Mini doll playing tennis.

Fun Facts about Popular Sports

With the winter Olympics in full swing and the Super Bowl around the corner, we can certainly say that sports are on our minds. Whether it’s horse riding, yoga, or ballet, the Lori crew has always been a fan of staying active – and of learning new things!
So in the spirit of sports (and curiosity), we wanted to share a few fun facts about popular sports:
  • The origins of football can be traced back to 4th century BC China, with a ball game called Cuju!
  • Up to 1943, it wasn’t mandatory for football players in the NFL to wear helmets!
  • Super Bowl is the most-watched show on American television today.

  • Originally, tennis courts were built in an hourglass shape – they got narrower near the net!
  • To this day, the Wimbledon tournament requires all players to wear white (not even off-white or cream!).
  • Venus and Serena Williams were the first sisters to win Olympic gold in tennis.

  • The first game of basketball was actually played with a soccer ball!
  • The tallest players in NBA history are Gheorghe Mureșan and Manute Bol, who are 7 feet 7 inches tall!
  • The temperature of a basketball influences its bounciness! A warmer ball will bounce higher.

  • There are over 10 types of horse-riding sports, such as polo, racing, dressage, and more.
  • Dressage – an Olympic discipline in horse-riding – is often called “horse ballet”!
  • The shortest jockey in horse racing history was 15-year-old Kenneth Glover of Yorks, who was 4 feet tall.

  • Baseball was originally called “rounders,” based on an English bat-and-ball game played since the 15th century.
  • The longest game in the history of professional baseball lasted 8 hours and 25 minutes!
  • The World Series Trophy weighs approximately 30 pounds!

  • Figure skating is the oldest Olympic winter sport (and it had its Olympic debut in the summer games!).
  • The fastest spin ever recorded was completed by Canadian figure skater Olivia Oliver… at 342 rotations per minute!
  • Before 2012, the songs chosen for figure skating performances couldn’t feature lyrics.

  • Hockey pucks are frozen before NHL games to reduce bouncing.
  • Before the 1960s, hockey sticks were straight and the curved blade came into being because a player accidentally broke his stick!
  • The Stanley Cup doubled as a bowl more than once. NHL players used this trophy to eat cereal, meatballs, ice cream, and more!

If you have sportastic facts to share or if you just want to tell us who you’re rooting for in the Olympics, simply tag us @loridolls!