The Greatest Sports Quiz 6

Answer: New York City

Previously known as the US Professional Championships, the Tournament of Champions was first held in New York City 1930, making it the oldest squash tournament. It was originally open to men only; however, in 2001 a separate division was incorporated to allow women to compete.

Answer: 1916

The first miniature golf course in the United States was built in Pinehurst, California in 1916. It was called Thistle Dhu, which is pronounced like "this'll do." The name was a play on words, suggesting that the course was a smaller, more affordable alternative to a full-sized golf course.

Answer: Steer wrestler

Steer wrestlers, aka bulldoggers, are rodeo athletes who compete in the event of steer wrestling. In this event, the wrestler must dismount from their horse and tackle a running steer by grabbing its horns and twisting its head until it falls to the ground. The wrestler is assisted by a second cowboy, known as the hazer, who helps to keep the steer running in a straight line.

Answer: Yellow

A red ball is used for day games and a yellow one for night games, as yellow is easier to see at night. If a game starts after 3:00pm the yellow ball I used.

Answer: 3

In Olympic race walking, violations of the rules are punished by the judges with a red card. If the athlete receives three of them, they are eliminated from the race.

Answer: 1852

The first intercollegiate sporting event in the United States was a rowing race between Harvard and Yale in 1852. This event marked the beginning of organized college sports in the USA, and rowing has remained a popular sport among U.S. colleges ever since.

Answer: 1973

Jim Gavin, an Irishman, had raced and rallied cars around the world. In 1973, he founded the British Lawn Mower Racing Association (BLMRA) at the Cricketers Arms in Wisborough Green, West Sussex. Due to the increasing costs of motorsport, he wanted to create a more accessible and more affordable form of racing.

He and others in the pub were watching the local green keeper mowing the cricket pitch across the road. As almost everyone had a lawn mower at home, except if they lived in a flat, they decided to hold a lawn mower race at a local farm. That first race attracted some 80 competitors and their lawn mowers - the competitors ran behind their lawn mowers. Ride-on mower events came later (classed as Group 2 and Group 3 racing).

The BLMRA is a non-profit organization. Any excess cash generated is donated to charities. Gavin was inducted into the National Lawn Mower Racing Hall of Fame in 2009.

Answer: Sergey Bubka

Sergey Bubka (Ukraine), achieved this feat on February 21, 1993 in Donetsk, Ukraine, by clearing 20'2" (6.15m). Incredibly, the same city would witness another record-breaking pole vault performance 21 years later. In 2014, Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie cleared an extra half an inch to record a height of 6.16m, setting a new indoor world record.

Answer: 4.74 - 5.5 grams

The weight of a shuttlecock is typically between 4.74 - 5.5 grams. It usually lasts for two games, after which it needs to be replaced. The weight of the shuttlecock affects its flight speed, with heavier shuttlecocks flying faster. They also fly faster in higher temperatures and at higher altitudes.

Answer: Little League

Little Leaguers must play one season of Tee Ball before they can be considered for advancement to a higher division of Little League baseball or softball. Tee Ball is a co-ed division, and the local league's Board of Directors can decide whether to structure it as a baseball or a softball program.

Answer: 1967

Bathtub racing, or bathtubbing, is a bizarre sport with many variations (there are a number of World Championships held around the world). Bathtubs can be propelled by a motor or paddled like a canoe. The Loyal Nanaimo Bathtub Society organizes an event, first held in 1967, in which motor-powered bathtubs race over a 36-mile course.

The first event was chaotic, which led to rules being put in place to limit the horsepower of the boats.

Answer: Pitchfork

Gaffelhangen is a sport played in the Limburg province of the Netherlands. The name of the sport means "pitchfork hang" in English. In gaffelhangen, two competitors try to hang on to a pitchfork for as long as they can. The competitor who hangs on the longest wins.

Answer: Frantisek Janda-Suk

Frantisek Janda-Suk, a Czech athlete, developed this technique by studying the position of the famous statue of Discobolus. After only one year of developing the technique, he won the silver medal in the discus throw at the 1900 Olympics.

Answer: 1998

In speed skating competitors race against the clock on a two-lane track. The track has straight sides and curved ends, which allow skaters to maintain their speed without slowing down. Each skater must keep to their own lane, and the advantage of the inner curve is given alternately (a space called the crossing line is left open along the backstretch for skaters to switch lanes).

The 1998 Nagano Olympic Games were the first to require skaters in the 500-meter event to race twice per heat, once in each lane.

The times from the two heats are then combined to determine a winner.

Answer: 5

Bossaball is a team sport that combines elements of volleyball, football, and gymnastics. It is played on an inflatable court with trampolines on each side of the net. The trampolines allow players to jump high enough to spike the ball over the net. A bossaball game is played between two teams of four players.

The game is played in a similar way to volleyball, with the opposing team having a maximum of five touches to return the ball over the net. However, bossaball also allows players to use their feet and head to hit the ball.

The ball can be touched in any combination of five, with the same body part being used multiple times.

Answer: Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques

Underwater rugby has few similarities with rugby, despite its name. Two teams (six each) try to score by putting the ball into the opponent's goal (the ball's a volleyball filled with water). The sport was founded in Germany where diving clubs practised it during the training sessions in the 1960s.

The Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS) is the highest governing body for underwater rugby - the first World Championships were held in 1980.

Answer: 4

Greg Louganis won the gold medal in both platform and springboard diving at the 1984 LA Olympics. The last time this feat was achieved at the Olympics was 56 years earlier in 1928 in Amsterdam, by Pete Desjardins (USA). Louganis repeated the feat at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, to become the first man in Olympic history to sweep the diving events in consecutive Olympic Games.
Patricia McCormick (USA) was the first to achieve this back-to-back feat (1952 and 1956).

Answer: Roger Bannister

The four-minute barrier was first broken by British athlete Roger Bannister on May 6, 1954, at Oxford University's Iffley Road Track. Bannister was helped by fellow-runners Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher as pacemakers. Two months later, at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, Canada, Bannister and Australian runner John Landy both ran the mile in under four minutes. Bannister won that race.

Since Bannister's historic run, many other runners have broken the four-minute mile. In August 1975, John Walker of NZ became the first to break the 3:50 barrier with a time of 3:49.4. Algeria's Noureddine Morceli was the first to break the 3:45 barrier (3:44.39 in September 1993).

Answer: Kick volleyball

Sepak takraw is played with a rattan or synthetic ball between two teams of two to four players on a court similar to a badminton court. The ball can only be touched by a player's feet, knees, shoulders, chest or head. This sport that combines elements of volleyball, footvolley, and association football. The sport originated in Southeast Asia and is now played in over 100 countries.

Answer: Indoor baseball

Softball has its origins in 1887, resulting from a dispute over the outcome of a Harvard-Yale football game and using a boxing glove in place of a ball. Originally known as indoor baseball to allow players to keep in practice in the off-season, it eventually became known as indoor-outdoor, then softball.