The Olympics: Athletes in your family tree?

US stamp shows an Olympic runner at the 10th Olympic Games, c1932

In about three weeks, the 2012 Summer Olympics (officially  the Games of the XXX Olympiad) will begin in London, UK.

The countdown to this summer’s event began at the closing ceremony of the 2008 summer Olympics in China, as the Olympic flag was handed to the Mayor of London by the Mayor of Beijing.

This year, 197 countries will participate in 26 sports at the biggest international sporting event of the year.

The Olympics provide an opportunity to reminisce about great moments of the past, such as  the 1936 Berlin games when  Jesse Owens won four gold medals or when Michael Johnson smashed both the 400m and 200m sprints in the 1996 Atlanta event.

We couldn’t resist searching  records relating to “Olympic games” in our new family history search engine – SuperSearch – and discovered really interesting information, such as this Kansas State University yearbook entry, demonstrating one student’s ambition to win a gold medal in 1988 and discussing his time trials for the 1984 Olympics.

Kansas State University Yearbook (Royal Purple): 1987

You can also try it for free – searching “Olympic games” or another keyword – that could lead to information about your family history.

As the Games draw closer, we”re interested in learning your personal Olympic stories. Have you competed? Do you have any Olympians in your family tree? If you’re not sure, try a quick SuperSearch and see what you discover.

Let us know in the comments section below, or email your stories to stories@myheritage.com.