9781422273661

Throughout the rich and glorious history of the Summer Olympics, there have been many fascinating, unusual, and downright quirky moments that have taken place before, during, and after events. In Fascinating Facts , part of the four-title The Summer Olympics: On the World Stage series, we dive into the heroic and horrific, as well as the outrageous and obscure, providing eye-opening accounts of some of the both amazing and incredibly wacky moments that have made the Games a global showcase. There’s Bill Hoyt, an American college student who had to fake an illness to compete at the first modern Olympic Games—the 1896 Summer Games in Athens; Robert LeGendre, who set a world record in the long jump at the 1924 Games, but didn’t take home a gold medal; the eight badminton players who were kicked out of the 2012 Games in London for intentionally losing matches; gymnast George Eyser, who won six medals while competing with a wooden leg; and marathon runner Fred Lorz, who hitched a ride in a car during the race and hopped out to run the final couple of miles to cross the finish line first. All these stories—plus a 10-year-old boy who competed at the 1896 Summer Games, a 72-year-old Swede who won a medal at the 1920 Antwerp Games, the boxing official who was attacked in the ring, the debut of Waldi (the first official mascot of an Olympic Games), and much more—are here.

Fascinating Facts takes you on a journey through Olympic history that will shock, entertain, and enlighten along the way.

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