No Deposit Poker

10 Outstanding Olympic Games Facts and Stats You Never Knew!

10 Olympic Games Facts and Stats that will blow your mind! Check them out right here!

A while ago, we examined some interesting Olympic trivia ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Well, the Olympic Games is such a truly global event that we will go one better this time!

Rather than a handful of big stats, we will give you twice as many!

That’s right! 10 fantastic Olympic Games facts that will blow you away!

Remember too, you can also check out our guide to the best events to watch and bet on at the Olympics.

Bet365 Sport is a fantastic choice for Olympics betting, with a wide range of markets available on the games, including futures betting and betting on individual Olympic sports.

So be prepared to blow your mind with our 10 Olympic Games Facts that will astound and amaze you!

10 Olympic Games Facts

1.      The word ‘stadium’ is derived from the first ancient Olympic Games in Greece.

Legend has it that the first Olympic Games was held at Olympia in Greece at some point during the 8th to 6th century BC.

At the very first games, just one event was held. A race called a “stadion” which was a distance of around 200 paces.

Competitors would race over this distance and the winner would have the honour of having the next games named after them.

The term ‘stadion’ then became synonymous with the place, rather than the race, with people gathering to watch the race at the stadion. Which then became anglicised to stadium.

2.      A form of mixed martial arts was contested in the ancient Olympic Games

Olympic Games
Pankration – Ancient Greece’s Olympic MMA

As the ancient games expanded, they began to include more races, throwing events (such as the discus and javelin), wrestling, boxing, equestrian and a hugely popular event at the time called pankration.

Pankration was a combat sport that combined elements of wrestling with those of boxing. It was clearly a forerunner of the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports that we see today.

The sport was one of the most popular in the games and remained the case throughout the history of the early ancient Olympics.

3.      The Modern Olympic Games was inspired by Wenlock Olympian Games

Baron Pierre de Coubertin was inspired to created the International Olympic Committee, who then went on to organise the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, after visiting the English village of Much Wenlock.

From 1850, the Wenlock Olympian Games had been held annually and de Coubertin was inspired by these games to form the IOC in 1890.

Six years later, the IOC, along with influential Greek dignitaries and politicans, had devised the first modern Olympic Games.

4.      The blueprint for the first modern Olympic Games came from a festival held in Liverpool and Llandudno.

The IOC may have been key to the formation of the modern Olympic Games but it took an event held in Liverpool for six years in the middle of the 19th century to provide the framework and ethos for the games.

From 1862 to 1867, John Hulley organized an annual Grand Olympic Festival in Liverpool. It featured several different athletic and sporting events, stressed the importance of inclusivity and taking part over winning, and required all competitors to be amateurs.

The events were hugely popular and while most were held in Liverpool, several were held in the Welsh seaside town of Llandudno too.

The structure and tenets of this event held in Liverpool would form the basis of the Olympic Charter, the foundation stone of the first modern Olympic Games 30 years or so later.

5.      Baron Pierre de Coubertin never said, “It’s not the winning, it’s the taking part that counts.”

The phrase “It’s not the winning, it’s the taking part that counts” is often attributed to Baron Pierre de Coubertin when talking about the ethos and attitude of the Olympic Games.

However, that is a misquotation of what the Baron said. What de Coubertin wrote was: –

“The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part; the important thing in life is not triumph, but the struggle; the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”

He is also reported to have commented: –

“Winning medals wasn’t the point of the Olympics. It’s the participating that counts.”

6.      The first victorious modern-day Olympians were not awarded a gold medal.

A little-known fact is that no gold medals were awarded at the first two Olympic Games, in 1896 and 1900.

Winners of events at ancient Olympics received an olive wreath as their prize. That tradition continued into the modern games, which began in 1896.

At those first games, winners received a silver medal and an olive branch, while those who finished as runner-up received a laurel branch and either a copper or bronze medal.

In 1900, at the Paris Games, Frederique Vernon designed the only rectangular medals in Olympic history.

However, these medals were not awarded across all sports. Gilt silver medals were awarded for first place in some sports, silver medals for second in others, and bronze medals in others. In many sports, medals were not awarded, and the prizes won were trophies or cups.

The awarding of gold, silver, and bronze medals was first introduced at the St.Louis Olympic Games in 1904.

The IOC has retrospectively awarded athletes gold, silver, and bronze medals for their performances in the 1896 and 1900 games.  

7.      The famous Olympic Torch Relay does not have its origins in ancient Greece.

The lighting of the Olympic Torch at Olympia and its subsequent journey across the host nation to eventually light the Olympic flame is now a huge part of the pre-Olympic celebrations.

Yet, the famous Torch relay does not have its roots in the ancient Olympics, ancient Greece or even the foundation of the modern Olympics.

Instead, the idea was one of the new additions to the 1936 Olympic Games. The famous Nazi Olympic games, and was seen as a way by which Hitler could spread the influence of his Nazi party to other countries.

Despite its controversial history, the Torch Relay has remained a major part of the Olympic games build up ever since.

8.      The design and colouring of the Olympic Rings and flag has meaning.

The famous Olympic logo of the five different coloured rings intertwined on a white background has two key meanings.

The five rings are representative of the five continents that compete in the Olympics. Europe, Asia (including Oceania), Africa, North America and South America.

The five colours of the rings, blue, yellow, black, green, red on the white background were chosen because the flag of every nation in the world contains at least one of these colours.

9.      The very first Olympic Champion was not a marathon runner.

Many people, and a number of sources, erroneously claim that the first Olympic champion of the modern era was a marathon runner from Greece.

That is not correct. While a Greek athlete did win the marathon at the event, the very first person to win their event at the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens was American James Connolly, who took first place in the Triple Jump on the 6th April 1896.

He then went on to finish third in the long jump a day later.  

Great Britain’s first ever gold medalist was a Scottish weightlifter called Launceston Elliot, who won the one-armed weightlifting tournament comfortably. Elliot also competed in Greco-Roman wrestling at that tournament, but lost out in the semi-final.

10.                                   Olympic Gold Medals are predominantly silver.

Home Poker Night
Gold Silver Bronze

While the terms used to describe the three medals won at the Olympics are Gold, Silver and Bronze, to call the gold medal ‘gold’ is something of a misnomer.

Gold medals are predominantly made of silver, with a purity of at least 92.5%. These medals are then played with at least six grams of pure gold to give them their gold appearance.

Silver medals are made of the same silver used in gold medals, just without the gold plating.

Bronze medals are made of bronze, which is an alloy of two metals, mainly copper (which gives the medal its colouring) and another metal which is either zinc or tin.

In terms of monetary value, the medals presented at the 2020 Tokyo Games were reported to be worth the following amounts based on their precious metal value alone:

  • Gold – £540
  • Silver – £297
  • Bronze – £5

However, the value to the athlete that receives such a token is immeasurable in comparison!

We hope you enjoyed our 10 facts of the Olympic Games and are looking forward to the start of the next big Olympic gathering!

Ian John

Working my way though the UK's top online poker sites (and some of the ones near the bottom as well) to bring you a first-hand take on the absolute best choices for online poker players from the UK.

Welcome to NoDepositPoker.co.uk

NoDepositPoker.co.uk is an affiliate of the brands we promote throughout this site. While we strive to maintain accuracy throughout our content, we do receive compensation for this promotion.

Here you will find the latest no deposit poker bonuses from the top poker rooms for players from the UK and beyond.

We currently have deals available from some of the UK's top poker rooms that let you play for real money without making any deposit. Use any of the links you see on this site to secure great poker deals at reputable online sites.

bet365

UK Poker News& Notes