1. The Olympic Torch Relay
There are numerous symbols and traditions linked with the Olympics - the rings, the flag, the mascots. And, of course, who could forget the torch relay? Starting every time from Olympia, in Greece, the torch is carried from city to city, until it reaches the host city when it is used to ignite the Olympic flame and signal the formal opening of the games.
It is a great institution that captures the spectacle and worldwide appeal of the Olympics. It’s simply a pity that it was produced by Nazi Germany.
Yes, that’s correct. The Olympic torch relay was first used during the 1936 games in Berlin. You could think that it seems like the type of thing done in ancient times, but that’s precisely what Germany was seeking for — something that formed a symbolic connection between the present Nazis and the ancient Greeks.
The man typically credited with conceiving the torch relay was Carl Diem, one of the major organizers of the 1936 games. He wasn’t a Nazi himself, but once Hitler and Goebbels understood the propaganda potential of the Olympics, they co-opted the whole event and ensured that every single detail was utilised to highlight the supremacy of the Third Reich.
2. The Case of the Mystery Cox
You could question yourself who the youngest gold medallist in Olympics history is. That’s a very reasonable question and definitely a nice claim to fame. The solution, however, is not fully easy. Officially, diver Marjorie Gestring is acknowledged as the youngest, at 13 years and 267 days. However, we know for certain that there was someone younger than her. We simply had no notion who he was.
This extends all the way back to the 1900 Summer Games in Paris, in the coxed pair rowing event. Each team consisted of three members — two rowers and a cox to direct them. Since the cox didn’t undertake any type of hard work, it was important for the crew for him to be as light as possible. Consequently, one of the French teams chose to employ a young kid as their cox and the Dutch team opted to mimic them.
Before the race, they swapped their customary cox, Hermanus Brockmann, with some random youngster they snatched from the crowd, about 7-to-10 years old. And the Dutch team took first place, making that youngster the youngest gold medallist in history. He snapped a picture with the victorious squad before fleeing into the throng, never to be seen again, and nobody even knows his name.
3. Stealing the First Flag
The Olympic flag, with the five interlacing rings of various colors, has become one of the most recognised emblems in the world. It was devised by the creator of the modern Olympics himself, Pierre de Coubertin, and formally approved in the 1920 Summer games in Antwerp. However, it didn’t last very long. At the conclusion of the games, the original flag went lost, and the Olympics committee had to produce a replica for the following games in Paris.
The fate of the first flag became a mystery, one that persisted for over eight decades. Fast forward to 1997 at a U.S. Olympic Committee luncheon when a journalist brought up the fact that the original flag had never been located. This led a former Olympian named Hal Haig Prieste to approach the writer and casually bring up the fact that he had the lost flag and that he had kept it in a suitcase for the previous 80 years.
A hundred years old at the time of the dinner, Prieste had participated in the 1920 games as a diver and won home the bronze. Following a night of frenzied celebrations, he was challenged by a colleague to climb up the flagpole and take the flag…which he did, and he absconded from Belgium with the flag neatly tucked away in his luggage. It wasn’t until the dinner 80 years later that he recognised the value of his gift, therefore in 2000 a ceremony was prepared for the flag to eventually be presented to the Olympics organisation.
4. The Most Boring Race in History
If something is uninteresting, then it plainly doesn’t make for a very good tale. But if something is the most uninteresting, then it instantly becomes intriguing. That’s what we are dealing with today – what has to be the most anticlimactic race in Olympics history: the 18-foot dinghy sailing event in the 1920 Summer Games.
What made this affair so lackluster? It’s simple: just one team took part — the duo of Francis Richards and Thomas Hedberg from Great Britain. And if that’s not awful enough, they didn’t even complete the first race. They didn’t participate in the remaining three races but, as they were the only ones in the competition, they still got points.
It remains a bit of an Olympic mystery whether the couple were were proclaimed champions and medaled at the conclusion of the event, or if the entire thing was cancelled. Some official records make no mention of the 18-foot race being being contested, while others describe the two sailors as gold medal winners.