Quiz on Olympics

On this day in 1896, the first-ever modern Olympic Games began at Athens. This week celebrates the Olympic movement.

The big league

1 Who captained the last Indian hockey team to win an Olympic gold medal?

2 Which is the longest-standing record in the track and field event of the Summer Olympics?

3 The 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris were held over five months and integrated with the Paris World Fair. The games were also the first to feature women, who participated in croquet, golf, sailing and one other sport. Name it.

4 In which Olympics did spectators witness the infamous ‘Blood in the water’ match, a water polo game where the two teams — the Soviet Union and Hungary — literally fought each other in the pool?

5 The US boxing contingent for the 1976 Olympics featured what is regarded as probably the greatest collection of talent, winning five gold medals. Three of the five gold medallists were Sugar Ray Leonard, Leo Randolph and Howard Davis Jr. Name the other two, who were brothers.

6 In the 1988 Summer Olympics, who won his nation’s first ever gold medal, beating Matt Biondi by 0.01 seconds?

7 In which Olympic opening ceremony did North and South Korea march in together, using a special ‘unification’ flag, which featured the entire Korean Peninsula in blue?

8 The 2008 Olympics had an incredible 65 Olympic records set in the pool, of which 25 were world records. This was primarily due to the use of the LZR Racer, a swimming suit developed by the Australian Institute of Sport and another organisation. Name it.

9 Which Olympic and Paralympic mascots were named after a town that held a precursor of the modern Olympic games and the village where the forerunner of the Paralympic Games were held?

10 Which team won the football event in the 1924 and 1928 Olympic Games? And what did that result in?

Answers

1 V Bhaskaran, in the 1980 Moscow Olympics

2 Bob Beamon’s 8.9 metre effort in the long jump competition in 1968. While Mike Powell crossed it finally in the Tokyo World Championships in 1991, it’s never been bettered in the Olympic Games

3 Tennis. Charlotte Cooper won the first-ever individual gold medal

4 1956, Melbourne. This was against the backdrop of the Hungarian revolution, put down by Soviet troops

5 Leon and Michael Spinks

6 Anthony Nesty of Suriname

7 2000 Sydney, with 199 nations participating

8 NASA

9 Wenlock and Mandeville, named after Much Wenlock and Stoke Mandeville

10 Uruguay, which was the reason Uruguay was awarded the rights to hold the first ever FIFA World Cup in 1930

Joy Bhattacharjya is a quizmaster; Twitter: @joybhattacharj

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