Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. At the 1908 Olympics held in London, the final of the men's 400m was controversially re-run, producing a different Olympic champion from the first attempt. What event brought about this dispute?
2. In 1912, all Olympic hopefuls had to be amateurs. Jim Thorpe, the American gold medallist in both the pentathlon and decathlon events, was subsequently stripped of his titles after it was discovered that he had played which sport on a semi-professional basis?
3. At the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin, German Toni Merkens escaped disqualification and held on to his gold medal, despite having committed a foul against the Dutchman Arie van Vliet in the first race of their best of three encounter. In which event was his victory disputed?
4. At the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, the outcome of the slalom event was disputed when the Austrian skier Karl Schranz set the fastest time on his second attempt at the course, but was later disqualified. Why had he been allowed a second go in the first place?
5. Which country, known for its poor political relationship with the USA in the second half of the 20th century, fielded the first team to defeat the USA in the final of the Olympic basketball event?
6. The Canadian sprinter Ben Jonson is infamous for failing a drugs test just three days after winning the gold medal for the 100m at which Olympic Games?
7. Olympic disciplines that rely on judges to award scores, rather than quantifiable results such as time taken or goals scored, are always likely to be more prone to disputes over who deserves to be champion. What was controversial about Park Si-Hun's victory in the light-middleweight boxing category at the Seoul games in 1988?
8. Irish Olympian Cian O'Connor was stripped of his gold medal from the 2004 Athens Olympics as a result of a drugs violation. O'Connor himself had not failed a drugs test, so what were the circumstances that led to his champion status being disputed?
9. The men's figure skating competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics was marred by a controversy surrounding the fact that the gold medallist won the competition despite having not included the most difficult type of jump in his routine. What type of jump had he omitted?
10. Mass boycotts, or the expulsion of various countries, have impacted the results of a significant number of Olympic Games since the modern era began in 1896. What name was given to the alternative games run in 1980 following the US-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics?
Source: Author
Fifiona81
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