August 11, 2012

Cheesy Olympics Trivia and Funnies!

The Summer Olympics in London have been great fun to watch and I'd like to say, "Well done, Brits!" Searching for fun Olympics trivia to share, I was surprised to learn that one of my favorite desserts, cheesecake, made its debut at the First Olympics in Greece in 776 B.C. Yep, cheesecake goes all the way back to the first Olympic games. Cheesecake was created on the Greek island of Samos and small cheesecakes were served to athletes to give them energy and endurance.


Ancient Greek athletes running after eating cheesecake,
and saving on laundry bills! 
Of course, we have no pictures of those athletes eating cheesecake because it was so yummy they ate it up right away before anyone got out their papyrus and reed pen to make a drawing. But let's imagine this picture depicts our ancient Greek athletes full of energy, ready for the Olympic games after eating cheesecake.

Oh, did I mention that those first Olympians (all male) competed in their birthday suits? Au naturel all the way! They competed in the nude as a tribute to the Greek god Zeus and to celebrate the human body (sure saved on laundry bills!).

Athletes used olive oil (extra virgin, of course!) to keep their skin smooth, protect it under the hot sun and give them an appealing appearance as they competed. Participants trained for the event. The word "gymnasium" comes from the ancient Greek word "gymnos" meaning "naked." Judging from this statue of an ancient Greek Olympian, these guys worked out at the Coliseum gym!

Discobolus (Discus Thrower), ancient Greek sculpture

More Ancient Olympics Trivia:
  • The sade (or stadion), a footrace, was the only recorded event at the first Olympic Games in Greece. (A footrace in their birthday suits; that must have been a sight...or treat!...for sore eyes.)
  • The first recorded Olympic champion was a baker, Coroebus from the Greek city state of Elis, who won the footrace at the first Olympics in 776 B.C. (Bet he was the guy who made the cheesecake!)

The first Olympic champion showing off the benefits of olive oil, fresh air and cheesecake!
  • Ancient Olympic champions were crowned with olive wreaths and awarded red ribbons. Victors endorsed products (yep, the first commercial endorsements) and posed for sculptures. 
Ancient Olympian receiving an olive wreath and red ribbons
(Epiktetos Painter, 520 - 510 BC)

  • Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher, was a double Olympic winner of the Pankration, a martial arts event. Not only was this philosopher a martial arts champion, he mentioned cheesecake in his writings and it's said he had a cheesecake recipe. (Still searching for that one!)

Ancient Papyrus List of Olympic Victors
(That hole at the bottom is where someone ripped out the cheesecake recipe!)

London Olympics Trivia:
  • Cadbury's Chocolate is the official chocolate of the 2012 London Games. (There should always be official chocolate!)

Cadbury Chocolate Olympic Medals. If you don’t win a medal you can still eat one!
  • The mascot of the 2012 London Games is Wenlock (named after Wenlock Edge in Shropshire, England, home of the modern Olympic games). Cute in an odd sort of way but seriously, my British friends, I'm thinking Cyclops here, sorry...LOL! Does get your attention though with that all-seeing eye that is supposed to represent a camera.
    Wenlock, London Games mascot
    OK, before any citizens of Great Britain toss their tea and crumpets at my blog...LOL! (only kidding!), I will admit that Whatizit (later called Izzy because Whatizit is probably the most ridiculous name ever!), the mascot of our 1996 Atlanta Games here in the U.S., was rather odd too. Still don't know what it was!  
Mascot of Atlanta Games...what was it anyway?!
  • Have you heard about the movement to make Cheese Rolling an Olympic Sport? There's a petition and even a Facebook page for it! Didn't make the 2012 games but I'll support it for the 2016 Rio games. Looks like fun! Hey, I think I can even do this sport! Oh just imagine the fun if the sport of cheese rolling catches on...LOL!


    Cheese Rolling….Look even Prince Charles is doing it!
    Image from Robert at Mulled Madness

  • What about making Jazzy Scooter Gymnastics an Olympic event? I like it! Saw this video and couldn't stop laughing! Sharing it here (with permission from the very funny ladies who made the video). 
SalGal Tries out for the Jazzy Scooter Gymnastics event, too funny!!

More Olympics Funnies:






©2012 JerseyLil’s 2 Cents
Trivia compiled 
from Wikipedia and NBC Olympics. Images (unless otherwise credited) are in public domain from Clker.com and Wikipedia sources. Silly writing, all mine!


30 comments:

  1. Very funny, Madilyn! I can always count on you to make me laugh hysterically. I definitely agree that we need an official chocolate. Yum!

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    1. Thanks Kristina! If I made you laugh hysterically, then my work is done!:-) I’m so happy you enjoyed my post (because when I’m writing this stuff, I’m never really sure if I’m amusing anyone but myself...LOL!). Yes, there should always be official chocolate!!

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  2. Great post! I've enjoyed the Games too and I can report that here in the UK we are equally perplexed about Wenlock. Also there is a well-established competitive cheesecake scene here so it may yet return to the Olympics some time.

    On the other hand cheese rolling is probably too rough for the Olympics, it's a bit like cage fighting but with more cheese.

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    1. Hi Sci-Fri Gene and thanks for dropping by my blog! I don’t doubt that many in the UK are perplexed about Wenlock. In the U.S. we were equally perplexed about Whatizit from the Atlanta games! Both very odd creations but at least your Wenlock has a name that means something. But Whatizit?! LOL!

      There is a competitive cheesecake scene there? Oh I’d love to see that return to the Olympics! I first heard about cheese rolling when I saw the image on Robert’s Mulled Madness blog. Had no idea it was like cage fighting but with cheese, how funny, now I’m going to have to find out more about it!

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  3. Wow. What a post. It's 2-in-1! I would have watched those Olympics!! Ha. Great job JerseyLil. Thank you for teaching me some new (old) facts. It's a lot to take in, I''l have to come back and have another look.

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    1. Thanks so much, CrazyMama! It is like 2 posts in 1 since it’s been a while since I last posted. Oh yeah, I would have watched those ancient Olympics too! :-) I love finding and sharing info and I learn stuff as well. When I found that tidbit about cheesecake and the Olympics, my blog post just took off from there!!

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  4. I felt the pain as you explained how the Greek athletes ran naked covered in olive oil in that baking sun, Ouch. Can you imagine running round the track several times like that? Ouch again.

    It's always nice to learn about some of our history, and why we do certain things so nice touch. Oh, mustn't forget the video, it's what I would call barmy ladies. It was funny :)
    I'll never see those old pensioner scooters in the same light again ha ha ha.

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    1. LOL Rum-Punch-Drunk! I can see how you’d empathize with those runners, yes ouch! :) Olive oil protected their skin and gave them a nice shine but wouldn’t it also bake them in the hot sun?! No wonder they ran so quickly.

      I love learning about history too, thanks! And yes, those ladies who did the Jazzy Scooter video are just hilarious! So clever! I’ll be posting more of their videos in future posts.

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  5. Russia is still 4th.... >< I worry... Good post =** When I was little I read a lot about Olympic games and Greece=)

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    1. Hi Eva! Yes Russia is 4th this time, I know they usually do better. But Russia is always a very strong competitor so I bet they will do better at the next Olympics. I am happy to see that my USA is number one though! How interesting that you read a lot about Greece and the Olympic games when you were young because I did that too. :)

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  6. oh, the napping bareback is my kind of sport ;-)

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    1. Hi Ana! Yes that napping bareback would be my kind of sport too! One I could actually do! :)

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  7. Priceless! Great information, great humor - love the part about ripping out the cheesecake recipe from the papyrus! - this is my all-time favorite of all your posts. Please - get the image of naked hurdlers out of my head.... :)

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    1. Melody, thanks so much and I’m delighted that this is your favorite post on my blog!! I had lots of fun writing it. I love that you pointed out how much you like the part about the cheesecake recipe being ripped out of the papyrus (I even amused myself with that one...LOL!). Oh the naked hurdlers, that image is stuck in my head too!! LOL! :)

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  8. "They competed in the nude as a tribute to the Greek god Zeus and to celebrate the human body." That's the spin doctors' version. The real reason? To prove they weren't women.
    And cheese rolling as an Olympic sport just isn't going to happen, 2016 or anytime. The Games are cheesy enough already, thanks.
    BTW, Bear arrived here after trundling over from Inger's desert mountain place. If you cannot Bear my presence and want me to trundle on back over there, that's fine. I've been thrown out of better blogs than this. But not much better; this is fun.

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    1. Hi Rob-bear and thanks for stopping by! :) Oh yes, I am sure that after competing in the nude, there was no doubt those athletes were men...LOL! I only heard about cheese rolling recently and the image I posted from my friend Robert’s Mulled Madness blog stuck me as so funny I had to include it and comment. Yes I am sure it will never really be an Olympic event! So glad you found me through Inger’s blog and I’d love for you to join my blog.

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  9. Could have done with a slice of cheesecake whilst watching the Athletics at Stratford on Wednesday night.. It was amazing. Wenlock the mascot was apparently formed by a drop of Steel from the last rivet used in the making of the stadium (Yeah alright we arent stupid) he was not what you would call a popular mascot... We have had an amazing party in the UK for the last few weeks and I was lucky enough to go. I dont think I will ever forget it and the hubbie and I are now in negotiations as to wether we can afford to go to Rio...

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    1. Lorraine, how wonderful that you were able to attend the London Olympics! :) I would have loved to have been there. I watched every single night on TV, even some daytime events, really enjoyed it all. Great Britain did a dynamite job of hosting! Hope you get to go to Rio too.

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  10. Ooooh, I so wish I could have been at those first Olympic games!! Naked men, olive oil, AND cheesecake! It doesn't get much better than that. I agree that the Great Britain did a great job hosting the games. I'm so glad many medals were won by them too. This was a really funny post.

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    1. Hi Inger, I wish I had been at those first Olympics too!! :) I am delighted you liked this post! I really did love watching the Olympics. Besides doing a fabulous job of hosting, Great Britain also won lots of medals and I’m glad about that too. I always like seeing the host country doing well at the Olympic games. Thanks for stopping by!

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  11. Thanks, JerseyLil! Our Jazzy Scooter Gymnastics fits right in the cheesy category, no doubt! For those who appreciate middle-aged madness, more can be found on our website... http://www.themidlifegals.com You can share, share, share! The Midlife Gals are here to spread the laughter and love.

    KK and SalGal

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    1. Hi KK and SalGal! Your very funny and creative video fit right in with my blog post and got some comments! :) Thanks for letting me share it and I will be sharing more of your funny stuff in future posts. Hope others visit your site and share too!

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  12. Hi Jersey Lil,
    What a hoot this post is. I almost p****** ,myself watching that video.
    Here's my story :- I did the Classical Bus Tour in Greece which included a visit to the original Olympic Stadium. So some of the guys go down to track (clothed I have to say) and start jogging. Then one guy says "Come on let's do it. Let's race. You know we ran with the bulls in Pamplona we gotta do it" Now I'm the token Aussie with a bunch of Yanks and I think " Yes, sprint! Damn it, sprint" Anyway I win, but to be honest they were a bit older than me and weren't really athletes. Still I claimed the Gold.
    Anyway a couple of days later we're at the Delphi Stadium and this young fit-looking African-American guy comes up and suggests a return race me and him for the Gold. I smelled a rat and thoguht I don't remember him from the bus and I excued myself.
    When you run at Olympia you kind get the spirit. Thanks again for this wonderful post.
    Neil

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    1. Hi Neil. I love that you think my post is a hoot..lol! Oh yes, that video is hilarious! I couldn’t stop laughing when I watched it. The gals who made that video have a website with lots of funny stuff. Their link is in the post here right above your comment (Midlife Gals). Terrific story about the Classical Bus Tour in Greece and running with the Yanks, and you won the Gold! You’ve got a wonderful blog, so interesting, and I’ve added it to my Blogs I Follow list. Great to make a new Aussie blog friend!

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    1. Hi Robert. Yes, the Jazzy Olympics video was so funny!! Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for letting me pinch the cheese rolling image from your blog! :)

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  14. Absolutely awesome! Nice, concise and witty account of the original games, and I too vote for official chocolate on all occasions! I too have been fascinated with the olympics most of my life. I so wanted to go to the Olympics in Athens in 2004 just to see the Marathon being run from Marathon to Athens. next time I will know to break out the cheesecake in celebration.

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    1. Thank you so much, Meg!! I love writing humorous pieces and I love information, so it’s great fun when I can put the two together in a blog post. Oh yes, official chocolate for all occasions...lol! I’ve been fascinated by the Olympics most of my life too, and I watch both Summer and Winter events (so watch for another Olympics post w/history and fun in 2014!). One of these years I hope to actually attend the Olympics and like you, I will break out the cheesecake...chocolate cheesecake! :)

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  15. Really interesting piece. I had no idea about the links between cheesecake and the Olympics - but now I'm going to feel like even more of a champion next time I eat one.

    One question though - any idea why the Olympic mascot at the top of your post features prominent masonic symbolism?! Any link to Wenlock and his all seeing eye, do you think? My conspiracy senses are tingling...

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    1. Hi Darmon and thanks! I have no idea why the Olympic mascot has prominent masonic symbolism and I hadn’t even noticed that. Wenlock and his all-seeing eye...hmmm, I wonder. You know, you just might be onto something here!

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