1906 - Athens, Greece
In an attempt to regain enthusiasm for the Olympic Games, the IOC started Games that would be held every four years (between the regular Olympic Games) in Greece. In 1906, the Games were held in Athens. It was in here that the United States first had an official U.S. team plus wore official team uniforms.
The enthusiasm for these Games was great and the Games seemed to regain their popularity. Unfortunately, because of political unrest in Greece around 1910, the Games were cancelled for that year and never continued.
Though originally the 1906 Games were officially considered Olympic Games, the IOC now considers them the "Unofficial Olympic Games" and they are not included in Olympic records.
Twenty countries were represented by 887 athletes
1908 - London, England
The 1908 Olympic Games were originally scheduled to be hosted by Rome, but the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius caused the Games to be relocated to London.
These Games were much better organized than the previous regularly scheduled Olympic Games (they were even the first to have an opening ceremony), yet they were marred by politics and nationalism. Britain's recent refusal to give Ireland its independence caused Irish athletes to boycott the Games and caused contestants from the U.S to not dip the American flag to the British royalty during the opening ceremony (a tradition the U.S. continues to this day).
There was also controversy over the 400-meter final heat. As four runners came into the final stretch, W.C. Robbins (U.S.) was first, followed by J.C. Carpenter (U.S.), with British Wyndham Halswelle coming in third, and followed by a fourth runner from the U.S. As Carpenter and Halswelle (second and third runners) swung out to pass Robbins, someone shouted "Foul!" Though Carpenter (the U.S. runner who had been in second) finished first, with Robbins (U.S.) in second, and Halswelle (U.K.) in third, the British officials accused Carpenter of blocking and elbowing Halswelle and voided the whole race. The race was ordered to be rerun, but since the American runners refused to redo the race, Halswelle ran the race all by himself to win the gold.
It was in the 1908 Olympic Games that the exact distance of a marathon was established as 26 miles and 365 yards. Diving was added to the events for this year.
Approximately 2,000 athletes participated, representing 22 countries.
1912 - Stockholm, Sweden
The 1912 Olympics at Stockholm were known as the "Swedish Masterpiece" because they were so well organized. Avery Brundage, IOC president from 1952 to 1972, described these Games: "The efficiency and almost mathematical precision with which the events were handled and the formal correctness of the arrangements made a great impression on me."*
The Games also benefited from the use of electric timing devices and a public address system which were first used at these Olympic Games.
Jim Thorpe and Hannes Kolehmainen made a big impression during the 1912 Olympics. Jim Thorpe, a Native American from the U.S., overwhelmingly won both the pentathlon and the decathlon - an amazing feat. King Gustav said to Thorpe, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world." Thorpe answered, "Thanks, King." Finland's Hannes Kolehmainen, one of the "Flying Finns," won three gold medals from the 5,000-meter race (made world record time), the 10,000-meter race, and the 8,000-meter cross-country run.
Approximately 2,500 athletes attended these Games, representing 28 countries.
1916 - Not Held
Though the 1916 Olympic Games were scheduled to be held in Berlin, World War I caused the Olympic Games to be cancelled.
1920 - Antwerp, Belgium
The 1920 Olympic Games followed closely the ending of World War I. The world had seen much bloodshed. Should the aggressors of the war be invited to the Olympic Games? The Olympic ideals stated that all countries should be allowed entrance into the Games. Though Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Hungary were not forbidden to come, they were also not sent an invitation by the Organizing Committee. These countries were again not invited to the 1924 Olympic Games. In addition, the newly formed Soviet Union decided not to attend. (Athletes from the Soviet Union did not reappear at the Olympics until 1952.)
Since the war had ravaged throughout Europe, funding and materials for the Games was difficult to acquire. When the athletes arrived in Antwerp, construction had not been completed. Besides the stadium being unfinished, the athletes were housed in cramped quarters and slept on folding cots.
Though this year was the first that the official Olympic flag was flown, not many were there to see it. The number of spectators was so low - mainly because people could not afford tickets after the war - that Belgium lost over 600 million francs from hosting the Games.
On a more positive note, the 1920 Games was notable for the first appearance of Paavo Nurmi, one of the "Flying Finns." Nurmi was a runner who was ran like a mechanical man - body erect, always at an even pace. Nurmi even carried a stopwatch with him as he ran so that he could evenly pace himself. Nurmi returned to run in the 1924 and the 1928 Olympic Games winning, in total, seven gold medals.
More than 2,500 athletes com1924 - Paris, France
As an honor to the retiring IOC founder and president Pierre de Coubertin (and at his request) the 1924 Olympic Games were held in Paris.
After much debate, winter sports were added to the Olympic Games this year. The winter events were held in January and February, creating a tradition that the winter events would be held a few months before the summer events (this tradition ended in 1992). Because of problems determining amateur status, tennis was taken off the list of events after the 1924 Olympics and were not readded until 1988.
Paavo Nurmi, called a "superman," was back running and won gold in the 1,500-meter (set an Olympic record), 5,000-meter (set an Olympic record), and the 10,000-meter cross-country run. Nurmi was also a member of the winning Finnish teams on the 3,000-meter relay and the 10,000-meter relay.
It was this Olympics that became fictionalized in the Academy Award winning film Chariots of Fire in 1981.
In all, over 3,000 athletes participated in the events, representing 44 countries.
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