gamestrivia

Sweden, which hosted the 1912 Olympic Games, introduced the use of unofficial electronic timing devices for the track events at the edition. They also introduced the use of public address system. The 1912 edition was the first time that competitors from all the five continents attended the Games. Otto Herschmann, a member of the Austrian sabre fencing team that finished second, was at that time also the president of the Austrian Olympic Committee. Herschmann is the only sitting national Olympic committee president to win an Olympic medal. Impressed by Jim Thorpe’s stamina and endurance at the pentathlon and decathlon events, the King of Sweden termed the American athlete of Irish descent, the best athlete of the world.