Friday, August 3, 2012

Olympics of Summers Past


Multiple exposure of the 1972 US rowing crew in Munich, Germany

Have you been following the Olympics this summer? I honestly haven't been able to catch very many events since Netflix is my tv at home, but Chris and I try to watch what we can at his parent's house. Our favorite weekend pastime of late involves parking it on their couch and watching the finest examples of the human form sprint/swim/jump across the tv screen as we stuff our faces with guacamole and Little Debbie treats. That's real life.

In between events last Sunday, I caught a little segment about London's previous Olympic games, held in 1948, which were the first games since WWII. The nerd in me was loving it... interviews from 1948 US Olympians looking back at the past, grainy video footage and photograph stills that were spotted with age. The footage sparked my interest in Olympic games of summers past, so I decided to do a little digging on previous summer games.

1772 Canadian Olympians at the opening ceremony in Munich.
Special thanks to early 1970s fashion for the pimp hat/feather combo.

This is my favorite photo of the batch -- US hammer thrower Harold Connolly
with his wife, Olga, at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. Isn't it dreamy? 


The 1968 opening ceremony in Mexico City. No fancy fireworks here, just loads of colorful balloons.

A 1964 medal ceremony for the women's 4x100 relay in Tokyo, Japan. 
Cyclists race on a distorted track at the 1952 summer games in Helsinki, Finland.

1960 US gymnasts clownin' around at the Stadio dei Marmi in Rome.

Am I the only one who feels nostalgic for times I never knew? I wish I could just jump right into the photos, which I pulled from the LIFE archives on Google. I love the history of the Olympic Games and the tradition of worldwide sportsmanship that carries on today. I hope it never fades.

It goes without saying, this weekend I'll be catching up on all my favorite events (swimming, gymnastics, diving) and chanting USA! USA!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Loving the old photos. Boy have things changed. :) Loving the Olympics. Gymnastics are my favorite.
http://shannonhearts.blogspot.com/

Carrie said...

I watched part of a special a few weeks ago about Jesse Owens. So interesting! I love all of these old photos. I'm constantly amazed by what olympic athletes can do. Every night I find myself saying ' Geez, Honey look! Isn't that crazy?!" I've also learned that my husband prefers womens gymnastics to mens gymnastics :)

Katherine Ross said...

Carrie, your comments always make me laugh :)