Golds of the Century Trivia Quiz

Answer: Larisa Latynina

Only one woman, Larisa Latynina, appeared on the list of the most successful Olympians of the 20th century, but she did hold the top spot! She competed for the Soviet Union at three consecutive Games between 1956 and 1964 and won a total of 18 medals - a record that stood until US swimmer Michael Phelps nabbed 28 medals between 2004 and 2016.

Latynina, who was born in Ukraine, helped the Soviet Union to win the women's team gymnastics gold on in Melbourne, Rome and Tokyo and is credited with inspiring its continued success in the sport until its collapse in the early 1990s. She won individual all-around gold in 1956 and 1960, was undefeated in the floor event and also took gold on the vault in 1956.

Answer: Paavo Nurmi

Paavo Nurmi, the "Flying Finn", dominated middle and long distance running in the 1920s. In addition to his 12 Olympic medals, he set numerous world records and was undefeated in cross-country events for the entire length of his international athletics career.

At the 1920 Games in Antwerp he won gold on the track in the 10,000 metres (and silver in the 5,000 metres) and took gold in both the team and individual cross-country events. In Paris four years later, he defended both of his cross-country titles and added gold in the 1,500 metres, 3,000 metres team event and 5,000 metres. At his final Olympics in Amsterdam in 1928 he again won the 10,000 metres and also claimed silver in the 3,000 metres steeplechase and the 5,000 metres. His career ended shortly after he was banned from competing in the 1932 Olympics following an investigation into his status as an amateur athlete.

Answer: Mark Spitz

The US swimmer Mark Spitz held the record for winning the most gold medals in a single Olympic Games - seven - from 1972 until a certain Michael Phelps came along and won eight in 2008.

Spitz had won two golds, one silver and one bronze at the 1968 Olympics, despite predicting ahead of the Games that he would win six golds. However, he returned to Olympic competition in Munich four years later and far exceeded his original goal by winning all seven events that he entered in a world record time. This consisted of four individual events (the 100 metres and 200 metres freestyle and butterfly) plus three relay events (the 4x100 metres and 4x200 metres freestyle, and the 4x100 metres medley). After the 1972 Games Spitz retired from competition at the age of just 22. He did attempt to make a comeback 20 years later but failed to qualify for the US team for Barcelona '92.

Answer: Carl Lewis

Carl Lewis is one of the most famous sporting names of the 20th century having been voted Sportsman of the Century by the International Olympic Committee and World Athlete of the Century by the international governing body of athletics.

He competed at four consecutive Olympics from Los Angeles in 1984 through to Atlanta in 1996; he would have also competed in Moscow in 1980 if the US team hadn't boycotted those Games. He was a four-time champion in the long jump over this period, but also won the coveted 100 metres title in 1984 and 1988, the 200 metres in 1984 and the 4x100 metres relay in 1984 and 1992. His sole silver medal came in the 200 metres in Seoul (1988).

Answer: Bjørn Dæhlie

The only Winter Olympian in the top ten of the 20th century was Bjørn Dæhlie, the noted Norwegian cross-country skier who, after his retirement from the sport, went on to become a successful businessman and television personality.

Dæhlie won gold medals at all three of the Winter Olympics contested during the 1990s - Albertville in 1992, Lillehammer in 1994 (his home Games) and Nagano in 1998. Cross-country skiing events are classified into two disciplines - classic (where the skis must remain parallel) and freestyle (where "skate skiing" can also be used). Dæhlie won individuals medals in both disciplines and over a range of different distances from 10 to 50 kilometres as well as helping Norway to two relay titles.

Answer: Sawao Kato

Sawao Kato is one of the most successful Japanese gymnasts of all time, having won eight Olympic titles between 1968 and 1976, as well as being a member of the winning team at the 1974 World Championships.

Kato was a great all-round gymnast, taking two Olympic all-around titles in 1968 and 1972, as well as individual medals on five different pieces of apparatus (including gold on the floor and parallel bars, silver on the pommel horse and horizontal bar and bronze on the rings). In 1972, Japan's male gymnasts proved to be a particularly dominant force when they took home the team event plus 15 of the 21 individual medals on offer - Kato being responsible for four of them.

Answer: Matt Biondi

Matt Biondi, nicknamed the "California Condor", competed for the US swimming team at the Olympic Games held in Los Angeles in 1984, Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992. His total of 11 Olympic medals included six relay titles (highlighting the US's success in the sport during this period) as well as four individual freestyle medals and one in butterfly.

His gold medals came in the 50 metres and 100 metres freestyle events in 1988. He was the inaugural winner of the 50 metres event and his win was set in a new world record time of 22.14 seconds - a mark that stood for just under a year.

After retiring from competitive swimming after the Barcelona Olympics, Biondi retrained and embarked on a new career as a school teacher.

Answer: Ray Ewry

Ray Ewry won three Olympic gold medals in a single day when, on 16th July 1900, he won the standing high jump, standing long jump and standing triple jump events. While this achievement shouldn't be denigrated, it is worth noting that, in total, only three men competed in the standing long jump, while just four contested the standing high jump. All of these events took place alongside the "normal" high, long and triple jump competitions and only differed by the fact that contestants were not allowed to take a run up before leaping.

Ewry won all three events again in 1904 and retained the high jump and long jump titles for a third time in 1908. The standing long jump and high jumps events were only contested at the Olympics held between 1900 and 1912, while the standing triple jump only appeared in 1900 and 1904 - making Ewry the only person in history to have won this particular Olympic title.

Answer: Nikolai Andrianov

Soviet gymnast Nikolai Andrianov took a total of 15 Olympic medals between 1972 and 1980 and was the most decorated male Olympian until that became yet another record to fall to Michael Phelps' domination of swimming in the early 21st century. He also won four gold World Championship gold medals and ten European Championship titles.

At the Olympics his most successful Games came in Montreal in 1976, where he was the all-around champion and also took gold medals in three different apparatus finals - floor, rings and vault.

Answer: Boris Shakhlin

Boris Shakhlin was the predecessor of his fellow countryman Nikolai Andrianov as most decorated male Olympian, thanks to the seven gold, four silver and two bronze medals that he won between 1956 and 1964.

Shakhlin was the all-around champion in 1960 and the seven medals that he won that year meant that he was the most successful athlete at the Rome Games, beating fellow Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina by one gold medal. He was also a double Olympic champion on the pommel horse (1956 and 1960); took gold on the parallel bars (1960), vault (1960) and horizontal bar (1964); and was one of the Soviet gymnasts to get a team gold in 1956.