26 Days

Have you ever wondered why the official distance of a marathon is exactly 26 miles, 385 yards? I know I have. In 1908, the marathon standard was set at exactly 26 miles. However, at the Olympic marathon in London, officials couldn't find a good enough spot for the royal family to view the finish line. So organizers added an extra 385 yards to the race so that the finish line would be directly in front of the royal box. And it's been that way ever since.

At the 1968 Winter Olympics, an Italian woman won the gold medal in luge only because the East German woman who came in first place was disqualified for illegally heating the runners of her luge before the race. Twenty-six years later, in 1994, Italian Gerda Weissensteiner won the gold medal in luge without any pretenses.

In 2006, 26 countries won at least one medal in Torino, which is a Winter Olympic record. This topped the previous record of 24 countries which medalled at the last two games in 2002 and 1998.