Athletics Assortment Trivia Quiz

Answer: Florence Griffith Joyner

Florence Griffith Joyner aka Flo-Jo was a US athlete who in 1988 set world records for both the 100 and 200 metres. Flo-Jo was the wife of triple jumper Al Joyner and sister-in-law of Jackie Joyner Kersee. She died in 1998 as the result of an epileptic seizure aged 38.

Answer: Asafa Powell

Asafa Powell was a member of the Jamaican Olympic team that competed at London 2012. He did not compete in the 200 metres but did make the final of the 100 metres but unfortunately finished last. The incorrect answers were the three medallists, Bolt (Gold), Blake (Silver) and Weir (Bronze).

Answer: British

Jonathan Edwards was born in 1966 in Windsor, England. At one point in 2002 he held the title (gold medals) in the four major athletics championships these being European (1998 Budapest), Olympic (2000 Sydney), World (2001 Edmonton) and Commonwealth (2002 Manchester).

He also won gold medals at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg and the 1998 European Indoor Championships in Valencia. He retired in 2003 and became a sports commentator and presenter.

Answer: Kemar Bailey-Cole

Kemar Bailey-Cole was a member of the Jamaican squad and competed during their qualifying heat but was replaced by Usain Bolt for the final. Jamaica won the gold medal in a new World Record time of 36.84 seconds (the previous record was 37.04 seconds, sert by the same four runners a year earlier).

Answer: Liudmila Popovskaya

Liudmila Popovskaya finished fourth in the Pentathlon at the 1976 Montreal Olympics which also saw one nation winning all three medals. That time it was the East German trio of Siegrun Siegl, Christine Laser and Burglinde Pollak who took gold, silver and bronze respectively.

The incorrect answers Nadezhda Tkachenko, Olga Rukavishnikova and Olga Kuragina won gold, silver and bronze respectively in 1980.

Answer: Sergey Bubka

Ukrainian Sergey Bubka representing the Soviet Union at the time achieved this feat in Paris, France. Russians Rodion Gataullin (1989) and Igor Trandenkov (1996) were the second and fourth athletes to clear six metres. South African Okkert Brits was the third in 1995.

Answer: 3 x Track, 4 x Field

The Heptathlon is an event usually contested by women that features three track events (100m Hurdles, 200m and 800m) and four field events (High Jump, Shot Put, Long Jump and Javelin) spread over two days.

Answer: David Rudisha

David Rudisha broke his own world record when he became the first man to run under 1:41 for the 800m. He was born in December 1988 in Kilgoris, Kenya. He had previously won gold at the 2011 World Championships and at the African Championships in 2008 and 2010. The incorrect answers are three of the competitors from the 800m final in London where Rudisha set the world record.

Answer: True

In both events ten hurdles have to be cleared although the height of the hurdle differs for each event. In the 110m event they are 42in/107cm high while for the 100m they are 33in/83.8cm.

Answer: 800m

The Men's Decathlon is made up of four track events (100m, 110m Hurdles, 400m and 1500m) and six field events (Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump, Discus Throw, Pole Vault and Javelin Throw). There is also a women's version which is almost the same except for the hurdles race which is run over 100m instead.