Athletes
This American has won the most world gold medals of any woman in gymnastics history.
a) Kristi Yamaguchi
b) Simone Biles
c) Shawn Johnson
Simone Biles
The first Olympics was held in:
a) 1940
b) 1896
c) 1930
1896
How many modern Olympic Games have been cancelled?
a) 10
b) 4
c) 1
b) 4!
The Games were cancelled in 1916, 1940, and 1944 due to World War 1 and 2, and they were cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Abebe Bikila became the first African to win a gold medal when he won the Olympic marathon in 1960 running in _____
a) Nikes
b) Boots
c) No shoes
c) No shoes
Abebe Bikila ran barefoot for 26 miles. He had trained both with and without shoes in Ethiopia, but his shoes fell apart a few days before the race. When he got new shoes from the local store, they gave him blisters, so he decided to run barefoot.
The youngest Olympian ever was a Greek gymnast named Dimitrios Loundras. He was ____ years old.
a) 14
b) 16
c) 10
He was 10 years old! Dimitrios Loundras competed in the 1896 Athens games, but now you have to be at least 16 to compete.
The first Olympic mascot was:
a) a cat named Smelly
b) a parrot named Iago
c) a dachshund named Waldi
a dachshund named Waldi
This country has won more medals at the Summer games than any other country.
a) United States
b) Canada
c) Spain
a) The U.S. has won 2189 medals
In 1904 gymnast George Eyser won six medals with ____
a) A big smile
b) A prosthetic wooden leg
c) A baseball cap
b) A wooden leg.
George Eyser lost most of his leg during childhood, when it was run over by a train, which is why he had a prosthetic leg made of wood. And out of the six medals that George Eyser won for Germany, three were gold.
Twin sisters and cross country skiing champions Sharon and Shirley Firth from the Gwich’in First Nation are the only Canadians to ever _____
a) Compete with their siblings
b) Compete in four Olympics in a row
c) Compete against their siblings
b) Compete in four Olympics in a row! The Firth twins also competed in four World championships and won 48 national titles and 79 medals.
___ athletes have won medals in both the Winter and Summer Olympics
a) 20
b) 5
c) 15
5
The five colours of the Olympic rings represent ____
a) Peace, love, strength, wisdom and justice
b) Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and the Americas
c) Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades and Demeter
b)!
The five colors of the Olympic rings (blue, black, green, yellow and red) were chosen because every country in the world has at least one of those colors in their flag. The rings represent 5 of the world’s continents: Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and the Americas, linked together in friendship.
The 2012 London Summer Olympics was the first time that ______
a) Every country in the world competed
b) Every country sent a female athlete
c) London hosted the Olympics
b) Every country sent a female athlete
2012 was also the first year that women were allowed to compete in every sport
Why did Bobby Pearce slow down during his rowing race at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam?
a) To wave at his family
b) To take a picture
c) To let a family of ducks pass
c) To let a family of ducks pass
the Olympics motto in Latin, Citius, Altius, Fortius means:
a) Cooler, smarter, stronger
b) Swifter, higher, stronger
c) Smarter, stronger, better
Swifter, higher, stronger
The gold medals are made of ____
a) 100% Gold
b) 100% Gold-painted metal
c) Mostly silver with 6 grams of Gold
c) Mostly silver with 6 grams of Gold
In 1960, Rome held the first _____
a) Olympics for artists
b) Olympics for youth
c) Olympics for people with disabilities
c) Olympics for people with disabilities
The first Paralympics were held in Rome, 1960.
When Japanese pole vaulters Shuhei Nashida and his friend Sueo Oe tied in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, how did they break the tie?
a) They did the competition again.
b) They cut the medals in half and made half-bronze, half-silver medals.
c) They played rock, paper, scissors.
b) Although the Olympics committee forced Japan to pick one athlete (Nishida) get silver, the two friends later returned to Japan and took their medals to a jeweller who cut them both in half. Then they joined half of the silver medal with half of the bronze medal, creating a half-silver, half-bronze medal for each of them. The medals became known as “The Medals of Friendship”.
This is the only city that has hosted the Olympics three times.
a) Paris
b) London
c) Barcelona
London
The Beijing Olympics began at exactly 8:08:08 PM because _____
a) They forgot to set their alarms
b) A few countries arrived early
c) 8 is considered a lucky number in China
c) 8 is considered a lucky number in China
The longest remaining Olympic record is _____ years old.
a) 100
b) 75
c) 53
c) 53 years
Bob Bearman won the long jump in the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico. His superhuman leap registered a remarkable 8.90 metres to become an Olympic record, which to this day stands in the competition.