Who Lit The Cauldron? Quiz | Olympic Games

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In the Helsinki games of 1952, there were two Olympic Cauldrons lit, one at ground level and one higher up. Which famous athlete lit the one at ground level?

Answer: Paavo Nurmi

Nurmi was known as 'the flying Finn' and was a winner of nine Olympic gold medals in the 1920s for Finland. In the summer games of 1952, the Olympic torch was passed to him to light the cauldron at ground level on the field. The torch was then passed on to four Finnish footballers who carried it to the top of the stadium where Hannes Kolehmainen, another Finnish born athlete, lit the higher cauldron. Werner Heisenberg was a German physicist; Johnny Weissmuller played 'Tarzan' in films and was previously an Olympic swimmer for the USA; Harold Abrahams was a British athlete, one of two whose story was told in the Oscar winning film 'Chariots of Fire'.

2. The 1964 Summer Olympics cauldron was lit by who? He never ever participated in the games himself.

Answer: Yoshinori Sakai

Yoshinori Sakai was chosen to light the Olympic cauldron as he was born on the same day the atom bomb exploded over his native Hiroshima.
The other three are all Gold medal winners in 1964. They are Lyn Davies (UK) long jump. Mike Larrabee (USA) Men's 400m; Ingrid Kramer (United team of Germany) 3m springboard.

3. Who lit the cauldron at the 1936 summer Olympics? It was the very first time the cauldron was used at an Olympic games.

Answer: Fritz Schilgen

Schilgen (Germany) was not a competitor at the Olympics, but was chosen for his graceful running style. No doubt he was chosen as an example of superior German manhood. Jesse Owens, who was a black American athlete, won 4 Gold medals for the USA and probably seriously upset Adolf Hitler. Glenn Morris (USA) won the Men's Decathlon Gold medal. Sonja Henie was a Norwegian figure skater who has won more Olympic and World titles than any other skater in history up to 2018.

She did in fact win ten consecutive World titles and three successive Olympic titles before going on to be a Hollywood film star.

4. The Melbourne games of summer 1956 saw an Australian athlete light the cauldron. Who was he?

Answer: Ron Clarke

Ron Clarke held the 10000 metres world record for 8 years. He set 17 world records in his career. David Moorcroft was a British 5000m world record holder. Lasse Viren was a Finnish long distance runner who won Gold Medals in the 1972 and 1976 games. Abebe Bikila was an Ethiopian marathon runner who was Olympic champion in 1960 and 1964. He ran the marathon barefoot in 1960!

5. The next cauldron lighter was the first woman ever to light the Olympic cauldron, which she did in the summer of 1968. Who was she?

Answer: Norma Enriqueta Basilio

The 1968 games were of course held in Mexico City. Norma Enriqueta Basilio, also known as Queta Basilio, a sprinter, had the honour of lighting the cauldron. She was eliminated in the heats of her events at the games. Billie Jean King is one of the world's great female tennis players.

She never went to the Olympics. Jackie Joyner-Kersee is an American athlete who won Gold Medals at the 1988 and 1992 games. She had to withdraw from the 1996 games due to injury. Hideki Takada lit the cauldron at the winter games of 1972 at Sapporo.

6. The 1996 summer games at Atlanta provided a bitter-sweet moment as the cauldron was lit by whom?

Answer: Muhammad Ali

Ali, who was perhaps the greatest boxer of all time had been reduced to a shuffling shadow of his former self by Parkinson's disease. It was very sad to see. He died in 2016. In 1984, Carl Lewis emulated the four Gold Medals won by Jesse Owens in 1936.

The Jamaican, Usain Bolt, won sprinting Gold medals at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics. Mark Spitz won an astonishing seven Gold Medals in the pool at the Munich games of 1972. He broke the world record in each of those seven events.

7. The 2000 summer games were held in Sydney, Australia. The cauldron was lit by a very popular Australian athlete called ______ Freeman. Firstname please?

Answer: Cathy

Cathy Freeman won the Ladies 400m Silver medal at the 1996 games in Atlanta and went one step better at her home Olympics in 2000, winning Gold. The boys names are quite simply incorrect answers, nothing more.

8. The lighter of the cauldron at the winter games of 2002 held in Salt Lake City caused quite an upset in their Gold medal winning event some twenty-two years before. Who lit the flame?

Answer: The 1980 U.S. Ice Hockey team

The Russian team had won the Ice Hockey Gold medal in five of the previous six Olympic games and were red hot favourites to do it again. The American team came up against the Russians in the medal round. The first period was drawn 2-2. The Russians won the second period to go into the lead 3-2.

The third period saw the American team score twice to win the game 4-3. They went on to win the Gold medal while the Russians eventually took the Silver medal. The game came to be called "The Miracle on Ice".

9. The 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver was the scene of a great Canadian sportsman lighting two cauldrons, one with somebody else and another on his own. Who was it?

Answer: Wayne Gretzky

Chris Chelios was born in Chicago. Mike Modano was born in Livonia, Michigan. Brian Leetch was born in Corpus Christie, Texas. Wayne Gretzky was born in Branford, Ontario. He retired in 1999 and the normal waiting period before induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame was disregarded.

He was also the first player to have his jersey number retired throughout the NHL. Gretzky lit the indoor cauldron with Steve Nash (Basketball) and Nancy Greene (Alpine Skiing). Gretzky also lit the outdoor cauldron on his own.

10. The Olympic flame at the 2014 winter games held in Sochi, was lit by one half of a Russian pairs figure skating team. Who was she?

Answer: Irina Rodnina

There were actually two people who lit the Olympic flame on this occasion. Vladislav Tretiak, a Russian Ice Hockey player, and Rodnina who won the pairs Figure Skating Gold at the Olympics of 1972, 1976 and 1980. What is more amazing is that she did it with two different partners.

The other three are all figure skaters. Tara Lipinski, an American, won Ladies individual Gold in 1998. Katarina Witt, an East German, won Ladies individual Gold in 1988. Shen Xue was a Chinese skater who won the pairs Gold in 2010.

Source: Author Spontini

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
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Who Lit The Cauldron? Trivia Quiz

The following questions concern people who have lit the Olympic Games cauldron at either a summer or winter Olympic games. Not all are well known but you should still be able to determine the correct answer.

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