Olympictogram Trivia Quiz

Answer: Kotinos

Kotinos was the Greek name given to the olive wreath. The winner of the ancient Olympic Games was crowned with the horse-shoe shaped wreath. To be crowned with the wreath was an important status symbol as the olive tree was very sacred to the Greeks.

Answer: Pierre de Coubertin

French historian Pierre de Coubertin founded the IOC in 1894. He had a vision that countries would come together in peace by playing sport. He had three core values which he wanted to bring to the forefront of the Games, and for people to pass on from generation to generation. These were "excellence", "friendship" and "respect".

Answer: Nike

Daughter of Pallas and Styx, Nike was the winged Goddess of Victory. Companion to the great God Zeus, she was often depicted on the back of a chariot, holding a wreath to award to the winner, either of war, or peace-time sporting games.

Answer: Five continents

The Olympic rings symbolised the five continents; Asia, Americas, Europe, Africa and Oceania. Each of the colours was chosen by the founder of the International Olympic Committee, Pierre de Coubertin. At least one of the countries attending the Olympics have one of the colours (blue, yellow, black, green and red and white background) included on their national flag. Created in 1914, the flag first appeared at the 1920 Summer Olympics at Antwerp.

Answer: Berlin 1936

Carl Diem, Secretary General of the Olympic Committee, suggested the flame travelled from Olympia in Greece to the Olympic game venue by way of relay. The torch relay first featured at the 1936 Berlin Games and has been a familiar tradition ever since. The Olympic flame was symbolic to the Greeks, always lit by the sun's rays to ensure purity, and to be kept lit throughout the tournament.

Answer: Art

Art competitions formed part of the modern Olympic Games from between 1912 to 1948. This included architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture. All of the entries had to feature sport in one form or another. Artist Jean Jacoby won two Olympic gold medals which included a drawing entitled "Rugby", which is the image shown on this quiz.

Answer: 400m and 1500m running

Diaulos and dolichos were both running races which featured in the ancient Olympic Games. Diaulos translated into English means "double pipe". It is believed the runners ran a leg of a race before turning at a half-way point, which was a post or something similar. The English translation of dolichos is "long race". There is no record of exactly how long the race was, but historians believe it was 1500m or longer.

Answer: Pentathlon

It is believed the first Olympic pentathlon took place in 708 BC. The English translation for the word pentathlon is "five competitions". The ancient Games would have included five of the following: running, jumping, discus, javelin, wrestling, boxing, pankration, or equestrian sports. The decathlon, biathlon and triathlon have featured officially in the Olympic Games since 1912, 1960 and 2000 respectively.

Answer: Wrestling

The word pankration translates as "all powers" into English. It is believed the sport first featured in the 648 BC Olympic Games. It was a combination of boxing and wrestling and had no particular rules, apart from no biting or gouging out the opponent's eyes. Pankration was also an important part of war training to the ancient Greeks.

Answer: Paralympic Games

The Paralympic Games first came into being in 1960, and has gained in popularity since that time. Sportsmen and women, who have a range of physical impairments, are placed into different sporting categories, all dependent on their disability. 400 competitors entered the 1960 Summer Games in Rome, and the figures have increased to over 4000 since then. The Paralympic flag features three coloured "agitos" in red, blue and green on a white background. Agitos is the symbol for movement, and the Latin word translated into English means "I move".