Olympic Heartbreaks, Disappointments & Miscreants Quiz

Answer: High Jump

John Thomas (1941-2013) was the first man to clear 7 feet in the high jump when he cleared that height at age 17. He eventually set a world record of 7 feet 3-3/4 inches in 1960. During his career he cleared 7 feet a total of 191 times, losing only 8 times.

In the Rome 1960 Olympics he finished third behind two Russians, and in the 1964 Olympics he won a silver, while tying for the top height.

He had a long and successful career after he retired, dealing with his unexpected losses. He also had a long friendship with Valeriy Brumel, one of the Russian competitors who bested him, during the period of Cold War tensions.

Answer: Speed skating

Dan Jansen (b. 1965) competed in his first winter Olympics at age 16. By 1986 he was the world sprint champion and favored in the 500 and 1000 meter races in the 1988 Olympics. He learned of his sister's death from leukemia before his first race and fell in both his races while on a course to victory. He finished in 4th and 26th place in the same two events in the 1992 Olympics.

In the 1994 Olympics he finished in 4th place for the 500 meter race and unexpectedly won a gold medal in his weaker event, the 1000 meter race. He later established a foundation to fight leukemia in honor of his sister.

Answer: Showed up late for their race

Eddie Hart and Rey Robinson had tied the world record for the 100 meter race and were considered favorites for the gold medal. Their US coach was working from an outdated schedule of races and gave Hart and Robinson the incorrect time for the start of their quarterfinal race. After discovering the error, they rushed to the stadium and arrived just as their race started.

Hart received a gold medal later while running the anchor leg in the 4x100 meter relay. Although disappointed, he bears no ill will towards the coach, has had a successful career as a track coach and takes pride in his long marriage to his high school sweetheart.

Robinson later became head coach at his alma mater Florida A&M.

Answer: Drug usage by East German swim team

Shirley Babashoff (b. 1957) set 37 US national swimming records and at one time held all the US national freestyle records. At the 1976 US Olympics trials she won all the freestyle races and the 400 meter individual medley. However, she failed to win an individual gold medal at a time that Americans and Australians had previously dominated the sport.

She competed in both the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, winning six individual silver medals and three gold medals in relay races. Many in the press considered her a sore loser and nicknamed her "Surly Shirley" for her accusations about drug cheating by the East German swimmers. Later evidence exposed the extent of the state-sponsored use of drugs and the damage done to the athletes. No change in the results has occurred after the fact, although many have requested it.

Answer: Pole vault

Sergey Bubka (b. 1963) was a pole vaulter born in what later became the Ukraine. He set 35 world records in the pole vault and was the first man to clear 20 feet on a vault. He won his first World Championship in 1983, but did not participate in the 1984 Olympics due to a boycott. In 1988 he won his only gold medal to be followed by major upsets in the next three Olympics. In 1992 he failed on his first three attempts. In 1996 he withdrew from competition due to a heel injury, and in 2000 he failed to medal with failures at least a foot lower than he normally cleared.

Due to the reward system in his contracts Bubka frequently increased the world record one centimeter higher at a time.

Answer: Ingemar Johansson

Ingemar Johansson (1932-2009) represented Sweden in the Helsinki 1952 Olympic games. During the final match against American Ed Sanders both fighters were warned for "passivity". Johansson maintained that he was attempting to let Sanders become the aggressor and counterpunch. However, the referee ultimately disqualified Johansson for passivity, and officials withheld his silver medal (although he later received it in 1982).

Johansson considering retiring afterwards, but eventually returned to the ring and won the European heavyweight championship. In 1956 he won the World Championship by defeating Floyd Patterson, but later lost two rematches to him.

Answer: McKayla Maroney

McKayla Maroney (b. 1995) is an American gymnast who was a member of the 2012 gold medal winning team. Her specialty was the vault competition where she had won almost all of her awards and was the reigning World Champion. In the 2012 Olympics team gymnastics competition she had the highest score of all competitors with her high trajectory and flawless landing. In the later individual competition in the vault, she had a lead after the first round with the highest score ever in that competition. However, she fell on the landing of her second attempt and ended up with the silver medal.

She was caught with a look of disappointment during the awards ceremony, the infamous "McKayla is not Impressed" look. She became famous, whereas few remember the actual winner (Sandra Izbasa of Romania).

Answer: Greco-Roman wrestling

No one had scored a single point against Karelin in the previous six years of Greco-Roman wrestling, and he is widely considered the best ever in the sport. American Rulon Gardner defeated him in the finals 1-0 on a penalty in one of the most unexpected upsets in Olympics history.

Afterwards Karelin won a seat in the Russian legislature. Gardner suffered injuries in both a snowmobile accident and a light aircraft crash.

Answer: Snowboarding

Jacobellis is a ten-time world champion in snowboarding. At the Turin 2006 Olympics she had a three second (approximately 140 feet) lead going into the penultimate jump. There she grabbed her skis to "punctuate her anticipated victory" and fell before recovering to gain the silver medal.

In the 2010 Olympics she went off course to avoid a collision with a competitor. In 2014 she crashed while leading a semifinal race. In 2018 she led most of the way but was overtaken, missing a medal by .003 seconds.

The star-crossed Ms Jacobellis may have missed her chance at a gold medal, but ironically may be better known than the winners due to the failure.

Answer: Rigged his epee in the fencing competition

The modern pentathlon actually consists of four events. The fencing competition involves a single one-touch battle against each competitor. The swimming is a 200 meter freestyle, scored by time. The equestrian is a 350-450 meter course with 12-15 jumps, and horses randomly assigned. The final event is a combined laser-shooting and three 1000 meter running laps.

During the fencing competition against the British team captain, Onishchenko's epee light seemed to be lit before touching. An examination of the weapon showed it had been modified to allow the fencer to close the circuit used to indicate a touch.