Watch the Olympics and you might notice a number of medalists gnawing on their gold or silver prize like an old-time prospector. Do they believe the International Olympic Committee is going to stiff them? Does anyone expect to bite into chocolate?
It turns out it might be because they’re following orders—specifically, the photographer’s. When Olympic winners pose for a victory image, a sea of photojournalists are snapping away and asking athletes to do something besides just stand there and smile. With no other props handy, winners have picked up the habit of nibbling on their medal to satisfy the photographic feeding frenzy.
If you’re wondering whether anyone has chipped a tooth doing this, the answer is—of course. In 2010, German luger David Moeller broke off the corner of his tooth chomping on his silver medal. Good thing his mother is a dentist.
Of course, biting on gold used to be a way to tell if it was genuine (the real thing will show slight bite marks). But most Olympians probably know by now that their gold medal is mostly made up of silver and copper. If they were actually solid gold, the prizes would cost the IOC about $17 million.
source: mentalfloss
The Olympics is all about sports. How much do you know about certain sports?
Match the words below with the following sports. Some words may belong to more than one sport.
1. athletics
2. basketball
3. fencing
4. football
5. gymnastics
6. horse riding
7. ice hockey
8. skiing
9. swimming
10. tennis
A) butterfly
B) court
C) doubles
D) downhill
E) field
F) finish
G) foul
H) freestyle
I) dribbling
J) gloves
K) goal
L) hammer
M) hurdles
N) kick-off
O) mask
P) net
Q) pommel horse
R) puck
S) still rings
T) racket
U) relay
V) rink
W) saddle
X) sabre
Y) spring board
Z) track
Key:
1 – E, F, L, M, U, Z
2 – B, G, I
3 – J, O, X
4 – E, G, I, K, N, P
5 – Q, S, Y
6 – F, J, M, W
7 – J, K, R, V
8 – D, F, H
9 – A, F, H, U, Z
10 – B, C, P, T
to bite – morsicare
to gnaw – masticare
prize – premio
prospector – cercatore d’oro
to stiff – ingannare, imbrogliare
to expect – aspettarsi qualcosa
to turn out – andare a finire, risultare
to follow orders – seguire gli ordini
to pose for sg – mettersi in posa per qualcuno
to snap – scattare foto
prop – accessori
to pick up a habit – prendere l’abitudine
to nibble – mangiucchiare
frenzy – frenesia
to chip a tooth – scheggiare un dente
luger – tiratore
to chomp – masticare
dentist – dentista
genuine – genuino
bite mark – segno dei denti
silver – argento
copper – bronzo
solid gold – oro puro
