10 Awesome Facts About The Olympics

The Stray Boots Olympics Preparedness Team is back, this time with 10 strange and awesome facts about the history of the Olympic Games!

1.

Via Olympic Museum Lausanne

When the modern Olympics first began, it included categories like architecture, painting, city planning, and literature. (Above, a painting by gold medalist painter Jean Jacoby).

2.

Up until 1900, croquet was an Olympic sport. It was discontinued after only one spectator showed for the event.

3.

The Olympic motto is the Latin Phrase "Citius, Altius, Fortius," which translates to "Swifter, Higher, Stronger."

4.

The Olympic rings represent the five "major" continents of the world (sorry Australia?). The colors were chosen because every nation's flag features at least one of the colors.

5.

The word "gymnasium" comes from the Greek word "gymnos," which means nude. The literal meaning of gymnasium roughly translates to "school for naked exercise," which makes sense only if you know that the ancient Olympic games were played in the nude.

6.

sportscollectorsdaily.com

Since 1912, both the gold and silver medals have been made almost entirely of sterling silver. Gold medals must have at least 6 grams of gold covering the silver base.

7.

dailymail.com

Bronze medals are actually made of copper and tin valued at around $4. Whomp whomp.

8.

This year, Sochi will be giving out gold medals that include pieces of the meteorite that hit the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in 2013. They will only be awarding these medals to athletes that win on February 15th, the one-year anniversary of the meteorite strike.

9.

Africa, South America, and Antarctica are the only continents that have never hosted the Olympics.

10.

The Winter Games only have 15 different sports, as opposed to the 41 played at the Summer Olympic Games. However, a few new events will be added to the Winter Games this year, including team figure skating, women's ski jumping, luge relays, and slopestyle.