The Olympic flag with the games iconic five rings emblazoned on it.
THE Olympic Games has been a fixture in the international sporting calendar since 1896. The first time that the games were cancelled was in 1916 after the outbreak of World War 1. When the Olympic Games resumed after the war, Antwerp in Belgium was awarded the honour of hosting the 1920 Summer Games. To celebrate the end of hostilities in Europe as well as give the world a new symbol of peace, the new flag was hoisted in Belgium with the games now iconic five rings which represent the five parts of the world - Africa, Asia, Australia, the Americas and Europe. By the end of the games, this new symbol of sportsmanship and humanity disappeared, and it would stay gone for 80 years.
Is it true that the Olympic flag went missing because of childish dare?
Verdict:
TRUE
In 1997 at a United States Olympic Committee banquet, a reporter mentioned to Hal Prieste, then the oldest living Olympian, that no one had ever been able to find the original Olympic flag.
Prieste replied, "I can help you with that. It's in my suitcase."
Prieste had attended the 1920 Olympic Games as part of the US' diving team and won a bronze medal at platform diving.
At the end of the games his teammate, Duke Kahanamoku from Hawaii, dared Prieste to steal the Olympic flag.
Prieste took the dare and climbed the 15-foot flagpole that evening and took the flag, which he then folded neatly and kept it in his suitcase, where it stayed for the next 80 years.
In 2000, the then 103-year-old Prieste officially returned the original Olympic flag to the International Olympic Committee.
References:
1. https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/
