Curiosities at the Olympics. Curiosities of the Olympic Games Flag “with an error”

Every year on June 23, International Olympic Day is celebrated all over the world, in memory of the revival of the Olympic movement in its modern form.

Every athlete dreams of becoming an Olympic Games winner. And he gives all his strength and capabilities to realize his dream. Sometimes the achievement of the desired victory - seemingly very close - is hampered by annoying, absurd accidents. And sometimes, striving for victory at any cost, Olympic participants choose paths that are by no means athletic. Nevertheless, all these incidents and misunderstandings - sometimes funny and sometimes truly dramatic - also become part of Olympic history. Here are some of them.

Athens, 1886. The Greek athlete who took third place in the marathon was disgracedly deprived of the award: it turned out that he had traveled part of the distance in a cart.

The organizers organized swims in the sea harbor of the Greek capital. One of the participants, Williams from the USA, climbed ashore immediately after the start and said that he would not swim in such cold water. His claims were not taken into account.

Preparations for the Games took place in many cities of Russia, primarily in Odessa, St. Petersburg and Kyiv. A small group of Odessa residents went to Greece, but they only had enough money to reach Constantinople. I had to go back. One representative of Russia, Kiev resident Nikolai Ritter, finally made it to Athens. He applied to participate in wrestling and shooting competitions, but then for some unknown reason withdrew it.

Paris, 1900. The first three places in the marathon race were taken by the French, although American athletes were considered the favorites. At the finish line, one of the Americans noticed that the winners, unlike the other runners, were not dirty with mud, although there was a large puddle on the athletes’ path. The French were accused of taking advantage of their knowledge of Parisian streets and taking a shortcut. But this did not change the judges’ decision: all three medals went to the Olympic hosts.

St. Louis, 1904. Japanese Sawao Funi, who was pole vaulting for the first time in his life, decided that the task was to use it to get over the bar by any means possible. The athlete got a strong pole, stuck it in the sand in front of the bar, quickly climbed up it and jumped over the bar. When the judges explained that it was necessary to take a running start, he ran along the track and repeated his move. Funi was removed from the competition, but the offended athlete said that he was being picked on because of his Asian origin, and indignant articles about dishonest refereeing appeared in the Japanese press.

London, 1908. In field hockey, Great Britain competed with three teams, which shared all the awards among themselves. England received gold, Ireland received silver, and Scotland received bronze.

In track and field events, clashes arose several times between the Americans and the British. The most famous scandal occurred in the final 400 m race. Three Americans took part in it - Carpenter, Taylor and Robbins, as well as the Scot Halswell, who represented Great Britain and set an Olympic record in the preliminary race. From the very start, Taylor and Robbins held the Scot, while Carpenter ran ahead. However, the violation was obvious, and the judges annulled the results of the race, proposing to repeat it two days later. The Americans refused, Halswell ran alone and, naturally, became the champion. Since then, 400 m races have been held on different running tracks.

At the request of the royal family, the marathon distance was extended to start at the royal palace. The runners ran 42 km 260 m, which is 65 m more than the classic marathon distance.

Italian marathon runner Dorando Pietri was the first to finish the run, although at the very end of the distance he lost his orientation due to stress and was forced to see a doctor. After much debate, the panel of judges disqualified him for using outside help. Johnny Hayes was declared Olympic champion. However, Queen Alexandra invited Pietri to the podium and presented him with a gold cup similar to the one the winner received.

Stockholm, 1912. In the midst of a shooting competition, it began to rain heavily. The shooting took place in the open air, with streams of water drenching the athletes. Only for the Swedes they quickly made a special canopy, under which athletes from other countries were not allowed. As a result, the hosts won seven gold, six silver and four bronze medals in 18 types of shooting competitions.

In 1912, another funny thing happened - at the Olympics in Stockholm. A marathon runner found himself in a curious situation. The Japanese Shitso Kanaguri felt very thirsty at the thirty kilometer. He ran to the house and asked the owner to pour water. The Swedish peasant escorted the runner into the room and went to the kitchen for juice. When he returned, he saw the guest fast asleep. So Kanaguri slept for more than a day. After 50 years, he returned again to that Swedish village where his marathon ended so unexpectedly, and found the strength to run the rest of the distance. He was already well over 70.

Antwerp, 1920. The opening ceremony of the Games was impressive, but took place in half-empty stands: the organizers inflated ticket prices, and the spectacle was unaffordable for many. King Albert expressed dissatisfaction, and two days later the organizing committee decided to admit disabled people and schoolchildren free of charge, and on Saturday everyone was allowed into the side stands without tickets.

Paris, 1924. During the first football match between a little-known team from Uruguay and Yugoslavia, the organizers mistakenly hung the Uruguay flag upside down and played dance music instead of the anthem. But this did not stop Uruguay from winning and then becoming the Olympic champion, beating Switzerland in the final with a score of 3:0.

Amsterdam, 1928. Traditionally, the Olympic Games were to be opened by the head of state. But Queen Wilhemina of the Netherlands resolutely refused to participate in the ceremony, calling the Olympics “pagan games.” The Games were opened by her husband, Prince Hendrik of Orange, but the queen never attended the competition.

On the eve of the opening, French athletes, led by the Secretary General of the French Athletics Federation, Paul Mericamp, went to the Amsterdam stadium to inspect the venue of the competition. The guard did not let the French in, although the Germans had visited the stadium a little earlier. The matter ended in a fight, and government intervention was required to resolve the conflict.

Los Angeles, 1932. Two great runners did not take part in the competition - Finn Paavo Nurmi and Frenchman Jules Lyadumeg, who were accused of violating their amateur status. In general, there were so many refereeing errors at this Olympics that journalists called the Games “the Olympics of refereeing errors and miscalculations.”

During the 3000 m steeplechase race, the judge counting the laps voluntarily left his post, and the athletes ran a whole lap longer. The results of the race were not cancelled. The winner was Finn Volmari Iso-Hollo, who covered 3450 m in 10 minutes 33.4 seconds.

Poland's Stanislawa Walasiewicz won the women's 100m race with a new world record. Only in 1980, when the Olympic champion died in a car accident, did it become clear that the athlete was... a man.

An exceptional case occurred in equestrian competitions - not a single team was able to receive the Grand Prix of Nations due to mistakes made, incorrect passage of the course, falls, etc.

Among the pentathletes, the champion of the previous Games, Swede Sven Tofelt, who weighed more than 100 kg, was given the lightest and slender horse by lot. The poor animal fell three times, and in the equestrian competition Tofelt took only 15th place. But in the end he managed to become fourth. And the Portuguese pentathlete de Geredia was even more unlucky: the horse was obedient, but very sensitive and nervous. When the rider used his whip and spurs, she immediately threw him off and ran away. The horse was caught with difficulty and returned to the athlete, but he again used the whip, and she threw him off again, leaving no chance of a prize.

Berlin, 1936. In the cycling sprint final, the German Toni Merkens broke the rules by holding the Dutchman Erie Van Vliet. But he was not disqualified and was declared the winner after he paid a fine of 100 marks. And one of the athletes who competed in equestrian eventing spent three hours catching a runaway horse and received 18,000 penalty points for this.

Helsinki, 1952. A sad incident happened to the Soviet javelin thrower Viktor Tsybulenko - during the warm-up before the final, he caught his spikes on his wide sweatpants (part of the sports uniform of USSR track and field athletes) and twisted his leg, which deprived him of a prize place. Having changed his dangerous form, he became a medalist at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne and the 1960 Olympic champion in Rome.

At the closing of the Olympics, IOC President Siegfried Edström made a long, inspirational speech. He was so carried away that he forgot to say the most important words: “I declare the Games of the XV Olympiad closed.”

Melbourne, 1956. A year before the Olympics, it became clear that Melbourne would not be able to host equestrian competitions because the Australians did not want to repeal the old law restricting the import of animals into the country. The city risked losing the right to host the Games, but the IOC moved the equestrian competitions to Sweden, and the medals were awarded in Stockholm before the opening of the Olympics in Melbourne. This is the only time the Olympic Games were held in two different countries.

The semifinal match between Soviet and Hungarian water polo players took place a month after the Soviet Union suppressed the uprising in Hungary. By the middle of the second half, the Hungarians were winning 3:0. At that moment, a clash occurred in the water between team captains Dezhe Gyarmati and Peter Mshvenieradze. The players who were in the water, as well as fans, joined the fight. The Hungarians were awarded the victory in the interrupted match. The Soviet leadership severely reprimanded its athletes “for causing damage to Soviet-Hungarian friendship.” But Peter Mshvenieradze, despite the loss, was awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports (as he himself suggested, for his special activity in the fight). In 2002, a meeting of the participants of the memorable match was held in Budapest, at which they forgave each other all grievances.

Seoul, 1988. In the final bout of middleweight boxers, the judges played along with the host of the Olympics, Korean Si Hong Park, and awarded him victory, despite the clear advantage of his American opponent.

Sydney, 2000. Eric Musambani (Equatorial Guinea) swam the 100m freestyle in the fastest time in Olympic history. Interestingly, he won his heat because two other competitors were disqualified for false starts. Eric, nicknamed Eel for his unique swimming style, had never seen a 50-metre pool before and learned to swim nine months before the Games. Alas, his time did not meet the qualifying standards, and he dropped out of the competition.

Athens, 2004. In the final of the group synchronized swimming tournament, the music was turned off twice during the performance of the Russian team. The first time was when the synchronized swimmers had just started their performance, the second time was in the middle of it. Despite this, the Russian team became the Olympic champion.

During the marathon race, Brazilian Wanderlei de Lima was attacked by a fan who for some time did not allow him to continue running. As a result, de Lima became only a bronze medalist. The Brazilian federation's request to award de Lima a second gold medal was not granted, but as a consolation, the IOC awarded the Brazilian the Fair Play Prize. Coubertin.

During the gymnasts' performances on the horizontal bar, the judges increased the score for Alexey Nemov in response to the indignation of the audience - the hall raged for 12 minutes, and only Alexey himself was able to calm the fans. Unfortunately, the increase was small and did not allow Nemov to become a prize-winner. And in the all-around competition, the judges made a mistake when calculating the score of the Korean gymnast Tae Yong Yang, and he received “silver”, although he should have become an Olympic champion (“gold” went to the American Paul Ham).

Dutch rower Simon Diederik left his silver medal in a taxi. The five thousand taxi drivers working in Athens that evening were notified of this, and the medal was returned. And the record for absent-mindedness was set by one of the spectators of the opening ceremony of the Games, who managed to forget a wallet with 3.5 thousand euros at the stadium. The wallet and money were delivered to the lost items service safe and sound.

During a diving competition, a Canadian fan, for some reason dressed in a white tutu, made his way through security, climbed onto a three-meter springboard and flopped from it into the pool. The offender was caught and taken to the police, but the incident prevented several athletes, including Dmitry Sautin, from performing normally.

One of the most curious moments occurred at the rehearsal of the opening ceremony of the XI Winter Olympic Games, held in 1972 in Sapporo, Japan. When the Olympic flag was brought into the stadium, one of the meticulous spectators present at the rehearsal was, to put it mildly, surprised: the order of the color rings, legalized by the Olympic Charter (blue-yellow-black-green-red), was mixed up. A puzzled spectator drew the attention of members of the organizing committee to this unfortunate oversight. They were indignant for a long time, but decided to turn to the source. It was then that it turned out that the flag had been flown “with an error” at all Winter Olympic Games since 1952. And for twenty years no one noticed anything.

Among the oddities is the goal of the Belarusian national hockey team player Vladimir Kopat against Swedish goalkeeper Tommy Salo at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, America. With the score 3:3, Kopat went to his next shift, but first decided to shoot from outside the blue line, just in case. And the incredible happened: Salo tried to stop the high-flying puck with his shoulder, but it slid down his neck and rolled into the goal. 2 minutes before the final siren!

It only remains to add that this ridiculous goal sensationally brought the Belarusians to the semi-finals of the Olympic Games.

The US flag fell at Wimbledon as Williams was awarded Olympic gold.

The award ceremony for tennis medalists at the Olympic Games in London was marked by a curiosity: during the raising of the flags, the US banner, which was raised in honor of the tournament winner Serena Williams, flew off the flagpole.

Serena Williams won the Olympic gold medal, defeating Russian Maria Sharapova in the final with a crushing score of 6:0, 6:1. Victoria Azarenka from Belarus received the bronze award.

After the presentation of the medals, as is tradition, the national anthem of the winner's country was played, and three flags began to rise over Wimbledon. And just when the banners had almost reached their maximum point, the American flag was torn from the flagpole, on which only the Russian and Belarusian flags remained hanging.

This incident made the tennis players smile, and the organizers decided not to hang the flag back up.

Original taken from vseneobichnoe in Curiosities at the Olympics

The Olympic Games traditionally attract great attention around the world. And not a single detail will go unnoticed. Including the ridiculous one. During the Olympic week, a sufficient number of oddities have accumulated. Both funny and not so funny.

The games in London will certainly go down in history, if not as the most curious and scandalous, then they will definitely get on the podium in this category. Moreover, scandals and absurdities with a London mark began to appear even before the start of the main starts of the four-year anniversary.

Misunderstandings began even before the start of the Games. It was only in 2008 that the International Olympic Committee allowed participants to conduct online blogs. And it turned out that not everyone can boast of Olympic endurance and tolerance. The jumper from the homeland of the Games was the first to pay for her incontinence on Twitter. Greek Paraskevi Papachristou has been expelled from the national team for racist remarks.

IOC head Jacques Rogge asked the athletes to be more civil towards their opponents, but not everyone heeded his words. Swiss footballer Michel Morganella insulted the latter's players after a match against the South Korean national team. The officials had to apologize, and Morganella himself went home.

The initiative was also supported by the opening ceremony. A colorful performance in which there was room for some oddities. For example, the organizers could not understand who this girl was who was leading the Indian delegation.

Curiosities continued during the competition. It turned out that British organizers had problems with geography and knowledge of political nuances. They have already had to apologize more than once and correct their mistakes. The red and blue flag of Taiwan was replaced with the flag of the Olympic Committee of that country, and the flag of Palestine was hung over the locker room of the Israeli wrestlers.

The British organizers were outraged by the Ukrainian delegation because in the biographical data of some athletes Ukraine was indicated as a region of Russia.

But so far the athletes from the Korean Peninsula are getting the most. The DPRK women's soccer team was hit. The organizers, when introducing the players, placed the South Korean flag opposite the photographs and names.

But the adventures of the athletes from the Land of Morning Freshness did not end there. South Korean fencer Shin Ah Lam refused to leave the platform in protest against the decision of the panel of judges. The scandal occurred during the fight with the German Britta Heidemann. A second before the gong, the Korean woman entered the final. But in that second a miracle happened: the athletes exchanged four injections, which is physically impossible. Then it turned out that the stopwatch was not working. Korea filed a protest, but it was not accepted. Shin Ah Lam became hysterical and refused to leave the platform in protest.

Judging at the Olympic Games is already causing major criticism. Russian beach volleyball players became victims of injustice. In the match against the Swiss pair, the chief referee literally gave the Russian opponents several points during the game, including the winning one in the tiebreaker. The protests didn't help.

And the judges were much more favorable towards the Japanese gymnasts. The Ukrainian athletes had already congratulated each other on winning bronze in the group tournament when they learned that the Japanese’s appeal had been satisfied, and they were now only fourth.

So athletes try to win, as they say, with a clear advantage. So that no questions arise. Although it was the overwhelming advantage of the Chinese woman Ye Shiwen that attracted attention. A swimmer from the Middle Kingdom set a new world record in the 400-meter medley swimming event. But the most interesting thing is that her time turned out to be seventeen hundredths better than that of the winner in the same discipline among men.

It is unlikely that this is of much concern to the American Ryan Lochte, who, as it turned out, swims slower than the Chinese woman, but Leonard, a representative of the International Federation of Coaches, believes that doping was involved. The Chinese insist that they do not take illegal drugs.

But her compatriots, who competed in the badminton tournament, went home early by the judges' decision. Being the favorites of the competition, the Chinese pair Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang, seeded number one, in case of victory over their Korean rivals, will be replaced by their compatriots, who also claimed Olympic gold. And they decided to “give up” the game and go against weaker opponents. The judges did not appreciate the game of “giveaway” and disqualified not only the Chinese, but also two couples from South Korea and a couple from Indonesia.

In general, the organizers of the next Olympiads have a lot to learn from. The biggest curiosity was the loss of the keys to Wembley Stadium. Employees of the famous Scotland Yard were never able to find them. However, athletes and fans can rest assured: the legendary stadium has been opened after all.

But the Games in London will be remembered not only for their curiosities. The Olympics have already had their heroes. And again it was not without the Koreans. Archer Im Tong Hyun scored 699 points, improving his own world record, set in May this year in Turkey, by 3 points. But the most interesting thing is that the shooter’s left eye sees only 10 percent of normal, and the right eye sees 20 percent. Moreover, the Korean does not wear contact lenses or glasses and is guided by the bright colors on the target.

I would like to add Russian judokas to the list of heroes. After the victories of Arsen Galstyan and Mansur Isaev, our athletes will be considered favorites not only in Greco-Roman or freestyle wrestling.

Well, we can’t help but say about Michael Phelps. At the London Olympics he no longer dominates as in Beijing, but it was at the thirtieth Games that he went down in history as the most titled Olympian - he broke the record of our compatriot Larisa Latynina.

Only the lazy did not comment yesterday on the incident with the unopened ring at the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Sochi. As a blogger who is one of the ten laziest bloggers on the Runet, I will not comment on this either. Instead, I’ll tell you, my friends, about the incidents of the past Winter Olympics.

A new word in science and technology

This story took place during the 30 km ski race at the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo. In Japan they still talk about it with aspiration. In those years, there were no mixed zones yet, and journalists calmly wandered side by side with the athletes right in the starting town. When a good half of the racers had already set off for the distance, thick and sticky snow suddenly began to fall. Soviet skier Vyacheslav Vedenin, a minute before the start, decided to smear his skis in accordance with the changed weather conditions. One of the local journalists, who speaks Russian, turned to him: they say, do you think it will help - it’s snowing?

What Vedenin answered him, only we in Russia understand, and in Japan the next day the newspapers came out with the headlines: “Having said the magic word “Dahusim”, the Russian skier won the Olympics.”

Without a piece of paper you're a bug

One of the main oddities that happened at the 2006 Turin Olympics was the story of a dog that received Olympic accreditation. American skier Daron Relves was given documents for his constant traveling companion, a Siberian husky named Chevvy. The dog wore a card on his collar with a photo in the name of Chevvy Relves during the Games. Thanks to accreditation, the Laika could easily accompany her owner in the Olympic Village and not pay much attention to security checks.

I bet you!

German luger David Möller, who became the silver medalist of the 2010 Olympics in the singles tournament, broke a tooth after biting his medal.

He was asked to bite the medal by photojournalists who were photographing him and another German, Felix Loch, who became the champion. As a result, he touched the cold metal so often that he ended up chipping off a piece of his upper front tooth.

They overlooked

In the history of the Olympic Games, funny stories have often happened related to the equipment of athletes, the incorrect application of flags and other logos on it.

Thus, at the Olympics in Vancouver, the biathletes of the Polish national team received a sports uniform with the flag of the Principality of Monaco on it. The fact is that both Poland and Monaco have red and white flags. However, what distinguishes them is that the Poles have the upper horizontal stripe painted white, while the inhabitants of the dwarf European state have the lower one. Finding the culprit for this misunderstanding was not easy.

The National Olympic Committee said that this was a mistake by the leadership of the Polish Biathlon Association, and they, in turn, shifted all the blame to the manufacturers and the NOC.

And at the Turin Olympics, German biathletes competed under the Belgian flag for three days, until they finally noticed that the colors were mixed up...

But perhaps one of the most curious incidents occurred at the rehearsal of the opening ceremony of the 11th Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan. When the Olympic flag was brought into the stadium, one of the spectators present at the event and, apparently, interested in the history of the competition, was surprised, to put it mildly: the order of the color rings, legalized by the Olympic Charter (blue-yellow-black-green-red), was mixed up. The viewer immediately drew the attention of members of the organizing committee to this inaccuracy. They were indignant for a long time, but still decided to turn to the source. And then it turned out that the flag had been hung “with an error” at all the Winter Games since 1952, and for twenty years no one noticed anything.

From skier to snowboarder

At the downhill skiing competitions held during the Olympics in Salt Lake City, the French athlete Pierre-Emmanuel Dalsen had a problem: about 30 m before the finish, he lost one of his skis. But the athlete did not lose his head and, balancing on the remaining ski, managed to cross the finish line. Surprisingly, the result was counted, so the skier’s perseverance benefited him.

On the second try

At the last Olympics in Vancouver, at the most crucial moment of the opening ceremony, when the athletes were ready to light the Olympic cauldron, one of the columns did not rise due to technical problems. The organizers decided to correct this unfortunate mistake on the last day of the Olympics. The closing ceremony began with a clown dressed as a repairman “raising” the fourth pillar, which connected to the main structure, and the fire was rekindled.

1924 Winter Olympics (first Winter Games in history)

The competition took place in Chamonix (France) and was carefully called “International Sports Week on the occasion of the VIII Olympics.” And only after they were held and active public support, the IOC decided to call them the First Winter Olympic Games.

1928 Winter Olympics

The games took place in St. Moritz (Switzerland). Initially, the Dutch applied to host the Games, but they withdrew their candidacy because... doubted the favorable weather. But the Swiss had no doubts, but in vain. Temperatures in the mountains rose to +20 C due to high levels of precipitation. Speed ​​skaters suffered the most from this. After the 5th pair of stayers raced 10 km, the ice turned into puddles and the remaining athletes quickly left the race. The results were annulled after violent protests.

At that time, chronometers could only count tenths of a second, so two skaters won the 500 m race at the Olympics and 4 more received bronze! And because There were no medals provided; they were borrowed from other sports that had not yet been played, and then they were urgently printed.

In the bobsleigh tournament, instead of four-man bobs, five-man bobs took part. The winning crew included student Nion Tokker, who came to Switzerland to study and had no intention of participating in the Olympics. And then I became interested in bobsleigh and became a champion.

And the Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie, after St. Moritz, became the champion at the next 2 Winter Olympic Games, and then became a film actress and starred in the famous film “Sun Valley Serenade.”

1932 Winter Olympics

There were many oddities at the Games in Lake Placid (USA), but one of the main mistakes was the release of a special postage stamp with many errors in a huge edition. It depicted an alpine skier, although this discipline was not in the Olympic program, with poles that reached the athlete’s shoulders. In the end, the dates for the Olympic Games were printed as February 4-13, instead of February 4-15. Total misunderstanding!

1936 Winter Olympics

After France refused to host the Olympics, the IOC decided to agree to Hitler's proposal and hold the Winter Olympics in Germany. As a result, Nazi Germany hosted two Olympics at once in 1936 - the summer one in Berlin and the winter one in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. I didn't know this fact, to be honest.

1968 Winter Olympics

Many fans remembered the games for the drama in the hockey tournament, when the USSR national team lost to the Czechoslovaks in the first match. The fate of the gold medals was decided on the second day in the matches between the USSR and Canada and Czechoslovakia and Sweden. Moreover, Canada and Sweden, in any case, would already be in 4th and 3rd place, respectively, while even a draw for Czechoslovakia would bring victory at the Olympics. And only a miracle in the match between Sweden and Czechoslovakia would help the USSR to win the tournament. And it happened! The Swedes beat the Czechoslovakians, and the USSR national team defeated Canada and won the Olympics. First of all, after the award ceremony, the champions went to visit the Swedes in order to thank them for the gift and offer to exchange the Swedes' European bronze for their gold medals of the European Championship. And the exchange did take place.

1980 Winter Olympics

The thirteenth Winter Games in Lake Placid (USA) were organized at a very low level and were held on facilities prepared for the Games back in 1932! The delegations were housed in small rooms in a former city prison, with constant traffic jams and expensive and unreliable communications. A truly unlucky number.

The Games were also memorable for the fact that American speed skater Eric Hayden repeated the record of Soviet athlete Lydia Skoblikova from 16 years ago. He won all the gold medals that were awarded in speed skating at one Olympics - five of them!

2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City (USA)

Before the start of the 30 km distance, Thai skier Prawat Nagwazhara, assessing his capabilities, assumed that he would finish last. But he was wrong: the first athlete from Thailand in the history of the Winter Olympic Games withdrew from the race. He moved almost at a crawl, and his expected finish was scheduled for the next day after the race. When they learned in the finishing corridor that Pravat had left the race, general rejoicing began: according to the rules, judges are required to wait at the finish line for all athletes allowed to start.

Before the sprint competition, the Thai again tried to guess what place he would take at the finish line. And again he modestly suggested that he would be the last. And again he was wrong: he finished sixty-eighth, ahead of the representatives of Ireland, Nepal and Costa Rica. “Many people think that I’m in good shape,” the happy 43-year-old athlete said after the finish.

It's no secret that many athletes make money from advertising. So the British women's curling team was asked to advertise mops. British supermarkets Safeway believe that the five-member women's curling team is ideal for advertising, because during the competition all they do is scrub the ice with mops.

The first gold in Australian history was won by speed skater Stephen Bradbury at a distance of 1000 m, and in a very interesting race. Almost until the finish, he was last with a lag of 10 meters. But a few meters before the finish there was a massive collapse, which secured gold for the Australian. The former leaders, the American and the Canadian, literally crawled into second and third place.

In an interesting position

In Vancouver, Canadian curling team player Christy Moore competed... while six months pregnant!

In sports, such cases are far from isolated. Even in winter types. The first to try her hand at a delicate situation at a forum of this scale was the Swedish figure skater Magda Julin, who 90 years ago, at the 1920 Summer Games in Antwerp, won a gold medal while in her third month.

Turin Olympic champion, Russian skier Larisa Kurkina, won her award while finishing second. And she found out about her pregnancy already on the third day: she returned from the Games, started at several stages of the World Cup, and only after that she went to the doctor and had an ultrasound.

At the same Italian Olympics, in the third month, the German skeleton athlete Diana Sartor competed, and four years before that, in Salt Lake City, the Ukrainian luger Liliya Ludan skated with her future daughter. True, while performing races in the American chute, the athlete did not yet know about her position. But everyone knows how dangerous and traumatic this sport is.

This is how things are, my friends. I hope I have amused you with the curiosities I have collected for you. Well, whether there will be any other oddities at the Sochi Olympics besides the unopened ring, time will tell.