In the early Olympic Games, only free, male Greek citizens could compete. After Rome conquered Greece, Romans participated as well. Which Roman emperor competed at Olympia in a ten-horse chariot race?
The principal founder of the modern Olympic Games, which began in Athens in 1896, was a French aristocrat, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. One reason for his interest in the Olympics was that he hoped to counter the tendency toward:
Twenty-seven-year old James Connelly withdrew from Harvard University to compete in the Olympics in Athens in 1896, and went on to become the first victor in modern Olympic competition. What was his event?
The 1900 Games in Paris suffered from organizational confusion and facilities were makeshift. Proper hurdles were unavailable, for example, so competitors improvised hurdles from available materials. What did they use?
From 1900 on, women competed in some Olympic events, but track and field events were not included until the 1928 Games in Amsterdam. Several participants in the 800-metre event collapsed after the race. As a result:
The first Olympic Games to be held in Asia took place in Tokyo in 1964. The “yamashita”, named for Japanese athlete Haruhiro Yamashita, was popularized at these Games. It is:
In the 1970s, 17-year-old Olga Korbut of Belarus and 14-year-old Nadia Comaneci of Romania captivated audiences with gymnastic feats, launching the era of “pixie” gymnasts. In later years, both of these highly-accomplished gymnasts:
