Concerns and controversies at the 2008 Summer Olympics ancient Olympia stadium and interrupted the speech of Liu Qi, head of the Beijing Games committee. One protestor tried to snatch the microphone as another unrolled a black flag showing the Olympic rings as handcuffs. Nearly 50 Tibetan exiles in India began a global torch relay 25 March 2008 with a symbolic "Olympic" flame that ended in Tibet on 8 August 2008, the day of the Summer Games' opening ceremonies in Beijing. Although the torch was heavily guarded by local police and Chinese security agents wearing blue track suits, protesters attempting to stop the relay or take the torch were
Winter Olympic Games Olympic flag presented at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp was stolen, as was its replacement. There was unprecedented parity at these Games, during which 10 countries won gold medals—more than any Games to that point. The Olympic Flame for the 1952 Games in Oslo, was lit in the fireplace by skiing pioneer Sondre Nordheim, and the torch relay was conducted by 94 participants entirely on skis. Bandy, a popular sport in the Nordic countries, was featured as a demonstration sport, though only Norway, Sweden, and Finland fielded teams. Norwegian athletes won 17 medals, which outpaced all the other nations.