History of the Olympic Decathlon Quiz

Answer: Ireland and USA

This competition was noteworthy because all ten events took place on the same day. Great Britain offered Keily a free trip if he would represent Great Britain. Keily elected to pay his own way and competed for Ireland.

Answer: Jim Thorpe

The movement to reinstate Thorpe's performance and records began in 1914 and were not successful in his lifetime. On October 13, 1982, the IOC lifted the ban against Thorpe, his name was returned to the record books, and the medals were presented to his children the following year. Jim Thorpe played both professional baseball and football between 1915 and 1928 and was recognized by the Associated Press as the greatest athlete of the first half of the century. Thorpe's 1912 performance was so impressive it would have earned him the silver medal in the 1948 Olympics.

Answer: Berlin 1936 and Helsinki 1952

US gold medal winners include: Jim Thorpe-1912; Harold Osborn-1924; James Bausch-1932; Glenn Morris-1936; Bob Mathias-1948 & 1952; Milton Campbell-1956; Rafer Johnson-1960; Bill Toomey-1968; Bruce Jenner-1976; Dan O'Brien-1996; and Bryan Clay-2008.

Answer: Bob Mathias(USA) 1948/1952 and Daley Thompson(GBR) 1980/1984

Mathias was only 17 years old when he won gold in London (1948) and when he retired from competing he engaged in advertising appearances, acted in films, and served eight years in the US House of Representatives. Thompson was 22 when he first won gold in 1980 in Moscow. In Los Angeles in 1984 Thompson tied the world record amassing 8798 points.

Answer: Bill Toomey

A highlight of his Olympic championship experience was a personal best of 13'9.5" in the pole vault after he needed three attempts to clear the opening height of 11'9.5". Toomey, an English teacher from California, was quoted as saying about the near elimination "I had(sic) made that jump on sheer determination, I'm not certain I even needed my pole".

Answer: UCLA

At UCLA both trained under legendary coach Duckey Drake. Johnson won silver in Melbourne in 1956 and Yang finished fifth in the 1964 Tokyo games. At UCLA Johnson was a hurdler while Yang was a pole vaulter. Both competed in the intercollegiate decathlon.

Answer: Dan O'Brien failed to clear his opening height in the US Olympic trials and did not make the team

Dave Johnson went to Barcelona and finished in third place despite a near disaster in the shot put. His first two attempts were fouls and when the red foul flag went up on his third and final attempt, the head judge overruled the decision, much to the dismay of the Spanish crowd who booed Johnson for the remainder of the competition. O'Brien went on to win gold in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Answer: Erkl Nool (EST)

The final scores were: Erkl Nool (EST) 8,641 pts; Roman Serble (CZE) 8,606 pts; Chris Huffins (USA) 8,595 pts; Dean Macey (GBR) 8,567 pts. Back in Estonia Nool was so popular he had to trademark his name to protect it from unauthorized use. In 2007 Nool was elected to the Estonian Parliament.

Answer: All three recorded personal best times in the 1,500-meters

Clay's second place score of 8,820 points was the highest non-winning performance in the Olympic history of the event. Karpov dedicated his medal to his mother, Vera, a former pentathlete who had died of stomach cancer in March.

Answer: 100-meters; long jump; 400-meters

This is the first 1-2 Olympic finish for the USA in the decathlon since Milton Campbell and Rafer Johnson in 1956. In addition, be cognizant of the fact that in both 1936 and 1952 the USA swept Olympic medals in the decathlon.