They Were Famous Before the Olympic Games

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For over a thousand years, the ancient Greeks held the Olympic Games. In the nineteenth century, there were a few attempts to revive the Games. Then in 1894, the International Olympic Committee was organized with the first modern Olympic Games being held two years later.

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:03 Since 1896, the youth of the world

00:07 has been assembling at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games

00:10 in pursuit of medals, national pride, and fame.

00:14 When they leave their home countries to take part,

00:19 the athletes are known only to their families, schools,

00:22 and fellow Olympians.

00:24 They can return famous to their whole nation, and sometimes

00:28 the world.

00:31 Sometimes, though, an athlete is already famous

00:34 before they became Olympians.

00:36 Here are some well-known names that had fans

00:39 well before the games began.

00:41 Princess Anne of Great Britain is the daughter

00:46 of Queen Elizabeth II, and is currently

00:49 16th in line for the throne.

00:50 Back in the '70s, when she was fourth in line,

00:56 she was an equestrian, and was the first British royal

00:59 to compete at the Olympics.

01:01 Riding her mother's horse, Princess Anne

01:06 appeared at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

01:11 Unfortunately, she did not win any medals.

01:14 Her daughter, Zara, however, won a silver medal

01:20 at the 2012 London Games in equestrian.

01:25 They weren't called the Dream Team for nothing.

01:28 In 1989, NBA stars were permitted

01:31 to compete in international competitions,

01:33 including the Olympics.

01:35 At the 1992 games in Barcelona, Spain,

01:38 the Dream Team won the gold medal for the United States.

01:41 Both Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing

01:46 were already gold medalists from the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles

01:51 before they became famous with their respective NBA careers.

01:55 But for NBA players like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird,

01:58 Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Scotty Pippen, and others,

02:03 these stars already had many fans before winning the gold in 1992.

02:07 In 1995, negotiations allowed pro hockey players

02:14 to participate in the Winter Olympics.

02:16 Prior to that, as was the case with basketball players,

02:20 some NHL players were allowed to play

02:22 in the Olympic Games.

02:24 Some NHL players were Olympians first,

02:27 such as Norway's Peter Forsberg and Finland's Timo Solani.

02:30 The 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan,

02:36 were the first games to allow current NHL players.

02:40 Canadian stars like Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby

02:43 have played hockey in the Olympics.

02:45 Crosby is a two-time gold medalist.

02:50 Czech stars Mike Madano and Brett Hull are Olympians,

02:53 as is Jarmo Jarger and Dominic Hasek from the Czech Republic.

02:56 Russian Alex Ovechkin from the Washington Capitals

03:02 has played in three Olympic Games but has won no medals.

03:06 (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ANTHEM PLAYS)

03:09 (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ANTHEM CONTINUES)

03:11 ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪

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