Olympic Spot

Some trivia:

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London is the only city to host the summer Games three times: 1908, 1948 and 2012. The Games have been held in the USA four times (1904, 1932, 1984, 1996) - but in three different cities.

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All athletes competed in the nude at the ancient Olympics.

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In the ancient Olympics, the philosopher Plato (427-347 BC) was a double winner of the Pankration, a combination of wrestling and boxing. It was a dangerous sport, in which everything was permitted except biting, gouging (stabbing with your finger in your opponent's eye, nose or mouth) and attacking the genitals.

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Five countries have been represented at all Summer Olympic Games – Greece, Great Britain, France, Switzerland, and Australia, though not always as part of official teams. Switzerland is on this list even though they boycotted the 1956 Olympics - however they had competed in the equestrian events several months earlier in Stockholm. France did not send a team to the 1904 Games but a lone Frenchman did compete for the US and a mixed team. Also in 1896 Great Britain competed as part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, while Australia participated in 1908 and 1912 as part of a combined Australasia team with New Zealand. Therefore, Greece is the only nation to have participated under its own flag in all modern summer Olympic Games.

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1900 Olympic Golf Women's Gold Medal Winner Margaret Abbott

The only Olympic event in which mother and daughter competed together was the golf tournament of 1900. The event was won by US golfer Margaret Abbott. Her mother Mary, a novelist, also competed in the event, finishing joint seventh.

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The only Olympian ever to be awarded the Nobel Prize was Philip Noel-Baker of Great Britain. He won the silver in the 1500-meter run in 1920, and was awarded the Nobel prize for Peace in 1959 for his support of multilateral nuclear disarmament.

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The 1900 Olympic Games included many now discontinued events, including the equestrian long jump.  The horse long jump was won by a Belgian rider named Constant van Langhendonck (pictured above) with a leap of approximately 6.10 metres - 1.08m shorter than America's Alvin Kraenzlein managed to win the human version at the same Games.

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The first black athlete to compete at the Olympics was Constantin Henriquez de Zubiera, competing for France in 1900. 

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At the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, silver medals were awarded to the winners and bronze to the second place getters. 

Front and reverse side of the 1896 first-place silver medal. On the front is a portrait of Zeus with the globe in his right hand, upon which stands the goddess of victory, Nike. She is holding an olive branch in her hands. On the left the script reads in Greek "OLYMPIA."