Weird But True Olympic Stories: Things You May Not Know About The Olympics
2012 will bring us another Olympic year and for sports fans and Olympic fans, this is an exciting time. In the coming months, we will see athletes training and preparing for their events and it is time to support your country and your favorite participants. In the spirit of the Olympics, here are some strange but true Olympic stories worth sharing.
Lucky Loonie from Canada– At the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Canadian hockey teams faced a real challenge. The odds were stacked against them, but when the games started, it seemed like they’d had a bit more luck that day. Both men and women won their finals and the question was posed “Where did their luck come from?” After the ceremonies, the ice-making team (the Canadians themselves) admitted that they had buried a dollar coin under the central ice. That coin is now in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
A walk-in winner What if you could casually join the Olympics today? Do you think you would come home with a suitcase full of medals? That’s what John Pius Boland of Ireland did at the first modern Olympics in 1896. He was orphaned at age 12 and was taught tennis by his adoptive parents. He and his friend had been playing recreationally and were doing well when he decided he would enter the Games. He won the singles title and the doubles title.
The mysterious boatswain At the 1900 Paris Olympics, the Dutch rowing team needed a helmsman in order to compete. The helmsman is a person (preferably small) who sits at the end of a rowboat and yells “Row! Row! Row!” to establish a rhythm with the rowers. The Dutch team drew a little boy out of the crowd and chose him as their helmsman. It was a very close race but the Dutch won, partly thanks to the big screams of the little one. He posed for the victory photo and then disappeared. They were never able to find out his name or age and never saw him again.
Lost Medal of Muhammad Ali The truth of what happened to Ali’s gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics may never be known. The 18-year-old, then known by his birth name Cassius Clay, won the gold medal at boxing in what would start a famous career. Back then, however, he was not declared a hero. Racism was still rampant in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky and the original story said he got so tired of it that he threw his gold medal in the river. Divers searched for him, but he has never been recovered. Ali later said that maybe he lost the medal. Regardless of what happened to him, Olympic officials gave him a replacement in a 1996 ceremony.
What are some of your favorite Olympic legends or stories?