Jump at the Chance Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hurdles

Edwin Moses was an American athlete who was particularly accomplished at the 400m hurdles event, although he also ran the 100m hurdles and 400m flat races. Over a period of ten years, 1977 to 1987, Moses remained unbeaten in the 400m hurdles, winning 122 successive races as well as setting the world record four times.

At the Olympic Games, he won the gold medal in both 1976 (Montreal) and Los Angeles (1984). He was unable to compete in the 1980 games, held in Moscow, as the USA boycotted the event.

Answer: Pole vault

The Russian born Isinbayeva set new standards for women's pole vaulting, including setting a world record in 2009 which still stands in 2023. Her achievements include gold medals at two Olympic Games, in 2004 and 2008, and three golds at the World Championships. She retired from competing in 2016, but remains active in athletics, serving on various bodies connected to the sport.

Answer: National Hunt horseracing

This Irish jockey has become a trailblazer for females in the male dominated sport of racing. In her relatively short career to date (2023) she has won the Grand National (2021), Cheltenham Gold Cup (2022) and finished as the leading jockey at the prestigious Cheltenham Festival with six wins in 2021.

National Hunt involves a lot of jumping with the Grand National being one of the best known races around the world. The fences are big, and so are the horses needed to jump them. Although Rachael is far from the first female jockey to ride in the race - that honour goes to Charlotte Brew in 1977 - she is the first woman to win it.

Answer: Long jump

The multi-talented Lewis, from the USA, was known for his ability as a sprinter as well as in the long jump, and has four successive long jump Olympic gold medals to his credit, an achievement shared with only five other athletes. At the Los Angeles Olympics, in 1984, he won four gold medals, in the 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m sprints as well as in the long jump.

In 1988 (Seoul) he won the 100m and long jump and in Barcelona (1992) he again won the long jump with the 4 x 100m relay giving him another gold medal. Lewis's last gold medal came in 1996, in Atlanta, when he triumphed in the long jump again, giving him a total of nine Olympic golds.

Answer: Ski jumper

Scandinavian sports people are well known for their prowess at winter sports, and the Finn, Matti Nykänen, is among them. He was a proficient ski jumper, known for racing down a snow and ice covered slope and jumping off the end of it to make a perfect, and aesthetically pleasing, landing. Matti won four Olympic gold medals, one in 1984 in Sarajevo, and three in Calgary in 1988. Two came in the large hill event, with one more in the normal hill and the final one in the team event, which was held only in his second Olympics.

As well as these, Matti won numerous World events.

Answer: Gymnastics

Simone has won gold medals in most of the gymnastic events, including vault, floor exercises and beam, all of which involve jumping and twisting. At the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, held in 2016, she won four gold medals and has won many others at various World Championships.

At the 2020 delayed Tokyo Olympics, Simone suffered from mental issues with spatial awareness and was unable to compete in most of the events. The response to her issues was overwhelmingly positive and she garnered much admiration for her openness in discussing the problems she was experiencing.

Answer: Triple jump

Englishman Edwards was the leading triple jumper of the 1990s and early 2000s, despite having relatively few gold medals to prove it. He won only one Olympic gold, in Sydney in 2000, and has two World Championship golds as well. What he did do was regularly break the world record for his event, including twice during the same World Championship event. Edwards became the first man to jump over 18 metres (over 59 feet) and then surpassed this with a leap of 18.29 metres, which is over 60 feet.

Answer: Diving

Wu competed throughout the first years of the twenty-first century, with her specialities being the springboard events, both solo and the synchronised version in which she competed with three different partners. Her first Olympic gold medal came in Athens (2004) when she won the 3 metre synchronised event in partnership with Guo Jingjing. The duo repeated their success four years later, in Beijing.

The 2012 Olympics, held in London, saw Wu again win the gold medal for synchronised diving, this time with her new partner, He Zi. She also won the individual 3 metre event at these games, taking her total to four gold medals, before winning another gold in Rio (2016) with Shi Tingmao as her partner.

Answer: High jump

Sotomayor, from Cuba, was a high jumper. He was the first man to have cleared over eight feet (2.44m), setting his record at eight feet and a quarter of an inch (2.45m). He won the gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics, in 1992, and has two World Championship golds in his collection, achieved in 1993 and 1997.

He was also a regular winner indoors and at other events, such as the Pan American Games.

Answer: Figure skating

Katarina Witt represented East Germany at the beginning of her career and a re-unified Germany by the end. She was the pre-eminent figure skater of the 1980s winning Olympic gold medals in both 1984 (Sarajevo) and 1988 (Calgary). Her tally of gold medals also includes four World Championships and six European Championships.

She made a final appearance in the Olympics in Lillehammer, in 1994, finishing seventh overall.