Olympics Throughout Time Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cook

A cook from Elis, Coroebus was the first winner of the stade at Olympia. Unfortunately, we don't know how fast he ran. But there are many stories from ancient days about how runners used to fall dead from strain.

Answer: Theodosius I

In 393 CE, the Roman emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, abolished the Games because of their pagan influences.

Answer: Brown

The five rings (blue, yellow, black, green and red) symbolize the five continents (except Antarctica). The fact that they are interconnected, symbolizes the friendship to be gained from the Olympic competitions. According to the Olympic Committee, "these colors were chosen because at least one of them appeared on the flag of every country".

Answer: Antwerp

Although Pierre de Coubertin created the Olympic flag in 1914, it was first flown during 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium (note, there were no Olympics in 1916 because of World War I). But unfortunately, there were not so many to see that flag: the number of spectators was low.

The reason was that people could not find the money for tickets after the war and, as a result, Belgium lost over 600 million francs from hosting the Games.

Answer: Citius, Altius, Fortius

The Olympic motto 'Citius, Altius, Fortius' is Latin literally meaning 'Faster, Higher, Braver,' However, the universally accepted meaning is 'Swifter, Higher, Stronger.'

Answer: Fencer

Pierre de Coubertin wrote an oath for the athletes to recite at each Olympic Games. During the opening ceremonies, one athlete recites the oath on behalf of all the athletes. The Olympic oath was first taken during the 1920 Olympic Games by Belgian fencer Victor Boin.

The Olympic Oath states, 'In the name of all competitors, I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules that govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams.'

Answer: Amsterdam

The tradition of Olympic flame came from the ancient Olympics. In Olympia (Greece), a flame was lit by the sun and then kept burning until the closing of the Olympic Games. Amsterdam in 1928 became the first city in the history of modern Olympics to light up the Olympic flame, which symbolizes many things like purity and the endeavor for perfection. Just in 1936 Olympic flame became what it is now the modern Torch relay.

The Olympic flame is lit at the ancient place of Olympia by women wearing ancient-style robes and using a curved mirror and the sun.

Then it is passed from runner to runner from the ancient site of Olympia to the Olympic stadium in the host city.

Answer: Athens

The Olympic Hymn was composed by Spyros Samaras and the words added by Kostis Palamas. The Olympic Hymn was first played at the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens (it is usually played when the Olympic Flag is raised), but wasn't declared the official hymn by the IOC until 1957.

Answer: London

The 1908 Olympic Games were originally scheduled to be hosted by Rome, but the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius caused the Games to be relocated to London. These Games were much better organized than the previous regularly scheduled Olympic Games. They were even the first to have an opening ceremony. During the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, the procession of athletes is always led by Greece, followed by all the other teams in alphabetical order (in the language of the hosting country), except for the last team which is always the host country.

Answer: 1908 - London

It was in the 1908 Olympic Games that the exact distance of a marathon was established as 26 miles and 365 yards. In 1908, the British royal family requested that the marathon start at the Windsor Castle so that the royal children could witness its start.

The distance from the Windsor Castle to the Olympic Stadium was 42,195 meters (or 26 miles and 385 yards). In 1924, this distance became the standardized length of a marathon.

Answer: 1900 - Paris

Women were first allowed to participate in 1900 at the second modern Olympic Games. It was here that Britain's Charlotte Cooper became the first female gold medallist in the tennis singles competition. Only one other sport saw women's participation in 1900, golf.

In the Ancient Olympic Games, women were forbidden to take part. Married women were not admitted even as spectators, let alone as competitors on pain of death. The Greeks believed that the presence of wives at Olympia would defile Greece's oldest religious shrine there, although young girls were allowed in. Ironically, the religious shrine the men were preserving was dedicated to a female, the goddess Rhea mother of the supreme god, Zeus.

The penalty for women who broke the rule was to be thrown from a nearby cliff.

Answer: 1920

Because of World War I and World War II, there were no Olympic Games in 1916, 1940, or 1944.

Answer: 1924

The winter Olympic Games were first held in 1924, beginning a tradition of holding them a few months earlier and in a different city than the summer Olympic Games. Beginning in 1994, the winter Olympic Games were held in completely different years (two years apart) than the summer Games.

Answer: Marathon

There were three kinds of foot-races:
1. the stade (a length of one stade or 200m race).
2. the diaulos (a length of two stades, 400m race).
3. the dolichos, or the long race (ranged between 7-24 stades, or 1,400 - 1,800m).

Answer: Pentathlon

The pentathlon was added in 708 BC in the 18th Olympiad. It consisted of 5 events: discus, javelin, long jump, running, and wrestling . According to mythology, the pentathlon was invented by Jason. He combined the five events, and awarded the prize to his friend Peleus (who had come in second in everything but wrestling, in which he placed first).

Answer: Pentathletes

According to Aristotle, 'The pentathletes are the best, because they are naturally endowed with both strength and speed.' To participate in the pentathlon required a combination of qualities: speed, strength, skill, and endurance. These qualities were not always found in combination with competitors of each individual sport.

Answer: 1936 - Berlin

Answer: Australia

Why did it happen so? Well, one reason is that in the beginning of Olympic Movement, just a few countries took part. For example, in the first Olympics in Athens approximately 300 athletes participated, representing just 13 countries. In 1900, 1,066 athletes participated, representing 19 countries. A major problem for the 1904 Olympics was that it was held far from Europe. The fact that European participants would have to make a trans-Atlantic voyage plus a long train ride to Missouri to get there, not to mention that many Europeans envisioned St. Louis as small town on the wilderness frontier, made international participation very weak ... ditto with Melbourne in 1956 - because of the two political events and the distance to Australia, only 3,500 athletes from 57 countries participated in the Games. The 1964 Olympic Games were marred by the absence of Indonesia, North Korea, and South Africa. Both Indonesia and North Korea voluntarily withdrew their teams from the competition when several of their contestants were found to be disqualified (those athletes who had participated in the New Emerging Forces Games in Jakarta in 1963 were not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games).

And of course, Olympics were always highly connected with politics. In 1920 Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary and Turkey were not permitted to participate because of their role in World War I. In 1948 Germany and Japan were not invited to participate because of their role in World War II. In 1956 Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon boycotted the Melbourne Games to protest the Israeli-led take-over of the Suez Canal. Holland and People's Republic of China withdrew in protest of the continuing recognition of Taiwan's separate NOC. Spain and Switzerland boycotted to protest the Soviet invasion of Hungary.

In 1958 the People's Republic of China withdrew from the Olympic movement and all international federations. The 1976 Montreal Games were boycotted by African nations. In 1964 South Africa was banned from participating in the Olympic Games by the IOC because of South Africa's racist policy of apartheid.

The 1980 Olympic Games were most notable for the largest boycott of an Olympics in history. Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, the USA and 61 other countries decided to boycott the Olympics. The boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, by the Soviet Union and 13 other socialist countries was also influenced by political motives. In 1988 North Korea, Cuba, Ethiopia and Nicaragua boycotted Seoul Olympics.

Answer: Melbourne

The 1956 Olympic Games hosted by Melbourne were the first Olympics held in the Southern Hemisphere, thus the Games were held in November and December. Because of the two political events and the distance to Australia, only 3,500 athletes from 57 countries participated in the Games.

The two political events were: Suez Crisis when Israel invaded Egypt, and Soviet invasion of Hungary.

Answer: 1968 - Mexico City