Best of the Olympics part 2

ANTWERP 1920: Give the Belgians their due, they were given only a year's notice to prepare but built a new 30,000-seater stadium in time. None of the Central Powers were invited (Austria, Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey) but 29 countries were represented in 22 sports. Newly-independent Finland tied with the United States in track and field. Three of the US's five rowing golds were won by a young bricklayer from Philadelphia, John Kelly, who went on to father Princess Grace

PARIS 1924: Not just Johnny Weismuller and Paavo Nurmi, but charioteers-in-chief Abrahams and Liddell too. French boxer Roger Brousse is disqualified for taking a bite out of Britain's Harry Mallin. The French crowd turn ugly after the US beat France 17-3 in the rugby final and the police are called in.

AMSTERDAM 1928: Women are welcomed into the track programme for the first time. The IOC gave the first German team since the First World War a less grudging welcome. Several women collapsed in the 800m (some had never run the distance before) and the IOC refused to allow any women's race longer than half a lap for the next 32 years.

LOS ANGELES 1932: The first Olympic village. Eddie Tolan becomes the first black sprinter to win a gold, taking both the 100m and 200m. When Finn Lauri Lehtingen impedes the American Ralph Hill en route to winning the 5,000m the crowd is so angry the announcer pleads: "Remember, please, these people are our guests."

BERLIN 1936: Initially the Nazis regarded the Olympics as an infamous festival dominated by Jews, but quickly saw its potential for promoting the Reich. Goebbels created the first Olympic torch and a village for 4,000. At the opening ceremony the French gave Hitler the Olympic salute, similar to the Nazi one, and received a tremendous reception. The Brits, gave a curt "eyes right" and were greeted with stony silence. Peru withdrew after German officials declared their football team's victory over Austria null and void because of a crowd demonstration.