| Tug of war was contested as a team event in the Summer Olympics at every Olympiad from 1900 to 1920. Originally the competition was entered by clubs, which meant that one country could win several medals. This happened in 1904, when the United States won all three medals, and in 1908 when the podium was occupied by three British teams.[1] Sweden was also among the top countries with two medals, one as a member of the mixed team. |
| The modern Olympic Games were started by Baron Pierre de Coubertain. |
| Udham Singh played 1952 Summer Olympics Helsinki, 1956 Summer Olympics Melbourne, 1960 Summer Olympics Rome and 1964 Summer Olympics Tokyo as a member of Indian Hockey team and won three gold and a silver medals (set an Olympic record for a player in the Olympic Field Hockey competition). |
| Dhyan Chand, the Indian field hockey player, a legendary center-forward is remembered for his goal-scoring feats; first as a player and later as captain. Chand won 3 Olympic gold medals (1928 Amsterdam, 1932 Los Angeles, and 1936 Berlin). |
| There were no Olympic Games in 1916, 1940, or 1944 due to World War I and World War II. |
| It wasn't until 1900 that women were allowed to participate in the Olympic Games. |
| 7.7 million Olympic Games tickets were available for the London 2012 Olympics. |
| 'Abebe Bikila' of Ethopia won the marathon in 1960 Rome Olympics by registering a record time of 2hrs 15mins and 16.2 secs. He ran this marathon bare-footed. He also became the first African to win an Olympic gold medal. |
| Swimmer 'Michael Phelps' of USA won 8 Gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It is the highest number of gold medals ever own by a single person in a single Olympics games. |
| It will be for the third time that London will host the Olympics in 2012. Earlier the games were held in the capital of England in 1908 and 1984. |