London 2012: An Eventful Two Weeks Quiz / Test | Sports

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. How many countries made their debut appearance in the London 2012 Games?

Answer: 0

No countries made their debut appearance in the London 2012 Olympics, making it the first time there were no debutantes in the Summer Games. All 204 NOCs sent their representatives to London, while three athletes from the former Netherlands Antilles (who do not have a NOC anymore) and one from South Sudan (who did not organize a NOC in time for the Games) competed as independent participants.

2. How many countries won their first-ever medals in London 2012?

Answer: 7

Seven countries won their very first Olympic medals in these Games:
Guatemala's Erick Barrondo won his country's first medal (silver) in the 20 km walk.

Cyprus' Pavlos Kontides won his country's first medal (silver) in the laser class sailing competition.

Grenada's Kirani James won his country's first medal (gold) in the 400 metres run.

Botswana's Nijel Amos won his country's first medal (silver) in the 800 metres run.

Bahrain's Maryam Yusuf Jamal won her country's first medal (bronze) in the 1500 metres run.

Gabon's Anthony Obame won his country's first medal (silver) in Taekwondo.

Finally, the silver medal won by Montenegro's women handball team is the first Olympic medal of their country.

3. How many countries won their very first gold medals in London 2012?

Answer: 1

The medal Kirani James won for Grenada (400m run) is their first medal ever, and of course also their first gold medal ever. Other countries that never won gold before didn't win gold in London 2012 either.

4. Which of the following countries did not choose a tennis player as flag bearer in the opening ceremony?

Answer: Spain

The flag bearer for Spain was basketball player Pau Gasol who replaced the injured Rafael Nadal.

The following tennis players were chosen as flag bearers: Max Mirnyy (Belarus), Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus), Stephanie Vogt (Liechtenstein), Agnieszka Radwańska (Poland), Horia Tecău (Romania), Maria Sharapova (Russia), Novak Djokovic (Serbia), Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland).

5. Which country won the Games' first gold medal?

Answer: China

The first gold medal of the games went to China after Yi Siling won the women's 10 metre air rifle contest. China was also the recipient of the first bronze after Yi's compatriot Yu Dan finished third. The first silver went to Poland's Sylwia Bogacka.

6. Who of the following swimmers did NOT beat Michael Phelps in London 2012 (including team events)?

Answer: Ryosuke Irie from Japan

Ryosuke Irie's Japan team finished second behind Michael Phelps' USA in the 4x100m medley. Chad le Clos from South Africa beat Phelps to the gold medal in the 200m butterfly, Ryan Lochte won the 400m individual medley (where Phelps finished only fourth), and Yannick Agnel's France team beat the USA team in the 4x100m freestyle.

7. Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian by winning his 19th medal. Who was the previous record holder?

Answer: Larisa Latynina

Legendary Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina won her 18th medal in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo. This record stood until the London 2012 games when Michael Phelps first equalled it and then broke it. He went on to win three more medals to bring his tally to 22. Latynina said Phelps deserved to break her record and even wanted to be the one to present him the 19th medal, but was refused.

8. What was so special about Park Tae-Hwan winning the silver medal in the 400m freestyle event?

Answer: He wasn't supposed to take part in the final

Park Tae-Hwan, who won gold in this event in Beijing, was disqualified for a false-start in the semi-final. He was reinstated after an appeal and was permitted to take part in the final. There he finished second behind China's Sun Yang.

9. One of the rising stars of London 2012 is 15-year-old Rūta Meilutytė. In which style did she swim to win her sensational gold medal?

Answer: Breaststroke

Rūta Meilutytė won Lithuania's first ever medal in swimming in the 100 metre breaststroke event. Also in London 2012 Lithuania won its first ever olympic medals in canoeing (Yevgeniy Shuklin - silver) and boxing (Evaldas Petrauskas - bronze).

10. Pandelela Rinong of Malaysia won her country's first olympic medal in a sport other than badminton. In which sport did she compete?

Answer: Diving

Before 2012, Malaysia had won four Olympic medals, all in badminton. They added another medal in badminton with the help of Lee Chong Wei, who became this country's first multi-medalist (having won a medal in Beijing too). Pandelela Rinong Pamg won the bronze medal in the 10m platform diving event, giving Malaysia its very first non-badminton Olympic medal.

11. The Bryan brothers won the men's doubles tennis tournament. In the quarterfinals they beat Israeli pair Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich. The Israelis claimed a very big scalp to reach this round. Whom did they beat?

Answer: Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka

Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka on their way to the quarterfinal encounter with the Bryan brothers. Even though they were eliminated by the Americans, Ram and Erlich weren't disappointed and said that nobody can take their victory over Federer from them, and that "not every day you beat such a great athlete".

12. Which Russian athlete did not win gold in London 2012?

Answer: Yelena Isinbayeva

Isinbayeva's experience in the London Olympics was somewhat disappointing, as she won "only" the bronze in the pole vault contest. Antyukh won gold in the 400 metres hurdles, Zaripova won the 3000 metres steeplechase, while Chicherova got the gold in the high jump.

13. Kazakhstan won 7 gold medals in London. Four of them came in one sport. Which one?

Answer: Weightlifting

Kazakhstan won four gold medals in weightlifting. The winners are: Ilya Ilyin, Zulfia Chinshanlo, Maya Maneza and Svetlana Podobedova. Still, Kazakhstan's most exciting win in the Olympics came on the very first day, when veteran cyclist Aleksandr Vinokourov won the men's road race.

14. Who scored the goals in the Mexico-Brazil final to win Mexico's first ever football gold medal and deny Brazil their first Olympic championship?

Answer: Oribe Peralta

Oribe Peralta scored the first goal of the final in the very first minute, and later scored what proved to be the winner in the 75th minute. Hulk scored a consolation goal in the 91th minute, but it was too little too late for Brazil.

15. Many gold medallists from Beijing won a gold medal in London too. Of the following four, who failed to defend their title?

Answer: Kenenisa Bekele

Majewski, Dibaba and Bolt have successfully defended their Olympic titles in London. Kenenisa Bekele, however, did not win a single medal in these Games. His brother, Tariku, beat him to the bronze in the 10,000 metre race, the silver went to Galen Rupp from the USA, and the gold to Mo Farah of the UK.

16. How many bronze medals were given at the men's high jump event?

Answer: 3

Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar), Derek Drouin (Canada) and Robert Grabarz (United Kingdom) tied for third place in the event, so three bronze medals were awarded. The silver went to American Erik Kynard, while the gold went to Russian athlete Ivan Ukhov.

17. August 4th was the "Super Saturday" of the London 2012 Games. In how many events did Team GB win gold medals on this day?

Answer: 6

Six gold medals was Team GB's achievement on "Super Saturday". Jessica Ennis won the women's heptathlon, Greg Rutherford won the long jump, and Mo Farah came first in the 10,000 metre race. Danielle King, Laura Trott and Joanna Rowsell won the team pursuit in cycling.

In rowing, Alex Gregory, Tom James, Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs-Hodge won the coxless four race, while Katherine Copeland and Sophie Hosking won the lightweight double sculls race.

18. Which country won medals in every volleyball event?

Answer: Brazil

Brazil won gold in the women's indoor tournament, silver in both the men's indoor (lost to Russia) and men's beach (lost to Germany) tournaments, and bronze in the women's beach tournament (the United States took both gold and silver).

19. The men's javelin throw event ended with a very unlikely winner. Which country did he represent?

Answer: Trinidad and Tobago

Keshorn Walcott from Trinidad and Tobago won gold in the javelin event. The silver went to Oleksandr Pyatnytsya from Ukraine and the bronze to Antti Ruuskanen from Finland. Vitezslav Vesely from the Czech Republic, who was the favourite to win the contest, finished only fourth.

20. In the closing ceremony, anthems of four countries were played: the anthem of Greece, the birthplace of the Games; the anthem of the United Kingdom, the host; the anthem of Brazil, the next host; and the anthem of...

Answer: Uganda

The anthem of Uganda was also played in the closing ceremony. It is an Olympic tradition to hold the medal ceremony for the men's marathon during the closing ceremony of the Games. The marathon was won by Stephen Kiprotich from Uganda, and this is the reason this country's anthem was also played. Kiprotich's medal is the only one Uganda won in London 2012.

Source: Author III2

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor stuthehistoryguy before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

London 2012: An Eventful Two Weeks Quiz

This quiz is about the 2012 Olympic Games in London. It will test just how close you were following the Games, and how much you remember about the Games of the XXX Olympiad.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>