10 crazy Olympics facts

#10 A six-month-long Olympics

The 1908 Olympics opened on 27 April and concluded on 31 October

Rome was supposed to be the city to host the 1908 Games, but Italy could not afford to host at that point of time because of the financial catastrophe caused by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. So the Olympics were re-located to London and the 1908 London Games is the longest edition in the history of the Olympics.

The Summer Games went on for 187 days (6 months and 4 days). The opening ceremony was on 27^th April and the closing ceremony on 31^st October.

The games had a lot of controversies, with Finland, Russia and Sweden being in the thick of them. Athletes representing 22 nations participated in the Games and a total of 110 sporting events were contested. Obviously, home advantage is of great significance as Great Britain finished first in the medal standings with 146 medals followed by the USA and Sweden.