The history of the Olympics is full of glorious moments, Nevertheless, there have been also some "dark" sides, One of them was revealed in Paris, in 1900, As strange as it may sound, nothing in the French capital indicated that the world-class event was taking place, Attendance was just as poor as organization and athletic performance, the number of spectators never exceeding 3,000 in any of the events, The opening ceremony took place in an empty stadium with the athletes being more numerous than the spectators,
In 1908 in London, the audience turned its back on the Olympics-only a few people went to the Games. The weather was no help either, since the rain was the main event throughout the six-month duration of the Games.
Four years later, in Stockholm, public attendance increased, but this was not repeated in Antwerp in 1920, As if this were not enough, for the first time since the revival of the Games, the crowd turned ugly, At the final game of the soccer tournament, Belgium played against Czechoslovakia, At the beginning of the second half, the home team was leading 2-0 and the referee showed a red card to a Czechoslovakian player. In protest his team quit the game and surrendered the field to the angry fans who wreaked havoc to the playing ground. The match was never finished, but Belgium eventually won the gold medal.
As an answer to the criticism they received 24 years before, the French manifested their athletic spirit in Paris in 1924, Not only did the crowds fill the stadiums, but in the soccer final (Uruguay vs, Switzerland, 3-0), 10,000 fans were unable to obtain a ticket for the match,
In 1928, in Amsterdam, the opening ceremony broke every previous attendance record with a crowd of 75,000 until, of course, the next games held in Los Angeles, where the 100,000 barrier was exceeded for the first time.
Four years later in Berlin, the crowd had such a "thirst" for the games that it flooded not only the events, but even the shows from 32 Gymnastics Academies cities worldwide having organized exhibitions on the ancient Greek athletic spirit.
Despite the "open wounds" from the recent war, the British filled the stadiums in the 1948 London Olympics, In some cases they clearly showed their preferences, as for example at the finish of the marathon run, They gave a standing ovation to Gheli, the Belgian runner, as he entered the Olympic Stadium first. However, Cabrera from Argentina passed him in the last few meters before the finish line, stunning Gheli's fans, who did not even find the energy to applaud their compatriot, Richards, who took second place, Gheli eventually ended up third", The 72,000 spectators who attended the opening ceremony of the 1952 Olympics remembered that day for a long time, The rain poured down from the very first moment, but everybody remained in their seats, unwilling to miss the magnificent spectacle,
Australian sports fans exhibited a dynamic presence in the first Olympics held in their distant continent. The stadiums in Melbourne (1956) were always full; an estimated 3 million Australians watched the torch-bearing race through the country, a phenomenal number by all standards of the time,
Due to the gigantic growth of the Olympics, the Italian organizers for the first time had to take measures to facilitate public transportation to the sites of the events. Measures included establishing different work hours for employees and closing several streets to vehicles in order to relieve traffic.
Four years later, the interest of the Japanese skyrocketed in Tokyo, All stadiums were jam-packed and the Olympic stadium in particular faced huge problems, of the 75,000 seats, 45,000 were reserved for foreigners and students, It was decided that the remaining seats would be distributed to applicants, but an unbelievable number of more than 3,652,000 applications were received, Finally, the solution chosen was to distribute the tickets by a draw.
In Mexico (1968), 3,000 Norwegian fans ignored the enormous distance and the transatlantic journey to support their own King Harald who participated in a sailing event.
In Munich, the Olympic Movement bore a devastating blow with the massacre in the Olympic Village and then at the city's military airfield. The Palestinian terrorist attack took first stage, leaving the games a distant second.
The reverberations of the tragic events of 1972 had not faded four years later in Montreal, People in the Canadian city constantly feared for new attacks. The newspapers reported numerous possible terrorist acts and as a result security measures were tremendous.
In Moscow (1980), the Soviets could, boast of a massive attendance, reaching the Japanese record of 6 million spectators at the Tokyo Olympics, despite an extensive boycott.
In 1984, Los Angeles could also draw pride for the same reason, According to the data released by the organizers; attendance was far greater than in Moscow. Everybody wanted to experience the atmosphere, the glamour and the feeling of the Olympics.
Despite Seoul's distance from most of the world, many people traveled to South Korea in 1988 to attend the Games. Visitors from other countries were estimated at about 250,000.
In 1992 in Barcelona, a Spanish government initiative made the city's sports fans even happier than the Olympics themselves. In addition to Spanish, English and French, the local Catalan tongue was also made an official Olympic language, a decision of great importance to all those seeking the region's independence,
During the Atlanta Olympics, the crowd was terrified, since the average number of homicides increased from one to three every two days, despite tight security measures enforced by the city police.
In Sidney, things were quieter and the stadiums were almost 90% full for the first time.
From all the above, it is clear that the Olympics have always been a strong pole of attraction for sports fans who form long queues to see athletes from allover the world compete.

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