Olympics

To momentarily pass myself from dwelling much on the subjectivity of being, I decided to skip my trend and embark on some relevant and timely buzz around me. To start, I’ll burst some Olympic trivia for you.

Olympic rings

The five Olympic rings represent the five continents involved in the Olympics and were designed in 1912, adopted in June 1914 and debuted at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics.

The symbol of the Olympic Games is composed of five interlocking rings, coloured blue, yellow, black, green, and red on a white field. This was originally designed in 1912 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games. According to de Coubertin the ring colours with the white background stand for those colors that appeared on all the national flags of the world at that time. (Wikipedia)

Games

First gold of the Games was won by Katherine Emmons of the Czech Republic (Women's 10m air rifle).

India won its first ever Olympic gold medal in individual events. (Abhinav Bindra, 10m air rifles).

Usain Bolt of Jamaica, the fastest man ever on earth, had the second worst start among 8 finalists in terms of reaction time (0.165 sec), when he started off his final run on 16th August 2008. He could get a lead over others after the first 40 meters. Seeing that he's unchallenged he relaxed in the last 20 meters, waving his hands and looking on both sides, which is unheard of in 100 meter race. Yet, he could clinch the title and create a world record.

The first time technology was used at such a high-profile event was on before the opening ceremony in Beijing on 8th August 1,104. Rain-dispersing rockets were fired into the skies in order to fend off wet weather.

On the very first day of the Games, Greek sprinter Tassos Gousis was sent home after tests proved positive for a prohibited performance drug.

The lowest age for an Olympic participant is 16. Gymnastics is the area in which largest number of controversies related to lowest age crop up.

More controversies surround female gymnasts than their male counterparts.

The Olympic flame

A flame was lit during the entire event of the Olympics during the ancient Olympic Game known as the Olympic Flame. 

A new flame is lit using a parabolic mirror to focus the rays of the Sun at the ancient Olympic Stadium in Olympia, Elis, Greece. The Flame is then transported to the host city where the last runner lights the large Olympic Cauldron by it and this burns throughout the Games. The Flame is extinguished during the closing ceremony. The Olympic Flame was first lit during the opening ceremony of the IX Olympic Games at Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1928. 

The first Olympic Torch Relay occurred at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games.