Since the Summer Olympics began in 1896 in Athens, Greece, there have been many medalists from many different countries. There were nine different sports represented with a total of 43 events. These Olympics were interesting because the first place finishers received a silver medal and second place finishers received bronze. The third place finisher did not receive a medal at all.
The first Summer Olympics saw Greece come out on top with a total of 47 total medals, ten of which were for first place finishes. The United States finished in second place overall with a total of 19 medals of which 11 were for first place finishes. The individual medal winner in 1896 was Hermann Weingartner who took home a total of six medals for Germany. Four other athletes took home four medals each for their countries: Karl Schuman and Alfred Flatow from Germany, American Bob Garrett and Viggo Jensen of Denmark. Jensen won first place in all events he was registered in.
Currently there are 28 events in the Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Games hosted a whopping 204 countries. It is likely the 2012 Games will see as many countries and maybe more. The 2012 Summer Games will be in London, England.
2008 was a great year for the Summer Olympics and for the United States. Michael Phelps, at just 23 years of age, catapulted himself into first place as the all-time gold medal winner with a total of 14. In addition to winning the most gold medals ever, Phelps made Olympic history by winning all eight swimming events that he entered and setting seven World Records and one Olympic Record in the process. With all of the previous records smashed by Phelps nearly four years ago, what will the 2012 Games have in store?
While Phelps has won the most gold medals, he is not the most decorated athlete at the Summer Olympics.
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