The Day of the Gold Has Come Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cycling

In 1896 the first modern Olympic Games were organized in Athens. Twelve French athletes competed in five different sports: athletics, cycling, fencing, gymnastics and shooting. France won five events: one in fencing (Eugène-Henry Gravelotte) and four cycling events on a racetrack of about 333m. Léon Flameng won the 100 km race against the Greek Georgios Kolettis, probably with a narrow margin (Kolettis' time was not officially recorded). The other eight competitors resigned before reaching half of the distance needed. Flameng finished also second on the 10km and third in the sprint.

Paul Masson did better than Flameng: he won the sprint (six laps), the time trial (once around the track against the clock) and the 10 km (30 laps).
The only events in which none of the French cyclists did compete, was a 12h race on track (won by the Austrian Adolph Schmal) and the road race (Athens - Marathon - Athens, a distance of about 87km). The road race was won by the Greek Aristidis Konstantinidis before the German August von Göderich and the British Edward Battell.
The first Olympic games were reserved for amateurs only. Paul Masson (1876-1944) changed to professional cyclist in 1897, but did not win any major events as a professional.

Answer: Croquet

The 1900 Games in Paris had two sports that appeared for the first time, but would not be repeated during the Twentieth Century. One of these was Basque pelota, the other was croquet. There were three croquet events planned: singles (one ball), singles (two balls) and doubles.

In the mixed doubles event, only the pair Gaston Aumoitte - Georges Johin showed up. So this sole competing duo won first place. In the mixed singles event (one ball), six men and three women started the elimination round. At the time, one of these nine competitors (Marcel Haentjens) was thought to be Belgian, but later research showed all competing croquet players had the French nationality. Gaston Aumoitte won before Georges Johin and Chrétien Waydelich.
In the mixed singles event with two balls, Aumoitte nor Johin did enter the competition. Four men and two women tried their hand, and in the end Chrétien Waydelich won before Maurice Vignerot and Jacques Sautereau. Gaston Aumoitte (1884-1957) never again had any sportive successes, as croquet dwindled as a sport.

Answer: Tennis

Before the start of the Olympic Games in Antwerp, Suzanne Lenglen was considered the top favourite for the women's single tennis event. And indeed, she won all five matches without conceding any set. Dorothy Holman from the UK was the other finalist, and Kathleen (Kitty) McKane (also from the UK) claimed third place. The same players won gold, silver and bronze in the women's doubles events, but in another sequence. McKane with Winifred McNair won the gold, Holman with Winifred Beamish won silver, and Lenglen with Elisabeth d'Ayen had to be content with bronze. In the mixed doubles, Lenglen and Max Decugis claimed gold, with the silver for McKane and Max Woosnam. Bronze was for the Czechoslovakian team Milada Skrbkova - Ladislav Zemla.

Suzanne Lenglen (1899-1938) was probably the best tennis players of her time, and some consider her the best singles player ever. Between 1914 and 1926 Lenglen won 341 of her 348 singles matches. At the Grand Slams, she won the French Open twice (1925 and 1926) and Wimbledon six times (1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923 and 1925). Besides these eight Grand Slam titles in the Singles matches, she also won the French Open in 1925 and 1926 in Women's doubles and in Mixed Doubles. At Wimbledon, she claimed six Women's Doubles titles and three Mixed Doubles titles.

Answer: Equestrianism

André Jousseaume (1894-1960) may not be the best known French athlete, but he did compete in five consecutive Olympic games - winning one gold medal in 1932, one silver medal in 1936, one gold and one silver medal in 1948, and a bronze medal in 1952.

In 1932 Jousseaume won the gold medal in dressage - men's team, and finished fifth individually. His partners for the team event were François Lesage and Charles Marion. In 1936 the French team including Jousseuame ended second after the favourite German team. Individually he was fifth once again.
In 1948 Jousseaume won his second gold medal (this time with Jean Paillard and Maurice Buret), to which he added a silver medal in the individual competition. Jousseaume also started in the three-day eventing competition, but that was no success: he didn't make it to the finish.

In 1952 Jousseaume won bronze in the Mixed Dressage, individual event. For the team event France ended in fourth postion. At his last Olympic Games in 1956, Jousseaume ended within the last 8 in the Mixed Dressage competition - as well individually as in the team event.

Answer: Alpine skiing

Jean-Claude Killy made his debut on the Olympic Games of 1964 in Innsbruck. His career peaked in the years 1967-1968, with four gold medals at the World Cup in 1967 and two in 1968, to which he added all three gold medals at the 1968 Winter Games. He indeed won the Men's Downhill, the Men's Slalom and the Men's Giant Slalom at the 1968 Olympics.

After the season 1968, Killy retired from his sport, and oriented his career towards television and movies.

Answer: Fencing

Philippe Boisse was born in 1955. He competed in three successive Olympic Games fencing with the épée (both in the individual and in the team competition).
Montréal 1976 was not successful for Boisse. In both competitions he was eliminated early. In Moscow in 1980 he led his team to the gold medal, defeating Poland and the USSR. Individually he only made it to the second round. In Los Angeles (1984) the French team ended second, after West Germany and before Italy. Boisse took the gold medal in the individual competition, before the Swedish Björne Vaggö and Boisse's compatriot Philippe Riboud.
Philippe Boisse's son Erik also competed in the Olympic Games, winning a gold medal in the team event for men's épée in 2004.

Answer: Athletics

Perec was born in 1968. She started her Olympic career in 1988 in Seoul, with a quarter final in the 200 m. In 1992 in Barcelona, she ran the 400m and the 4x100m relay. She won gold individually, while the French team missed a medal in the finals, coming up fourth.

In 1996 in Atlanta, Perec entered the 200m, the 400m and the 4x100m. She won gold in both individual races, adding a world record in the 400m. The French team ended sixth after (among others) the USA, the Bahamas and Jamaica.

Answer: Swimming

Laure Manaudou was born in 1986.In Athens in 2004 she competed in three swimming competitions: the 400 m freestyle, the 800 m freestyle, and the 100m backstroke. She won the 400m (before Otylia Jedrzejczak from Poland and Kaitlin Sandeno representing the USA). On the 800m Manaudou won silver, after the Japanese Ai Shibata and before the American Diana Munz. The 100m backstroke gave Manaudou a third medal: bronze after Nathalie Coughlin form the USA and Kirsty Coventry from Zimbabwe.

Manaudou also entered the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008, but she did not manage to add another medal. She announced a first retirement in 2009, and made a comeback in 2011 - enough to qualify for the Olympic Games in London in 2012, but not enough to gain another medal.

Answer: Judo

Riner is a judoka nicknamed "Teddy Bear" or "Big Ted". Teddy Riner was born in 1989. After his victories in 2006 both at the European Junior Championship and at the World Junior Championship, he concentrated on the Olympic Games. In Beijing in 2008 he took the bronze in the heavyweight class, but in London 2012 and in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 he won Olympic gold.

Answer: Biathlon

Martin Fourcade was born in 1988. He entered all five biathlon events at the Olympic Winter Games in 2010, and won a silver medal on the 15 km mass start.
In 2014 in Sochi, he won the 20km individual race and the 12.5km pursuit, adding another silver medal on the 15km mass start. In 2018 in Pyeongchan, Fourcade won another three gold medals: the 12.5km pursuit and the 15km mass start in the men's events, as well as the mixed relay 2x6km /2x7.5km.