Hardest Jamaica at the Olympics Trivia Quiz | Sports Mixed

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. A Jamaican team first competed at the 1948 Olympic Games. Where were they held?

Answer: London

Two Jamaican athletes won three medals between them in London, in 1948. Arthur Wint won gold in the Men's 400m and silver in the Men's 800m, and Herb McKenley took the silver medal in the Men's 400m. Since 1948, Jamaican athletes have competed in every Summer Olympics held.

2. In 1960, Jamaican athletes went to the Olympic Games in Rome, but under what flag did they compete?

Answer: West Indies Federation (Antilles)

The 13 athletes on the "Antilles" West Indies Federation team came from Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, and Tobago. They won bronze medals in the men's 800m, and the men's 4x400m Relay. The West Indies Federation existed between 1958 and 1962. It was an alliance of the British colonial states in the Caribbean, and was formed with the aim of becoming an independent nation with each island group being a province.

3. In the 20th century, all but one of Jamaica's Olympic medals were won in track and field events. In which sport was their only non-athletics medal won?

Answer: Cycling

David Weller took the bronze medal in the 1000m Time Trial cycling event, at the Moscow Olympics in 1980. He competed again in Los Angeles in 1984, but only managed sixth place.

4. Perhaps the most famous female Jamaican athlete of all is Merlene Ottey. She won her first Olympic medal, a bronze, at the Moscow Games in 1980. In which Games did she win her first Olympic silver medal?

Answer: Atlanta, 1996

Merlene took a bronze medal in the Women's 200m in Moscow, and followed it with bronze medals in both 100m and 200m in Los Angeles in 1984. She then won another 200m bronze in Barcelona in 1992, before finally taking the silver in both the 100m and 200m in Atlanta in 1996.
In an amazingly long track career, Merlene went on to win the bronze for the 200m in Sydney in 2000, and also took home a silver medal for her part in the Women's 4x100m Relay.
From 2002 onward, Merlene competed for Slovenia rather than her birth nation of Jamaica.

5. The Jamaican bobsleigh team made the news around the world when they first entered the Winter Olympics at Calgary in 1988. How did the team place that year?

Answer: They crashed and never officially finished the event

At their first Games, the Jamaican team managed three of the four required timed runs successfully. On their fourth run they crashed, but fortunately all the team members were able to walk away uninjured. They picked up the sled and carried it down the remaining track to the finish line, although not on their shoulders as was later portrayed in the 1993 film, "Cool Runnings".
Jamaica qualified for the Bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics in Albertville in 1992, and also in Lillehammer in 1994. In 1994, they came in 14th place, and finished ahead of sleds from the USA, Russia, Norway, Italy, and Australia.
(The Winter Olympics were held in 1992 and 1994 as this was the "changeover" period from them being held in the same year as the Summer Olympics to being held in-between.)

6. Who was the first Jamaican born athlete (who competed for both Jamaica and Canada), to win a medal at the Winter Olympics?

Answer: Lascelles Brown

Brown competed for Jamaica at the 2002 Winter Games, and was a member of the Jamaican bobsleigh team from 1999 until 2004. He met and married his Canadian wife, and took Canadian citizenship in time to compete for Canada from the 2006 Games in Turin onwards.
In Turin, he won a silver medal, and in Vancouver in 2010 he won a bronze.
The other three athletes mentioned have all been members of the Jamaican bobsleigh team.

7. In which track and field event did James Beckford win the silver medal at the Atlanta Games in 1996?

Answer: Long jump

Beckford's medal was the first Jamaican Olympic athletics medal not to have been won on the track. He and David Weller were the only Jamaicans to win medals for anything other than running in the 20th century.

8. Four Jamaican athletes won individual gold medals at the 2008 Olympics, held in Beijing. Usain Bolt was the only male winner, but do you know which of these women was NOT one of the three ladies who took individual gold?

Answer: Kerron Stewart

Shelly-Ann Fraser won the Women's 100m. Melanie Walker won the Women's 400m Hurdles, and Veronica Campbell-Brown won the Women's 200m event.
Kerron Stewart won a silver medal in the 100m and a bronze medal in the 200m.
During her gold medal winning run, Melanie Walker set a new world record in the 400m Hurdles.

9. Tanto Campbell won a bronze medal at the 2008 Paralympic Games, held in Beijing. In which event did he compete?

Answer: Discus

Tanto Campbell competed in the Discus F55/56 class competition. At the Paralympics, each athlete is "classified" according to their particular disability, so they can compete equally and fairly against their peers.
The 55/56 part is for athletes with a spinal cord disability, and the F stands for Field. Other classifications use T for Track and P for Pentathlon.
Jamaican athletes first competed at the Paralympic Games in Tel Aviv in 1968.

10. Jamaican athletes competed in the Winter Paralympic Games during the 20th century.

Answer: False

Throughout the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century, Jamaica did not enter any athletes in the Winter Paralympic Games.

Source: Author Rowena8482

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

Jamaica at the Olympics Trivia Quiz

Let's take a quick look at the Olympic Games participation of Jamaican athletes over the years.

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