TWO TAKES ON OLYMPIC TRIVIA
BY DAN MILLER
(posted August 25, 2004)
Every day, one of our Associate Producers, Sarah Moriarty, has been providing me and Demetria with little "fun facts" about the Olympic games. We seldom get to use them because of 'time limitations'... but I'll pass along a few of Sarah's Fun Facts.
Then I’ll share a few of my own “Olympic fun facts” that I’ve not had a chance to share on the air.
(SARAH'S FUN FACTS) DID YOU KNOW?
MTSU has had 10 student athletes compete in Olympic track and field events since 1972.
Former UT standout runner Justin Gatlin plans to return to college after the Olympics at St. Augustine College in Raleigh, N.C., and NIKE is going to pay his tuition. (It's part of his contract)
TSU has produced 58 Olympians, winning a combined 30 medals, including 16 gold.
Most notable was Wilma Rudolph, who won 3 gold medals in the 1960 track and field events.
Joe Jacobi (whitewater slalom) has paddled in rivers in more than 20 countries.
His daughter is named Sue Jane - named after the Spanish village "La Sue d'Urgell" where Jacobi won his gold medal.
(NOW, DAN'S FUN FACTS) DID YOU KNOW?
In the first heat of the 100-meter track race at the 1972 Olympics, Vassilos Papageorgopoulos of Greece finished first, while Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa of Madagascar was second. Benedict Majedkodunmi and Sunil Gunawardene were back in the pack.
The first runner who crossed the finish line in the 1904 Olympic marathon in St. Louis was Fred Lorz of the United States. He was disqualified when officials discovered he had hitched a ride in a car for more than half the race.
At the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn, at age 72, became the oldest medalist ever, collecting a silver medal in the team double-shot running deer competition.
In 1992, at Barcelona, Panama's Olympic Committee Chairman Meliton Sanchez Ribas, was caught scalping tickets.
American gymnast George Eyser won six medals at the 1904 Olympics, even though he competed on an artificial leg made of wood.
And, perhaps most impressive of all.... U.S. sprinter Shawn Crawford outran a giraffe, but lost to a zebra on the TV special "Man vs. Beast".
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