The 1908 Summer Olympics in London were lasted in 187 days. Yes, its true, in 1908 this international multi-sport event took almost half a year to last. Another interesting fact about 1908 Olympics event is that it was planned as 5th such event in Rome but IOC (International Olympic Committee) downgraded the Athens Games of 1906. Athen Games of 1906 were also known as Olympic games initially but now this specific event is not officially recognized by IOC.
Although these Olympics were affected by some politics and nationalism because theBritish refused to give Ireland independence so the Irish athletes didn’t participated in these games. Another issue raised when U.S refused to dip the American Flag during the openening ceremony but still this event was the best organized event then the previous events.
Following sports were played during the Summer Olympics 1908.
- Athletics
- Cycling
- Diving
- Fencing
- Football
- Gymnastics
- Rowing
- Shooting
- Swimming
- Tennis
- Tug of war
- Weightlifting
- Wrestling
Some facts and figures from the 1908 Summer Olympics:
- France was leading the medals table with 15 Gold Medals and a total of 40 medals.
- Finland participated for the first time ever and won 4 medals including 2 Gold Medals.
- 1908 Summer Olympics is the longest games of the olympic history which took place from 27 April 1908 to 31 October 1908 (187 days).
- The Swedish players decided not to participate in the opening ceremony because Swedish flag was not displayed above the stadium like other countries’ Flags.
We have another Summer Olympic Games are on way that will take place in London from 27 July to 12 August 2012. Lets hope for the safe start and end of this event.
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