interesting Facts About Olympic Athletes

 

DID YOU KNOW THAT...
The 27th Olympiad was held in Sydney, Australia... American sprinter Marion Jones became the first woman to win 5 track and field medals in a single Olympic Games. She was born in Belize, a small country in Central American.
DID YOU KNOW THAT...
The XVI Summer Olympic Games were held in Atlanta, Georgia (USA)... Jefferson Perez became the first athlete from Ecuador to win a gold medal. Perez was given a hero´s welcome when he returned to his country.
DID YOU KNOW THAT...
Peru won the silver medal in women´s volleyball in the XXIII Summer Olympic Games in South Korea. The silver medal for Peru was the second ever won by that country in Olympic competition.
DID YOU KNOW THAT...
The 26th Olympiad was held in Atlanta... Venuste Niyongabo became the first runner from Burundi to win a gold medal. Burundi is one of the most poorest countries in Africa.
DID YOU KNOW THAT...
One of the most famous athletes in South African history is Josia Thugwane. He won the gold medal in the marathon at the Atlanta Olympics. Josia became South Africa´s first black gold medalist.
DID YOU KNOW THAT...
Costa Rica has had great sportswomen in the Olympic Games: Claudia Poll Arenhs (swimmer, won Olympic gold medal in 200m freestyle, 1996) and Sylvia Poll Arenhs (swimmer, won Olympic silver medal in 200m freestyle, 1988).
DID YOU KNOW THAT...
Frankie Fredericks was the first sprinter from Namibia to win four Olympic medals (Barcelona´92 and Atlanta´96 ).
DID YOU KNOW THAT...
John Akii-Bua is the only Ugandan athlete to win an Olympic gold medal. He won the 400m hurdles at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
DID YOU KNOW THAT...
Edwin Vasquez Cam became the first Peruvian athlete to win an Olympic medal in shooting. He was Olympic champion in 1948.
DID YOU KNOW THAT...
Lloyd Labeach is the only Panamanian sprinter to win two Olympic medals. In 1948 he won two bronze medals at the London Olympics (100 and 200 meters).
DID YOU KNOW THAT...
The XXI Summer Olympic Games were held in Montreal, Canada... Hasely Crawford became the first athlete from Trinidad & Tobago to win an Olympic gold medal.
DID YOU KNOW THAT...
Anthony Conrad Nesty is the only Afro-Caribbean to win an Olympic gold medal in the swimming competition at the Olympic Games. He won the 100m butterfly at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He is a hero in Suriname, a beautiful country in South America.

Alejandro Guevara Onofre: He is a freelance writer.Alejandro is of Italian, African and Peruvian ancestry. He's studied political science and journalism. He has published more than seventy-five research paper in English, and more than twenty in Spanish, concerning the world issues, Olympic sports, countries, and tourism. His next essay is called "The Dictator and Alicia Alonso". He is an expert on foreign affairs. Furthermore, Alejandro is the first author who has published a world-book encyclopedia in Latina America.
He admires Frida Kahlo (Mexican painter), Hillary Clinton (ex-First Lady of the USA), and Jimmy Carter (former President of the USA). His favorite film is "Gorillas in the Mist".Some of his favorite books are “The Return of Eva Peron and the Killings in Trinidad” (by V.S.Naipaul), "Las Mujeres de los Dictadores" (by Juan Gasparini) and “Murder of a Gentle Land” (by John Barron and Anthony Paul).His personal motto is "The future is for those people who believe in the beauty o f their dreams" by Eleanor Roosevelt.

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15 Amazing Olympic Facts

 

1. Matt Biondi (swimming /aquatics) won 5 Olympic titles at the 24th Olympic Games (50-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle relay, 800-meter freestyle relay, 400 meter medley relay).
2. Ulla Werbrouck won a gold medal in the half heavyweight division -Belgium´s first judo medal- at the 1996 Summer Games in Georgia (USA). In the final, she defeated Japan´s Yoko Tanabe.
 
3. American Jackie Joyner-Kersee won consecutive Olympic heptathlon gold medals in 1988 (South Korea) and 1992 (Spain).
 
4. Mark McCoy  placed 7th in the men's 110m hurdles at the 1988 Games in South Korea. Four years later, he won an Olympic  gold medal for Canada in the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. In the 80s and 90s, Mark, who was born in Guyana -an ex British colony in South America- represented both Canada and Austria.
 
5. Judo is one of the most popular Olympic sports in Japan. At the 1996 Olympics in the United States, more than half of Japan´s medals came in judo.
 
6. Havana (Cuba) was an Olympic candidate to host the 1924 Olympic Games.
 
7. American athlete Sanya Richards, who won three Olympic medals,  was born and grew up in Kingston (Jamaica). Like her countrywoman Sandra Farmer-Patrick (400m hurdles / track & field), she became an American citizen in 2002. Under the flag of the United States, she won the silver medal in the women's 400m at the 2005 World Championships in Finland.
 
8. Olympic weightlifter Hoang Anh Tuan became the second Vietnamese athlete in the history of the Olympic Games to win an Olympic medal.
 
9. Unlike many African nations, Cote d'Ivoire did not boycott the 1976 Olympic Games. Cote d'Ivoire -also known as Ivory Coast- competed in 10 Olympics. This African nation -it is about the size of Maine, South Dakota and Vermont combined- won a silver medal (athletics / men's 400m) at the 1984 Olympic Games in the United States.
 
10. The Maldives Islands  sent seven sportspeople to Korea. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Ismail Asif place 95th in the men's 100m (11,49 seconds).
 
11. Adhemar Ferreira da Silva (triple jump) became the first black South American to win an Olympic gold medal. Adhemar, who was born in Brazil, won two gold medals at both the 1952 and 1956 Olympics.
 
12. Three-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt (Jamaica) became the third sprinter in the history of the Olympic Games to sweep the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay.
 
13.  Irving Jahir Saladino Aranda (track & field/ Panama) is the second Olympic winner to come from a Central American nation.Saladino won the Olympic long jump in 2008.
 
14. American Dick Fosbury, who developed the "Fosbury flop",  won the gold medal in the high jump at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. During an interview with Roslyn Morris (journalist), Dick said,"Olympians earn respect by honest achievement, not from achievement by any means. Dishonest actions do the opposite and merit disdain.Whatever a proven cheat has gained by cheating does not rightfully belong to them and should be taken away. The Olympic Games reflect the highest values of our spirit and speak to the culture of every era..."
 
15. Currently the best runners in the world are Africans.
Track and field at the 2008 Olympics / results
Men
800m: 1.Wilfred Bungei (Kenya), 2.Ismail Ahmed Ismail (Sudan)
1500m: 1. Rashid Ramzi (Bahrein / he was born in Morocco)
3000m steeplechase: 1.Brimin Kiprop Kipruto (Kenya)
5000m : 1. Kenisa Bekele (Ethiopia), 2.Eliud Kigchoge (Kenya)
10000m: 1. Kenisa Bekele (Ethiopia), 2.Sileshi Sihine (Ethiopia)
Marathon: 1.Samuel Wanjiru (Kenya), 2. Jaguad Gharid (Morocco)
Women
800m: 1.Pamela Jelimo (Kenya)
1500m: 1. Nancy Jebet Lagat (Kenya)
5000m: 1.Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia)
10000m: 1. Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia)

Alejandro Guevara Onofre: He is a freelance writer. Alejandro is of Italian, African and Peruvian ancestry. He has published more than seventy-five research paper in English, and more than twenty in Spanish, concerning the world issues, Olympic sports, countries, and tourism. His next essay is called "The Dictator and Alicia Alonso". He is an expert on foreign affairs. Alejandro is the first author who has published a world-book encyclopedia in Latin America.
He admires Frida Kahlo (Mexican painter), José Gamarra (former president of the Bolivian Olympic Committee ,1970- 1982), Hillary Clinton (ex-First Lady of the USA), and Jimmy Carter (former President of the USA). Alejandro said: "The person who I admire the most is José Gamarra. He devoted his professional and personal life to sport. José played an important role in the promotion of Olympism in Bolivia -it is one of the Third World's poorest countries- and Latin America. His biography is interesting". The sportspeople he most admire is Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman. "This African-American sportswoman is my idol... "

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