From The Telegraph:
The National Archives have created a new digital portal collating Olympic records that date back to the first modern Games in 1896 to the Beijing Games in 2008.
The new resource features a timeline allowing users to see the progression of the Olympics and includes government documents from the two previous occasions on which London hosted the Games – in 1908 and 1948.
The stories captured in the documents include the American team protesting about the British wearing police boots in the 1908 Tug of War, the controversy of adding an additional 385 yards to the traditional marathon distance and the Argentinian team arriving with 1,000 tonnes of meat to feed their athletes at the 1948 Olympics .
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Sarah Hutton, records specialist at The National Archives, said: ‘These files show the impact the Olympic movement has had on our history in the 116 years since the modern Games were revived. From a brief dispatch in 1896 to the huge online presence today, the records reflect the growth of the Games throughout the 20th century as well as its remarkable survival through two world wars, political turmoil and boycotts.’
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