The Olympics has a rich history in ancient Greece and is a fun and interesting topic to discuss in the classroom. This momentous occasion can create learning opportunities about history, culture, sports, healthy competition, and personal achievement. Here are some fun facts to share with your students:

1. The first Olympic Games were held in Olympia, Greece and the first recorded date of the games was in 776 B.C.
2. The Olympic Games in Greece were held in honor of Zeus, because the Greeks believed that the gods were pleased with mortals’ application of hard work and personal achievement.
3. In A.D. 394, a Roman emperor believed that the Olympics had no place in the Christian world and banned the Olympics for 1500 years.
4. In 1904, the first American Olympics were held in St. Louis at the World’s Fair.
5. In 1924, the first Winter Olympic Games were held in Chamonix, France.
6. Baron Pierre de Coubertin (a French educator) is considered the father of modern Olympics. In 1896, he revived the Olympics and announced that it should be a way to bring countries together for world peace and to help abolish racial discrimination.
7. In 1952, American figure skater Dick Button performed the first-ever triple rotation jump at the Winter Olympics; he won the men’s singles figure skating event.
8. In 1956, the Olympic Summer Games were actually held in November in Melbourne, Australia, since that was the summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
9. Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track at a single Olympics.
10. The five rings in the Olympic flag stand for five continents: the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.

 

Need an Olympic lesson plan to tie these fun facts to?

Great Olympic Games classroom decorations

 

*Facts from the following books:

TCR3719 Greece, Pages 81-82
TCR575 Ancient Greece, Pages 89-90
TCR2027 The Fifties, Page 65
TCR2028 The Sixties, Page 65 & 96
TCR2024 The Twenties, Page 72 & 96