The XX Olympic Winter Games

The Winter Games begin today in Turin, Italy.

17 Days / 15 Sports / 84 Medals

Facts about the Olympics you might not know

* Pierre de Coubertin, a Frenchman, founded the modern Olympics and literally left his heart in Olympia, Greece (as decreed by his will).

* In wartime, the Games were cancelled (1916, 1940 and 1944). Germany and its World War I allies were not invited to the 1920 and 1924 Games. Germany and Japan were not invited to the 1948 Games.

* Major boycotts occurred in 1956, 1976, 1980 and 1984. The Soviet Union didn’t attend until 1952.

* The 1972 Games in Munich and the 1996 Games in Atlanta were playgrounds for terrorists.

* The Olympics have managed to take mere athletes and coaches and turn them into masters of international intrique, while exalting the purity of athletic competition.

* When the Olympic flame is lit, the world watches.