1928 AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands
Date: from 17 May to 12 August 1928.
Participants: 46 NOCs, 109 events, 2,883 athletes (2,606 men, 277 women).
Olympic oath (athletes): Henri Denis, football.
Officially opened by: Prince Hendrik.
For the first time, the Olympic flame was lit at the top of a tower inside the
stadium and it remained lit throughout the Games.
In those days, the Olympic Torch Relay had not yet been instigated. The programme contained athletics events for women for the first time and the presentation of medals took place on the final day of the Games for the last time.
1932 LOS ANGELES, USA
Date: from 30 July to 14 August 1932.
Participants: 37 NOCs, 117 events, 1,332 athletes (1,206 men, 126 women).
Olympic oath (athletes): George Calnan, fencing.
Officially opened by: Vice-President Charles Curtis.
Emblem: Arms in the colours of the United
States, with the Olympic
rings and motto in the foreground.
The 1932 Olympic Games were the first to take place over 16 days. For the first time, male athletes were accommodated in a single Olympic village (the women stayed in a hotel). At the medal presentation ceremonies, the winners stepped onto podiums and their countries’ flags were raised. Automatic timing was introduced for the athletics events, as was the photo finish.
GAMES OF THE XII OLYMPIAD (1940)
Did not take place because of WWII. Planned
location: initially Tokyo (Japan) but, because of the Sino-Japanese conflict, the Games were reassigned to Helsinki (Finland).
THE GAMES OF THE XIII OLYMPIAD (1944)
Did not take place because of WWII. Planned location: London (Great Britain). Other
candidate cities: Detroit (USA), Lausanne (Switzerland) and Rome (Italy).
1936 BERLIN, Germany
Location: Berlin, Germany.
Dates: from 1 to 16 August 1936.
Other candidate city: Barcelona (Spain).
Participants: 49 NOCs, 129 events, 3,963
athletes (3,632 men, 331 women).
Olympic oath (athletes): Rudolf Ismayr, weightlifting.
Olympic cauldron lit by: Fritz Schilgen.
Officially opened by: Chancellor Adolf Hitler.
Emblem: a bell with the Olympic rings under the German eagle.
The 1936 Olympic Games put paid to Adolf Hitler’s attempt to prove his theories on the superiority of the Aryan race. These Games witnessed the introduction of the Olympic Torch Relay, by which the flame is carried from Olympia to the site of the Games.
The 1936 Games were also the first to be broadcast on television.
1948 LONDON, Great Britain
Location: London, Great Britain.
Date: from 29 July to 14 August 1948.
Other candidate cities: Baltimore (USA), Lausanne (Switzerland), Los Angeles (USA), Minneapolis (USA) and Philadelphia (USA).
Participants: 59 NOCs, 136 events, 4,104 athletes (3,714 men, 390 women).
There were no athletes from Japan or Germany.
Olympic oath (athletes): Donald Finlay, athletics.
Olympic cauldron lit by: John Mark.
Officially opened by: King George VI.
Emblem: Big Ben with the Olympic rings in the foreground.
1952 HELSINKI, Finland
Date: from 19 July to 3 August 1952.
Other candidate cities: Los Angeles (USA), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Minneapolis (USA), Detroit (USA), Chicago (USA) and Philadelphia (USA).
Participants: 69 NOCs, 149 events, 4,955 athletes (4,436 men, 519 women).
Olympic oath (athletes): Heikki Savolainen, artistic gymnastics.
Olympic cauldron lit by: Paavo Nurmi and Hannes Kolehmainen: after having lit a first cauldron in the stadium, Nurmi passed the torch to Kolehmainen, who lit a second cauldron at the top of the stadium tower, in honour of the 1940 Games which did not take place.
Officially opened by: President Juho Paasikivi.
Emblem: the stadium tower with the Olympic rings at the top. The Soviet Union took part in the Games for the first time. One of the first women authorised to compete against the men in dressage was Denmark’s Lis Hartel, who won a silver medal.
1956 MELBOURNE, Australia
Date: from 22 November to 8 December 1956.
Other candidate cities: Buenos Aires (Argentina), Los Angeles (USA), Detroit (USA), Mexico City (Mexico), Chicago (USA), Minneapolis (USA), Philadelphia (USA) and San Francisco (USA).
Participants: 67 NOCs, 145 events, 3,155 athletes (2,791 men, 364 women).
Olympic oath (athletes): John Landy, athletics.
Olympic cauldron lit by: Ron Clarke
Officially opened by: The Duke of Edinburgh.
Emblem: drawing of Australia, under an
Olympic torch and rings. In the lower part, the inscription “MELBOURNE 1956”, extended at both ends by laurel branches.
1960 ROME, Italy
Date: from 25 August to 11 September 1960.
Other candidate cities: Lausanne (Switzerland), Detroit (USA), Budapest
(Hungary), Brussels (Belgium), Mexico City (Mexico) and Tokyo (Japan).
Participants: 83 NOCs, 150 events, 5,338 athletes, (4,727 men, 611 women).
Olympic oath (athletes): Adolfo Consolini, athletics.
Olympic cauldron lit by: Giancarlo Peris.
Officially opened by: President Giovanni Gronchi.
Emblem: the Olympic rings under the Roman she-wolf, suckling Romulus and Remus. Rome organised the competitions on several ancient sites (the ruins of the Basilica of Maxence, the Caracalla Baths and the Arch of Constantine – the finishing line of the marathon). These Games were broadcast live in 18 European countries.
Athletes’ Profiles
Name: Alessandra Pace
Age: 17
Sport: Athletics
Discipline: long jump, triple jump
Club: Zurrieq Wolves Athletics Club
Started: At the age of 10.
Job: student at St Aloysius college
Hobbies/pastimes: reading, music, going out with friends
Personal bests:
100m- 13.09s
long jump- 5.33m
triple jump-10.88m
Achievements:
Represented Malta at the FISEC games in 2006 were she won a bronze medal in the long jump and a silver medal in the relay together with Martina and Francesca Xuereb and Julie Ann Grech.
Name: Andy Grech
Age: 17
Sport: Athletics
Discipline: 60m, 100m and long jump
Club: Athleta Pembroke
Started: San Andrea, at the age of 14
Job: student. Currently studying at G.F. Abela Junior College
Personal Bests:
Indoors: 60m 7.32
Outdoors: 100m 11.36, long jump 6.67m
National Records:
long jump youth category 6.03m
long jump intermediate category 6.62m
Achievements: Best intermediate male 2006
2nd place youth male 2005
Other: Represented Malta at the 2005 FISEC games in Madrid and the 2006 games in Keckemet, and the 2006 COJI games in Sicily and the 2007 games in Corsica.
Youth Olympic Games to become a reality
The Youth Olympic Games is to become a reality. At its 119th session in Guatemala City last week, the IOC approved the project that will see the first Youth Olympic Summer Games in 2010 and the Youth Olympic Winter Games in 2012.
“This is an historic moment for the Olympic Movement. We owe this to the youth of the world”, declared IOC president Rogge after the decision by his 111 fellow members.
According to Rogge, the Youth Olympic Games, which will take place every second year, are the flagship of the IOC’s strategy outlined for young people, which includes other schemes such as an educational project on Olympic values, a dedicated website for youngsters and a campaign aimed at young people, highlighting the Olympic values.
The Youth Olympic Games aim:
• to bring together talented athletes from around the world to participate in high-level competitions;
• to run, alongside the sports element of the event, education programmes on Olympic values, the benefits of sport for a healthy lifestyle, the social values of sport and the dangers of doping, training to excess and/or inactivity;
• to use the latest communications channels to promote Olympic values and the spirit and essence embodied in the Youth Olympic Games.
Around 3,200 athletes at Summer Games and 1,000 at Winter Games.
The Youth Olympic Games – for the 14 to 18 age group – will bring together approximately 3,200 athletes and 800 officials for the Summer Games and 1,000 athletes and 580 officials for the Winter Games.
The sports programme will encompass all sports on the programme of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and the 2012 Summer Games, with a limited number of events.
Proposals from Sports Federations to include youth-driven disciplines that are not part of the Olympic Games may be accepted.
Main milestones for the first Olympic Youth Summer Games in 2010
The main milestones for the first Youth Olympic Games are the following:
July 2007: opening of bid process to NOCs for the first Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2010.
Between November and December 2007: an Evaluation Commission, under the guidance of the IOC and composed of IF, NOC and athlete representatives, may visit the candidate cities, pre-selected by an expert panel on the basis of a bid file, and forward a proposal to the Executive Board, which will make a recommendation to the IOC members.
End of February 2008: a decision will be taken by the IOC members, by postal vote, on the host city for the 2010 Summer Youth Olympic Games.