The Olympics - Past, Present, and Future

  In the last couple of weeks, preparation for the Summer Olympics in London has been all over the news and media.  Yesterday rung in the opening ceremonies and yesterday I also read an amazing article about a man from China.  His name is Chen Guanming and he's a 57 farmer who started his journey a little over 2 years ago.  He was inspired to go to the London Olympics after the 2008 Summer Olympics were held in Beijing.  He says that he pedaled his rickshaw through 16 countries and endured flooding, war zones, and freezing temperatures.  After the 2012 Summer Olympics, he said that he would like to take a boat to the United States and then eventually make it down to Brazil for the 2016 Summer Olympics.  You can read an article about his story through this link:  http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/olympics-2012/rickshaw-driver-cycles-world-china-london-olympics-2012-article-1.1122722.

  After reading this article, I started to think about what cities I had been to that had once been hosts to the Olympics.  Although I have never been to the Olympics I thought it would be fun to do some research about the history of the Olympics and where they have been throughout the years.
  The "modern" Olympics started in 1896 and since then have mainly been held in Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania.  The 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil will mark the first Olympic games to be held in South America.  As of these Olympic games, London will be the first city ever to host 3 times (1908, 1948. 2012).  They would have hosted in 1944 but the games were cancelled due to World War II.
  I have visited six cities that have at one point in modern history hosted the Olympics.  I hope to visit many many more cities and who knows what the future holds, maybe one day I will be in a host city during the Olympics!

Athens hosted the Olympic games in 1896, 1906, and 2004.  This is me standing on the Acropolis overlooking Athens. 

St. Louis hosted the Olympic games in 1904.   I'm the dark figure in this photo.  This was taken by a non-digital camera, so before camera quality was as good as it is today.

Berlin hosted the Olympic games in 1916 and 1936.  The 1936 Olympics are significant because this was when the Nazis were in power and there was rising tension.  Also Jesse Owens from the United States won 4 gold metals.  In this photo I am sitting on the steps of the Reichstag.

Los Angeles hosted the Olympic games in 1932 and 1984.  In this photo I'm standing outside of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Munich hosted the Olympic games in 1972.  In this photo I'm standing in front of Nymphenburg Palace.
This was an Olympics that stands out in many peoples' memories.  Sadly, during these Olympic games, 8 Palestinian terrorists kidnapped 9 Israeli athletes, coaches and officials and held them hostage in their apartments.  Initially, 2 hostages were killed in the first few moments of the kidnapping and in the end the final 9 hostages died.  It is known as the Munich massacre.  

The final host city that I have visited is Atlanta.  My family and I did a road trip when I was young so unfortunately my photo for this city is at my parents' house.  Atlanta hosted the Olympics in 1996.

Which cities have you been to that have at one point in history hosted the Olympics?