baron-pierreIV Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 OK, NEW Olympic trivia question: What made some of the medals of early Modern Era SOG's (1900 - 1912) medals so rare? Which Games were they extra-special? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faster Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Wasn't there no bronze medals until 1920? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted June 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 (edited) Wasn't there no bronze medals until 1920? No twice. OK, I'll let another 12 or so hours pass before I post the answer. Edited June 25, 2011 by baron-pierreIV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobart Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 they didnt get medals think it was 1904 the go asmall cup or trophy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted June 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 (edited) they didnt get medals think it was 1904 the go asmall cup or trophy OK, I guess there are no other takers. I'll let foremost Olympics memorabilia dealer Ingrid O'Neill explain it: "At that Olympiad (1904) they had real gold medals," O'Neil said. (A 1904 St. Louis medal produced O'Neil's biggest sale: $50,000 US for a gold medal.) "Actually there were four Olympiads that had real gold medals: Paris 1900, St. Louis 1904, London 1908, and Stockholm 1912. Sometimes you hear from [modern] gold medal winners, ‘Oh my gold medal should be worth so much, just for the gold.' They do not realize [they are made out of] six grams of gold over sterling silver. They are not gold." So those were cast in pure (maybe 14k) gold. But then WW1 intervened after Stockholm 1912, so a lot of metals got rarer after 1917. So by Antwerp 1920, the "gold" medals became really just gold-plated (the 6 grams) medallions the way they are today. If RSA hosted 2020 instead of a later date, the gold they would have to donate for the Durban medals would NOT be as super-expensive starting in 2024 or thereafter, if they had gunned for 2020. Some brains in RSA aren't thinking right!! Edited June 26, 2011 by baron-pierreIV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted June 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Oops, this is the one I meant to bump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Rols Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 The thread on Olympians famous outside the games has had me browsing through various sites - and coming across some neat facts. Anyway, thought I'd throw this out to test everyone's knowledge. Q: Who and when was the first Olympian to be disqualified for drug use? And which drug were they accused of taking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotguy Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Was it Hans- Gunnar Lijenwall at the 1968 Mexico City Games for Alcohol use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted November 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 (edited) Was it Hans- Gunnar Lijenwall at the 1968 Mexico City Games for Alcohol use? That might be it. One other EXTREMELY fascinating fact about the Swedish 1968 Mexico team was it had the HIGHEST concentration of siblings participating as whole teams per capita in Oly history. There were 2 sets of Swedish brothers participating in 1968: 1. 4 Pettersson brothers were the Cycling-Team Time trial; so 4 silvers. 2. 3 Sundelin brothers in Sailing - Dragon, 5.5 meter = three golds. Then there was the doping case, so the Sweden 1968 team still came out ahead despite the disqualification. Edited November 17, 2011 by baron-pierreIV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Rols Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Was it Hans- Gunnar Lijenwall at the 1968 Mexico City Games for Alcohol use? Yep, go it. He was disqualified for drinking two beers before competition. Of course, the first drugs death was the Danish cyclist in 1960 (I think) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympian2004 Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 And probably the first doping case (under current rules) in modern Olympic history was the one of Thomas Hicks who participated in the marathon in St. Louis in 1904. He wasn't disqualified, though. Here's the story: Wikipedia - Thomas Hicks (athlete) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted August 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 (edited) New Olympic trivia question: What family of a current and sitting IOC member (s/he is quite well known) had the current member's father be an IOC member for like 13 months only (was not able to attend any IOC Sessions during that time); and then that father resigned because of the pressing duties of his new office, so his father (therefore the grandfather of the current IOC member) took over the spot for their nation for about 10 years. This is the only case of a father taking over a son's position in the IOC; and now that nation's seat has been passed on to the grandchild. Additional trivia: Grandpere initiated and organized an IOC competition in 1954 to find a new Olympic hymn. 392 entries from 40 different countries were entered. The winner was the composition of a Polish composer living in Paris (no; not Chopin); and the lyrics were words of Pindar chosen by this senior IOC member. However, winner Michael Spisak demanded excessive royalties for his work (and apparently, the IOC did NOT indicate that all rights and royalities were to be determined by them), that the winning composition was not played very much and (I believe) was only played at one or all of the 1956 Olympics (Cortina, Stockholm and/or Melbourne). So in 1958, the IOC officially reverted to and adopted Samaras' original1896 composition because they could officially register and co-opt that as their own song, w/o having to deal with the excessive fees demanded by Spisak. So, the question is: who is the current IOC member whose grandfather was directly involved in that 1954-56 episode and whose late father sat only for 13 months in the IOC?? Another hint: this IOC member is quite vocal in the Q&A sessions of recent presentations of Olympic bid cities. (All of the above c/o of the current July issue of the Int'l Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) Journal. It has many great articles, especially connected w/ London's 1908 and 1948 hostings.) P.S. It would really be interesting to listen to that Spisak composition and the 2 or 3 runners-up. I bet they are all in the IOC archives. Edited August 28, 2012 by baron-pierreIV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotosy Posted August 28, 2012 Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 ... So, the question is: who is the current IOC member whose grandfather was directly involved in that 1954-56 episode and whose late father sat only for 13 months in the IOC?? Another hint: this IOC member is quite vocal in the Q&A sessions of recent presentations of Olympic bid cities. .... ...H.S.H. Prince Albert II ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted August 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 ...H.S.H. Prince Albert II ? Correcto mundo!! Little chubby Albert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted April 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2013 New Oly trivia question: What is the first Olympic Games wherein the medals were awarded with ribbons (as lanyards)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted September 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2020 New Trivia question: (Just learned this a few minutes ago) - What is the only (I think it's the only one for the present) sport where 'able-bodied' M & W can be on the same team PLUS, visually handicapped are also allowed to compete on the same team? I know this event has been included in a World Championship but NOT YET in an Olympics due to the mix of "Able" and "Handicapped" athletes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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