Extraordinary Olympic Champions Quiz

Answer: Steve Redgrave

Sir Steve Redgrave is truly a legend in Olympic Sport. In the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 he won the Gold medal in the Coxed Fours with Martin Cross, Adrian Ellison, Andy Holmes and Richard Budgett. In Seoul Korea in 1988, he won Gold in the Coxless Pair with Andy Holmes. In Barcelona 1992, he won Gold in the Coxless Pair with Matthew Pinsent. The two of them repeated their success in the Atlanta 1996 Games. Finally, his 5th Gold medal was earned in Sydney in 2000 in the Coxless Four with Matthew Pinsent, Tim Foster, and James Cracknell.

Answer: Carl Lewis

Sprinter-Long Jumper Carl Lewis has won ten Olympic medals in Track and Field, nine of them Gold. In the Long Jump competition, Lewis won Gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics (where he repeated Jesse Owens amazing 1936 feat of winning the 100m, 200m, Long Jump, and 4x100m Relay), the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Carl Lewis has also won a remarkable eight World Championships Gold medals between 1983 and 1991.
The first athlete to achieve this feat was Al Oerter, who won gold in the discus event at the 1956-1960-1964-1968 Olympics.

Answer: Michael Phelps

Nicknamed the "Baltimore Bullet" Michael Phelps has amassed an incredible 18 Olympic gold medals in swimming. In Athens in 2004, he won six Gold (100m Butterfly, 200m Butterfly, 200m Individual Medley, 400m Individual Medley, 4x200m Freestyle, and 4x100m Medley).

In Beijing in 2008, he set a new Olympic record of eight Gold medals (100m Butterfly, 200m Butterfly, 200m Individual Medley, 400m Individual Medley, 4x100m Freestyle, 4x200m Freestyle, 4x100m Medley, and 200m Freestyle). He won another four gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics: 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley, 4×200m freestyle relay and 4×100m medley relay. Ian Thorpe won five gold medals (three Sydney 2000 and two Athens 2004); Gary Hall also won five gold (two Atlanta 1996 and three Athens 2004); and Mark Spitz won nine gold medals (two Mexico City 1968 and seven Munich 1972).

Answer: Larisa Latynina

Larisa Latynina competed in three Olympic Games for Russia and is recognized as one of the greatest Olympic athletes of all-time. In Melbourne in 1956 she won 4 Gold medals in the All-Around, Team, Floor Exercise, and Vault. She also earned a Silver medal on Bars and a Bronze medal in the Object Exercise. Four years later in the 1960 Rome Olympics she won 3 Gold medals in the All-Around, Team, and Floor Exercise. Silver medals were earned in the Bars and Balance Beam, and a Bronze medal on the Vault.

In her final Olympic Games in 1964 in Tokyo, Larisa won six more medals: 2 Gold in Team and Floor Exercise, 2 Silver in the All-Around and Vault, and 2 Bronze in the Bars and Balance Beam.

Answer: Paavo Nurmi

At 23 years of age he debuted at the 1920 Antwerp Olympic Games where he won the 10,000m Gold medal and Gold medals in the Team and Individual Cross-Country competition. He also won the Silver medal in the 5000m event. In 1924 at the "Chariots of Fire" Paris Olympics, he won a stunning five (5) Gold medals in distance races (1500m, 5000m, 3000m Team Race, Team Cross-Country, and Individual Cross-Country). Finally, in 1928 at the Amsterdam Games, he won Gold in the 10,000m event and Silver in the 5000m and 3000m Steeplecahse events.

Answer: Edoardo Mangiarotti -- Fencing

At just 17 years of age, Edoardo Mangiarotti won his first Olympic Gold medal in Team Epee. Sadly, the war years put the Olympic Games on hold and the Italian fencer would not return to Olympic competition until London in 1948 where he won a Silver medal in Team Foil and Team Epee and a Bronze medal in the Individual Epee competition. In Helsinki in 1952, Edoardo earned Gold medals in the Individual and Team Epee competition and Silver medals in Individual Foil and Team Foil. In Melbourne in 1956, he earned two more Gold medals in Team Foil and Team Epee and a Bronze medal in Individual Epee. Amazingly at 41 years of age he returned for one last Olympic Games in Rome in 1960. There he won a 6th Gold medal in Team Epee (24 years after his first Gold medal) and a Silver in Team Foil.

In 2003, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) awarded Edoardo Mangiarotti with a Platinum Wreath, stating "Edoardo Mangiarotti's total of 39 gold, silver & bronze medals in Olympic & World Fencing Championships not only earns him the distinction of being the greatest Fencer in that sport's history, but also distinguishes him as the most decorated athlete in ALL Olympic Sports in the history of the Olympics."

Answer: Merlene Ottey

Merlene Ottey is a former athlete of Jamaica who switched nationalities to Slovenia in 2002 after a highly publicized feud with Jamaican team officials at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Ottey has won nine (9) Olympic track and field medals (3 Silver and 6 Bronze).

In Moscow in 1980 she won a Bronze in the 200m at just 20 years of age. In Los Angeles in 1984 she won Bronze in the 100m and 200m. Four years later in Seoul Korea, she missed a medal but returned to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics where she earned Bronze in the 200m once again.

Then in Atlanta at the 1996 Games, Merlene Ottey had her most successful Olympics with Silver medals in the 100m and 200m and a Bronze in the 4x100m Relay. Twenty years after her first Olympic medal in Sydney 2000, Ottey earned a remarkable Silver medal on the 4x100m Relay and an upgrade to a Bronze medal in the 100m after Marion Jones lost her medal through a doping violation.

In Athens 2004, she was a semi-finalist for Slovenia in the 100m, and at 48 years old missed making the Slovenia team by .28 of a second for the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

Answer: Birgit Fischer -- Kayaking

Birgit Fischer has won three Gold medals and one Silver medal for East Germany and a further five Gold medals and three Silver medals for Germany. At 18 years of age, Birgit won Gold at the 1984 Moscow Olympics in the K-1 500m Canoe Sprint event. In 1988 in Seoul she won Silver in the K-1 500m event but Gold in the K-2 500m and the K-4 500m competition. Four years later in 1992, competing for Unified Germany, she won Gold in the K-1 500m event and Silver in the K-4 500m division.

The 1996 Atlanta Games saw another Gold in the K-2 500m event and Silver in the K-4 500m event. Sydney in 2000 saw K-2 and K-4 Gold medals in the 500m competition. Finally, in 2004 at the Athens Games at age 42, Birgit won another Gold medal in the K-4 500m competition and Silver in the K-2 500m event.

Answer: Al Oerter

Alfred Adolf Oerter, Jr. was the first track and field athlete to win four consecutive Gold medals in the same event across four different Olympiads. In 1956 he won Gold in Melbourne with a throw of 56.36m. In Rome in 1960 he led a U.S.A. sweep of the medals with a Gold medal throw of 59.18m.

In 1964 in Tokyo he won his third Gold medal with a throw of 61.00m. In 1968, in Mexico City, he won a remarkable fourth Gold medal with an Olympic Record throw of 64.78m. He failed barely in 1980 to make the U.S. Olympic team in finishing 4th at the U.S. Olympic Trials at age 43.

Answer: Sweden

Sweden has participated at every summer Olympics since 1896, except for the 1904 games in St Louis USA. Denmark and Italy have also participated at every summer Olympics except for one; both of them also missed the 1904 games.
The athletes of Great Britain have won a gold medal at every summer Olympics held; a unique distinction.