Games Monitor

In actual fact, London will be hosting its fourth Olympic Games. How many I hear you say? Let's go back in time from the future: London 2012, London 1948, London 1908, and wait for it ... London 1866.

"You are pulling my leg" I hear you say. Oh no I'm not. A national Olympics was hosted in Crystal Palace in 1866. The very first Olympics that actually looked like an Olympics to be hosted outside of Greece in modern times. W.G. Grace, the famous cricketer, not so famous when he came first in the hurdles event, was one of the competitors.

The first modern international Olympic Games was held in Athens, Greece, in 1859. The first modern international to he hosted in a stadium was that held in the Panathenian stadium, in Athens in 1870.

That same stadium has been used to host events at Olympic Games in 1870, 1875, 1896, 1906, and 2004. A total of five times in the same stadium.

If it's a green Games that everybody is genuinely interested in then all they have to do is look towards the stadium used to host the first modern international Olympic Games.

Even more astonishing is the fact that the Panathenian stadium was an ancient stadium that was refurbished in the mid-19th Century after laying derelict for hundreds of years. How green is that? The darkest shade of green in modern Olympic history.