30 07, 2021

Anybody Can Be An Olympic Star, At Least In A Video Game (Cool Weird Awesome 585)

By |2021-07-30T08:15:40-04:00July 30, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , |

The Summer and Winter Games are typically held once every four years, but for decades the rest of us have been getting into the Olympic spirit through video games. Here are a few of the most unusual ones. Plus: the story of a fencing match that definitely could've only happened in the real world. 

29 07, 2021

Women Couldn’t Compete In The Ancient Olympics, So They Held The Heraean Games Instead (Cool Weird Awesome 584)

By |2021-07-29T08:09:37-04:00July 29, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , , |

In ancient Greece, the Olympics were for men only. But from what we can tell, women representing 16 city-states would come together every four years to weave a robe for Hera, the queen of the gods, and hold a footrace for single women. Plus: the 1960 Summer Games were the first to be telecast in the US. In the days before satellites, it took a lot of work to get tapes from the Rome Games to the US broadcast networks. 

28 07, 2021

The Original Olympic Flag Went Missing For Over 70 Years (Cool Weird Awesome 583)

By |2021-07-28T08:18:30-04:00July 28, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

The original Olympic flag flew over the Games for the first time in 1920, in Antwerp, Belgium, but before it could be passed to the next host city, the “Antwerp flag” disappeared - for over seven decades. Plus: scientists have taught a robotic hand to play Super Mario Bros., because why wouldn't you? 

27 07, 2021

Two Olympians Turned A Silver And A Bronze Into “Medals Of Friendship” (Cool Weird Awesome 582)

By |2021-07-27T08:36:38-04:00July 27, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

Whenever the Olympic Games take place we see athletes giving their all to win gold and glory - but we also see great examples of competitors who show character and kindness toward each other. Here’s the story of two of those athletes, who ended up winning the only half-silver, half-bronze medals in Olympic history. Plus, a musical group finds out that the International Olympic Committee does enforce its trademark rights. 

26 07, 2021

The 1904 Men’s Marathon Was The Weirdest Olympic Race Ever (Cool Weird Awesome 581)

By |2021-07-26T09:37:32-04:00July 26, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

The men's marathon at the 1904 Olympics could have won a gold medal for biggest trainwreck in Summer Games history. Here's how dirt, dehydration, dogs and more helped make this as bizarre a run as they get. But then the 1904 Games were strange for several other reasons as well. We'll explain why. 

23 07, 2021

Some Olympians Won Medals For Painting And Shooting Cannons (Cool Weird Awesome 580)

By |2021-07-23T09:24:36-04:00July 23, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |

For better or for worse, the Summer Olympics are finally here. We thought it would be a good time to look back at some of the lesser-known events in the history of the Games, like painting and cannon shooting. Plus: Tomas Gomez headed to the driving range just ahead of a storm, and his ball ended up getting hit by lightning. 

29 09, 2020

The Olympic Team That Paid Its Way By Selling Coffee (Cool Weird Awesome 391)

By |2021-07-26T09:55:57-04:00September 29, 2020|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , |

On National Coffee Day, we bring you the story of Brazilian athletes who, without travel funds from the government, had to earn their way to the Olympics in Los Angeles by selling coffee beans. Plus: in Bedford, Pennsylvania, there's a building shaped like a big metal coffee pot.

7 08, 2020

Alice Coachman Raised The Bar For Team USA (Cool Weird Awesome 354)

By |2020-08-07T07:46:11-04:00August 7, 2020|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

We don’t have the Olympic Games right now, but we can still mark a big Olympic moment that happened on this day in 1948: the day Alice Coachman became the first Black woman to win Olympic gold. Plus: a chocolate company and an engineer say they've redesigned the chocolate chip. Is it more efficient? I don't know, but I'll be happy to test it out.

29 07, 2019

Where We Got Olympic Medals From Before Recycled Cell Phones (Cool Weird Awesome 93)

By |2021-04-30T10:32:12-04:00July 29, 2019|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

Last week the organizers of the 2020 Olympic Games revealed that 100 percent of the gold, silver and bronze used to create the Olympic medals is recycled - the metal comes from used cell phones. But the ancient Olympians got olive branches as prizes. Why is it that we have Olympic medals in the first place?

18 07, 2019

You Know Mack Robinson’s Brother, Now Get To Know Mack Robinson (Cool Weird Awesome 86)

By |2021-07-07T10:25:48-04:00July 18, 2019|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

On this day in 1912, the birth of the greatest athlete you might never have heard of - Olympic silver medalist and community advocate Mack Robinson.

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