Olympic Games Trivia 3 – Olympics (1980-2012)

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Olympic Games Trivia 3 – Olympics (1980-2012)
(Image courtesy - www.clinic.co.uk)

The previous trivia spanned through 40 years of Olympics, 1936 to 1976. This segment will test your knowledge from Moscow 1980 to the most recent, London 2012.

  1. How many countries, including USA boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow?

a. 50
b. 56
c. 64
d. 66

2. When women’s field hockey was introduced for the first time as an Olympic sport in 1980, a surprise team who haven’t played on an artificial turf before and chose its players during the weekend prior to the opening ceremony won the gold medal. Name the team.

a. Zimbabwe
b. Uruguay
c. Egypt
d. Colombia

3. Equaling Jessi Owen’s heroics in 1936, an American athlete won 4 gold medals by winning 100 m and 200m, 4x100m relay and Long Jump, beginning one of the most remarkable Olympic careers of all time. Who was he?

a. Edwin Moses
b. Sam Graddy
c. Carl Lewis
d. Alonzo Babers

gold medal for the 400m hurdles event
(Image courtesy – www.olympic.org)

4.  In one of the most memorable Olympic moments, a 22 year old female athlete from Morocco won the gold medal for the 400m hurdles event in 1984, becoming not only the first Moroccan to win gold, but also the first female from a Muslim nation to do so.

a. Nezha Tamsamani
b. Nawal El Moutawakel
c. Hasna Benhassi
d. Tahri Boutayeb

5. What is not true about the Seoul Olympics in 1988?

a. After Mexico in 1968, South Korea became the first developing country (at the time of hosting) to host the Olympic games.
b. US sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner won both 100m and 200m and set the Women’s 200m record at 21.34s which still stands today.
c. Ben Johnson won the 200m event but was found positive for using a banned substance.
d. The US Basketball team became the last team not to feature any NBA player in their Olympic roster

6. Winning silver for Cycling at Seoul to the speed skating gold she won earlier in 1988 Winter Olympics at Calgary, she became the only athlete to win Olympics medals in both Winter and Summer Olympics in the same year. 

a. Christa Luding-Rothenburger
b. Sabine Busch
c. Dagmar Neubeur-Rubsam
d. Diana Ganskey

7. Which famous American diver
(Image courtesy – Getty Images)

7.  Which famous American diver continued his 1984 clean sweep to Seoul 1988 winning back-to-back titles on both diving events, but only after hitting the springboard with his head in the 3 m event final?

a. Richard Rydze
b. Bruce Kimball
c. Win Young
d. Greg Louganis

8. Name the coach who guided the famous US ‘Dream Team’ to Olympic gold at Barcelona 1992.

a. Chuck Daly
b. Larry Brown
c. Pat Riley
d. Red Holzman

9. In one of the most emotional moments in Olympic history, a British athlete tore his hamstring during 400m semi-final but continued to limp before his father assisted him to complete the race amidst a roaring standing ovation from the crowd at Barcelona. Name this athlete.

a. Marcus Adam
b. Roger Black
c. Derek Redmond
d. David Grindley

10. When Lee Lai Shan from Hong Kong won Olympic gold
(Image courtesy – The Philadelphia Inquirer)

10. When Lee Lai Shan from Hong Kong won Olympic gold in Atlanta 1996, she became the only gold medalist from her country while the colonial flag of Hong Kong was raised at the medal ceremony, accompanied by the anthem ‘God Save the Queen’. For which sport did Lee Lai Shan win gold?

a. Badminton
b. Sailing
c. Equestrian
d. Table Tennis

11. This Canadian sprinter won the 100m gold at Atlanta 1996, setting a new world record, moreover, claiming the unofficial title of ‘World’s Fastest Man’

a. Carlton Chambers
b. Bruni Surin
c. Graham Hood
d. Donovan Bailey

12. Known as one of the greatest sporting moments ever, Steve Redgrave won gold at Sydney 2000 in his unprecedented 5th consecutive Olympics. Considered as one of the best in his sport, in which sport did Steve Redgrave excel?

a Equestrian
b. Rowing
c. Fencing
d. Sailing

13. An African nation won a historic football gold medal, beating Spain in the final at Sydney 2000.

a. Egypt
b. Zambia
c. Ivory Coast
d. Cameroon

14. Known as the ‘Asian Black Mare’ Sri Lankan sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe won the Bronze medal at the initial 200m event at Sydney 2000. Who won the silver, before she was eventually raised to gold after Marian Jones was stripped of her medal?

a. Sevatheda Fynes
b. Debbie Ferguson
c. Pauline Davis-Thompson
d. Chandra Sturrup

While leading in the men's marathon at Athens 2004
(Image courtesy – AFP)

15. While leading in the men’s marathon at Athens 2004, with less than 10 kilometres to go, this Brazilian was attacked by an Irish priest Cornelius Horan and dragged into the crowd. He eventually recovered to take bronze, and was later awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship.

a. Vanderlei de Lima
b. Andre da Silva
c. Marcio de Souza
d. Osmar dos Santos

16. They became the first non-US team to win Basketball gold since professional NBA players were allowed to participate at Olympic basketball, by beating USA in the semi-finals before defeating Italy in the finals at Athens 2004

a. Spain
b. Russia
c. Argentina
d. Lithuania

17. The Panathenaic stadium used by Greece as the venue in 1896 was used again as the ending point of the marathon and as a venue for another particular sport in 2004.

a. Fencing
b. Archery
c. Rifle Shooting
d. Shot Put

18. What is not true about Beijing Olympics 2008?

a. China led the final medals table with most gold medals but USA won most total medals.
b. American swimmer Michael Phelps set a record for gold medals at a single Games with eight, and tied the record for most individual gold medals in a single Summer Olympic held by Vitaly Scherbo in 1992.
c. Usain Bolt became the first male athlete to set world records in both the finals of 100m and 200m in a single Olympic.
d. Kosovo participated as a separate nation at the Games

former British Olympic champion
(Image courtesy – Getty Images)

19. Which former British Olympic champion, who won the 1500m gold in both 1980 and 1984, headed the organizing committee of the 2012 London Olympics?

a. Alan Wells
b. Sebastian Coe
c. Steve Ovett
d. Cameron Sharp

20. At London 2012, swimmer Michael Phelps broke a long standing record for most number of medals in an Olympic career raising his medal tally to 22 medals. Which famous Soviet Gymnast’s 48 year old record of 18 career medals was broken by Phelps?

a. Larisa Latynina
b. Polina Astakova
c. Ludmila Tourisheva
d. Olga Korbut

Stay tuned for the next segment!

Answers

  1. 66
  2. Zimbabwe
  3. Carl Lewis
  4. Nawal El Moutawakel
  5. Ben Johnson won the 200m event but was found positive for using a banned substance.
  6. Christa Luding-Rothenburger
  7. Greg Louganis
  8. Chuck Daly
  9. Derek Redmond
  10. Sailing
  11. Donovan Bailey
  12. Rowing
  13. Cameroon
  14. Pauline Davis-Thompson
  15. Vanderlei de Lima
  16. Argentina
  17. Archery
  18. Kosovo participated as a separate nation at the Games
  19. Sebastian Coe
  20. Larisa Latynina