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Olympic sports trivia

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Introduction

The Bible uses the imagery of running a race in a number of places to explore what the journey of faith is like. The following idea draws together some Olympic sports trivia and also some fun Bible connections to use in the classroom in support of a focus on the Olympics.

Preparation

The following offbeat facts and Bible connections with sports could be used as part of an assembly presentation or as occasional anecdotes for classroom presentations on this theme.

Development

1. The original Greek Olympics were held from 776 BC to AD 393.

2. The Olympics were stopped by the Emperor Theodosius, 12 years after banning all 'pagan' religions in the Roman Empire. He regarded the Games as a pagan festival.

3. The modern Olympic movement was initiated by Pierre de Coubertin in Paris in 1896. He was in part inspired by the sporting prowess that he witnessed on the playing fields of Rugby and Eton! His hope was as follows:

May joy and good fellowship reign, and in this manner, may the Olympic Torch pursue its way through ages, increasing friendly understanding among nations, for the good of a humanity always more enthusiastic, more courageous and more pure.

4. Dr William Penny Brookes also influenced his thinking about athletic competition to some extent. William Brookes had already begun a local athletic competition at a recreation ground at Much Wenlock in Shropshire, in the middle of the 19th century. Hence the name of one of the Olympic mascots - Wenlock.

5. The Paralympics were begun in 1948 at Stoke Mandeville. Mandeville is the name of the other Olympic mascot.

6. The original Greek games were played between rival city states. The competitions included running, discus, javelin and chariot racing. The most brutal event was the pankration, which was a form of wrestling. It was usually fought to the death and the opponents were allowed to bite, strangle each other and gouge out eyes. Some prizes had to be awarded posthumously!

7. Only men of pure Greek descent were allowed to take part in the Games and married women weren't even allowed to watch.

8. The word stadium comes from the Greek word 'stade', which was the length of the running track. Traditionally, this was measured by Hercules as the distance he could walk while holding his breath!

9. The Greek word for the Games was the 'agones', from which we derive our word agony. Extreme pain was seen as part and parcel of competing!

10. The word athlete comes from the name of an ancient Greek king (Athelios), who deposed another king at Olympia where the Games were being held. He liked the Games so much that he offered his kingdom to whoever of his sons could run the fastest.

11. In AD 67, the Emperor Nero bribed the judges to postpone the games so he could get in an extra year's training. He competed in the ten-horse chariot race and, despite being thrown off and being unable to re-mount, was nevertheless awarded first prize. (Who would dare otherwise?!) He also entered and 'won' singing and acting competitions.

12. The modern marathon race was inspired by the Greek messenger Pheidippides, who after the battle of Marathon in 490 BC ran the 22 miles back to Athens with the news of victory. Sadly, he died soon after of heat exhaustion.

13. The slowest 10,000 metres runner in Olympic history was Olmeus Charles from Haiti in Montreal (1976). It took him just over 42 minutes and everyone else lapped him at least three times.

14. The longest marathon was completed (unofficially!) in 1966. Shizo Kanakuri began his race in Stockholm in the 1912 Summer Olympics but then was distracted following heat exhaustion, stopped for a long drink, booked into a hotel, took a boat home to Japan, raised a family and only returned to complete the run from where he had stopped off 54 years, 8 months, 6 days and 32 minutes later!

15. Tunisia has the 'honour' of having produced the world's worst Pentathlon team. In 1960 (Rome), they scored no points in the riding because they all fell off their horses; in the swimming event, one of them almost drowned; the judges disqualified the team from the shooting event as they said the shots were too wild; in the fencing, only one person knew how to fence; and by the time the running event came they had no hope, as they were 9000 points behind the leaders. At least they tried!

16. In 1988, in the Winter Olympics in Calgary, crowds warmed to Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards who came last. He only decided to enter after a few practise runs on a dry ski slope near his home in Cheltenham. People admired his courage.

17. And here are some fun Bible entrants for Olympic records:

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