Summer Olympics

The Olympics is the worlds most participated international multi-sport event usually held every four years.

When I was growing up,television sets were not available,so most of the news that we got about the Olympics was from reading history books and magazines such as Time and Newsweek.You read about all the great African runners and it was until later in life that you get to see live footage of these great athletes.

The first Olympics was held in 1896 in Athens with just 245 athletes participating.About 200 of these athletes were Greeks,with a total of only about 14 nations participating in the event.The Olympics has now grown to an event that will see(come August in Beijing) more than 10,000 athletes from over 202 nations participate in about 302 sporting events.The US has hosted the most Olympic games,a total of four,followed by the United Kingdom that has hosted a total of three(all in London).

The following countries have hosted a total of two Olympics each,Australia,France,Germany and Greece.Including to be current host China this coming summer,the following countries have hosted the games once.Belgium,Canada,Finland,Italy,Japan,Mexico,Netherlands,South Korea,Spain,Soviet Union and Sweden.

A total of four cities have hosted the games twice,Los Angeles,London,Paris,Athens.Five countries have participated in all the Olympics games,they include Australia,France,Great Britain,Greece and Switzerland.

Only one country,Great Britain has won at least a gold medal in all the Olympics games.The 1904 Olmpics saw the introduction of the tradition of awarding medals,gold for first place,silver for second place and bronze for third place.

In 1900 the games were held in Paris,France with women allowed to participate for the first time.

The 1904 games was the first Olympics games to be held in the US in St Louis,Missouri.South Africa made its first participation in this Olympic games,sending in 8 athletes in total.

The 1908 games were held in London with the first running of the marathon over its now standard distance of 26 miles,386 yards(42.195km).John Hayes was awarded the gold medal after the disqualification of Italian Dorando Pietri,who had entered the stadium 30 seconds earlier but had collapse from exhaustion and had to be aided over the finish line by some spectators.

In 1912,Stockholm with a total of 2504 athletes participating held the games,this was the first game that had participants from all the continents(the idea behind the creation of the Olympics was to have participation of athletes from all the continents of the world) and it was also the first time that all the events took place in one stadium.The games saw South Africa win a total of six medals,four goals and two silver.The goal medal winners were kenneth McArthur,winner of the marathon in men's athletics,Rudolph Lewis,winner in men's cycling individual time trial,Harold Kitsen&Charles Winslow,in Tennis men's double.The two silver medals went to Christian Gitsham,men's marathon,athletics and Harold Kitson picked up his second medal in tennis men's single competition.

The 1916 games scheduled for Berlin were cancelled because of the first World War.

The 1920 games were held in war torn Belgium.Egypt made its debut as the second African country to participate apart from South Africa.South Africa won a total of ten medals(three gold,four silver and three bronze) in the games including Bevil Rudd's 400 metres gold in men's athletics.

1924 saw the games in Paris,with about 3000 athletes participating.The star of this games was the"The Flying Finn"Paavo Nurmi who won gold medals in three team events and in the individual meter 1500 and 5000 runs, the later in the same day.South African boxer,William Smith picked up a gold medal in the bantamweight division.

In the 1928 games held at Amsterdam,females were allowed for the first time to participate at track and field events.This games also saw the appearance of corporate sponsorship,from the soft drinks company Coca Cola.Rhodesia(present day Zimbabwe)made its Olympic debut alongside Egypt and South Africa.Egypt picked up four medals from the games including two in gold from,Ibrahim Moustafa,light heavyweight in wrestling and El Sayed Nosseir,light heavyweight in the weightlifting competition.South African got three medals including a gold medal from Sydney Atkinson in the 110 metres hurdles athletics event.

The 1932 games were held in Los Angeles,the games were greatly affected by the economic hardship at this period of time"The Great Depression",as the games saw its fewest participants since the St Louis games in 1904.China made its first participation in the Olympics in this games.South African picked a total of five medals,two of them gold medals.

The 1936 Olympics were held in Berlin,with the Nazi party given film marker Leni Riefenstahl permission to film the games."Olympia",the result of his work is a masterpiece.African American sprinter and long jumper Jesse Owens won four gold medals in the games disproving Hitler's theory of white racial superiority.Egypt picked up a total of five medals,two of them gold in the weightlifting competition.South Africa managed just one silver medal in the games.

The 1940 games initially slated for Tokyo and later relocated to Helsinki were cancelled because of the second World War(Madman Hitler was busy trying to conquer all of Europe).The 1944 games,slated for London were also cancelled due to the second World War that was still going on.

1948 saw Dutch sprinter Fanny Blankers-Keon emulate Owen's achieving in 1936 by winning four gold medals in the track.Egypt got gold medals in weightlifting competition,five medals in total for the games.South African got a total of five medals,two in gold from Gerald Dreyer in the men's lightweight and from George Hunter in the men's light heavyweight boxing competition.

The 1952 games saw the first participation of the USSR and they will dominate the games for a long period to time.A certain Czech army Lieutenant,Emil Zatopek competing for the first time in a marathon and winning it after having won the 5000 and 10000 meters races to complete the treble.The Gold Coast(present day Ghana)became the first nation from West Africa to participate in the summer Olympic games.Nigeria also made their Olympic debut here.Egypt got one bronze medal and South Africa grabbed a total of ten medals including gold medals from Esther Brand in the women's high jump and Joan Harrison in the 100 metres backstroke swimming event.

The 1956 Olympics held in Melbourne,Australia was highly successful.Olympic debut for Ethiopia,Kenya and Uganda.South Africa went home with four bronze medals.

The 1960 games,held in Rome,Italy saw the appearance on the centre stage of a certain light heavyweight boxer at the time in the name of Cassius Clay.He won the gold medal at his competition and would go on to become the greatest heavyweight boxing champion of all time in the person of Mohammed Ali(Ali would throw away his gold medal in disgust after he was refused to be served in a white restaurant back in the states).The 1960 Olympics also saw the USSR women's gymnastic team members win 15 of 16 possible gold medals.A lot of African Countries were now independent,Olympic debut for Morocco,one silver medal win,Sudan,Tunisia and Liberia.The first ever Olympic medal for Ghana,a silver in boxing by Clement Quartey in the men's light welterweight class.Ethiopia got its first medal in the Olympiad with a gold medal in the men's marathon from Abebe Bikila.South Africa picked up a total of three medals,one silver and two bronze.

The 1964 games were held in Tokyo,with this being the first games that were broadcast over television.Cameroon made its debut at the Olympics,also participating for the first time from the African continent were Algeria,Chad,Zaire,Cote d'Ivoire,Libya,Madagascar,Mali,Niger,Northern Rhodesia(present day Zambia),Senegal and Tanzania.Nigeria won its first ever medal at the Olympics with Nojim Maiyegun winning a bronze medal in the men's light middleweight class in boxing.This was the first Olympic games from which South Africa was banned for refusing to desegregate their sporting events(policy of apartheid).Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila repeated his fit of the 60s games by winning the men's marathon athletic event,earning a gold medal.Kenya won its first ever Olympic medal,with Wilson Kiprugut winning a bronze medal in men's athletics,800 metres.Tunisia got its first ever medals at this games with Mohammed Gammoudi picking up a silver medal in athletics,men's 10,000 metres and Habit Galhia got a bronze medal in boxing in the men's light welterweight class.

The 1968 games were held in Mexico City and saw American athlete Bob Beamon jump 8.90 metres,setting a new world record that would stand for 23 years.Politics took centre stage in the games during the medal ceremony for the 200 metres as African-American athletes,Tommie Smith(gold-medal) and John Carlos(bronze medal) made a protest gesture on the podium by raising their black-gloved fists in as a symbol of protest against racial segregation back home in the US.Cameroon,got its first ever medal at the Olympics,a silver boxing medal(Boxer Joseph Bessala).Ethiopia's Mamo Wolde got two medals for his country,a silver in the men's 10,000 metres and a gold medal in the men's marathon race.The Kenyans came alive at this games, having their best performance ever,9 medals in total,with three of them gold.Kipchoge Keino got a gold medal in the men's 1500 race,Naftali Temu got his in the 10,000 metres and Amos Biwott in the men's 3000 metres steeplechase.Tunisia won its first ever gold medal at the Olympics,when Mohammed Gammoudi won two medals for his country including a gold medal in the men's 5000 metres and a bronze medal in the 10,000 metres.Uganda got its first ever medals at the games with a silver medal coming from Eridadi Mukwanga in the boxing men's bantamweight class and a bronze medal from Leo Rwalbdogo in the men's boxing flyweight class.

Politics also took centre stage in the 1972 games in Munich,West Germany but this time with lethal consequences.A Palestinian terrorist group"Black September" invaded the Olympic Village,killing two Israelites athletes and taking 9 others hostages.The 5 Palestinians,together with the 9 hostages will be later on killed during a standoff with Germany Security forces in their attempt to free the hostages.The games will continue after much deliberation and American swimmer Mark Spitz will go on to win 7 gold medals in swimming events.Lasse Viren from Finland won the double in the 5000 and 10000 metres events.The Kenyans did it again winning 9 medals(two gold,three silver and four bronze).Kipchoge (Everybody in Africa has heard of this guy,the famous kip Keino)Keino,men's 3000 metres steeplechase winner and a men's four by four relay team of Julius Sang,Charles Asati,Hezekiah Nyamau and Robert Ouko got the gold medals.Uganda got its first ever gold medal when John Akii won the men's 400 metres hurdles competition.

The 1976 games in Montreal was notorious for its cost that ran over budget.$5billion(the equivalent of $20billion in 2006 figures)was spend in total due to bad planning from the organisers.African countries boycotted the games to protest a recent tour of a New Zealand rugby team of then apartheid-run South Africa.Lasse Viren repeated his 5000 and 10000 metres fit of the 72 games and become the only athlete to ever win the distance double twice.An era of Romanian gymnastics dynasty was born as gymnast Nadia Comàneci won the women's individual all around gold medal with two of four possible perfect scores.Another female gymnast,this time from the USSR,Nellie Kim earned a perfect score and three gold medals.

The 1980 games saw a US led massive boycott of the games as 66 nations in total stayed home to protest the Soviet Union's invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.This was the era of the cold war and the Soviet Union was looking to add some another member into its Warsaw Pact.This would not be an easy war for the Soviets though as it would take them about 20 years before they would be able to leave Afghanistan.The countries that boycotted included the likes of Japan,West Germany,Canada and the US.Great Britain,Australia and Greece participated in the games and keep their perfect attendance record in all the summer games.The host nations dominated heavily due to the lowly participation in the games.Ethiopia's Miruts Yifter won the men's 5000 and 10,000 metres double,equal Finland's Lasse Viren fit in the previous games.Zimbabwe won its first ever gold medal at the Olympics with a teams gold medal in the female category of field hockey.Uganda's John Mugagi(the beast)won a silver medal for his country at the men's boxing welterweight class.Tanzania won its first ever medals at the games,two silver medals,one from Suleiman Nyambui in the 5000 metres and the other from Filbert Bayi in the men's 3000 metres steeplechase.

The Soviet Union and 14 East bloc countries reciprocated by boycotting the 1984 summer games held in Los Angeles.The US dominated the event with Carl Lewis matching the great Jesse Owen's fit of 1936,picking up gold medals in the long jump,100 metres,200 metres and 4x4 100 metres relay.Algeria won its first ever medals at the Olympics,two bronze medals,one from Mohammed Zaoui in the men's boxing middleweight category and the other from Mustapha Moussa in the boxing heavyweight class.Morocco won two gold medals at this games,one from Said Aouita in the men's 5000 metres and the other from Nawal El Moutawakel in the women's 400 metres hurdle.Kenya's Julius Korir won gold in the men's 3000 metres steeplechase competition.Cameroon picked up a bronze medal at this games from boxer Martin Ndongo Ebanga in the men's lightweight class.

The 1988 games were held in Seoul,South Korea and saw the games being tainted by failed mandatory drug test,with the leading culprit being Canadian Ben Johnson getting stripped of his 100 metres dash medal(His dad would later blame it on US trying to bring his kid down).The Kenyans were at it again picking up 9 medals(five gold,two silver and two bronze)ranking as the 13 team out of a total of 159 nations that participated in the games.The gold medals came from Paul Ereng in the men's 800 metres,Peter Rono in the men's 1500 metres,John Ngugi in the men's 5000 metres,Julius Kariuki in the men's 3000 steeplechase competition and Robert Wangila in the men's welterweight boxing competition.Senegal got its first ever medal in the Olympics,a silver medal in the men's 400 metres hurdles by Amadou Dia Ba.Morocco's Brahim Boutayeb won a gold medal for his country at the men's 10,000 metres.

The 1992 games in Barcelona saw the introduction of professionals in team sports such as baseball and basketball in the Olympics with the US fielding a "Dream Team" of basketball players from the NBA to easily win the basketball gold medal.In what is considered to be the greatest collection of players ever assembled in any team sport, the US fielded the following players:Michael Jordan,Larry Bird,Magic Johnson,Charles Barkley,Karl Malone,John Stockton,Patrick Ewing,David Robinson,Clyde Drexel,Chris Mullen,Scottie Pippen and college star player Christian Laettner.This games saw the return of South Africa to the Olympic games(Apartheid had been officially banned).The Ghanian men's soccer team won a bronze medal in the prestigious soccer competition.Ethiopia's Derartu Tulu won a gold medal in the women's 10,000 metres competition.Kenya won two gold medals,(8 medals in total)one in the men's 800 metres athletics by William Tanui and the other in the men's 3000 metres steeplechase competition.Morocco's Khalid Skah won the men's 10,000 metres race in athletics.

The 1996 Olympics were back in Atlanta,US with Michael Johnson winning gold in both the 400metres and 200 metres, breaking the 200 metres dash record(19.32).Canadian Donovan Bailey set a new world record in the 100 metres race also(9.84).The games saw Mohammed Ali being awarded a replacement medal for the one he threw away back in 1960 out of disgust.There was also a scare as a bomb was exploded in the Centennial Olympic Park.Chief suspect Eric Robert Rudolph was captured in June 2003 and taken into custody.Nigeria got its best ever performance at the Olympics winning a total of 6 medals.The men's soccer team with the likes of Kanu,Oliseh,Okocha,Ikpeba,Babangida,Amunike and Taribo West got the gold medal in the soccer competition.The other gold medal was an individual one as Chioma Ajunwa became the first Nigerian to win an individual gold medal in the Olympics(women's long jump with a leap of 23 feet and 4 1/2 inches).Burundi made its Olympic debut in style as Venuste Niyongabo won the first every medal for this tiny nation,a gold medal in the men's 5000 metres.Mozambique got its first ever medal in the games with Maria Mulola winning a bronze medal in the women's 800 metres athletics.kenya won 8 medals with a gold medal coming from Joseph Keter in the men's 3000 steeplechase race.Ethiopia got 3 total medals,two of them goal,with Haile Gebrselassie winning gold in the men's 10,000 metres,whiel Fatuma Roba completed the gold medal count by winning the women's marathon.South Africa's Josia Thugwane won the men's marathon in this Olympics.Compatriot Penny Heyns got two other gold medals in the 100 metres and 200 metres breakstroke swimming event.

The Olympics games of 2000 marked the dawn of the new millennium.Cameroon won its first ever gold medal at this games in the men's soccer competition.The likes of Samuel Eto'o Fils,Patrick Mboma,Geremi Njitap,Idriss Kameni,Etame Mayer and Pierre Wome Nlend capped a brilliant performance in the soccer competition with a penalty shoot-out win over Spain.Eritea made its Olympic debut at this games.Kenya got 7 medals at the games with Noah Ngeny getting one of the two gold medals in an Olympic record 3:32:07 in the men's 1500 metres.Fellow Countryman,Reuben kosgei completed the goal medal count with a win in the men's 3000 metres steeplechase competition.Ethiopia got its best ever performance at the Olympics,winning 8 medals,four of them gold.Haile Gebrselassie won the 10,000 metres,Gezahgne Abera,the men's marathon,Millon Wolde,the men's 5000 metres.Derartu Tulu completed the gold medal count with a win in the women's 10,000 metres.

The 2004 games were held in Athens,Greece amidst concern of terrorist acts.This was after 9/11 in 2001.A total of $7.2billion was spend on the games with a whopping $1.50billion going for security alone.Cameroon got its 2nd ever goal medal at the Olympics,this time in an individual event as Francoise Mbango Etone picked up a goal medal in the women's triple jump event.Ethiopia got 7 medals at the games,with gold medals coming from kenenisa Bekele in the men's 10,000 metres and Meseret Defar in the women's 5000 metres.Kenya got 7 medal at the games with Ezekiel Kemboi winning gold in the men's steeplechase 3000 metres(The Kenyans have been dominating the steeplechase since the 1968 summer Olympics in Mexico City).South African won 6 medals with the gold medal coming from a new world record performance in the 4x400 metres men's freestyle swimming event(3:13:17)by Roland Schoeman,Ryk Neethling,Lyndon Ferns and Darian Townsend.Morocco got 3 medals,two of them gold medals from Hicham El Guerrouj who achieved the 1500m,5000m double.Egypt got five medals at the games with Karam Gaber winning gold in the men's Greco-Roman(96kg)wrestling event.