Author finds odd Olympic statistics

ATHENS (Reuters) - At the 1900 Olympics, just one spectator paid to watch the early rounds of the croquet competition in the south of France.


The tug-of-war at the 1908 London Olympics produced a storm of protest when the Americans accused the British police team of wearing spiked boots to gain an unfair advantage.


For these nuggets of sports trivia, fans are indebted to David Wallechinsky, a statistician with an encyclopaedic memory whose "Complete Book of the Olympics" lives up to its title.


From polo to pelota, drug cheats to sex changes - Wallechinsky is regarded as the chronicler of the Olympics.


His 1,170-page tome is not a dry list of who won what. Behind every gold lurks an intriguing Olympic tale.


"There are 300 events with 300 characters and there is a drama in every one," Wallechinsky told Reuters.


He agrees with Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, who said: "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part."


That statement has always intrigued Wallechinsky.


"Two thirds of the athletes who go to the Olympics know they have no chance to win a medal. But they still go for the excitement and to do their personal best," he said.


OLYMPIC BUG


Wallechinsky was first bitten by the Olympic bug at the age of 12 when his father, novelist Irving Wallace, took him to the Rome Olympics in 1960.


The seed was sown and his first compendium marked the 1984 Olympics in his hometown of Los Angeles.


The magic of the Games has never worn off.


"The moment in the opening ceremony when 200 nations march in together is very moving. It's a real cross-section of the world," said Wallechinsky, who will be commentating again for U.S. Radio when the Athens Games open on August 13.


Even a lover of the Olympics has his limits, however.


"Anything that is synchronised should not be in the Olympics. Synchronised diving was added for TV ratings. I think it is ridiculous.


"You could get rid of boxing. You are not seeing any of the best athletes in the world.


"The additional problem is that it's a judged sports open to broad interpretation. Boxing has such a history of corruption that is outrageous."


The book is dotted with quirky tales that enliven the stats. Take Valentina Yegorova, the Russian winner of the 1992 marathon.


Nobody in her village of Iziderkino owned a television. So they all chipped in, bought a black and white set, installed it at the entrance to her parents' house and stayed up past midnight to cheer her home.


Wallechinsky is most proud of the bizarre tale of Stella Walsh, winner of the 100 metres at the 1932 Los Angeles Games.


She raised a few eyebrows with her "long, man-like strides" but the mystery was not solved until 1980 when Walsh was caught in the crossfire and killed in a store robbery. The autopsy revealed she had male sex organs.


"I was really proud that I pieced that one together and put in a story that people can now read," he said.