National Sporting Heroes, But From Where? Quiz

Answer: Venezuela

Serge Blanco was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1958. An international career that began in 1980 saw him winning 93 caps for France (a record at the time), mostly at fullback. When he retired in 1991 he did so as France's all-time leading points scorer (with 223).

He was a member of two Grand Slam winning teams, in 1981 and 1987. He played his entire 18-year club rugby career with Biarritz Olympique.

Answer: Jamaica

Linford Cicero Christie OBE was born in Saint Andrew, Jamaica in 1960. A glittering career saw him finish with more major medals (24, including 10 gold) than any other British athlete, ever. He is the only British man to have won the 100m at all four major events where British athletes compete (Olympics, World, European and Commonwealth championships).

He was the first European to break the 10-second barrier in the 100m and, more than 10 years after he retired in 1999, he was still the British record holder at that distance.

Answer: Belgium

Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins CBE was born in Ghent, Belgium in 1980. 'Wiggo' won his first international medal, a silver, at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in the Team Pursuit, and followed that with bronze in the same event at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

His first gold medal came in the Individual Pursuit at the 2003 World Championships in Stuttgart. Then came a slew of Olympic gold medals, in the Individual Pursuit in 2004 in Athens, in both the Individual and Team Pursuits in 2008 in Beijing, and in the Time Trial in 2012 in London.

His greatest achievement, though, was in winning the 2012 Tour de France, thus becoming the first British winner in more than 100 years of the event.

Answer: Nigeria

Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon was born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1963. The 7-foot University of Houston centre was selected by the Houston Rockets as the first pick overall in the 1984 NBA draft. He played for the Rockets for 17 seasons, winning two NBA titles, in 1994 and 1995. On both occasions he was the NBA Finals MVP.

He was also the League MVP in 1994. Olajuwon finished his professional career with the Toronto Raptors. His #34 was retired by the Rockets and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.

Answer: Ghana

Born Odenke Abbey in Accra, Ghana in 1968, he changed his when his mother married the head of the Grench Consulate in Accra and the family moved to France when he was 4. In a glittering career with Nantes, Marseilles, AC Milan and Chelsea, Desailly won the European Champions League twice (with Marseilles in 1993 and with Milan in 1994) and the UEFA Super Cup twice (with Milan in 1994 and with Chelsea in 1998).

He won 116 caps for France.

Answer: England

Lennox Claudius Lewis CM CBE was born in West Ham, London, England in 1965. He won the 1988 Olympic title fighting for Canada by defeating future World heavyweight title holder Riddick Bowe in the final. Lennox made his professional debut in 1989 and proceeded to win his first 25 bouts, picking up the British, European and Commonwealth title on the way.

He also claimed the WBC World title when Bowe refused to fight him, but lost that title to Oliver McCall in 1994. In 1999, with a record of 29-1, he fought Evander Holyfield to unify the three World Heavyweight titles. That fight ended in a draw, but Lennox won the rematch later in the year to become undisputed World Champion.

In April 2000, he lost his titles to American Hasim Rahman, but he regained them by beating the same fighter six months later.

In 2003, whilst still holding all three titles, Lennox retired with a career record of 41-2-1. 10 years later, there had still not been another undisputed champion.

Answer: Germany

John Patrick McEnroe Jr was born in Wiesbaden, Germany in 1959. His father, who is of Irish descent, was stationed on the USAF base in Germany at the time of his birth. The following year, the family returned to New York City, where McEnroe grew up. His first victory at a Major came at the 1977 French Open, winning the Mixed Doubles with Mary Carillo whilst he was still an amateur.

In a 15-year career, McEnroe won the Men's Singles at the U.S. Open four times (in 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1984) and at Wimbledon three times (in 1981, 1983 and 1984).

He also reached the final of the French Open in 1984. At Wimbledon, he played in five consecutive Men's Singles finals 1980-81-82-83-84. When he retired his record of eight singles and doubles titles at *both* the U.S. Open and Wimbledon was a unique achievement (three singles and five doubles at Wimbledon, and four of each at the US Open).

Answer: Zambia

George Musarurwa Gregan A.M. was born in Lusaka, Zambia in 1973. His international career began in 1994. He scored 99 points in his 139 matches at scrum-half for Australia. His half-back partnership with Stephen Larkham (79 matches together) established a world record for a half-back pairing in Test Rugby history. Gregan played club rugby for 21 years with the Brumbies, winning two Super 12 titles, in 2001 and 2004.

Answer: Italy

Edward Ralph Dexter CBE was born in Milan, Italy in 1935. 'Lord Ted' made his test debut for England against New Zealand in 1959 (cap #388) and he took over the captaincy from Colin Cowdrey for the 1961-62 tour of India and Pakistan. The 481 runs Dexter made on the Ashes tour of 1962-63 still stands more than 50 years later as a record for an England captain on a tour of Australia.

In his 62 tests for England, Dexter scored 4,502 runs at an average of 47.89 with nine centuries and a highest score of 205.

Answer: Sri Lanka

David Andrew Wilkie MBE was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1954. His father was in the Army and his Scottish parents were stationed there at the time of his birth. Wilkie's first international success came on home soil in Edinburgh, at the 1970 Commonwealth Games, where he won gold in the 200m breaststroke.

He won silver in the same event at the 1972 Olympics in Munich and, four years later, prevented an American sweep of the Men's swimming golds by winning the 200m event in Montreal. For good measure, he also collected a silver from the 100m breastroke in Montreal.

He also held the World Record for the 200m Individual Medley for a year from August 1974-Auguest 1975.