Olympic Firsts

Here are some of the 'firsts' that have occurred at the Olympic Games. See more Olympic Trivia.

the FIRST Olympic Games for which we still have written records were held in 776 BCE (though it is generally believed that the Games had been going on for many years already).
the FIRST Olympic champion in recorded history was a naked runner, Coroebus (a cook from Elis), who won the only event the stade.
the FIRST Olympic champion of the modern Olympic Games was James Brendan Connolly of United States, the winner of the triple jump (the triple jump was the first final event of the 1896 Olympics).
the FIRST time women competed at the Olympic Games was in 1900 in Paris. The FIRST women to take part in the Olympic Games occurred on June 28, 1900 in the croquet event.
the FIRST woman to win an Olympic event was England's Charlotte Cooper, who won the tennis singles in 1900.
the FIRST team sport added to the Olympics was Football in 1900.
the FIRST black athlete to compete at the Olympics was Constantin Henriquez de Zubiera, competing for France in 1900.
the FIRST time athletes marched into the stadium behind their nations' flags was in London 1908.
the FIRST women's swimming gold medal was won by the Australian Sarah 'Fanny' Durack, who won the 100m freestyle in 1912.

the FIRST Olympic Games in which the Olympic Oath was voiced was 1920.
the FIRST Olympic Games in which doves were released to symbolize peace was 1920.
the FIRST Olympic Games in which the Olympic Flag was flown was 1920.
The FIRST Games be held in the southern hemisphere were in Melbourne, 1956.
the FIRST black African to win a gold medal was Ethiopian marathoner Abebe Bikila, who ran barefoot all the way in Rome, 1960.
The FIRST Games to be televised were Berlin in 1936. The events were shown on large screens around Berlin. The FIRST Olympic Games to be covered by television worldwide was the Rome Olympics in 1960.
the FIRST athlete to be disqualified for drug use was Swedish pentathlete Hans-Grunner Liljenwall, having tested positive for excessive alcohol in Mexico City 1968.
the FIRST time Olympic field hockey games were played on artificial turf was at the 1976 Montreal Games.
the FIRST Games to be held in a communist country was the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.
the FIRST winner of the women's Olympic marathon, held in Los Angeles in 1984, was Joan Benoit of the USA.
the FIRST athlete to win gold medals in five consecutive Olympics was British rower Steven Redgrave in 2000.

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