Olympic Games
From Muppet Wiki
The Olympic Games, or Olympics, are an international multi-sport event taking place every four years and comprising summer and winter games. Originally held in ancient Greece, they were revived by a French nobleman, Pierre Frèdy, Baron de Coubertin in the late 19th century. The Summer Olympics have been held every fourth year starting in 1896, except in 1916, 1940, and 1944 due to the World Wars.
A special edition for winter sports, the Olympic Winter Games, was first held in 1924. The first winter Olympics competitions were originally held as a non-Olympic sports festival, but were declared to be official Games by the International Olympic Committee in 1925. Originally these were held in the same year as the Summer Olympics, but from 1994 on the Winter Games and the Summer Games have been held two years apart.
Animal was the mascot of the U.S. Snowboarding Team for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. This was the first year that snowboarding was recognized by the Olympics, and the team adopted Animal as their mascot.
References
- In 1995, Sesame Street spoofed the Olympics in Episode 3300, in which Slimey, Oscar the Grouch's pet worm, competed in the Worm Summer Games. The material was later reused in the video Slimey's World Games
- The Olympics have also been spoofed in Muppet Magazine issues 21 and 24.
- In 1992, Good Morning America featured many Muppet skits. In one skit, "The Muppet Games", Lewis Kazagger reported on the Geek Winter Games (a much cheaper alternative to the Winter Olympics), where founding geek Gonzo demonstrates demolition speed skating.
- Oscar's trash can contains an Olympic-size swimming pool
- Bear in the Big Blue House released a book titled, The Ojo-lympics.
- Four Winter Olympics pins featuring Animal were released for the 1998 Winter Olympics.
Connections
- Dominique Dawes has appeared on Sesame Street and is part of the advisory board for Sesame Workshop's "Healthy Habits for Life."
- Mitch Gaylord has appeared in Muppet Magazine
- Greg Louganis appeared in both Muppet Magazine and Sesame Street Magazine
- Julianne McNamara appeared in Muppet Magazine
- Michael Stich has appeared on Sesamstrasse
- Rosalynn Sumners has appeared in Muppet Magazine
