French without Tears Trivia Quiz

Answer: Motorsport

Alain Prost was born in 1955 in the Loire region of France, and began racing karts as a teenager. His first Formula 1 season was in 1980, and his first F1 victory came in France the following year. He was the first French F1 world champion, and held that title four times having won 51 races during his F1 career.

His first three championship seasons (1985, '86 and '89) were with McLaren, while his fourth in 1993 was with Williams. He retired from driving after that season, but has stayed active as a team owner, international ambassador and/or special adviser.

Answer: Snowboarding

Born in Thonon-les-Bains in 1978, Anthonioz won a silver medal in snowboard cross at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Nicknamed "Debo", she began her career in 1996, competing in Giant Slalom events, and announced her retirement in 2014.

Besides her Olympic success, she had four wins and nine other podium finishes from her 88 World Cup events. Her best finish in World Championship competition was sixth at Whistler, BC, in 2005.

Answer: Alpine skiing

Born in 1943 in a suburb of Paris, Killy dominated the Alpine skiing events at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France. He won the gold medal in each of slalom, giant slalom and downhill, the only three Alpine events held during those games. He also amassed six gold medals from various World Championship events in the late 1960s, and retired from amateur racing after the 1968 season.

His later careers included acting in a few movies, a brief stint at racing cars and as a professional skier for a couple of seasons.

Answer: Cycling

Fignon was born in Paris in 1960, and was victorious in the Tour de France cycling race in 1983 and 1984, but the enduring memory of this great racer may be the one that he lost (1989) by a mere eight seconds to Greg LeMond. It came down to a time trial along the Champs-Elysses on the final day with the American emerging with the win. Fignon died of cancer in 2010, aged only 50.

Answer: Tennis

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1975, Pierce represented France in international competition by virtue of her mother's French nationality. Her major singles victories were the 1995 Australian Open, over Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain, and the 2000 French Open over Spain's Conchita Martinez.

She partnered with Martina Hingis (Swiss) to win the French Open doubles title in 2000 and with Mahesh Bhupathi of India to win the mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 2005. Injuries had effectively ended her career by 2008.

Answer: Ski jumping

Nicknamed "the Feather" due to his slight build, Nico was born in Lyon in 1977. He competed for twelve seasons between 1993 and 2005, with his sole World Cup win coming in Sapporo, Japan in January 1995. He was the first French ski jumper to record a victory.

He also competed in the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway finishing sixth in the team large hill event alongside his team mates Nicolas Jean-Prost, Didier Mollard and Steve Delaup.

Answer: Figure skating

Born in Nice in the south of France in 1973, Surya Bonaly was famous for performing a back flip which she landed on one foot. Though this feat was popular with the audience, the judges were not normally amused and her scores often reflected their displeasure. Though she won the European championship five times (1990-91 through 1994-95), her best finish at the World Championships was second (three times) and at the Olympics fourth (1994).

After retiring from competition, she toured with Champions on Ice until 2007, later becoming a coach.

Answer: Golf

Levet was born in Paris in 1968, and turned professional at the age of 20. He had some success on the European golf tour, achieving his first victory at the Cannes Open in 1998. He finished the 2002 edition of The Open at Muirfield in a tie for second, behind Ernie Els, after a four-way playoff.

He was a member of the winning 2004 European Ryder Cup team, contributing a win in singles over the USA's Fred Funk.

Answer: Swimming

Agnel was born in Nimes in 1992, and named for French tennis star Yannick Noah. Specialising in the freestyle stroke, he won individual gold in the 200 m race at the 2012 Olympics in London, as well as gold in the 4 x 100 m freestyle relay, and silver in the 4 x 200 m freestyle.

After a poor showing in the heats of his races in Rio (2016 Olympics) he announced that he would retire after those games.

Answer: Football (soccer)

"Zizou" was born in Marseille, France in 1972, of Algerian descent, and first represented France in the 1988-89 season on the under-17 side, going on to play with the U18 and U21 squads until earning his first senior cap of 108 in 1994. Between 1994 and 2006 he scored 31 goals for France in international play.

In the 1998 World Cup, in France, he scored twice against Brazil and during the 2006 World Cup in Germany once each against Spain, Portugal and Italy. His club career included stints with Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus and Real Madrid.

He became Real Madrid's manager in 2016.