Rule, Britannia, Britannia Rules the Games Quiz

Answer: Only British athletes competed

As this was one of the events of the Games of 1908 in London, there were of course no television broadcasts. The first TV broadcasts date from the 1920s. There were many specific events organized only once, most frequently for the lack of countries participating (for instance the Women's Double Round Archery) or because the rules of the Olympic changed (no more motorized sports, so the motor boating events in 1908 were also organized only a single time).

Most events are spread over several days, even if there is only the final. Such is the case for sports such as golf, equestrianism (the military), and some athletic events (decathlon for the men, heptathlon for the women). The major oddity about the women's double round archery was that all competitors were British. In the men's double round York style 15 British athletes, 10 French archers and one American competed, and in the men's continental style the 15 French archers were joined by one British and one American competitor.

The rules for these archery competitions were quite different. In the continental style each competitor shot 40 arrows one by one at a target placed on 50m. The double round consisted of shooting arrows in groups of three arrows, at targets placed on varying distances. The competition was in two rounds: one on July 17 and one on July 18, and the total of the both rounds determined the placement. Women shot each day 48 arrows at 60 yards and 24 arrows at 50 yards, while the men each day shot 72 arrows at 100 yards, 48 arrows at 80 yards and 24 arrows at 60 yards.

The results for the women's double round were: gold for Sybil "Queenie" Newall (1854-1929), silver for Charlotte "Lottie" Dod (1871-1960) and bronze for Beatrice Hill-Lowe (1868-1951).

Answer: Daley Thompson

The decathlon is an Olympic event combining ten different disciplines from athletics (track and field), namely 100 metres sprint, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400 metres, 110 metres hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1,500 metres. At the Olympic Games in Moscow 1980, three of the candidate medal winners missed the games. The American Bob Coffman and the West-German Guido Kratschmer missed the games because their countries boycotted them, and the Russian Aleksandr Grebenyuk was injured. So Daley Thompson was the best bet among bookmakers.

He started winning the 100m sprint and the long jump, and with a fifth place for the shot put and second place in high jump he stayed in the lead. He won the 400m, thus comfortably leading the tables after the first day. The second day he started with second place on the hurdles, twelfth place on the discus throw and fifth place in the pole vault. Sixth place in the javelin throw and tenth in the 1,500m were enough to clench the gold medal. The silver went to the Russian Yuri Kutsenko and the bronze to the Russian Sergey Zhelanov.

In Los Angeles 1984 Thompson had three West-German contenders for the medals: Jürgen Hingsen (the world record holder), Siggi Wentz and Guido Kratschmer. Just as four years earlier, Thompson won the 100m, the long jump and the 400m and lead the tables from start to finish. Thompson (born 1958) retired in 1992, having competed in four Olympic Games (1976-1980-1984-1988).

Sebastian Coe (born 1956) won two gold medals on the 1,500m (both in 1980 and 1984). Linford Christie (born 1960) won the 100m sprint in 1992 in Barcelona. Mo Farah (born 1983) won the 5,000m and the 10,000m, both in London 2012 and in Rio de Janeiro 2016. That makes him the first British track and field athlete with four gold medals.

Answer: Men's Canadian doubles slalom

Surely you didn't pick the duet synchronized swimming: the discipline of synchronized swimming is one of the very few sports in which only women may compete.

Tim Baillie (born 1979) and Etienne Stott (born 1979) compete in canoeing, more specifically in the C2 (Canadian doubles) slalom event. David Florence (born 1982) and Richard Hounslow (born 1981) also compete in the C2 slalom, but they also have entered single competitions - David Florence in Canadian canoe, Richard Hounslow in kayak.

The Canadian canoe and the kayak are two different types of boats, but the differences are quite subtle. The slalom canoeing consists in racing over a stretch of wild water whilst navigating several gates (some gates need even be navigated counter-current).

In tennis, Great-Britain won the men's double in 1900, 1908 and 1920. In 2012, the first team of British male athletes entered the beach volleyball competition. But they came nowhere near a medal.

Answer: Laura Trott

Laura Trott was born in 1992 and competed in the track cycling events in 2012 and in 2016. In both games she won the team pursuit (2012: teams of three cyclists for a distance of 3,000 metres; 2016: four cyclists for a distance of 4,000 metres) as well as the individual omnium (a set of six disciplines on track).

Sarah Hammer (born 1983) is American, and she won two silver medals in London 2012 - twice after Laura Trott. She repeated the same result in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. Annette Edmondson (born 1991) is Australian. In London 2012 she won the bronze medal for the individual omnium. Tara Whitten (born 1980) is Canadian. She took her team to a bronze medal in London 2012 in the team pursuit. 

Answer: London 2012

The Team Dressage is an addition to the Individual Dressage Event. At first, every competitor rides the first round. A number of the teams of several riders from the same country will qualify for the second round. The average score on both rounds determines the medal winners. In individual dressage there is even a third stage, with a freestyle dressage on music.

Equestrianism is one of the very few sports in which men and women compete against each other. The London 2012 Team Dressage event was won by Greet-Britain (two women and one man), while Germany (three women) took the silver and the Netherlands (two women and one man) won the bronze medal. The British team that won in London 2012, consisted of Carl Hester, Laura Bechtolsheimer and Charlotte Dujardin. In Rio de Janeiro 2016 the British team (Carl Hester, Charlotte Dujardin, Fiona Bigwood and Spencer Wilton) took the silver medal, after Germany and before the USA.

In Sydney 2000 the British Dressage team (with Carl Hester) ended eighth out of nine teams. The only equestrian medal for Great-Britain was a silver one in the Team Eventing. In Munich 1972 the British Dressage Team ended dead last. None of the British riders won any medal (not in jumping, not in eventing, and not in dressage).

Answer: False

It was at the 1956 games in Melbourne that Great-Britain won a first gold medal in fencing. 23 women entered the Olympics for an individual competition with the foil. Two favourites were absent: the 1952 Olympic champion Irene Camber Corno from Italy was pregnant, and the Hungarian authorities found Irena Elek-Schacherer at her 50 years too old to enter such a vivid competition (she had won the gold medal in Berlin 1936 and in London 1948).

In the first round the British Gillian Sheen won 6 out of 7 matches. In the semi-finals she scored only 2 out of 5, and had to fight a barrage with Lidia Sakovicsne Domolky from Hungary - the 1955 world champion. The finals saw a very close competition, with Sheen and the Roumanian Olga Orban-Szabo each winning six of the seven bouts and the French Renée Garilhe winning 5.
Garilhe took the bronze medal, and Sheen had to fight a barrage against Orban-Szabo. Gillian Sheen won the barrage with 4-2 and thus was the first British Olympic champion in fencing.

Answer: Stephen Redgrave

Stephen Redgrave was born in 1962. In 1984 he entered the Olympics in a team of coxed fours (Adrian Ellison as cox, Richard Budgett, Martin Cross, Andy Holmes and Stephen Redgrave as rowers). The British team won before the United States and New Zealand. In Seoul 1988 Redgrave entered the pairs competition, both coxed and coxless. His fellow rower was on both occasions Andy Holmes. The British coxed team (with Patrick Sweeney as cox) took the bronze medal, after Italy and East-Germany. But in the coxless pairs Great-Britain triumphed, before Romania and Yugoslavia.

In Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 the tandem Stephen Redgrave - Matthew Pinsent each time won the coxless pairs. In 1992 the silver went to Germany and the bronze to Slovenia. In 1996 Australia came in second and France third. In Sydney 2000 Stephen Redgrave entered the competition for the coxless fours, with fellow rowers Matthew Pinsent, James Cracknell and Tim Foster. They won before Italy and Australia. Redgrave also won nine world championships between 1986 and 1999.

Jack Beresford (1899-1977) was another British rower who had successes at five consecutive Olympic Games. In Antwerp 1920 he won a silver medal in single sculls, and in Paris 1924 he won gold in the same category. In Amsterdam 1928 he claimed a silver medal as part of the men's eight. In Los Angeles 1932 he won the coxless fours, and in Berlin 1936 he won the double sculls.

Albert Gladstone (1886-1967) was one of the eight rowers who won gold in London 1908 in the coxless eight. Angus Groom (born 1992) started his Olympic rowing career in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro in the category quadruple sculls. But he did not win a medal at these Games.

Answer: Ben Ainslie

The Danish Paul Elvström (1928-2016) was the first sailor with four golden medals (1948, 1952, 1956 and 1960), but Ben Ainslie (born 1977) was the first to win one silver and four gold medals. Two Brazilians have also won five medals, but only twice the gold medal: Robert Scheidt (born 1973) won twice gold, twice silver and once bronze between 1996 and 2012; and Torben Grael won two gold, one silver and two bronze medals between 1984 and 2004.
Ben Ainslie started his Olympic career in the Laser class in 1996 (Atlanta). Out of 56 competitors, Scheidt won and Ainslie was second. Third was the Norwegian Peter Moberg.

In 2000 (Sydney) Ainslie and Scheidt were the favourites for the Laser class once again, out of 43 competitors. Ainslie won before Scheidt, and the bronze was for the Australian Michael Blackburn. Scheidt entered two protests against Ainslie about having hindered him in the final race, but to no avail. In 2004 (Athens) Ainslie moved on to the heavier Finn class. Out of 26 competitors, Ainslie finished first, followed by the Spaniard Rafael Trujillo and the Pole Mateusz Kusznierewicz.

In 2008 (Beijing) Ainslie was once more the favourite in the Finn class, with 26 competitors. Ainslie took the gold before the American Zach Railey and the French Guillaume Florent. In 2012 (London) Ainslie and the Danish Jonas Hogh-Christensen were fierce contenders for the gold medal. In the regular races (with all 24 competitors) Hogh-Christensen held a very small advantage over Ainslie, but in the final medal race Ainslie closed the gap. Because the medal race was decisive in case of a tie, Ainslie won the gold and Hogh-Christensen the silver. The French Jonathan Lobert just preceded the Dutch Pieter-Jan Postma for the bronze.

Rodney Pattisson (born 1943) won two gold medals in 1968 and 1972, and added a silver medal in 1976. Sarah Webb (born 1977) and Sarah Ayton (born 1980) together won gold in 2004 and 2008 in the Yngling class, with the third member on their team being Shirley Robertson in 2004 and Pippa Wilson in 2008.

Answer: Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean

Torvill and Dean debuted at the 1980 Olympics (Lake Placid), where they won fifth place. In Sarajevo 1984 they came back - and to what an effect. After winning both the compulsory dances (accounting for 30% of the final standings) by a rather large margin and the original set pattern dance (accounting for 20% of the final standings), they were the absolute favourites. But the best was yet to come: in the free dance (accounting for 50% of the final results) they interpreted Ravel's "Bolero" in a splendid way. Three of the nine judges awarded Torvill and Dean with a perfect score (6.0) for artistic impression, while the others all gave a 5.9. But the technical merit was even better: all judges unanimously gave a perfect score.
So Torvill and Dean won the gold medal, before two of the three Soviet teams. Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin won silver, and Marina Klimova with Sergei Ponomarenko won bronze.
Torvill and Dean would once again compete in the Olympics: in 1994 (Lillehammer) they took the bronze medal, after the Russian teams Pascha Grischuk - Yevgueny Platov and Maiya Usova - Sasha Zhulin.
The red herrings were British pairs who competed once in the Ice Dancing at the Olympics.
Thompson-Maxwell were eighth in 1976 (Innsbruck).
Jones-Askham ended 13th in 1988 (Calgary).
Bruce-Place were seventeenth in 1992 (Albertville).

Answer: Triathlon

Alistair Brownlee (born 1988) started his Olympic triathlon career in Beijing 2008, with a twelfth place. His brother Jonny (born 1990) started his Olympic career in London. So Alistair won two gold medals in his first three Olympics, while Jonny took a medal in both his first Olympics.
In London 2012 the Spaniard Javier Gomez ended between the two brothers Brownlee, thus claiming the silver medal. In 2016 the brothers Brownlee divided the first and second place, while Henri Schoeman form South Africa ended with the bronze medal.
In the shooting discipline, Malcolm Cooper (1947-2001) was the first British athlete to win gold twice: both in 1984 and in 1988 he won the Men's 50m Rifle Three Positions.
In 1908 three Britons won gold in the freestyle wrestling: Con O'Kelly, Stanley Bacon and George de Rewlyskow. None of them won a second time.
In gymnastics the first gold medals went to Great-Britain only in 2016: Max Whitlock won both the men's pommeled horse and the men's floor exercise.