Personalised Olympic Games Book
Relive Memorable Olympic Achievements with our Olympic Games Book
Our Personalised Olympic Games Book is a terrific gift for any sports fan. The presents feature a fascinating newspaper history of the event, covering some of the most outstanding moments in the competition from the past fifty years. The gifts incorporate British success and significant achievements by foreign competitors, such as the record medal-hauls of Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis and Michael Phelps. The Olympic gifts also contain articles written about political moments and tragedy, including boycotts and the ‘Munich Massacre’.
The Olympic Games Books are smartly presented, making them a wonderful piece of sports memorabilia. Below you will find a brief history of the event and more information about the contents of our Olympics Book. We also suggest some alternative ideas for personalised sports gifts.
Brief History of the Olympic Games
The Olympic Games originated in Ancient Greece in 776 BC. Legend claims the competition was founded by Heracles and his father Zeus, with the cities and states of Ancient Greece competing against each other every four years. Inscriptions reveal that events such as running, pentathlon and chariot races took place in Olympia and Coroebus was the first Olympic champion. The modern Olympic Games did not materialise until the late 1800s. Baron Pierre de Coubertin formed the International Olympic Committee in 1894 and the Olympics began in Greece two years later.
The symbol of the Olympic Games is five coloured rings on a white background. Each ring represents one of the five significant continents and they are interlocked to reflect the coming together of the world for the competition. The Olympic Games has included much controversy, but the event is generally viewed as a fantastic celebration of sport. The Olympics incorporates more countries than the United Nations and the television audience regularly exceeds over a billion viewers worldwide. The Games has tried to keep up with social change and has long featured a large presence of female competitors. The Paralympics was introduced in 1948 and plans for the Youth Games emerged in 2001.
Highlights of the Olympic Games Gift Book
Our Personalised Olympic Games Books stretch back to the 1960s, incorporating the gold medal wins of Herb Elliott, Abebe Bikila, Anita Lonsbrough, Ann Packer and Ken Matthews.
As the event moved into the 1970s, controversy began to engulf the competition. The Gift Book features articles written about the devastating “Munich Massacre" in 1972 and the African boycott of the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Both Games continued despite their respective problems and the 1972 Olympics included the legendary performance of Mark Spitz. The American swimmer won seven gold medals, recording a world record in every race.
The gift books move into the 1980s, when the Olympic Games took place in Moscow, Los Angeles and then Seoul. In 1980, Duncan Goodhew won gold in the 100m breast stroke and Alan Wells became the oldest man to win the 100m sprint. Daley Thompson, Steve Ovett and Seb Coe also enjoyed athletics gold. Thompson and Coe won gold medals again in 1984 and Carl Lewis created history by beating Jesse Owens’ record of three gold medals in one Olympic athletics event. Our Olympic gifts also cover the Ben Johnson scandal of 1988. The Canadian famously won the Olympic gold in the 100m sprint, before being stripped of the medal when he tested positive for Stanozolol.
The Barcelona Games of 1992 were exciting for Great Britain, largely due to the strength of the athletics team. Fan favourites Linford Christie and Sally Gunnell both won gold in their events, whilst Kris Akabusi achieved bronze in the 400m hurdles. Elsewhere, Chris Boardman won gold on his ‘superbike’ and Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent maintained their golden tradition in the rowing. Redgrave and Pinsent also won gold in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. In the 1996 athletics, success for Roger Black and Steve Backley was dampened by Linford Christie’s heart-breaking 100m disqualification.
The Olympic Games took place in Sydney in the year 2000. Steve Redgrave became the first man to win gold medals in five consecutive Olympic Games. Other British gold medallists included Jonathan Edwards, Audley Harrison and Denise Lewis. The Olympic Book contains reports of Kelly Holmes’ famous middle distance ‘double’ from the 2004 Athens Games and she also features in the 2005 celebrations, when London was awarded the 2012 Olympics. The 2008 Beijing Games was one of the best Olympic Games of recent years. The gift books include coverage of the phenomenal opening and closing ceremonies, Rebecca Adlington’s swimming double gold and the domination of the British cyclists. We also incorporate Michael Phelps’ historic eight medal haul and Usain Bolt’s sprint world records.
Other Sports Books
The Personalised Olympic Games Book is just one of our terrific sports book gifts. You can alternatively enjoy editions dedicated to sports such as Golf, Cricket and Formula One. We also have an extensive range of Personalised Football Club Books, featuring match reports on some of the biggest games in the history of over fifty teams. Our unique Personalised Sports Books make great presents for any sports fan.