TRIVIA: Olympic Trivia 1. American Myer Prinstein finished runner-up in the 1900 long jump in Paris, despite not even showing up for the finals. Prinstein sat out the finals because it was against his beliefs to participate on Sunday. Qualifying jumps counted back then so he took second on the basis of those. As legend has it, he was so angry at eventual gold-medal winning jumper Alvin Kraenzlein for competing in the finals that he punched him in the face.
2. The 1912 Greco-Roman wrestling match in Stockholm between Finn Alfred Asikainen and Russian Martin Klein lasted more than 11 hours. Klein eventually won but was too exhausted to participate in the championship match so he settled for the silver.
3. Did you ever wonder why the official distance of a marathon was exactly 26 miles, 385 yards? In 1908, the marathon standard had been set at exactly 26 miles. However, at the Olympic marathon in London, it was decided that the royal family needed a better view of the finish line so organizers added an extra 385 yards to the race so the finish line would be in front of the royal box. And it's been that way ever since.
4. The five interlocking rings of the Olympic flag symbolize the five continents of the world (Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Americas) "linked together in friendship." Olympics founder Pierre de Coubertin claimed that at least one of the rings' colors (blue, yellow, black, green, and red, along with the white background) was present in each country's national flag.
5. World record, but no gold medal: In 1924, American Robert LeGendre shattered the world long jump record with a leap of 25 feet, four inches. However, the jump was part of the pentathlon competition and LeGendre could muster only a third-place finish overall. The actual long jump competition was won with a jump of 24 feet, five inches.
6. Stella the Fella—Poland's Stella Walsh (Stanislawa Walasiewicz)—won the women's 100-meter race at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, becoming the first woman to break the 12-second barrier. When she was killed in 1980 as an innocent victim in a robbery attempt, an autopsy declared her to be a male.
7. Danish rider Lis Hartel won the silver medal in the 1952 equestrian dressage event in Helsinki. Hartel suffered from an inflammation of the spinal cord known as poliomyelitis, which required her to be lifted on and off her horse each time.
8. Before there was Kerri Strug, there was Japan's Shun Fujimoto. In the men's team gymnastics competition in 1976, he actually broke his kneecap while performing in the floor exercise. The following day, however, he needed a top-notch performance in the rings for Japan to secure the gold. With no pain killers, he performed a near flawless routine and stuck the landing, putting a tremendous amount of pressure on his injured knee. He grimaced in pain as he held his position for the judges, then finally collapsed in agony. Japan won the team gold by just four tenths of a point over the Soviet Union.
9. And you thought they just used a match. Did you know that traditionally the Olympic flame in Olympia, Greece is rekindled every two years using the sun's rays and a concave reflective mirror? (Note: This year, cloudy skies prevented the "traditional" lighting.)
10. In 1928, reportedly six of the eight entrants in the women's 800-meter race collapsed at the finish line in an "exhausted state." Poor training methods and the brutal Amsterdam sun were the two major causes of distress. That event was subsequently cancelled until 1960
MORE OLYMPIC TRIVIA 1896 At the first games, silver medals were awarded to the winners and bronze to the second place getters 1896 The first modern Games were hardly an international competition. Only 13 nations took part, and just over 300 athletes, more than two-thirds being Greek.
1900 More athletes than spectators attended the 1900-Paris Games. Football was the first team sport added to the Olympics in 1900 Croquet was contested at only one Olympic Games The first woman to win an Olympic event was England's Charlotte Cooper, who won the tennis singles at the 1900 games. Pigeon Shooting, 1900 Fortunately this short lived event was the only time animals were killed on purpose during an Olympic event.
In 1904 the Olympic Games was still well short of being a true international competition. Eighty-five percent of the competitors were Americans, and eight percent were Canadians. There was only one competitor from Australia, and no British at all. Roque, a version of croquet, was contested at one Olympic Games, in 1904. The Americans won all three medals.
The star of the 1912 Games was the American Indian Jim Thorpe, who won both the decathlon and pentathlon. However, in the following year it was discovered that he once played semi-professional baseball, and he was subsequently striped of his gold medals. The first women's swimming gold medal was won by the Australian Sarah 'Fanny' Durack, who won the 100m freestyle in 1912.
1920 Ice hockey made its first appearance at the 1920 Antwerp Games, before the first Winter Olympics in 1924. 1920 Charley Paddock, the American sprinter who won the 100m in 1920, died in a plane crash in 1943 while serving as a captain in the US Marines.
1928 The idea of an Olympic Flame burning from the start of the games to the closing was first introduced in 1928.
The real name of the great USA sprinter in the 1930s, Jesse Owens, was born James Cleveland Owens. As a boy he was known as ‘J.C.’ because of his initials. That was until a new teacher mistaked the sound of J. C., and began calling him ‘Jesse’. The name stuck.
1932 American Mildred "Babe" Didriksen won medals in high jumping, hurdling, and the javelin in 1932. She is the only athlete to ever medal in all three events.
1936 The first games to be televised were the 1936 Berlin Games.
1940 The start of World War II in 1939 forced the cancellation of the 1940 Olympics, which were to be held in Tokyo. This was after they had gone to the trouble of building a huge stadium.
On the day the 1948 Olympic games began at Wembley Stadium in London, June 29, the famed Australian ‘Invincibles’ cricket side was finishing off England in a test at nearby Lord’s, winning by 409 runs.
1948 Holland's "Fanny" Blankers-Koen won 4 gold medals in track and field at the 1948 London Games. Fanny was 30 years old and the mother of 2 at the time.
The Soviet Union first entered the Olympic Games in 1952.
1952, Emil Zatopek of Czechoslovakia became the only man to win gold metals in the 5000 meters, the 10,000 meters, and the marathon in the same Olympiad.
In 1956, the gold medal winning hammer thrower from America, Hal Connolly, won despite a physical disability - his left arm was inches shorter and much less developed that his right.
The Olympic torchbearer for the 1956 Olympics was a virtually unknown 19 year old at the time he carried the torch into the stadium at Melbourne. Ron Clarke went on to become the world's finest distance runner in the 1960s.
The 1956 Games in Melbourne, Australia, were the first games to be held in the southern hemisphere.
The song that ended the closing ceremony at the 1956 games was 'Will Ye No Come Back Again?' Many know of the grudge polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union, played soon after the Soviets invaded Hungary, but the result? Hungary won 4-0, then went on to win gold.
Bob Windle is relatively unknown, but has a prominent place in Australia's fine 1500m swimming record. He won the event in 1964, in an Olympic record time of 17min 1.7seconds.
Ethiopian marathoner Abebe Bikila was the first man to successfully defend the marathon title. (1960 and 1964). He only wore shoes for the second victory.
1968 The first Latin American host for the Olympic games was Mexico City, Mexico in 1968. The Olympic games in Mexico were at the highest altitude. The venue had an altitude of 2,239 meters.
In 1972 American Frank Shorter pulled the US into the running boom by winning the gold medal in the marathon at the Munich Olympics. Shorter was actually born in Munich. Lorna Johnstone was 70 years and 5 days old when she rode at the 1972 Games, thus being the oldest woman ever to compete at an Olympic Games.
Mark Spitz from USA won seven gold medals at the Munich Games, and won them all in world record time.
No gymnast had ever achieved a perfect score of 10, until Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci scored perfect 10's seven times at the 1976-Montreal games.
Aleksandr Ditiatin of the Soviet Union earned 8 Gold medals in gymnastics at the 1980 games.
Communist China entered its first games in 1984.
Joan Benoit won the first women's Olympic marathon in Los Angeles in 1984 Shooting. Women's shooting events were first included in the Olympics in 1984. There were three events, three position rifle, air rifle and sport pistol.
Beach Volleyball, a new addition to the Olympic Games in 1996, began as a fun activity at Santa Monica, California, in the 1920s. It developed into a competitive sport in the 1950s and 60s and really took off in the late 1970s after becoming professional.
Until the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, baseball was restricted to amateurs. Now professional players will be admitted.
Hungarian Aladar Gerevich won medals in 6 consecutive Olympic games.
ABOUT GROWING OLDER... 1. Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it. 2. The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for. 3. Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved. 4. When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra. 5. You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks. 6. I don't know how I got over the hill without getting to the top. 7. One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young. 8. One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been. 9. Being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable. 10. Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today it's called golf. And finally. If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you are old.
CHUCKLES AND BELLY LAUGHS Sunday Sermon Jim Rockwell for this one. I fired the censor for this one. I could not figure a way to change it. I think we all handle it ok. The preacher's Sunday sermon was "Forgive Your Enemies." He asked how many of the congregation have forgiven their enemies? About half of them held up their hands. He then repeated his question. Now about 80 percent held up their hands. He then repeated his question. All responded, except one elderly lady. "Mrs. Jones, are you not willing to forgive your enemies?" She retorted, "I don't have any." "Mrs. Jones, that is very unusual. How old are you?" "Ninety-three." she replied. "Mrs. Jones, please come down in front and tell the congregation how a person cannot have an enemy in the world?" The little sweetheart of a lady tottered down the aisle and proudly said, "I outlived those bitches….."
Popping Ears Bud Casselberry sent this one from Good Clean Fun. Aboard a flight from Los Angeles to New York, Grandma Esther was taking her very first flight. They had only been aloft a few minutes when the elderly lady complained to the flight attendant that her ears were popping. The young woman smiled and gave the older woman some chewing gum, assuring her that many people experienced the same discomfort. When they landed in New York, Grandma thanked the flight attendant. "The chewing gum worked fine," she said, "but tell me, how do I get it out of my ears?"
Not a Compliment Bud again. BTW I've been told this very thing. A fellow programmer had designed some software for one of our largest accounts. He asked my help in putting it into operation. When I sat down with one woman and told her I would be showing her how to make changes to the files, she sighed with relief then remarked, "I'm so glad you're teaching me instead of him." Surprised, I said that my colleague was far more experienced than I was. "Yes," she said, "but I feel much more comfortable with you ... I get nervous around really smart people."
A bad sign...From Joke Of The Day You would react the same, I'll bet. A man was driving to work when a truck ran a stop sign, hit his car broadside, and knocked him out cold. A Passersby pulled him from the wreckage and revived him. He began a terrific struggle and had to be tranquilized by the medics. Later, when he had calmed down, they asked him why he had struggled so. He said, a bit sheepishly, "I remember the impact, then nothing. I woke up on a concrete slab in front of this huge, flashing sign. Turns out somebody was standing in front of the 'S' on the 'Shell' sign."
Official ID Card Just cute Also from Bud Casselberry. My husband, a U.S. Coast Guard pilot, was on an exchange tour with the Royal Navy in England. Everyone who drove through the base's gates was required to hold an official ID card up to the windshield for inspection by the guards. As a friendly competition, my husband's squadron started flashing different forms of ID, such as a driver's license, just to see how far they could go to fool the busy guards. The winner? The fellow who breezed past waving a piece of toast.
Church Bake Sale This one from Edythe Clark via Janet Shields Alice was to bake a cake for the church ladies' group bake sale, but she forgot to do it until the last minute. She baked an angel food cake and when she took it from the oven, the center had dropped flat. She said, "Oh dear, there's no time to bake another cake." So, she looked around the house for something to build up the center of the cake. Alice found it in the bathroom ... a roll of toilet paper. She plunked it in and covered it with icing.The finished product looked beautiful, so she rushed it to the church. Alice then gave her daughter some money and instructions to be at the sale the minute it opened and to buy that cake and bring it home. When the daughter arrived at the sale ... the attractive cake had already been sold. Alice was beside herself. A couple of days later, Alice was invited to a friend's home where two tables of bridge were to be played that afternoon. After the game a fancy lunch was served, and to top it off, the cake in question was presented for dessert. Alice saw the cake, she started to get out of her chair to rush into the kitchen to tell her hostess all about it, but before she could get to her feet, one of the other ladies said, "What a beautiful cake!" Alice sat back in her chair when she heard the hostess (a prominent church member) say ... "Thank you; I baked it myself." SAVED!!!! Thank YOU LORD!!!!!!!
This group from Irish Rose, Rosemary Bednarczyk. "I was trying to find stuff to talk about today, it was a slow news day, so I found this. On this day in 1492, Columbus set sail from Europe, looking for a sea route to India - and ended up in America. And ironically, if you make a call from Europe to a company in America today - it's re-routed to India." -Jay Leno Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidise it. Ronald Reagan DAFFY-NITIONS ADULT: A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle. BEAUTY PARLOR: A place where women go to curl up and dye. CANNIBAL: Someone who is fed up with people. CHICKENS: The only animals you eat before they are born and after they are dead. COMMITTEE: A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours. DUST: Mud with the juice squeezed out. EGOTIST: Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation. GOSSIP: A person who will never tell a lie if the truth will do more damage. HANDKERCHIEF: Cold Storage. INFLATION: Cutting money in half without damaging the paper. MYTH: A female moth. MOSQUITO: An insect that makes you like flies b! etter. RAISIN: Grape with a sunburn. SECRET: Something you tell to one person at a time. TOOTHACHE: The pain that drives you to extraction. TOMORROW: One of the greatest labor saving devices of today. YAWN: An honest opinion openly expressed. WRINKLES: Something other people have. You have character lines.
THE GROANERS: A TALE OF EXTREME SPORT FROM ACROSS THE SEA...David Glossner sent this one. The Irish practice a sport called "cliff shoving." It involves a rodent called a rarie being pushed off a cliff. These days, a shallow pit is used, rather than a cliff. The sport is indigenous to Ireland, but they do get the occasional overseas competitor. Recently, a man came all the way from Australia, flying 18 hours. He said he had expected the lengthy flight. "After all, it's a long way to tip a rarie."
FROM OUR MEDICAL VOLUMES...David Glossner sent this one also. It is as bad as the first one. A man started a new job. At first he commuted alone, but soon decided to drive in with his colleagues. Within a week, though, his wrists began to hurt severely. Oddly, the pain only occurred while they were driving through a tunnel. Finally, he saw a doctor. His problem was diagnosed as carpool tunnel syndrome!
http://www.athens2004.com/
Congratulations you have finished this week's Newsletter. I hope you have enjoyed the writings, graphics and music. You are welcome to share this information with friends and relatives regardless of their internet affiliation. I look forward to sharing this time with you again next week.