I Win A Gold Medal in Forgetfulness

The folks over at Inspix collected many of the Olympic logos from 1924–2016 (winter and summer) and it’s worth a look.

For as (relatively) few Olympics as I’ve been around for, you’d think I’d have a better memory of them. Apparently, not the case. The logos for Atlanta (96) and Beijing (08) drew instant recognition, while others like Nagano (98) and Salt Lake City (02) looked familiar, but mainly reminded me of watching those games. Still others drew an “Oh yeah! I forgot they were there!”

Athens was a big deal, as it was the birthplace of the Olympics and they were coming home after 100+ years… yet I had completely forgotten about it. Torino? Not unless we’re speaking in abbreviations and referring to Clint Eastwood’s movie. That was only six years ago! SIX! And for the life of me I can’t remember a thing about it. Not that it’s easy to pick out certain memories for any Olympics as they all look largely the same when you get down to it. Mostly I suppose I remember watching them. I was in Georgia in 96 when the Atlanta games were there, so it made a huge impression on me. For other games I just remember the establishing shots and hearing the name all the time (Nagano really stuck out to me).

Scrolling from top to bottom the change in logos is interesting to see. Some of them scream of their particular era, some of their country, and some, like the London logo of this year, just are. 

You can click on through to Inspix to see the full collection here.

They say you learn something new every day. Mine for today: the Winter and Summer games were held in the same year all the way up until 1992. That, and my memory for the Olympics is fleeting.