Monday, July 6, 2009
6:27 PM
Although the drug disqualification of sprinter Ben Johnson was the biggest story of the 1988 Olympics, the Seoul Games were highlighted by numerous exceptional performances. Christa Luding-Rothenburger, who was also a speed skater, earned a silver medal in cycling to become the only person in history to win Winter and Summer medals in the same year. Steffi Graf concluded her Grand Slam tennis season by winning Olympic gold. Greg Louganis repeated victories in both diving events. Florence Griffith-Joyner dominated the sprints. For the first time, all the medalists in dressage were women.159 NOCs (Nations)8,391 athletes (2,194 women, 6,197 men)237 events27,221 volunteers11,331 media (4,978 written press, 6,353 broadcasters)
The 1964 Tokyo Games were the first to be held in Asia. The Japanese expressed their successful reconstruction after World War II by choosing as the final torchbearer Yoshinori Sakai, who was born in Hiroshima the day that that city was destroyed by an atomic bomb. Judo and volleyball were introduced to the Olympic programme. American swimmer Don Schollander won four gold medals. Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia became the first repeat winner of the marathon - less than six weeks after having his appendix removed. Russian rower Vyacheslav Ivanov won the single sculls for the third time, and Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser won the 100m freestyle for the third time. Al Oerter of the United States did the same in the discus throw despite a cervical disc injury that forced him to wear a neck harness and torn rib cartilage incurred a week before the competition. Hungarian water polo player Dezso Gyarmati won his fifth medal in a row. Another Hungarian, Greco-Roman wrestler Imre Polyak, finally won a gold medal after finishing second in the same division at the previous three Olympics. By winning two medals of each kind, Larysa Latynina of the Ukraine brought her career medal total to an incredible 18. She is also one of only four athletes in any sport
to win nine gold medals. 93 NOCs (Nations) 5,151 athletes (678 women, 4,473 men) 163 events
At the 1924 Games in Paris the Closing ceremony ritual of raising three flags: the flag of the International Olympic Committee, the flag of the host nation and the flag of the next host nation was introduced. The number of participating nations jumped from 29 to 44, signalling widespread acceptance of the Olympics as a major event, as did the presence of 1,000 journalists. Women’s fencing made its debut as Ellen Osiier of Denmark earned the gold medal without losing a single bout. Johnny Weissmuller of the United States won two gold medals in swimming on 20 July alone. That same day he earned a bronze medal in water polo. He later went to Hollywood and starred as Tarzan in twelve movies. American swimmer Gertrude Ederle won a bronze medal in the 100m freestyle. Two years later she caused a sensation by becoming the first woman to swim across the English Channel (La Manche) - and in a time almost two hours faster than any man had ever achieved. Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi, won five gold medals to add to the three he had won in 1920. His most spectacular performance occurred on 10 July. First he easily won the 1,500m. Then, a mere 55 minutes later, he returned to the track and won the 5,000m. Nurmi’s teammate, Ville Ritola, did not do badly either in 1924: he won four gold medals and two silver.44 NOCs (Nations) 3,089 athletes (135 women, 2,954 men) 126 events Done BY: Tay Yu Lei_27_2A
