A European Sport Melange Trivia Quiz

Answer: Football (soccer)

Harking back to when men first kicked a ball around a field in medieval times, Association Football has become the most popular sport in Europe. The rules of the modern game date back to a meeting in England in 1848. In Europe, the sport is administered by UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) and their flagship club competition is the Champions League (the European Champions Cup prior to 1992). This brings together the top clubs from across the continent in an annual tournament.

The Camp Nou Stadium is located in Barcelona, Spain and has been the home of FC Barcelona since 1957. Host to many a great game, it is the largest stadium in Europe with a seating capacity of almost 100,000 people.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the Portuguese player who is widely considered to be one of the best players in the world ever to grace a football field. He started his career at Sporting Lisbon before moving onto such giants as Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus. He has represented his country over 190 times since he made his national debut in 2003 at the age of eighteen.

Answer: Golf

From its origins in Scotland, golf has expanded to be a very popular sport in Europe and there are now over 8500 golf courses dotted around the continent. One of these is the world's oldest course, The Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland, which is known as the "home of golf". The Claret Jug is the name of the trophy that is presented to the winner of The Open Championship, the only one of golf's four majors to be played outside of the United States. It was first awarded in 1873 to Tom Kidd. The original Claret Jug has been on permanent display at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St Andrews since 1928.

The Real Club Valderrama or Royal Valderrama in English is one of the most famous golf courses of Europe and played host to the 1997 Ryder Cup. It is located in the Sotogrande Resort in San Roque, Andalucia in Spain and was designed by the famous American course designer, Robert Trent Jones.

Held every two years, The Ryder Cup is the competition between the teams of Europe and the United States. First held in 1927,it was originally contested between Great Britain and the United States and is named after Samuel Ryder, the English businessman who donated the trophy. In 1979, the competition was expanded to include players from Continental Europe. The teams consist of twelve players each.

Answer: Cycling

From the advent of the first velocipide in the early 19th century, Europe has had a long lasting love affair with cycling. The sport is extremely popular with the disciplines of road-racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike and track cycling all on offer at both recreational and competitive levels. The world's greatest road cycling races including the three Grand Tours (3 week races) and the 5 Monuments (one day races) are all held in Europe. With road cycling, the roads, and especially the mountains, of Europe become the setting for the races. One of the most iconic of these is the legendary Alpe d'Huez, a 13.8km climb with 21 hairpins bends that starts in Le Bourg d'Oisan in the French Alps. Just as tennis players dream of winning Wimbledon, young cyclists aspire to win atop the Alpe. It was first included in the Tour de France in 1952 with that victory going to the great Italian, Fausto Coppi.

One of the highlights of cycling is the variety on offer in terms of races and as far as, one-day races go, La Doyenne, or Liege-Bastogne-Liege is the oldest of them all. It was first held as far back as 1892 and the route runs from the Belgian town of Liege to Bastogne and back again. It usually held at the end of the spring classics season in late April. With an average length of about 245km, it is considered to be one of the most arduous one day races on the calendar.

Answer: Athletics

Since 490BC when Pheidippides ran from the battle site at Marathon to Athens to bring news of the victory against the Persians, athletics has been an integral part of European sport. When the revival of the Summer Olympic Games happened in Athens in 1896, one of the inaugural events was the marathon with the benchmark set at a distance of 42.195km; the distance between the original battle site and the capital of Greece. It was quite fitting perhaps that this milestone event was won by Greece's Spyridon Louis. When the route of that first Olympic marathon was recreated for the Athens Games of 2004, it was another European who triumphed, Italy's Stefano Baldani.

Zurich's Letzigrund Stadium is one of the most iconic athletic stadiums in the world. This stadium has, since 1928, been home to the Weltklasse, an annual by-invitation only athletics meeting that has been called the one-day Olympics. Many a famous record has been set in this stadium. It was the here that, in 1960, a German sprinter called Armin Hary became the first person to run the 100m in 10.0 seconds. It was also the venue where Yelena Isinbayeva set the women's pole vault world record with a vault of 5.06m in 2009. When the Weltklasse first started in 1928, it was known as the "Nurmi Meeting" in honour of the famous Finnish distance runner, Paavo Nurmi. The "Flying Finn", as he was known, set 22 world records between 1500m and 20kms during his career. He competed in 12 Summer Olympic events which netted an incredible 9 gold and 3 silver medals.

Answer: Skiing

From the icy climes of northern Europe down through the mighty Alps to the Pyrenees in the South, the continent of Europe lends itself to winter sports. The very first Winter Olympics were held in 1924 in Chamonix, France and the continent has gone onto host numerous more. Of the winter sports, skiing is one of the most popular, both recreational and competitive. St Moritz is one of the most famous ski resorts in the world and is situated in the Engadine Valley in Switzerland. It started offering winter sports in 1886 and is considered to be the "birthplace of winter tourism". The resort offers over 350kms of piste skiing and has twice hosted the Winter Olympics, once in 1928 and secondly in 1948.

Alpine skiing consists of four disciplines, downhill, slalom, giant slalom and super-G. The newest of the four, super-G or, super giant slalom, is an event which combines both speed and technical skill. It made its debut at World Cup level in 1982 and was included at the Winter Olympics for the first time in 1988. Hermann Maier, the Austrian skier who is considered to be one of the greatest alpine skiers of all time, was a master of the super-G. 24 of his 54 World Cup victors came in this discipline along with an Olympic gold medal in 1998 and a silver medal in 2006.

Answer: Rugby Union

From its origins at Rugby School in England in 1823, rugby union has spread its popularity across Europe from its traditional home in Britain, Ireland and France. The Rugby World Cup has also seen teams from Italy, Georgia and Romania play at the highest level. Twickenham Stadium is the "Home of English Rugby". It is situated in Twickenham, southwest of London, and is owned by the sport's governing body, the English Rugby Football Union. It is the largest rugby union stadium in the world, able to accommodate some 82 000 people. It was opened in 1909 with the first international between England and Wales taking place on 15 January 1910.

The Six Nations Championship is the annual rugby union competition that takes place between the countries of England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy. It started out life as the Home Nations Championship in 1883. However, in 1910, it was expanded to include a team from France and became known as the Five Nations Championship. This remained the status quo until 2000 when Italy joined the fray and five became six, hence the Six Nations Championship. Philippe Sella is the French rugby player who is considered to be one of the best centres ever to play the game. From his debut for France against Romania in 1982, he went onto represent his country 111 times before his retirement, a record at that point. In 1986 he became the 4th player to score a try in every game of a Five Nations Championship season.

Answer: Tennis

The origins of tennis have been traced back to the 13th century and a French handball game called 'jeu-de-parme' or 'game of the palm'. Through all the changes which have led to the game of modern tennis as we know it, it has remained a popular sport in Europe. Two of the sport's four Grand Slam tournaments are hosted in Europe and the list of great players from all over the continent is a long one and is still growing. Stade Roland Garros is the tennis complex situated in Paris which is home to the French Open (Roland Garros). The complex was constructed in 1928 as a venue for France to defend its Davis Cup title. It is renowned for its red clay surface and is named after the French aviator and World War I hero, Roland Garros.

The Wimbledon Championships, or simply Wimbledon as it is most often called, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. It also widely considered to be the most prestigious and the one that young players dream of winning. It was started in 1877 and is played at the All England Club in Wimbledon, just outside London. It is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments of tennis and is the only one still played on a grass surface. The great Swiss player, Roger Federer, won eight Wimbledon men's singles titles. Roger Federer is one of the greatest players ever to grace a tennis court and, in 2018, he became the first male player to win 20 Grand Slam titles. His rivalry with fellow Europeans, the Spaniard Rafael Nadal and also later, the Serb Novak Djokovic, dominated men's tennis for many a year. He retired from tennis in September 2022 at the age of 41.

Answer: Sailing

Europe is a continent with a rich maritime history and has been home to some of the world's most intrepid sailors dating back to Leif Erikson so it comes as no surprise that sailing continues to be a popular sport across the continent. Why, even landlocked Switzerland won the America's Cup, yachting's oldest trophy, on two occasions in 2003 and 2007. Cowes Week is the oldest regular regatta in the world. It was started in 1826 as a result of King George IV's passion for yachting and is based on the small town on Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Races are held on The Solent, the body of water between England and the Isle of Wight.

Barcolana officially entered the record books in February 2019 when it was awarded a Guinness World Record as "the world's greatest sailing race" after the regatta held on October 14 2018 attracted some 2689 boats and over 16 000 sailors. Started in 1969 by the Societa Velica di Bracolana e Grignano, the race takes place in the waters off the city of Trieste in Italy. Ben Ainslie is the British sailor who is one of the most successful Olympians of all time. After winning a gold medal in 2012 at the London Summer Games, he became the most decorated Olympic sailor of all time. He won medals at five consecutive Summer Olympics between 1996 and 2012, four of them gold and one silver.

Answer: Horse Racing

From the time when chariot racing was held in the Colosseum in Rome, horse racing has been part of the sporting scene in Europe. Races range from the medieval Palio in Siena, through steeplechasing to harness racing which is very popular in Scandinavia. It is, however, flat racing which is considered to be the "Sport of Kings". Ascot Racecourse, situated near Windsor in England, is one of the most famous horse racing venues in the world. It offers both jump and flat races and every year plays host to Royal Ascot, a five day flat race meeting that includes the prestigious Gold Cup race.

The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is Europe's premier all-age horse race. Since its inception in 1920, the race has been run on the first Sunday of October at Longchamps Racecourse outside Paris. It is run over a distance of 2400m. A testimony to the heritage of racing in Europe is Kincsem, who, as at 2022, is the Hungarian filly who holds the world record for the longest stretch of unbeaten races by a racehorse. Between 1876 and 1880, Kincsem ran 54 times across Europe and was never defeated. Her name, which means "My Treasure", is certainly fitting.

Answer: Motor Racing

From the time the German designer Carl Friedrich Benz produced the first practical motorcar in 1885, motor sport has been a firm favourite of the continent with races ranging from Formula One through endurance racing to the World Rally Championships. One of the most prestigious races on offer is the ultra endurance race, 24 Hours of Le Mans, which takes place annually at the Circuit de Sarthe in Le Mans in northern France. First run in 1923, this race is decided by the furthest distance covered in a 24 hour period which provides a test of stamina for both man and machine as speeds of up 336 km/h are not unusual.

Imola, a small town east of Bologna, Italy, is home to one of the most famous racing circuits in the world; the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. It a 4.9km track named after the founder of the famous Ferrari car manufacturer, Enzo Ferrari, and his son, Dino. The track has hosted three different F1 Grands Prix, namely, the Italian GP, the San Marino GP and, from 2020, the Emilio-Romagna GP. It is one of the few tracks to run in an anti-clockwise direction.

Max Verstappen is the Dutch driver who won back to back F1 World Championship titles in 2021 and 2022. He is the son of former Dutch driver, Jos Verstappen. In 2015, he became the youngest driver ever to compete in a F1 race when took to the start of the Australian Grand Prix. He also became the first Dutch driver to win a F1 race when he took the victory at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.