Some facts about Great Britains Olympic History

John MacGregor (Scottish) invented the kayak /canoe. In 1865, he founded the Royal Canoe Club. Kayak made its debut at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin (Germany).
From 1896 to 2004, Great Britain has won 668 Summer Olympics medals, including 188 gold. The United Kingdom has more gold medals than Greece, Cuba, Spain, Brazil, Argentina and India combined...
Sebastian Newbold Coe was selected to carry Great Britain's flag during the closing ceremony at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games. From 1980 to 1984, he won four Olympic medals (800m and 1500m). Coe is an iconic figure in the world of sports.
Great Britain is the birthplace of table tennis. This sport was a demonstration sport at the 1988 Seoul Games and went on to become an "Olympic sport" in the Barcelona Games in 1992.
In the 1910s, Great Britain's national football team won its third-ever gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Stockholm (Sweden).
The United Kingdom has many famous sportspeople: Jonathan Edwards (athletics / England), Sally Gunnell (track & field/ England), David Wilkie (aquatics /Scotland), Sebastian Newbold Coe (athletics / England), Samuel Ferris (marathon / Northern Ireland), Allan Wipper Wells (athletics/ Scotland), Steve Michael James Ovett (track and field / England), Colin Ray Jackson (athletics/ Wales), Cris Hoy (cycling / Scotland).
Unlike Japan, West Germany, Canada and Kenya, Great Britain / United Kingdom did not boycott the 1980 Olympics in the Soviet Union. Margaret Hilda Thatcher ( Prime Minister of the United Kingdom / 1979-1990 ) did not support the boycott. GB sent 214 athletes to the Moscow Games (won 21 medals). Ironically, Bermuda, Cayman islands, Antigua-Barbuda and Hong Kong ( British territories ) boycotted the Games.
Kate Howey was the flag bearer of the British Olympic team at the Athens Olympics in 2004. Who is she? Kate was a judoka...
England dominated the medals at the First Commonwealth Games in 1930. But over the last three decades, England has been overtaken by Australia.
Glasgow (Scotland) will be host to the Commonwealth Games in 2014.
The United Kingdom is the birthplace of boxing. London hosted the first boxing championships in 1867. James Figg and John Broughton were the first boxers in the history...
Linford Christie was one of the greatest sprinters in the past century. Great Britain's Linford won the gold medal in the 100m at the Barcelona Games in 1992. He was born on April 2, 1960 in Saint Andrew, Jamaica (Caribbean).
British boxers won all the gold medals in the Olympics in 1908. The champions were: Henry Thomas ( bantamweight / 54kg), Richard Gunn ( featherweight / 57kg ), Frederick Grace ( lightweight / 60kg ), John Douglas (middleweight / 75kg), Albert Oldham (super heavyweight / 91%2B kg).
The Montreal Olympic Games was inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II ( Head of State of Canada) in 1976.
Great Britain introduced field hockey into India and Pakistan. This European country was the first ever men's field hockey Olympic champion (1908).
This country has hosted many international Games/ tournaments:
The 1897 Cycling World Cup-Glasgow, Scotland
The 1904 Cycling World Cup-London, England
The 1908 Summer Olympics-London, England
The 1934 British Empire Games-London, England
The 1938 Baseball World Cup-London, England
The 1948 Summer Olympics-London, England
The 1958 British Empire Games-Cardiff, Wales
The 1966 FIFA World Cup-London, England
The 1970 British Commonwealth Games-Edinburgh, Scotland
The 1975 FISA World Rowing Cup-Notthingham, England
The 1971 Cycling World Cup-Leicester, England
The 1986 Commonwealth Games-Edinburgh, Scotland
The 1991 World University Games-Sheffield, England
The 2002 Commonwealth Games-Manchester, England
Bermuda ( British territory / Caribbean ) won an Olympic medal at the 1976 Montreal Games. The medalist was Clarence Hills (boxing). It competed in the Summer Games 15 times: Berlin-1936, London-1948, Helsinki-1952, Melbourne-1956, Rome-1960, Tokyo-1964, Mexico City-1968, Munich-1972, Montreal-1976, Los Angeles-1984, Seoul-1988, Barcelona-1992, Atlanta-1996, Sydney-2000, Athens-2004. Bermuda has also competed in the Winter Games: France-1992, Norway-1994, Japan-1998, USA-2002, Italy-2006...
The United Kingdom has many foreign-born sportspeople : Tessa Sanderson (Jamaica / track & field ),Curtis Osano (Kenya / soccer), Blair Blenman (Barbados / weightlifting ), John Barnes (Jamaica / football ), Cliff Drysdale ( South Africa / tennis ), Fatima Whitbread ( Cyprus / athletics ), Bamlerdele "Dele" Adebola (Nigeria / soccer), Zola Budd ( South Africa / track & field ), Judy Simpson (Jamaica / athletics ), Eniola Aluko ( Nigeria /soccer ), Simon Lessing ( South Africa / triathlon ), Clive Longe (Guyana / track and field ), Natalie Steward (South Africa / swimming), Nedeum Onuoha ( Nigeria /soccer ).

Unknown Facts About Olympic Nations

Did you know...

The Central American country of El Salvador has never won an Olympic medal.

The Indian men's national field hockey team was crowned as the Olympic champions for 1964. The winners were: Syed Ali, Charanjit Singh, Darshan Singh, Shankar Lakshman, Rajendran Christie, Prithipal Singh, Dharam Singh, Gurbux Singh, Udham Singh, Mohinder Lal, Jagjit Singh, Rajinder Singh, Joginder Singh, Haripal Kaushik, Harbinder Singh, Bandu Patil and Victor John Peter.

Said Ahmed Farouck was the best sprinter of Comoros Islands -an ex colony French in Africa- in the 1980s.

Cyprus -a small island in the Mediterranean Sea- has competed in the Winter Olympic Games 8 times ( Lake Placid-1980, Sarajevo-1984, Calgary-1988, Albertville-1992, Lillehammer-1994, Nagano-1998, Salt Lake City-2002 and Turin-2006).

New Zealand won two gold medals at the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne (Australia).

Letitia Vriesde was the flag bearer of the Surinamese team at the opening ceremony at the Olympics in 2004. Like Anthony Conrad Nesty (Olympic champion), she was one of the most popular sportspeople in Suriname and the Caribbean. She was born on October 5, 1964 in Paramaribo, the capital city of Suriname,an ex Dutch colony in South America. From 1988 to 2004, she won several medals (Pan American Games, World Championships, Central American & Caribbean Games). Letitia won a silver medal in the 800m at the 1995 World Athletics Championship in Gothenburg (Sweden). Certainly, she is a heroine in her country.

Mathias Ntawulikura (Rwanda/ Africa) finished 8th in the 10,000m at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta,USA.

Armenia -former Soviet republic- has had great athletes in the past century: Grant Chaguinian (gymnastics/ Olympic gold medalist, 1952), Albert Azarian (gymnastics/ Olympic gold medalist, 1956, 1960 & 1964), Vladimir Enguibariun (boxing/ Olympic gold medalist, 1956), Armen Nazaryan (wrestling/ Olympic gold medalist, 1996) and Armen Mkchyan (wrestling/ Olympic silver medalist, 1996).

Saudi Arabia has never won a gold Olympic medal.

Angola -African country- sent 39 Olympic athletes to the 1992 Games in Barcelona (Spain). The Angolan contingent participated in seven disciplines: aquatics (3), athletics (6), boxing (1), judo (4), sailing (3), roller hockey (11) and basketball (11).The basketball national team finished 10th at the Barcelona Olympics. Angola -African champion- produced a major surprise in defeating China 79-69...

Austria has many Olympic champions: Herna Bauna (track & field), Gregor Hradetzky (kayak), Christopher Sieber (sailing), Hans Haas (weightlifting), Elisabeth Theurer (equestrian), Peter Seisanbacher (judo) and Franz Andrisek (weightlifting).

North Korea has not won an Olympic medal for volleyball since the 1972 Olympics.

Alleyne Francique finished 4th in the 400m (44.66s) at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. This sprinter is the best sportspeople of Grenada.

Lebanon competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles,USA. Most Lebanese athletes qualified for the Games in athletics, boxing, cycling, fencing, wrestling, shooting, swimming and weightlifting. This Arab country also competed at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Yugoslavia.

The Nigerian men's national soccer team won the gold medal at the Summer Olympics in 1996. Nigeria defeated Argentina 3-2 in the Olympic final. The Olympic champions were: TeslimFatusi, Daniel Amokachi, Emmanuel Amunike, Tijani Babangida, Celestine Babayaro, Taribo West, Victor Ikpeda, Dosu Joseph, Nwankwo Kanu, Wilson Oruma, Mobi Oparaku, Sunday Oliseh, Jay-Jay Okocha, Garba Nawal, Uche Okechukwu, Kingsley Obiekwu and Abiodun Obafemi.

Bangladesh is an Olympic member since 1980. However, it did not go to the Olympic Games in the USSR.

In the 1990s, Croatia had famous basketball players: Stojan Vrunkovic, Toni Kukoc, Drazen Petrovic, Dino Rada and Franjo Arapovic.

Paraguay sent 10 sportspeople to the Olympic Games in the 1970s.

Taiwan sent 22 sportspersons to the Summer Olympics in 1972. It participated in 10 sports. Archery: Meei-Shya Shue. Track & field: Chin-Lung Chen, Ming-Chih Chen, Chung-Ping Lee, Wen-Ho Soo, Cheng Chi, Chiu-Hsia Lee, Chun Yu Lin and Yu-Chih Wu. Boxing: Chee-Yen Wang. Wrestling: Jine-Shiong Sheu. Judo: Ping-Ho Chang, Chi Hsiang Cheng, Jen-Wuh Juang and Jong She Wang. Weightlifting: Kue Sen Chen. Cycling: Ming Fa Shue. Sailing: Shiu-Hsiung Chen. Shooting:Tao Yuan Wu. Swimming: Tung-Hsiung Hsu, Yue-Yun Hsu and Yue Hwan Lie.

Mauritania competed at the Summer Olympics for the first time at the 1984 Games. This African country sent 4 wrestlers to the Olympics in Los Angeles,USA.

The Kingdom of Bhutan sent 3 sportswomen to the Olympics Games in 1992. They were: Karma Tshomo, Pem Tshering and Namgyal Lhama (archery).

Georgia -ex Soviet republic- is the birthplace of Viktor Saneiev, who won three gold medals at the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympics. In 1980, he won the silver medal in the triple jump at the Moscow Olympics. Like Joao Carlos de Oliveira (Brazil), Jonathan Edwards (Great Britain) and Mike Conley (United States), Viktor was one of the best triple jumpers of the 20th century.

Belarus won two silver medals at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway in 1994.

Talata Embalo was the flag bearer of the Bissau Guinean national team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in the United States. Embalo is the best weightlifter of Guinea-Bissau, an ex Portuguese colony in Africa.

Mongolia sent 4 sportswomen to the Olympics in West Germany in 1972.

Obadele Thompson is the greatest Barbadian athlete of the 21st century. From 2000 to 2004, he was one of the best sprinters in the world.

Date of birth: 30/3/ 1976

Place of birth: Saint Michel, Barbados (Caribbean country)

Education: University of Texas

Top performances:

1991: Carifta Games-1st 100m, 3rd 200m

1992:Carifta Games-1st 100m, 2nd 200m

1993: Pan American Junior Championship-3rd 100m, 2nd 200m; Carifta Games-1st 100m, 2nd 200m; Central American & Caribbean Senior Championship-1st 100m

1994:Carifta Games-1st 100m, 1st 200m; World Athletics Cup- 4th 100m

1995: Central American & Caribbean Senior Championship-1st 200m

1996: Olympic Games-12th 100m, 4th 200m

1997: World Athletics Cup- 6th 100m

1998: Central American & Caribbean Games-1st 100m; Commonwealth Games-3rd 100m; World Athletics Cup-1st 100m

1999: World Athletics Championship- 4th 100m, 4th 200m

2000: Olympic Games-3rd 100m, 4th 200m

2004: Olympic Games-7th 100m

 

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NY Rangers

One of the oldest team in the National Hockey League is the New York Rangers. They are one of the Original Six, the first teams in the league.The team was started in 1962. The New York Rangers is one of the teams to watch for. The first year the team played, they snagged the American Division title. Since then, the Ranger tickets have been selling.

The New York Rangers was the first team to have traveled by plane to go to their games. This was for their match with the Maple Leafs in 1929. The Rangers have four Stanley Cups that they can be proud of. They were the first American franchise to have won such an accolade. They won the first Cup in 1928. They bested the Toronto Maple Leafs for their second Cup in 1933. Despite having to travel abroad in 1940, the team managed to win their third Cup. The most recent win for the team was the Cup in 1994. With such performance, Rangers ticket sale has been unfaltering. Even if the games were held abroad, the fans never failed to show their support to the team.

The time between the third and most recent Stanley Cup win of the team was known was the Curse of 1940. It was believed to be the result of the action of the management in 1940. The mortgage on the Madison Square Garden was burned in the 1940 Stanley Cup. In so doing, many believed the disrespect on the Cup has placed a curse on the team. However, winning the 1994 has broken the Curse of the 1940. The Rangers fans never failed to support the team despite the losing streak that they suffered from. The continued to patronize the Rangers tickets and maintained their attendance in the games.

The Rangers surely have made a comeback since then. With improvements in the player roster as well as the coaching staff, the team managed to capture the attention of many. The unending support of the fans helped out as well. .

The fans are even more elated in watching the games of the Rangers when they have acquired some of the more known players in the league. Their rosters once held Wayne Gretzky, Theoren Fleury and Eric Lindros's names. The team has continued to show their potential on the ice. Fans and enthusiasts alike cannot wait to watch the team do their best on the ice again.

San Francisco Giants history

The San Francisco have a rich and storied history that is filled with many great moments and players, as they have five World Championships to their credit and have had such greats as Carl Hubbell, Bobby Thomson, Wille McCovey, and Juan Marichal.

The San Francisco Giants can arguably say that they have had the two best all around players to ever play the game with the great Willie Mays and the incomparable Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants, Mays belted 660 home runs in his illustrious career and is thought of by many to be the best player to ever play due to his ability to be able to play every aspect of the game at a high level and possessing no weaknesses, as for Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants all hes done is his award winning career is win the National League Most Valuable Player award seven times, win eight gold gloves, twelve silver slugger awards, be voted to the National League all-star team thirteen times, and belt 708 home runs which is only 47 shy of Henry Aaron's all time mark of 755.

In the 1930s the San Francisco Giants would participate in three World Series, winning the 1933 World Championship, with NL MVP Carl Hubbell of the San Francisco Giants leading the way in an upset of the powerful Washington Senators, the San Francisco Giants pitching staff totally thwart the Washington Senators vaunted offense as they allow only eight earned runs all series long en route to a four games to one rout.

It would take until 1951 for the San Francisco Giants to return to prominence, as they qualified for the fall classic again but were denied by New York Yankees, but in 1954 against the Cleveland Indians the San Francisco Giants with Willie Mays of the San Francisco returning from his tour of duty with the US Army rout the heavily favored Clevealand Indians who won 111 games in the regular season, one play perhaps changed the entire complexion of the '54 World Series, as Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants made perhaps the greatest defensive play ever, tied with the Cleveland Indians a 2 in the eighth inning of Game 1 at the Polo Grounds and two Indians runners on base, the Hall of Fame center fielder made an over-the-shoulder catch of a 460-foot smash off the bat of the Cleveland Indians Vic Wertz, the San Francisco Giants went on to win 5-2 in ten innings, and the series turned into a runaway for the San Francisco Giants.

The San Francisco Giants made a World Series appearance in 1962 but were defeated by the New York Yankees in six games, and would not make the playoffs again until 1971 a year in which the San Francisco Giants did not have a pitcher who won 20 games or batter with a .300 average and were eliminated by the Pittsburgh Pirates, their would be a drought of 16 years before the San Francisco Giants would again make the playoffs, in 1987 they took the St.Louis Cardinals to a seventh game in the National League Championship series before succumbing, in 1989 the San Francisco Giants had a powerhouse squad led by NL MVP Kevin Mitchell who belted 47 HRS and 125 RBI and powered the San Francisco Giants past the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS and into the World Series against Bay Area rival the Oakland Athletics, who boasted a virtual all-star with AL MVP Jose Canseco and slugger Mark McGwire to go along with an award winning pitching staff, the San Francisco Giants were no match for the Oakland Athletics and were beaten in four straight games.

The San Francisco Giants would make the playoffs in 1997 and 2000 but lose in the opening round to the Florida Marlins and New York Mets respectively,in 2002 they would once again qualify for the National League playoffs, this time behind the mighty bat of Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants who batted .370 with 46 home runs, 110 runs batted in, 198 walks, and a on base percentage of .582, the San Francisco Giants defeated the Atlanta Braves three games to two in the divisonal playoffs and went on to defeat the St.Louis Cardinals in the NLCS and earn the right to face the upstart Anaheim Angels.

The 2002 World Series was one for the ages as the San Francisco Giants and Anaheim Angels dueled and battled to a seventh game, where the Anaheim Angels narrowly defeated the San Francisco Giants to win their World Series.

The 2006 San Francisco Giants will be a National League powerhouse with Barry Bonds and pitcher Jason Schmidt returning to health and newcomer OF Steve Finley adding punch to an already potent lineup, the off-season acqusition of P Matt Morris from the St.Louis Cardinals will be a major boost, one that could give the San Francisco Giants the dege in the National League West with many san francisco giants tickets being sold.

Great moment in team history

After trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers by 13 1/2 games on Aug. 11, manager Leo Durocher's troops rattled off 16 straight victories and won 37 of their final 44 regular-season contests to force a tie with Brooklyn. The two teams met in a three game elimination to see who go on to the playoffs, the San Francisco Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers split the first two games setting a winner take all game 3 at the polo grounds, the San Francisco Ginats trailed the Brooklyn Dodgers 4-2 with two on and one out in the ninth inning when Bobby Thomson of the San Francisco Giants stepped to the plate, the rest is history, Thomson drilled an 0-1 pitch off reliever Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers to left field and jumped onto home plate to put an exclamation on "The Miracle of Coogan's Bluff," as called by legendary Giants announcer Russ Hodges.

Sports Trivia

Who is the only athlete to win multiple medals at both the summer and winter Olympics?

Answer: Clara Hughes

Clara Hughes was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on the 27th of September 1972. Clara won her first two Olympic medals in Atlanta Georgia. She competed in the individual cycling road race and the individual time trial event. She was able to win bronze in both events.

Clara then turned her attention to the winter Olympics. She competed in the 5000m speed skating event in the games in Salt Lake City in 2002. She won a bronze medal for her efforts. Clara then continued and competed in the games held in Torino where she captured gold in the 5000m speed skating event. She also won a silver medal at the games in the team pursuit.

In 2010 at the Vancouver Olympic games Clara achieved a bronze medal in the ladies 5000m speed skating.

Clara is not only a decorated athlete but is a big supporter of the charity, "Right to Play". She has also been awarded the Order of Canada and the order of Manitoba. Clara Hughes is truly one of the great Olympians.

Who holds the record for the most gold medals at an Olympic games?

Answer: Michael Phelps

In 2008 at the games held in Beijing Michael was able to win eight gold medals. All his medals were in the pool. Michael won the 100m fly, 200m free, 200m fly, 200 m individual medley, 400m individual medley, 4x 100m freestyle relay, 4x100 medley relay and the 4x 200m freestyle relay.

Michael added these eight gold to the six gold and two bronze medals that he won in the games in 2004. Michael has won more gold medals than any other athlete in the history of the modern Olympics. His Olympic medal total is second only to the 18 medals that were won by Larissa Latynina the famous Russian gymnast.

Michael was born in Baltimore, Maryland on the 30th of June 1985. Michael was diagnosed at the age of seven with ADD. To help him burn off energy he was put into swimming.

Michael has founded the Michael Phelps Foundation, which is a charity that advocates swimming and water safety for children. He is also a co-founder of the Swim with the Stars program.

Who holds the record in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most versatile female athlete?

Answer: "Babe" Mildred Ella Didrikson Zaharias

Mildred was born in Port Arthur, Texas on the 26th of June 1911. She was one of seven children born to Ole and Hannah Didriksen. She would change the spelling of her last name when she was older. The name 'Babe' was a childhood nickname that stayed with her all her life.

Mildred was truly one of the greatest athletes of all time. In 1932, she went to the Amateur Athletic Union Championships. She won eight of the ten events that she competed in and won the team championship. Babe was the only person on her team.

In 1932, Babe went to the Olympics in Los Angeles. She won two gold medals and one silver. She won gold in the 80m hurdles and the javelin. Her silver medal came in the sport of high jump.

Babe's most recognized sports achievements would be in golf. In what was truly an amazing career Babe won 82 golf tournaments. She won the ladies Grand Slam of golf in 1950. Some of her records in golf have never been broken.

Sadly, Babe was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1953. She underwent surgery and continued to play golf, although she limited the number of tournaments that she competed in. In 1955, the cancer returned and Babe died at the age of 45 in Galveston, Texas.

How to Learn Golf Fast!

This is one of the most commonly used keywords of people who would like to dabble in the sport called golf. This could begin as a mere curiosity to know facts and trivia about golf. But soon, these people become fully-interested in this sport, that they even go to the extent of dreaming of venturing into competitive golf, much like their idol, Tiger Woods. But of course, you will never learn how to play golf without actual experience in holding golf clubs and hitting balls. So you need to take lessons on how to learn golf.

Learning golf is relatively easy once you are able to find an excellent country club that offers golf lessons to the general public. But before you go on buying your golf paraphernalia, you need first to attend the first sessions for these golf classes. But why? Because the primary discussion on the very first meeting of these classes do not only focus on golf history, but also in the introduction about the main golf equipment and the materials from which golf clubs are made.

Knowing this will help you decide on what particular golf club material you will purchase so that you could be assured that it will be the most appropriate for your grip and stature, as well as your budget. Yes, golf equipment are very much expensive, thus you need to be guided properly by the lessons you will take on you how to learn golf classes, so that you could find the most economical clubs and apparel for your golfing needs.

The next important things you need to know are the goals, rules of the game, and rules of etiquette that golf players need to adhere to. These things dictate the proper conduct you should display while playing golf. Also knowing these things is important since they will guide you in understanding the do's and don'ts in golf, for you to be successful player in this sport. Yes, by undertaking lessons from how to learn golf classes, you could soon learn the right golfing tips and techniques really fast!

 

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