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POINT OF FACT
? Have the Olympic Games been celebrated every Jour years since their revival in 1896?
•No. An unofficial Olympics was celebrated in 1906, and there were no Olympics in the war years of 1916, 1940 and 1944.
? Who was responsible for the revival of the Games in 1896?
•Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a Frenchman who staged a one-man campaign to revive the Olympics and directed the first Games in Athens (1896).
? Are the medals awarded first-place finishers in the Olympics really gold?
•No. The first-and second-place medals are both silver. The first-place medals arc gilded with six grams of gold.
? The Russians have won the most medals in recent Olympic Games, but the U.S. still holds a commanding lead in total medals won since the modem Games were started. How many has the U.S. won, and which country is second in total medals?
•The U.S. has won 1,078 medals, including 469 gold, 328 silver and 281 bronze. Britain is next, with a total of 445 medals.
? The U.S. has won the gold medal for basketball in each of the Jive Olympics in which the sport was played. Has any country completely dominated any other event—team or individual—which has been on the Olympic program at least five times?
•Yes. The U.S. won the standing high jump, an event no longer on the program, all five times it was contested. Ray Ewry won four gold medals in this event and four more in another old event, the standing broad jump, between 1900 and 1908.
? Why do the Russians, despite their recent successes, stand only sixth in overall medals won?
•Russia did not participate in the Olympics between 1912 and 1952. Before 1912 they won four silver and three bronze medals. Since 1952 they have taken 102 gold, 88 silver and 80 bronze medals.
? The U.S. has been the summer Olympics host twice. Where and when were the Games held in this country?
•In St. Louis in 1904 and Los Angeles in 1932.
? Has any city been the site of two Olympic games?
•Yes. Paris in 1900 and 1924, London in 1908 and 1948. Stockholm was the site of the Games in 1912 and shared in the 1956 Olympics with Melbourne by hosting the equestrian events.
? How many different sports will appear on this year's Olympic program?
•Twenty, including eight which will be contested by both men and women.
? Are there any new sports being introduced in Tokyo this month?
•Yes. Volleyball for men and women and judo for men.
? Twenty-two sports were approved by the International Olympic Committee for competition in Tokyo. Which of these sports have been omitted from the program?
•Archery and field handball.
? Why is it proper to say that the Olympic games are "celebrated"?
•Because the original games, played as early as 776 B.C. in Greece, were part of a religious ritual celebrated in honor of Zeus.
? In 1960 new Olympic records were set in all but five men's track and field events. What five events were these, and when were the records set?
•Only the records set in 1956 for the 5,000-meter run, the 20,000-meter walk, the 110-meter hurdles, the 400-meter relay and the javelin throw survived the 1960 Olympics.
? In 1956 the U.S. won eight running events. How many did the U.S. team win in 1960?
•Four. The U.S. was unable to duplicate its 1956 victories in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, the 800-meter run and the 400-meter relay.
? The U.S. Olympic basketball team of 1960 was considered by many the best amateur team ever. What distinction did five of the top players on this team gain this year as professional players?
•Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, Terry Dischinger, Jerry West and Walt Bellamy all were professional All-Stars for 1964.
? Floyd Patterson and Cassias Clay, the former and reigning professional heavyweight boxing champions, were both Olympic titlists as amateurs. What classes did they fight in and when did they win?
•Patterson was the middleweight (165 pounds) gold medalist in 1952, and Clay was the light heavyweight (178 pounds) winner in 1960.
? Competitive cycling is generally considered a European sport. Has the U.S. ever won a gold medal in cycling?
•Yes. In 1900 the U.S. won the 1,500-meter (now 4,000-meter) team pursuit title.
? In 1960 U.S. athletes won three gold medals in freestyle wrestling, but no American has ever won a Greco-Roman wrestling title in the Olympics. What is the main difference between the two kinds of wrestling?
•While Olympic freestyle rules are similar to American collegiate rules, Greco-Roman is a radically different form of the sport because no holds are permitted below the waist.
? When Charles Vinci won the only gold medal in weight lifting for the U.S. in 1960 he took the bantamweight (123½ pounds) title with a record-setting total lift of 760 pounds. How many and what types of lifts did he use?
•All Olympic weight lifters must perform three lifts: military press, clean and jerk, and snatch.
? Basketball was invented in Springfield, Mass., in the 19th century and has since grown to a worldwide, Olympic sport. Volleyball, a new Olympic event, was also first played in the U.S. When and where was the game devised?
•Volleyball was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan, a YMCA director in Holyoke, Mass.
? Johnny Weissmuller, the famous American freestyler of the 1920s who later played Tarzan in the movies, won three gold medals in 1924 and 1928. Has any American swimmer or diver won more gold medals?
•Yes. Pat McCormick won four by winning both the springboard and high diving in 1952 and 1956.
? Although American domination of Olympic eight-oared rowing was broken by the Germans in 1960, the U.S. helped to balance that loss with a gold medal in a rowing event it had never won before. Which event was it?
•The U.S. team of John Sayre, Dick Wailes, Ted Nash and Art Ayrault won the coxswain-less four-oared competition for the first U.S. win since the event was introduced in 1908.
? The modern pentathlon combines five events of "military" character. What are they?
•Riding, fencing pistol shooting, swimming and cross-country running.
