More interesting facts...

*The procession of athletes at the opening ceremony is always led by the Greek team. The rest of the teams follow in alphabetical order (in the language of the hosting country). The last team is always that of the hosting country.

* When selecting the venue for the Olympics, the IOC always gives the honour to a city rather than a country.

* James B. Connolly (USA) is considered to be the first Olympic champion of the modern Games. He won the hop, step and jump in the 1896 Olympics.

* Women were first allowed to participate in 1900 at the second modern Olympic Games.

* Winter Olympic Games were first held in 1924.

* Because of World War I and II, there were no Olympic Games in 1916, 1940 and 1944. (Games are held once in every four years).

* An Olympiad is a period of four successive years. The Olympic Games celebrate each Olympiad.

The first Olympiad celebration for the modern Games was in 1896. The cancelled Games too were known as Olympiads and the 2004 Games referred to as the XXIX were Olympiad.

* The Summer Olympic medals more often than not depict the goddess of victory Nike in some way. This year’s Beijing medals represented Chinese culture with a ring of jade inlay.

* The medal tradition started with the modern Olympic Games of 1896.

* London defeated European rival Paris to host the 2012 Summer Games.

* The very first Olympic champion in history is a cook from Elis named Coroebus who ran the stade (a run of approximately 192 metres or 210 yards) in 776 BCE. The stade was the sole event of the ancient Games.

* Swimming events were held in the Bay of Zea in the Aegean Sea at the first modern Games.

* Approximately 300 athletes representing 13 countries had participated in the 1896 Games.

* In the 1900 Games, swimming events were held in the Seine River.

* According to legend, Heracles who is the patron of athletes marked out the original Olympic stadium with 600 footsteps imprinted in the sand - an equivalent to a distance of 192.70 metres.

* At the 1904 St. Louis - USA Olympics, only 12 countries were represented with only a 100 of the 681 athletes participating from outside of USA. There were no participants from England, France or Sweden.

* The idea of the Olympic torch or Olympic flame was inaugurated in the 1928 Olympic Games held in Amsterdam.

* The Olympic Oath was introduced in 1920.

Facts and Pix: Internet