Citius-Altius-Fortius
= Faster-Higher-Stronger (The Olympic motto, used under license from Marvel)
The modern summer games have been around since 1896. The winter games were added in 1924. The planned autumn games were never held because agreement could not be reached on the scoring of compulsory elements in the leaf-raking competition.
Even though a founding principle of Olympic competition was, ‘get to the finish line as fast as you can’, organizers had worried that events would be over too quickly if everyone just ran or swam as fast as they could. So, Track & Swimming both had races with restrictions. Today those restrictions remain in the form of race walking (Whoa there buddy, no running) & its aquatic partner, breaststroke (Hey, ease up on the splashing). At one point the International Athletics Federation wanted to introduce an uphill/downhill dash but decided not to when the swimming federation was unable to come up with an equivalent & still keep water in the pool. Swimming has, however, retained two strokes where the running equivalent has been abandoned: Backstroke (running backwards) & Butterfly (bunny hops)
Artistic/synchronized swimming has its roots in parades, specifically when a cheerleading team & marching band strode into a flooded sinkhole. Though the music stopped, the cheerleading team finished their routine without missing a beat – even though the bass drum floated away & the tuba player sank.
The Olympic Ideals are best summed up by the 100 year old Olympic Creed: “The most important thing in the Olympic games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.” This explains why so little attention is paid to the medal table & everyone remembers who came in 4th.
A common question concerns how much water is in the swimming pool used at the Olympics – turns out it contains as much water as there is in one (1) Olympic-sized swimming pool.
Many of the sports played in the Olympics also have separate world championships. World Championships: top athletes compete to see who’s the best in the world. Olympic Games: top athletes compete to see who’s the best in the world… but with a larger TV audience & more flags used as capes.
Men compete in the decathlon (10 events). The corresponding competition for women is the heptathlon (7 events), presumably because organizers still feel women are more fragile & should reserve energy for important recurring events such as cooking, cleaning, child-rearing, etc.
There are weight classes for boxing, judo, rowing, taekwondo, weightlifting & wrestling competitions – to help avoid bigger folks dominating – yet there is no basketball only for those under 6 ft tall or gymnastics only for those over 6 ft tall. Simone Biles & LeBron James are being denied the opportunity for more endorsement opportunities.
The US dominated Olympic shooting competitions until the rules were changed - to prioritize accuracy over speed & to deduct points for collateral damage.
A handball in football (soccer) is a foul, as is kicking the ball in handball. Combining the two sports could produce a hybrid ideal for audience participation – standing around looking at the ball.
A horse has never won an equestrian event medal.