The Olympics: Records

The Olympics: Records book cover — THE OLYMPICS RECORDS Moira Butterfield

The Olympics: Records — page 1 — C I P M Y L O RECORDS An Olympic record is a best performance ever in an Olympic Games It could be a fastest time a highest score or a record number of medals The world’s greatest sportsmen and women have set incredible Olympic records since the modern Olympic Games began in 1896 Olympic record performances are measured and confirmed by the International Olympic Committee the IOC Hundreds of technicians work at each Games overseeing electronic timing devices set up at finish lines The timing devices stretch an invisible light beam across the finish and measure when the beam is broken pinpointing the time in hundredths of a second There are also electronic photo-finish cameras In the Olympic swimming pool electronic touchpads at the end of each lane automatically record the time when swimmers touch them T U O B A L L A These judges seated by the Olympic pool are ready to score a swimming event 6

The Olympics: Records — page 2 — Judging Olympic Sports In some Olympic sports performances are not timed Instead they are given scores by a team of judges Summer sports such as gymnastics dressage diving boxing and synchronized swimming are scored this way along with some winter sports Because this type of scoring is based on personal opinion it has often led to arguments or protests Disqualifications Olympic records are canceled if athletes are caught cheating by taking performance enhancing drugs In 1988 Canadian Ben Johnson broke the record for running the men’s 100 meters m but when he was disqualified for taking drugs the record was canceled When American athlete Marion Jones admitted taking drugs she was stripped of the five medals she had won at the Sydney Games in 2000 and her name was wiped from the record books Officials check equipment on the Olympic track Amazing Olympics An Olympic record might not be the same as a world record if the world record was set at a different event outside the Games Olympic Facts and Stats American swimmer Michael Phelps has won a record 16 Olympic medals 14 of them gold see page 20 American Paralympic swimmer Trischa Zorn has won an incredible record-breaking 55 medals 41 of them gold see page 26 Her total is more than double that of any other Paralympic athlete The first modern Olympic record ever was set at the first modern Olympics held in 1896 The first race was a heat of the men’s 100 m and it was won by American runner Francis Lane in 12 2 seconds Some sports such as the standing jump have been dropped from the Olympics over the years so their final Olympic records will never be beaten 7

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