...that besides taking the athletes' oath, Paul Aste also competed on the bobsleigh track that he designed for the 1964 Winter Olympics?
...that before U.S. short-track speed skater Cathy Turner won a gold medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics, she had left the sport for eight years to pursue a singing career under the stage name "Nikki Newland"?

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Did you know 13

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/13

...that Gordon K. Douglass qualified for the Canadian national canoe paddling team, but was not allowed to go to the 1936 Olympics because he was American?
...that the International Olympic Committee has shortlisted five cities — Athens, Bangkok, Moscow, Singapore and Turin — out of nine bids to host the first Youth Olympic Games in 2010?
...that after winning three medals at the 1992 Summer Olympics as a 16-year-old, Anita Nall retired from competitive swimming in 2000 due to chronic fatigue syndrome?
...that Ian Browne and Tony Marchant won the tandem track cycling at the 1956 Olympics after being eliminated?
...that Frank Loughran played for the Socceroos at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, scoring a goal in the first game his adopted country of Australia ever played in Olympic soccer?

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Did you know 14

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/14

...that the ancient Olympic athlete Milo of Croton reportedly drank 10 liters of the Calabrian wine Cirò every day, and that the same wine is still being produced today?
...that the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track constructed for the 1976 Winter Olympics in Austria, was the first permanent, combination artificially refrigerated track?
...that freestyle swimmer Kim Peyton, a gold medalist at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, won a gold medal at the 1971 Pan American Games at age 14 and set three U.S. swimming records at ages 9 and 10?
...that Czech figure skater Petr Barna was the first to successfully land a quadruple jump in Olympic competition, at the 1992 games?
...that United States Navy Rear Admiral Charles A. Curtze qualified for the 1936 Summer Olympics as a gymnast, but the State Department prohibited him from traveling to Nazi-ruled Germany?

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Did you know 15

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/15

...that Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Gail Neall was initially so bad that her coach filmed her as an example to other swimmers of what not to do?
...that Fritz Schilgen was the final torchbearer for the first Olympic torch relay at the 1936 Summer Games?
...that Australian veterinary student Barry Larkin carried a fake Olympic Flame in the 1956 Summer Olympics as a protest, because he thought the flame was given too much reverence?
...that Jan Wils won a gold medal in architectural design in art competitions at the 1928 Summer Olympics for his design of the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam?
...that USOC president Doug Roby initially took no action against Tommie Smith and John Carlos after their Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics, but expelled them after an IOC threat to expel the entire U.S. track team?

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Did you know 16

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/16

... that a bobsled from the 1932 Olympic Games, which had been missing for more than sixty years, was donated to the Lake Placid Winter Olympic Museum in 2002?
... that Syed Wajid Ali Shah was the longest serving President of the Pakistan Olympic Association with a tenure of 26 years?
... that Lamine Guèye from Senegal was the first Black African skier to take part in the Winter Olympics?
... that at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, basketballer Danny Morseu was the first Torres Strait Islander to represent Australia at the Olympic games?
... that 2008 Olympic handball champion Else-Marthe Sørlie Lybekk was also selected as the pivot on the tournament's All-star team?

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Did you know 17

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/17

... that former Olympic champion Ángel Matos received a lifetime ban from the World Taekwondo Federation after attacking a referee in a bronze medal match at the 2008 Olympics?
... that at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Indian freestyle wrestler Sushil Kumar won his country's second medal in the sport since the 1952 Games?
... that mathematician Harald Bohr, brother of Niels Bohr, won a silver medal in football at the 1908 Summer Olympics?
... that following show jumper Denis Lynch's Olympic ban for doping offences, the President of the Olympic Council of Ireland threatened to ban the equestrian team from participating in future Olympic Games?
... that in her début at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Tao Li broke the Asian record for the 100 m butterfly twice and became the first Singaporean swimmer to enter an Olympic final?

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Did you know 18

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/18

... that the People's Republic of China made its Olympic debut at the 1952 Summer Games, but the team arrived in Helsinki too late to compete except for one race by a single swimmer?
... that Tim Morehouse, a member of the U.S. fencing team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, originally took up fencing in order to be excused from his high school gym class?
... that flatwater canoer Vladas Česiūnas was forcibly returned by the KGB to the Soviet Union out of fear that he would publish a book on doping in the Soviet Union prior to the 1980 Summer Olympics?
... that British fencer Mary Glen-Haig was the first female member of the International Olympic Committee?
... that the Marshall Islands, Montenegro, and Tuvalu made their first Olympic appearance at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing?

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Did you know 19

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/19

... that Latvian basketball player Ieva Tāre suffered a serious arm injury during the qualification for 2008 Summer Olympics, but recovered in time for the actual Olympics?
... that after Yuri Titov had received nine Olympic medals in artistic gymnastics from three Olympics, he served 20 years as president of the International Gymnastics Federation?
... that in 1908, swimmer Henry Taylor became the only Briton to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games until Chris Hoy equalled his mark in 2008?
... that Amy Peterson competed in the first five Olympics in which short-track speed skating was a sport?
... that after failed attempts for 1964, 1968 and 1972, the Calgary Olympic Development Association successfully brought the Winter Olympics to Calgary, Canada in 1988?

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Did you know 20

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/20

... that sprint champion Charles Hoyt, who lost a chance for an Olympic medal when the 1916 games were cancelled due to World War I, later coached Eddie Tolan to two gold medals in the 1932 Olympics?
... that Hedda and Ingrid Berntsen became the first siblings in Norway to compete in different events at the same Olympic Games?
... that Teiji Honma became one of the first goaltenders in ice hockey to wear a mask when he used one that resembled a baseball catcher's mask at the 1936 Winter Olympics?
... that at age 17 years and 331 days, Polish hammer thrower Kamila Skolimowska was the youngest Olympic champion in the 2000 Summer Olympics?
...that upon entering the Stadio Olympica at the opening ceremonies of the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, the torch bearer tripped over a cable and fell, nearly extinguishing the Olympic flame?

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Did you know 21

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/21

... that Senegalese long jumper and triple jumper Ndiss Kaba Badji was the only person from his country to reach a final at the 2008 Summer Olympics?
... that Pavel Lednyov has won seven Olympic medals in modern pentathlon, more than anybody else in this sport?
... that Wilfried Dietrich won five Olympic medals during his career, more than any other Olympic wrestler?
... that prior to the creation of the Winter Olympics, an ice hockey tournament was held at the 1920 Summer Olympics?
... that the Nigeria women's national basketball team became the first African team ever to win an Olympic game in women's basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics?

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Did you know 22

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/22

... that in 1995, René Fasel of Switzerland became the first ever representative of ice hockey to become a member of the International Olympic Committee?
... that Margitta Gummel-Helmboldt was the first woman to throw a shot put more than 19 meters in the Summer Olympic Games?
... that Ukrainian runner Yuliya Krevsun ended her track career in 2005 to start a family, but later made a comeback and reached the 800 metres final at the Beijing Olympics?
... that while training to become a mountain guide, former Olympic snowboarding gold medalist Karine Ruby was killed in a climbing accident on Mont Blanc?
...that the Olympic ice hockey tournament was nearly canceled when two hockey teams from the United States arrived in St. Moritz, Switzerland, to compete in the 1948 Winter Olympic Games?

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Did you know 23

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/23

... that basketball center Jānis Krūmiņš won 1956 Olympic silver only three years after he started playing basketball?
... that in 1904, gymnast George Eyser won six Olympic medals, including gold in the vault, even though he had a wooden prosthesis for a leg?
... that professional wrestler Olímpico's ring name was inspired by the 1992 Summer Olympics?
... that Zali Steggall was the first Australian to win an individual medal at the Winter Olympics?
... that the Zappas Olympics were a series of four athletic contests held in Athens between 1859 and 1889 and are considered as precursors to the modern Olympic Games?

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Did you know 24

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/24

... that Kwame "The Snow Leopard" Nkrumah-Acheampong is the first Ghanaian to qualify for the Winter Olympics?
... that long distance runner Zersenay Tadese was the first person from Eritrea to win an Olympic medal?
... that Anders Haugen, one of the 104 medalists at the 1924 Winter Olympics, was awarded his bronze medal in ski jumping fifty years after the games ended?
... that athletes in the 1928 Winter Olympics competed in skijoring, a demonstration sport in which the competitors wore skis while being pulled behind horses?
... that Swedish figure skater Gillis Grafström, one of the 83 medal winners at the 1928 Winter Olympics, won the men's individual figure skating competition (pictured) even though he was skating on an injured knee?

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Did you know 25

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/25

... that Emile St. Godard won the demonstration Sled dog race at the 1932 Winter Olympics, the only time the sport has been in the Olympics?
... that Swiss equestrian Gustav Fischer won a medal in every team dressage event held at the Summer Olympics between 1952 and 1968?
... that six new competition venues have been constructed in preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia?
... that athlete Simone Schaller began hurdling only three months before she competed in the sport at the 1932 Summer Olympics?
... that Stanford University biochemist Annette Salmeen was both an Olympic gold medalist and a Rhodes Scholar?

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Did you know 26

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/26

... that David Haig-Thomas who rowed for Great Britain at the 1932 Summer Olympics was an ornithologist, arctic explorer and commando officer who was killed in action on D-Day?
... that Olympic freestyle skier Patrick Deneen first skied when he was only 11 months old?
... that the marathon course at the 1972 Summer Olympics was designed to represent the first Olympic mascot, Waldi?
... that friends of the family raised US$3,500 for Laurie Phenix to travel to the 2000 Summer Olympics and see her daughter Erin Phenix win a gold medal?
... that 51-year old Prince Hubertus of Hohenlohe-Langenburg was represent Mexico at the 2010 Winter Olympics?

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Did you know 27

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/27

... that the horse Authentic has won three Olympic medals and two World Equestrian Games medals?
... that some participants in the men's singles luge event at the 2010 Winter Olympics complained that track changes made after the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili gave an advantage to stronger starters?
... that at the 2010 Olympics, 20-year-old Drew Doughty is to become the youngest ice hockey player since Eric Lindros in 1991 to represent Canada in a major best-on-best tournament?
... that sibling alpine skiers Ornella and Manfred Oettl Reyes are members of Peru's first team at the Winter Olympics, despite being born and living their entire lives in Germany?
... that Norwegian cross-country skier Øystein Pettersen won a gold medal in the team sprint event at the 2010 Winter Olympics after filling in for a teammate who withdrew from the race due to illness?

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Did you know 28

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/28

... that Latvian Haralds Silovs is the first Olympic athlete to compete in both the short and long track speed skating events on the same day?
... that Mo Tae-Bum, a South Korean long track speed skater, won a 2010 Olympic gold medal on his 21st birthday?
... that speed skater Tomomi Okazaki was the oldest member of the Japanese team at the 2010 Winter Olympics?
...that brothers Hayes Jenkins and David Jenkins won gold and bronze in the men's figure skating competition at the 1956 Winter Olympics?
... that the first gold medal of the 2010 Winter Olympics was won by Simon Ammann of Switzerland in the normal hill ski jump?

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Did you know 29

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/29

... that Canadian coxswain Lesley Thompson has competed at six different Olympics, and won medals in four of them?
... that Anna Kozlova has competed in three Olympics, once for the Unified Team (former Soviet Union) and twice for the United States?
... that Zhuang Xiaoyan won China's first Olympic gold medal in judo in 1992 games?
... that Samuel Wanjiru, the 2008 Olympic marathon champion, won the Fukuoka Cross Country competition when he was only 16 years old?
... that Lauren Burns won Australia's first Olympic gold medal in taekwondo?

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Did you know 30

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/30

... that The Simpsons episode "Boy Meets Curl" will see Homer and Marge Simpson compete at the 2010 Winter Olympics in mixed-doubles curling, an event that is not part of the Olympic programme?
... that Seteng Ayele was the oldest track and field athlete at both the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics?
... that "The Mighty Midget", Rodney Wilkes, won the first ever Olympic medal for Trinidad and Tobago at the 1948 Games?
... that "Everyone", the official theme song of the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics held in Singapore, was sung by five different artistes each representing his or her continent?
... that 1912 Olympic champion Jim Thorpe was stripped of his track and field medals after it was discovered he had played baseball professionally?

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Did you know 31

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/31

... that deer penis, which is said in traditional Chinese medicine to enhance virility in men, was added to the list of banned substances during the 2008 Beijing Olympics?
... that the first gold medal of the Youth Olympic Games was awarded to Yuka Sato of Japan in the 2010 girls' triathlon?
... that The Float@Marina Bay, a venue of the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, hosts the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games as the world's largest floating stage?
... that Dick Button performed the first triple jump in competition at the men's figure skating event at the 1952 Winter Olympics?
... that Parry O'Brien won the gold medal in the men's shot put at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki as part of a four-year long streak in which he won 116 consecutive meets and set 17 world records?

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Did you know 32

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/32

... that all five venues of the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz were reused as venues when the Winter Olympics returned to the city twenty years later?
... that cars were brought into the Empire Stadium venue to illuminate the last two decathlon events at the 1948 Summer Olympics?
... that four of the seven venues used for the 1896 Summer Olympics were reused for the 2004 Summer Olympics?
... that Irish barrister and philatelist William Russell Lane-Joynt was a four-time Revolver Champion of Ireland and won a silver medal for Great Britain in shooting at the 1908 Summer Olympics?
... that the pool for the water polo venue at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo was shallow enough to allow taller Yugoslav players to stand with their heads above water?

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Did you know 33

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/33

... that teenager Barbara-Ann Scott was the first Canadian to win a gold medal in Olympic figure skating with her performance at the 1948 Winter Olympics?
... that all eight venues of the 1964 Winter Olympics were reused when the Games returned to Innsbruck twelve years later?
... that two Soviet speed skaters tied for first place and won gold in the same event at the 1956 Winter Olympics?
... that three of the venues used for the 1956 Winter Olympics went on to appear in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only?
... that visitors of the 2002 Winter Olympics had the option of traveling to one of the venues by horse-drawn sleigh?

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Did you know 34

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/34

... that Karuizawa, Japan, where curling competitions were held during the 1998 Nagano Olympics, is the first town to have hosted both Summer and Winter Olympic events?
... that only two new permanent venues were constructed for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles?
... that despite being that year's U.S. champion in the 200 m breaststroke, Iris Cummings still had to raise her own funds to travel to the 1936 Summer Olympics?
... that American ice hockey goaltender Tim Regan was awarded an Olympic silver medal in 1972 despite not playing a single game and leaving the Olympics early to return to college?
... that Vikingskipet sports venue, built for the 1994 Winter Olympics, has hosted world championships in speed skating, bandy, speedway and track cycling?

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Did you know 35

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/35

... that Gary Fanelli, who represented American Samoa in the marathon at the 1988 Summer Olympics, has competed in various costumes including Elwood Blues, a Ghostbusters ghost, and Michael Jackson?
... that the sacred wild-olive Olea oleaster of Olympia, not the cultivated olive, was used for the olive wreaths that crowned ancient Olympic winners?
... that University of Michigan fullback John Garrels won medals in both the 110 m hurdles and shot put at the 1908 Olympics in London?
... that 12 years after his team was disqualified, Jack Kirrane returned to the Olympics and captained the United States ice hockey team to a gold medal?
... that Charles Dvorak (pictured) missed the pole vault finals at the 1900 Olympics after being told the event was postponed, but returned to win the gold medal at the 1904 Olympics?

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Did you know 36

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/36

... that Steven Hallard and Richard Priestman were part of a team that won Great Britain's first Olympic archery?
... that boxer Adrian Dodson competed for Guyana at the 1988 Summer Olympics and for Great Britain at the 1992 Summer Olympics?
... that in the men's decathlon at the 2008 Summer Olympics, British athlete Daniel Awde set a personal best in the pole vault and had the fastest time of anyone in the 400 metres, but finished 21st?
... that figure skating was the first Winter Olympic sport to hold all of its events indoors, during the Winter Olympics in 1932?
... that at the 2008 Games, Nick Woodbridge and Sam Weale became the first British men to compete in Olympic modern pentathlon since 1996?

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Did you know 37

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/37

... that Greek skier Antoin Miliordos crossed the finish line of the downhill event at the 1952 Winter Olympics backwards after falling 18 times?
... that laser guns were considered as replacements for pistols for the modern pentathlon at the 2012 Summer Olympics?
... that it was Jerry Shipp who led the United States men's national basketball team in scoring at the 1964 Summer Olympics, even though its roster included two future Hall of Famers?
... that 1998 Chicago Marathon winner Ondoro Osoro was selected for the Kenyan Olympic squad, but missed the 2000 Sydney Olympics after he was shot in a carjacking?
... that runner Garry Bjorklund qualified for the 1976 Summer Olympics in the 10,000 m' despite losing a shoe during the U.S. Olympic Trials?

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Did you know 38

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/38

... that Slobodan Branković ran in the men's 400 metres (1,300 feet) race in the 1992 Barcelona Games as an Independent Olympic Participant?
... that handball goalkeeper Andrea Farkas won Olympic bronze and silver medals with the Hungarian national team?
... that Giuseppe Cassioli created a design for the Summer Olympic Games medals that was used for 40 years?
... that Wojciech Pietranik was told to replace the Sydney Opera House with the Roman Colosseum in his design for the Sydney 2000 Olympic medals?
... that Finland's Lasse Virén won the gold medal and set a world record in the 10,000 metres at the 1972 Summer Olympics, despite falling onto the track about halfway through the race?

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Did you know 39

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/39

... that 1932 Olympic racewalking champion Tommy Green was unable to walk for the first five years of his life because he was afflicted with rickets?
... that foliage from the Australian rainforest tree Grevillea baileyana was used in the floral arrangements handed to medal winners at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney?
... that Czechoslovakian Olympic water polo player Kurt Epstein survived two Nazi concentration camps?
... that former Elitserien and National Hockey League player Håkan Loob was one of the first members of the Triple Gold Club, winning the Stanley Cup, World Championship and Olympic gold?
... that Michael Plumb was the first equestrian inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame?

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Did you know 40

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/40

... that Gemma Beadsworth and her brother Jamie both represented Australia in water polo at the 2008 Summer Olympics?
... that Bonfire helped Anky van Grunsven win three Olympic gold medals?
... that Australian Stinger Kelsey Wakefield took a year off university in order to try to make the 2012 Summer Olympics in water polo?
... that Olympic bronze medalist John Russell was a member of the United States' last military delegation to equestrian at the Summer Olympics as well as its first civilian one?
... that Des Abbott was the first Australian Aboriginal to represent Australia at the Olympic Games in men's field hockey?

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Did you know 41

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/41

... that International Olympic Committee founder Pierre de Coubertin, under a pseudonym, won a gold medal at the 1912 Summer Olympics?
... that Bronwen Knox captained the Australian Stingers at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing?
... that Olympic athlete Arthur Keily ran over 130 miles (210 km) a week to train for marathons?
... that Japanese comedian Neko Hiroshi was nominated by the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia to compete for Cambodia at the 2012 Summer Olympics?
... that British swimmer Liam Tancock has taken up ballet in order to improve his medal chances at the 2012 Summer Olympics?

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Did you know 42

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/42

... that Olympic silver and bronze medalist Stacey Porter (pictured) was the first Aboriginal member of the Australian women's national team to represent the country in softball at the Olympics?
... that Queensland teacher Jodie Bowering is also an Australian Olympic bronze medalist in softball?
... that Dorothy Manley took unpaid leave from her job as a typist to compete in the 1948 Summer Olympics, where she won the silver medal in the women's 100 metres?
... that the Moucherotte, in France, was the location of the ski-jumping events of the 1968 Winter Olympics?
... that despite being nicknamed the "relay of peace", the 1948 Summer Olympics torch relay involved the torch being carried on three warships?

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Did you know 43

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/43

... that Antiguan and Barbudan participation in the 50-meter freestyle at the 2008 Summer Olympics marked the fifth time swimmer Kareem Valentine ever swam in a pool?
... that the Emirates Cup was cancelled from the 2012–13 Arsenal season due to the 2012 London Olympics?
... that pitcher B. J. Wallace set an Olympic baseball record with fourteen strikeouts in one game?
... that Blake Gaudry started gymnastics when he was ten years old and he represented Australia in the trampoline event at the 2012 Summer Olympics?
... that Norwegian IOC member Gerhard Heiberg recommended Oslo to bid with Hafjell and Kvitfjell as Alpine Skiing venues instead of Norefjell, to reduce their chances to host the 2018 Winter Olympics?

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Did you know 44

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/44

... that Naomi Fischer-Rasmussen was the first woman to represent Australia in boxing when she competes at the 2012 Summer Olympics?
... that India's 2012 Olympic boxer Devendro Singh gets training support from his sister Sushila, a former national boxing champion?
... that Birmingham's bid for the 1992 Summer Olympics was to have had the venues centered around the National Exhibition Centre?
... that 2012 Olympic lightweight double sculls rower Bronwen Watson retired from rowing twice?
... that "Survival", a single by the English rock band Muse, is the official song of the 2012 Summer Olympics?

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Did you know 45

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/45

... that Lucinda Whitty, Olivia Price and Nina Curtis became a team in 2011 when they heard the Elliott 6m boat would be required for an Olympic sailing event?
... that after Irishman Con O'Kelly won a gold medal for Great Britain at the 1908 Summer Olympics, he was paraded through Hull on the back of a fire engine?
... that after winning the silver medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics, Finn Yrjö Saarela won the gold medal in heavyweight wrestling at the 1912 Games?
... that Nicola Wilson and Opposition Buzz were selected for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics after Piggy French was forced to withdraw?
... that 1976 Yugoslav Olympic rifle shooter Miro Sipek is the Australian 2012 Summer Paralympic rifle coach and has coached Australian Olympic rifle teams?

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Did you know 46

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/46

... that swimmer Joseph Roebuck missed out on qualification for the 2008 Summer Olympics by a quarter of a second, but is set to compete in three events for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics?
... that Olympic road cyclist Shara Gillow of Australia is following in the path of her father, who represented Zimbabwe in cycling at the 1980 Summer Olympics?
... that 2012 Olympic weightlifter Yuderqui Contreras became Pan American Champion and a Dominican Army officer in the same year?
... that the Olympic Stadium in Manchester's bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics was later redesigned and used for the 2002 Commonwealth Games?
... that American archer Miranda Leek, who competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics, first learned to shoot at age five?

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Did you know 47

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/47

... that in 2008, Edwin Ekiring became the first badminton player to compete for Uganda at the Olympics?
... that the 1988 Winter Olympics saw the first appearance of a Jamaican team at a Winter Olympics, and would go on to inspire the film Cool Runnings?
... that East German Ortrun Enderlein was the first Olympic gold medalist in women's luge?
... that Georgina Harland suffered a stress fracture to her leg only two weeks before the 2004 Summer Olympics, where she won a bronze medal in modern pentathlon?
... that 2012 Australian Olympic diver Jaele Patrick only took up the sport at fifteen following a gymnastics injury?

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Did you know 48

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/48

... that Royal Mail painted a post box gold to commemorate each gold medallist for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics?
... that 16-year-old Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen won two gold medals and broke two records at the 2012 Olympics?
... that a spectator who threw a bottle at the men's 100 metres race in the 2012 Olympics was immediately confronted by judo bronze medalist Edith Bosch, who happened to be next to him?
... that footballers Scott and Martin Sinclair are the first brothers to represent Great Britain at the Olympics and Paralympics in the same year?
... that the Olympic Flame once burned at 2,000 degrees Celsius to ensure that it stayed alight under water?

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Did you know 49

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/49

... that Chinese Olympic gold medalist and flagbearer Xu Lijia nearly died at age 12 and missed the Athens Olympics because of a tumor?
... that 2012 Indian Olympic high jumper Sahana Kumari qualified for the Games after breaking the eight-year-old national record?
... that Mollie Phillips was the first woman to carry the flag and lead out her national team at an Olympic Games?
... that David Bond took eight weeks of unpaid leave from his job in order to become one of three gold medallists for the British team at the 1948 Summer Olympics?
... that Pindar's First Olympian Ode celebrates victory at the Olympic Games to the strains of the phorminx?

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Did you know 50

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/50

... that former British Olympic bronze medallist Kate Allenby became a PE teacher after she retired from professional sport?
... that Haitian runner Dieudonné LaMothe said he completed the marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics in fear for his life?
... that German sculptor Walter Lemcke designed the first Olympic torch for the 1936 Summer Olympics torch relay, which began the tradition of taking the Olympic Flame to the host city?
... that the wrestling match between Alfred Asikainen and Martin Klein at the 1912 Summer Olympics lasted eleven hours and forty minutes?
... that the first Winter Olympic torch relay did not carry the Olympic Flame?

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Did you know 51

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/51

... that Canadian literary critic Ira Nadel considers the legend of the Olympic torch relay a total fabrication?
... that 1948 Olympics rowing gold medallist Bert Bushnell was involved in the evacuation of Dunkirk during the Second World War?
... that the Olympic Flame was transmitted by satellite from Greece to Canada in 1976?
... that some runners in the 1968 Summer Olympics torch relay were burned by exploding torches?
... that Jørgen Juve was captain of the Norwegian football team that won Olympic bronze medals in Berlin in 1936, after knocking out Germany in the quarter final?

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Did you know 52

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/52

... that, at the 2012 Olympics, Alaaeldin Abouelkassem of Egypt became the first representative of an African nation to win an Olympic fencing medal?
... that 2012 Olympian Kelsey Titmarsh is a member of the first Canadian women's rhythmic gymnastics all-around group to qualify for the Olympics?
... that Käthe Krauß won bronze in the 100 metres in the 1936 Summer Olympics and was on the German women's sprint relay team that set a world record in the heats, but dropped the baton in the final race?
... that Andrea St. Bernard is the first Grenadian taekwondo practitioner to be selected for an Olympic Games?
... that the Japanese Olympic Committee did not like the suggestion that the 1940 Summer Olympics torch relay could go through China?

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Did you know 53

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/53

... that at the 2012 Olympics, Kayla Harrison became the first American to win a gold medal in judo?
... that Danish wrestler Søren Marinus Jensen won two gold medals at the 1906 Summer Olympics which is no longer considered to be an Olympic Games?
... that 2012 Olympic taekwondo competitor Jade Jones won Great Britain's first ever gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games?
... that French Olympic gold medallist Teddy Riner was the first male judoka to win five world titles?
... that Sarah Attar is one of Saudi Arabia's first female athletes at the Olympics, and she competed at the 2012 Games in an event she hasn't competed in since high school?

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Did you know 54

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/54

... that Yi Siling was both the first person to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics and the first person to win a gold medal at the Games?
... that 2012 Olympic BMX rider Caroline Buchanan was one of Australia's best BMX riders in 2008 but could not compete in Beijing because her youth made her ineligible?
... that George Larner is the only gold medallist in the history of the Olympic Games in the men's 3,500 metres and 10 miles walk?
... that Vicky Holland, who competed in triathlon for Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics, only took up the sport in her second year of university?
... that Heather Stanning's gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics was predicted in her school yearbook?

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Did you know 55

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/55

... that Lucy Hall and Stuart Hayes were selected for the Great Britain team at the 2012 Olympics ahead of higher-ranked triathletes because of their ability to act as domestiques?
... that 2012 Australian Olympic javelin thrower Kathryn Mitchell threw an Olympic A-qualifying distance in January, but since it was a club event, the throw did not count for Olympic qualification?
... that American sprinter Marlena Wesh chose to represent Haiti in the 2012 Olympics though she has never been there?
... that 2012 Australian Olympic synchronized swimmer Bianca Hammett became interested in the sport after seeing a newspaper advertisement for it?
... that 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medalist Alethea Sedgman was selected over her boyfriend for the 2012 Olympics because national selectors wanted to send a female competitor?

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Did you know 56

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/56

... that 2012 British Olympic shooter James Huckle took up the sport after his father bought a rifle to deal with a rat problem?
... that to deprive his body of oxygen in the five months before the Olympic trials, Olympic steeplechaser Donald Cabral spent over 10 hours a day in a high-altitude tent he bought on Craigslist?
... that racewalker Emerson Esnal Hernández, who is represented El Salvador at the 2012 Olympic Games, started competing in athletics after accompanying a shy friend to tryouts?
... that 2012 Olympic judo competitor Wodjan Shaherkani is required to be accompanied by a male guardian during the Games?
... that at the 1936 Summer Olympics, Tilly Fleischer became the first German woman to win a gold medal?

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Did you know 57

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/57

... that 2012 Olympic 800 metre freestyle swimmer Jessica Ashwood started swimming when she was four years old?
... that after the US Olympic Trials swimmer Davis Tarwater announced his retirement and headed home before realizing he had qualified for the 2012 Olympics?
... that rhythmic gymnast Georgina Cassar was the first athlete from Gibraltar to compete at the Olympic Games?
... that the Duchess of Westminster was one of only two women to compete in sailing at the 1908 Summer Olympics?
... that prior to winning a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics, Ukrainian sport shooter Artur Ayvazyan was detained by his nation's customs agency for having an unregistered gun?

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Did you know 58

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/58

... that Tara VanDerveer had to take a one-year leave of absence from her position at Stanford to coach the 1996 U.S. Women's Olympic Basketball team?
... that Alan Phillips wasn't allowed to compete in badminton for South Africa in the 1992 Olympics because he was too old at 36, but he played baseball in the 2000 Olympics at 44?
... that half-pipe skiing was added as a new event for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia?
... that Singaporean sprinter C Kunalan's feat of 10.38 seconds in the 1968 Summer Olympic Games 100 metres was a national record for 33 years?
... that Katya Crema was one of two Australian women to compete at the Olympic debut for women's Ski cross?

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Did you know 59

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/59

... that ice dancing coach Betty Callaway, best known for coaching Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean to Olympic gold in 1984, also taught Prince Charles and Princess Anne?
... that dozens of baseball players have defected from Cuba during events such as the Mariel boatlift and the 1996 Summer Olympics?
... that London 2012 Olympic volunteers criticised the UDAC for not having any mirrors?
... that Tsholofelo Thipe, who represented South Africa in the 400 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, failed drug tests in 2012 due to her contraceptive?
... that Armenian King Varazdat was one of the last Ancient Olympic champions in boxing?

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Did you know 60

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/60

... that Olympic female gymnasts for the Soviet Union won team gold medals in all nine Olympic Games that they competed in?
... that U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer Gary Suter won a silver medal at the 2002 Olympic Games, 22 years after his brother Bob won gold?
... that Olympic Bronze medalist, Wimbledon quarterfinalist and Dutch champion Hendrik Timmer coached Princess Juliana of the Netherlands in tennis?
... that Vahram Papazyan and Mıgırdiç Mıgıryan, the two athletes who represented Turkey in its first-ever Olympics, were both ethnic Armenians?
... that the 1996 Summer Olympics torch relay saw the torch travel into space?

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Did you know 61

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/61

... that after being caught at sea trying to defect, Cuban baseball player Andy Morales wasn't asked to participate in the 2000 Summer Olympics?
... that Lucius Minicius Natalis Quadronius Verus was the first known Olympic champion to have been born in the Iberian Peninsula?
... that although miler Gene Venzke ran three world records during the 1932 indoor season, he failed to qualify for the Olympics that year and only made the team four years later?
... that Ágnes Keleti has won the most medals of all the Olympic female gymnasts for Hungary?
... that Nadia Comăneci has won the most medals of all the Olympic female gymnasts for Romania?

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Did you know 62

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/62

... that Mark Sutton portrayed a skydiving James Bond during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics?
... that Osuwa Daiko was one of the first groups to popularize taiko music through its performance at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo?
... that participants in the 1984 Summer Olympics torch relay had to pay $3,000 to run a kilometer?
... that three-time World Champion Robert Reichel scored the lone shootout goal to eliminate Canada at the 1998 Olympics and help the Czech Republic win its first gold medal in ice hockey?
... that New Zealand rower Nathan Cohen, Olympic champion and two-time world champion, has an irregular heartbeat?

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Did you know 63

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/63

... that chief of counterintelligence for Russia's FSB, Oleg Syromolotov, is head of security for the 2014 Winter Olympics?
... that Angelo Ciccone lapped the entire field, but didn't win a point in the Men's Madison at the 2008 Summer Olympics?
... that Deborah Sussman designed the visual landscape for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles?
... that the Bolshoy Ice Dome host the gold medal match of the Olympic men's ice hockey tournament?
... that Olympic athlete Andy Holden once ran 100 miles and drank 100 pints of beer in a single week?

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Did you know 64

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/64

... that 2014 Olympic speed skater Anna Ringsred used to be afraid of racing, calling competition "scary and nerve-racking"?
... that speed skater Patrick Meek qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics despite not being able to "really see anything"?
... that Zimbabwe's gold-winning women's field hockey team from the 1980 Olympics were promised an ox each by the Prime Minister's wife, but got packages of meat instead?
... that Slovenia won eight medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics, including two gold?
... that the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project's Night Train sled guided the United States team to the 2010 Winter Olympics gold medal, their first since 1948?

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Did you know 65

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/65

... that Czech Olympic snowboarder Ester Ledecká is the granddaughter of two-time Olympic medallist Jan Klapáč?
... that at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Bhutan was one of two nations to have only female competitors?
... that American snowboarders Taylor Gold and his sister Arielle both went to Sochi to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics, but both saw their efforts derailed by falls?
... that Zbigniew Bródka, the first Pole to win an Olympic gold medal in men's 1500 metres speed skating, is a professional firefighter?
... that Yoko Kondo was the Japan women's ice hockey team's oldest player in the 2014 Winter Olympics, and the only one with prior Olympic experience?

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Did you know 66

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/66

... that ski jumper Eva Ganster pre-jumped at the 1994 Olympics, twenty years before ski jumping became an Olympic sport for women at 2014?
... that Tobias Arlt and Tobias Wendl, who won four Olympic golds between them, are nicknamed "The Two Tobis"?
... that the 2012 London Games was Sierra Leone's tenth appearance at the Summer Olympics?
... that Megan Rapinoe is the first soccer player, male or female, to score a rare Goal Olimpico at the Olympic Games?
... that runner Marie Dollinger represented Germany in three Olympic Games, broke Olympic records and set a world record, but never won an Olympic medal?

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Did you know 67

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/67

... that two-time Olympic gold medalist Carli Lloyd is the only player to score the game-winning goal in two consecutive Olympic gold medal soccer matches?
... that Hungarian fencer Imre Gedővári won 10 national titles and 3 Olympic medals?
... that a crown was added to the flag of Liechtenstein after it was discovered at the 1936 Summer Olympics that its prior flag was identical to the flag of Haiti?
... that Olympic footballer Kristian Krefting served as a liaison officer with British forces fighting in the 1940 Norwegian Campaign?
... that Chris Paul won gold medals with the US basketball team at both the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics?

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Did you know 68

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/68

... that Race is the first feature film about Jesse Owens, who won a record-breaking four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games?
... that more than 300 complaints were received about British slopestyle snowboarder Aimee Fuller's commentary on her own event at the 2014 Winter Olympics?
... that Jamaican Bobsledder Winston Watts came out of retirement and raised over US$25,000 in Dogecoin to compete at the 2014 Winter Olympics?
... that golfer Rory McIlroy has chosen to represent Ireland at the 2016 Summer Olympics and not Great Britain?
... that Djibouti's flag bearer at the 2008 Summer Olympics was not a competitor?

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Did you know 69

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/69

... that the London Philharmonic Orchestra recorded all of the 205 national anthems used at the medal ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics?
... that at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Chad had only two athletes competing, both finishing seventh in their heat?
... that Cape Verde's Olympic team at the 2012 London Games included Lidiane Lopes, the nation's youngest-ever competitor at age 17?
... that brothers Andy and Fränk Schleck were meant to compete for Luxembourg at the 2012 Summer Olympics, but were unable to after Andy suffered an injury and Fränk failed a drug test?
... that swimmer Mary Wayte won the first of four Olympic medals by defeating former world record-holder Sippy Woodhead in the final of the women's 200-meter freestyle at the 1984 Summer Olympics?

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Did you know 70

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/70

... that American swimmer Olympic gold medalist Nicole Haislett learned to swim at the age of 18 months?
... that Olympic bronze medalist Richard W. Mayo was a brigadier general in the Korean War?
... that Mount Faloria, near Cortina d'Ampezzo, hosted the men's giant slalom event of the 1956 Winter Olympics?
... that Carrie Johnson represented the United States at three consecutive Olympics after being diagnosed with Crohn's disease in 2003?
... that American swimmer Theresa Andrews gave her first Olympic gold medal to her brother for his courage after he was paralyzed in a car accident?

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Did you know 71

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/71

... that U.S. swimmers Mike Heath, David Larson, Jeff Float and Bruce Hayes were dubbed the "Gross Busters" after beating German star Michael Gross and his team in the 4×200 m relay at the 1984 Olympics?
... that Haiti's first-ever Olympic medal was won at the 1924 Summer Olympics by a team composed entirely of members of the U.S.-backed collaborationist police?
... that Flim Flam was originally supposed to be a breeding stallion, but was gelded so he could excel in Olympic dressage?
... that Dutch triple jumper Fabian Florant set a new personal best and national record to meet the qualifying standard for the 2016 Summer Olympics?
... that the Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum features Zaharias's three 1932 Summer Olympics medals and a set of her golf clubs?

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Did you know 72

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/72

... that despite being removed from the 1992 Honduras Olympic team and Olympic Village, Polin Belisle still competed in the Olympic marathon?
... that Iranian para-archer Zahra Nemati has qualified for both the 2016 Summer Paralympics and the 2016 Summer Olympics?
... that the Welsh women's rugby union international Elen Evans rode a lifeboat across the Menai Strait as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay?
... that 1976 Summer Olympics decathlon champion Caitlyn Jenner was once a Playgirl magazine cover model?
... that U.S. Navy SEAL Faauuga Muagututia was a member of American Samoa's first Winter Olympic team?

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Did you know 73

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/73

... that the video for Katy Perry's song "Rise" features clips of athletes from various Olympic Games?
... that sports shooter Lenchu Kunzang was approached by the Bhutan Olympic Committee after topping her rifle shooting class during police training?
... that the Olympic kayaking gold medallist Joe Clarke had to write a letter to his school before he was allowed to join their canoeing club?
... that Dan Bibby scored the golden point for Great Britain in the 2016 Olympic rugby sevens quarter-final?
... that Bryony Page is Great Britain's first-ever Olympic medallist in trampolining?

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Did you know 74

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/74

... that Asnage Castelly first had to create the Haitian Wrestling Federation before being allowed to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics as his nation's first Olympic wrestler?
... that Theodor Lewald successfully campaigned for Germany to compete at the 1928 Summer Olympics and host the 1936 Summer Olympics?
... that Jonathan Brownlee collapsed almost immediately after crossing the finish line at the men's triathlon at the 2012 Summer Olympics?
... that Yona Knight-Wisdom is the first male Jamaican diver to compete at the Olympic Games?
... that Ben St Lawrence qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics on the first day of the qualification window?

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Did you know 75

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/75

... that in June 2016, Indian long jumper Ankit Sharma broke the national record twice in one day and qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics?
... that 17-year-old Georgia Coates is the youngest swimmer in Great Britain's team for the 2016 Summer Olympics?
... that Emily Morley is the first Bahamian rower to qualify for the Olympic Games?
... that judoka Popole Misenga sought political asylum in Brazil following the 2013 World Championships, and competed for the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Olympics?
... that Slovenian gymnast Edvard Antosiewicz represented Yugoslavia at the 1928 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal in team competition?

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Did you know 76

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/76

... that Ahmad Abughaush won Jordan's first Olympic medal with a gold in taekwondo at the 2016 Summer Olympics?
... that Johanna Umurungi was the only female Rwandan swimmer at the 2016 Summer Olympics?
... that after winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics, Sara Ahmed became the first Egyptian woman to stand on an Olympic podium?
... that boxer Issake Dabore was the first athlete from Niger to win an Olympic medal?
... that 13-year-old Togolese swimmer Adzo Kpossi was the youngest athlete at the 2012 Summer Olympics?

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Did you know 77

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/77

... that Slovenian gymnast Anton Malej, a bronze medallist in the 1928 Summer Olympics, died after falling from the rings on the first day of competition at the 1930 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships?
... that during wrestling at the 2016 Summer Olympics, coaches threw plush dolls of Vinicius, the Olympic mascot, into the ring if they wished to challenge a referee's call?
... that although Egypt boycotted the 1956 Summer Olympics, it still sent three athletes to the Games?
... that William Lister was listed as competing in water polo at the 1900 Summer Olympics, despite having died before the Games began?
... that 14 Muslim female athletes won medals at the 2016 Olympic Games?

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Did you know 78

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/78

... that Traci Hunter Abramson used her experience as a swim coach and a CIA employee to write Undercurrents, a novel about an Olympic-hopeful swimmer in witness protection?
... that Abebe Bikila set a world record winning the 1960 Men's Olympic marathon, running barefoot?
... that during the tug of war at the 1900 Olympics, a journalist was drafted into the gold medal winning team?
... that tango music composer Cátulo Castillo was once featherweight champion of Argentina, and went to the 1924 Summer Olympics?
... that Jamaican sprinter Dominique Blake was accidentally awarded a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the women's 4 × 400 m relay?

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Did you know 79

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/79

... that Evelyn Terhune, a member of the U.S. fencing team at the 1960 Summer Olympics, took up the sport on a dare?
... that the Israeli team at the 1972 Summer Olympics attended the German production of Fiddler on the Roof as guests of its star, Israeli actor Shmuel Rodensky, the night before the Munich massacre?
... that at the 2018 Winter Olympics, Dom Parsons won the first medal for a British male in skeleton in 70 years?
... that at the 2018 Winter Olympics, New Jersey-born Anthony Watson became the first slider to represent Jamaica in skeleton at the Olympic level?
... that after the U.S. Congress passed a resolution urging the IOC to reject Beijing's bid for the 2000 Olympics, the city's vice mayor Zhang Baifa threatened to boycott the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta?

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Did you know 80

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/80

... that Charles Jewtraw was the first Winter Olympics gold medallist, winning the 500 m speed skating event at the 1924 Games?
... that the two competitors for Cyprus at the 2010 Winter Olympics are siblings?
... that Edward Frank Gillett competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics the year after he died?
... that the first ever Indonesian Olympic team included a high jump athlete who later became a lieutenant colonel?
... that referee Bob Nadin said he was referred to as the "pope of the rules", and received the Pierre de Coubertin medal for ice hockey at the Olympic Games?

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Did you know 81

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/81

... that Greek water-carrier Spyridon Louis became a national hero as a result of winning the inaugural modern Olympic men's marathon?
... that the first official baseball game in Germany took place under the Nazi regime at the 1936 Summer Olympics?
... that Mexico was represented by a single athlete at the 1994 Winter Olympics?
... that Russian breakdancer Sergei Chernyshev, the 2018 Youth Olympics B-Boys champion, competes under the nickname Bumblebee, after a robot superhero in the Transformers franchise?
... that Aleksei Grishin put his 2010 Winter Olympics gold medal—Belarus' first gold in the Winter Olympics—up for auction to raise money for another person's surgery?

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Did you know 82

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/82

... that Sun Yang is the first swimmer in history to win Olympic gold medals in the 200-, 400-, and 1500-metre freestyle events?
... that Uganda's delegation at the 1968 Summer Olympics included boxers Leo Rwabwogo and Eridadi Mukwanga, who won the nation's first Olympic medals at the Games?
... that Ralph Evans is the first Welshman to win an Olympic medal in boxing?
... that French weightlifter Alexandre Maspoli, who won a medal at the 1906 Intercalated Games, later competed in the sculpture event at the 1924 Summer Olympics?
... that Max Laeuger was a German potter, artist, and architect who won an Olympic medal?

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Did you know 83

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/83

... that Venezuela won its first Olympic medal in 1952 with triple jumper Asnoldo Devonish, who competed while injured?
... that Canadian Amateur Hockey Association president E. A. Gilroy allowed Canadians to play for Great Britain in ice hockey at the 1936 Winter Olympics as a gesture of sportsmanship?
... that table-tennis player Isabelle Li received a standing ovation despite losing the final at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics?
... that future U.S. Navy rear admiral Oral Swigart competed as a wrestler at the 1920 Summer Olympics?
... that Ethiopian runner Helen Bekele Tola has stated a desire to compete for Switzerland at the 2020 Summer Olympics?

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Did you know 84

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/84

... that Abudureheman Abulikemu was the first boxer from Xinjiang to compete at the Olympics?
... that Rānui Ngārimu helped weave Te Māhutonga (the Southern Cross), the Māori cloak worn by the flag bearer of the New Zealand Olympic team since 2004?
... that after winning Olympic bronze in bobsleigh, "Paddy" Green went on to RAF night-fighter fame that won him awards from the US and Soviet Union?
... that after being told that women could not compete in athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics, the FSFSF set up their own Women's Olympiad?
... that John Moffet set an Olympic swimming record despite injuring himself during the same race?

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Did you know 85

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/85

... that runners training to represent Laos at the 2012 Summer Olympics used barbell weights made from concrete, tires, and paint cans?
... that Ben Connor, who competed in his first marathon in October 2020, has qualified for the marathon race at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics?
... that, while representing Andorra at the 2010 Winter Olympics, Lluís Marin Tarroch served as the flag bearer and became the first Andorran to compete in snowboarding at the Games?
... that Julie Erichsen is the first female Norwegian gymnast to qualify for an Olympic Games since 1992?
... that Conn Findlay is one of only two individuals to win sailing's America's Cup and an Olympic gold medal in rowing?

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Did you know 86

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/86

... that German swimmer Lisa Höpink won two medals at the 2019 Summer Universiade and qualified for two events at the 2020 Summer Olympics?
... that after the 2020 Summer Olympics were postponed, South African artistic gymnast Caitlin Rooskrantz livestreamed the routine she was going to perform?
... that British sailor Eilidh McIntyre, who has qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics, is the daughter of a former Olympic gold medallist?
... that Canadian cyclist Bernie Willock, who missed out on competing at the Olympics due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott, later owned furniture stores?
... that George Dudley threatened to withdraw Canada from ice hockey at the Olympic Games over the definition of an amateur?

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Did you know 87

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/87

... that judge Jeremiah T. Mahoney qualified for the 1906 and 1908 Summer Olympics, but did not attend either, and pushed the United States to boycott the 1936 Summer Olympics in protest of Nazi Germany?
... that Aya Mpali, a flagbearer for Gabon at the 2020 Summer Olympics, was motivated to take up swimming competitively after her parents drowned?
... that two hours before Canadian boxer Mandy Bujold competed in a 2016 Summer Olympics fight, she had been in hospital with gastroenteritis?
... that New Zealand rower Hannah Osborne unexpectedly displaced the current double world champion in double scull, Olivia Loe, to win a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics?
... that at the 2016 Summer Olympics, French sailor Hélène Defrance won a medal by a single point?

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Did you know 88

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/88

... that shooter Tehani Egodawela was the third person selected from Sri Lanka to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics?
... that Barakat Al-Harthi missed his layover and lost some of his sports equipment before competing for Oman at the 2016 Summer Olympics?
... that New Zealand world-champion rower Emma Twigg (pictured) came out of retirement to compete in her fourth Olympic Games?
... that the first Olympic volleyball match in more than 16 years for Kenya's Malkia Strikers was played in Tokyo against Japan?
... that Murray Dowey was a clerk and typist for the Toronto Transit Commission before being the goaltender for Canada's gold-medal-winning hockey team at the 1948 Winter Olympics?

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Did you know 89

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/89

... that Quinn became the first out, transgender, non-binary athlete to medal at the Summer Olympic Games when they won gold with the Canada national soccer team?
... that American physician and marathon runner Joan Ullyot was one of the key figures in successfully lobbying for a women’s marathon in the Olympic Games?
... that Kuinini Manumua is the first woman to represent Tonga in weightlifting at the Olympic Games?
... that British modern pentathlete Jo Muir qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics despite missing the last qualification event due to COVID-19–related travel restrictions?
... that artist Roy Beddington illustrated three books with Irish author Stephen Gwynn and competed in the painting event at the 1948 Summer Olympics?

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Did you know 90

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/90

... that Richard McGeagh did not receive a gold medal, even though he set an Olympic record in the 4×100 metre medley relay at the 1964 Olympics?
... that Julio Mayora was most happy about winning his silver medal for Venezuela at the 2020 Summer Olympics because it meant the government might give his mother a house?
... that Olympic flagbearer Raed Ahmed defected after he saw Bill Clinton clapping?
... that 1964 Olympic field hockey player John Land played for England into his late 70s?
... that Inger K. Frith, the first woman president of a major international sporting federation, played a key role in returning archery to the Olympics?

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Did you know 91

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/91

... that ski jumper Joséphine Pagnier, who competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics, won two medals at the Winter Youth Olympics two years ago?
... that freestyle skier Kirsty Muir was the youngest Team GB competitor at the 2022 Winter Olympics?
... that the 2012 Olympic women's soccer semifinal between the Canadian and the American national teams was called "the greatest knockout match in major-tournament football" since 1982?
... that Rebeca Andrade is the first Brazilian female gymnast to win a medal at the Olympic Games?
... that in 2022, Frida Westman was the first Swedish ski jumper to compete at an Olympic Games since 1994, when her father competed?

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Did you know 92

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/92

... that Pranati Nayak was the second Indian female artistic gymnast to compete at the Olympic Games?
... that Marina Nekrasova was the first woman artistic gymnast to represent Azerbaijan at the Olympics?
... that shortly before sports shooter William Riedell was to compete in the 1936 Olympics, he had his pistols confiscated by the New York police because the precinct chief had decided there were "too many guns"?
... that windsurfer Penny Way won the British qualification event for the 1996 Summer Olympics with two races to spare?
... that journalist W. A. Hewitt refereed the first game played in the history of ice hockey at the Olympic Games?

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Did you know 93

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/93

... that Olympic diver Millie Hudson, who attempted to swim across the Strait of Gibraltar in 1928, was a member of the Hammersmith Ladies Swimming Club along with Belle White, the first British diver to win an Olympic medal?
... that Margaret Abbott was the first American woman to win an Olympic event, but never realized it?
... that the 6.0 system of judging figure skating was replaced in 2004, as a response to the scandal during the pair skating competition at the 2002 Winter Olympics?
... that Canadian brothers Graeme and Jacob Saunders learned to sail at the Chester Yacht Club, and campaigned a two-person dinghy in the 2016 Summer Olympics?
... that as women's ski jumping was not then an Olympic event, Yoshiko Kasai participated as the only female test jumper at the 1998 Winter Olympics, as dramatized in Jump!! The Heroes Behind the Gold?

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Did you know 94

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/94

... that though Haiti did not compete at the 1936 Summer Olympics, its presence there made Liechtenstein change its flag?
... that Abdel Moneim Mokhtar travelled to the 1928 Summer Olympics to compete in gymnastics, but took part in diving instead?
... that Sanne Wevers is the first Dutch female gymnast to have won an individual Olympic medal?
... that track and field star Herman Neugass boycotted the 1936 US Olympic Trials because of rising antisemitism in Nazi Germany?
... that Ariana Orrego was the first Peruvian gymnast to compete at the Olympic Games?

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Did you know 95

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/95

... that with his self-produced solo ice show Gift, two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu is expected to become the first ice skater to perform at the Tokyo Dome?
... that 17-year-old cyclist J. Nash McCrea, nicknamed "Crash", caused a major crash at the 1904 Olympics?
... that trampolinist Dylan Schmidt is New Zealand's first Olympic medallist in any gymnastics discipline?
... that at the 2020 Olympics, Lee Chih-kai became the first gymnast competing for Chinese Taipei to win an Olympic medal?
... that in 2021, Uche Eke became the first gymnast to represent Nigeria at the Olympics?

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Did you know 96

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/96

... that Montagu Toller was a part of the British team that played cricket at the 1900 Summer Olympics, the only time cricket was ever featured at the Olympics?
... that delivering newspapers was how Garnett Wikoff became an Olympic runner?
... that Wilhelm Büsing said that "all hell broke loose" after he won an Olympic medal?
... that Dafne Navarro was the first trampoline gymnast to represent Mexico at the Olympics?
... that in between snowboarding runs at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Jenise Spiteri ate a bao that she forgot was in her pocket?

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Did you know 97

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/97

... that attending the 1984 Summer Olympics inspired Bob Barney to establish an institution to research the Olympic Games?
... that Anthony Vaz was the first flag bearer and team captain for Kenya at the Olympics?
... that Yuna Kim had a major impact on figure skating and was instrumental in bringing the Olympics to Pyeongchang in 2018?
... that the 2024 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony featured dancing Phryges?
... that Olympic gold medalist Dean Crawford was introduced to rowing when he found a rowing shell outside the students' union building at the University of Victoria?

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Did you know 98

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/98

... that in 1976, Carmen Valero became the first female track and field athlete to represent Spain at the Olympics?
... that Majed Abu Maraheel, the first Palestinian Olympian, tended flowers for a living before becoming an Olympic runner?
... that Rana Reider has trained athletes who won Olympic gold medals in five different events?
... that Audrys Nin Reyes is the first male gymnast from the Dominican Republic to qualify for the Olympic Games?
... that Elham Mahamid Ruzin, a blind Muslim Arab, won a silver medal for Israel at the 2024 Paris Paralympics?

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Did you know 99

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/99

... that gymnast Samir Aït Saïd (pictured) performed a backflip as the French team walked in during the 2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony?
... that gymnast Andrei Muntean was Romania's first Youth Olympic Games champion?
... that Olympic judoka Valentin Houinato is also a full-time journalist?
... that the triathletes competing in the 2024 Summer Olympics include a man who won his first international competition aged 30 and the brother of a former Olympian?
... that a law was signed so that the Solomon Islands delegation could return home from the 2020 Summer Olympics?

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Did you know 100

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/100

... that Adam Maraana, a Jewish Arab-Israeli, is competing in swimming for Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics?
... that Olympic fencer Victor Alvares de Oliveira was told at a young age by doctors that he had little chance to compete in the sport due to his severe asthma?
... that Aminata Barrow is the first female Olympic swimmer for The Gambia?
... that Evann Girault is Niger's first Olympic fencer?
... that Olympic swimmer Camil Doua represents a country in which "the only existing swimming pools are those in hotels"?

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Did you know 101

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/101

... that a sprinter who competed for American Samoa at the 2020 Summer Olympics had never competed in a sprinting event beforehand?
... that Toby Olubi has claimed to have funded his Olympic bobsled career by being "shot out of a cannon"?
... that Zali Steggall, an independent member of the Parliament of Australia, is an Olympic skiing medallist?
... that Winzar Kakiouea was the sole athlete from his nation at the 2024 Olympics?
... that Olympic breakdancer Sun Chen is nicknamed "Quake" as he was born on the day of a deadly earthquake?

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Did you know 102

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/102

... that Olympic sport shooter Ada Korkhin practiced in her family's apartment, shooting from the kitchen through the living and dining rooms?
... that while Sunny Choi and Logan Edra represent their country at the Olympics in breakdancing, Afghan breakdancer Manizha Talash competes as a member of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team?
... that Olympian Ruby Remati got into synchronized swimming because she liked the competitors' "sparkly suits" as a child?
... that for the 1936 Summer Olympics, Liechtenstein flipped their flag upside down?
... that Olympic sprinter Filomenaleonisa Iakopo is also a competitive bodybuilder?

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Did you know 103

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/103

... that Israeli archer Mikaella Moshe competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics after having spent less than two years in the sport?
... that the flagbearer for the Philippines at the 1924 Summer Olympics also carried a flag of the United States?
... that after qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympics at the age of 11, skateboarder Zheng Haohao became the youngest Chinese sportsperson to participate in the Olympics?
... that in its first appearance at the Olympics, Suriname was represented by a single athlete, who missed his event?
... that Cameroonian-born Joel Embiid opted to play for the 2024 U.S. Olympic basketball team instead of France in part because his son is American?

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Did you know 104

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/104

... that Valentin Bontus won the first-ever Olympic gold medal in Formula Kite, while Toni Vodišek won the first silver medal?
... that Olympic gold-medal-winning rugby player Jordan Sepho vomited from stress the first time he played for his national team?
... that in order to attend breakdancing classes as a child, future Olympian Amir Zakirov had to give up eating lunch?
... that Olympic judoka Edmilson Pedro is nicknamed Bicho Papão, which means "the bogeyman"?
... that Olympic taekwondo practitioner Yahya Al-Ghotany picked up the sport "by chance" at a refugee camp?

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Did you know 105

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/105

... that although sport shooter Ban Hyo-jin attended Olympic trials just to gain some competition experience, she qualified for the Olympics and went on to win a gold medal?
... that Olympian Sydney Francisco was named after the city where her mother competed at the Olympics?
... that at the 2024 Olympics, unranked North Korean table tennis pair Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong defeated the defending champions and went on to win the silver medal?
... that Nam Su-hyeon, Jeon Hun-young, and Lim Si-hyeon's gold medal in the women's team archery event at the 2024 Olympics marked South Korea's tenth victory in a row?
... that Santa opened the 2024 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony?

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Did you know 106

Portal:Olympic Games/Did you know/106

... that Turkish sport shooter Şimal Yılmaz, who qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics, had a shooting range in her living room?
... that cyclist Daniela Larreal competed in five Olympic Games for a country that later exiled her?
... that Olympic hammer thrower Tamer Balcı was later cast in a movie as Tarzan?
... that Druze rower Saleh Shahin won a bronze medal for Israel at the 2024 Paris Paralympics 19 years after he was injured in a terrorist attack?
... that Negussie Roba was an Olympic sprinter who later became a top marathon coach?