Won By a Short Head Trivia Quiz

Answer: About 10 inches (25 cms)

Because every horse race is photographed as the horses cross the line, the length in which a hose wins is described in terms of a horse's body length. A length is the distance of a horse from nose to tail and is approximately eight feet (2.4 metres).

A half length is the next measure down and is approximately 4 feet or 120 cm; a long neck is 25-50 cm, A neck about 25 cm and a short head is 0.1 length about 10 inches or 25 cm. A short half head is the smallest distance a horse can win by except for a "nose" which is about three inches or eight cm. Anything less is a dead heat which is rare in horse racing. Officially a horse can win by up to 99 lengths.

Answer: Triple 20 seven times, triple 19, double 12

Playing darts is about mental arithmetic as it is about talent throwing darts. To get exactly 501 you must finish on a double and you have the tricky little "1" to get as well. Triple 20 pays 60 which is more than the bullseye which pays 50. Most darts players aim for the former target as if they miss they usually score 20, making recalculations easier.

The "easiest" way to get a nine dart finish is triple 20 with your first seven darts (420), Triple 19 (477) then double 12 (501). There are over 300 ways to score 501.

The main attribute is if you miss your preferred score you must quickly recalcuate how you are going to end on a double.

Answer: Brazil 3 Italy 2

In the 1994 FIFA World Cup final, this was the first final where a goal had not been scored even after double extra time, and hence the first decided by penalties. Penalty shoot outs were the best of five before sudden death. Italy kicked the first penalty and missed but so did Brazil. Brazil netted the next three.

Italy though, netted their next two but missed their next two handing the trophy to Brazil who held it for the fourth time. The first World Cup decided on penalties was actually decided by a single penalty.

Answer: 0.01 second

There was pressure on Mr Phelps in this race. He had to win to tie with Mark Spitz's 1972 Olympic gold medal tally of seven (That isseven gold medals at a single Olympics). In his previous six events he not only won but he broke six world records. But he was fatigued.

In the 100m 'fly he turned in seventh place and was nearly a body length behind Mr Cavic. Even at the finish it looked liked Mr Cavic had won but after enormous scrutiny of video footage, it confirmed that Mr Phelps had won by a fingernail. Apparently Mr Cavic needed to glide a little on his last stroke whereas Ms Phelps hit the wall on a full stroke.

He did not get a world record (but he did break the Olympic record). Later on in the meet he earned an eighth gold medal and a seventh world record when he wam the 'fly in the 4x100m relay won by the US.

Answer: There was a replay the following week

Australian Rules Football is a long game - four quarters of 25 minuses are played. With time added for stoppages quarters last around 30 minutes meaning 120 minutes all up playing on an oval between 135-185 metres long between goals and 110-155 metres wide.

There were ties in 1948, 1977, and 2010. Collingwood won the replay in 2010 against St Kilda, lost against North Melbourne in 1977 and Melbourne bear Essendon in the 1948 replay. Having to play the following week was anticlimactic but the crowds still came - Replays typically attract over 90 000 people.

In 2016 the AFL changed the rules: two five-minute halves each way, plus time on for stoppages, will be played to decide a winner. (If the scores are still tied at the end of the second period of extra time, the siren which signals the end of a play period, will stay silent until the next score, which will decide the overall winner.

Answer: Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher

Close finishes are supposed to make for exciting sport but that was not the case in these three races even though when they occurred they were all in the top ten of closest Formula 1 finishes of all time. Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher were Ferrari teammates though Mr Barrichello was very much the number two driver.

In the 2000 Canadian GP, Mr Barrichello was gaining on race leader Mr Schumacher before team bosses told Mr Barrichello to back up and not overtake, which he dutifully did not, finishing 0.174 seconds behind.

In the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, Mr Barrichello was leading but was told to let Mr Schumacher win, which he did, right on the finish line with the number one driver 0.182 seconds in front. Later that year at the US GP at Indianapolis, Mr Schumacher was leading but slowed to allow Mr Barrichello to catch up to have a made-for-TV side by side finish except Mr Barrichello won by 0.011 second. Was Mr Schumacher ceding Mr Barrichello back the win he'd taken from him in Austria earlier in that year? Conspiracy theories abound but shamefully it appears as one of the closest but contrived finishes in F1 history.

Answer: If scores are tied at full time, first team to score in extra time wins

Before 2003 when scores were level at full time in the National Rugby League in Australia, the team shared the two competition points. If the match was a knockout final ten minutes of extra time each way was played. In 2003, a new system was introduced based on soccer's now defunct "Golden Goal" system. Five minutes each way of extra time are played. First to score in that period wins the game. if the score is tied after ten minutes, the game is declared a draw. However, if the match is a knockout the second period of extra time is played until someone scores.
The English Challenge Cup is played under similar conditions except a replay is called if the scores are still tied after ten minutes of extra time.

There has been some criticism of this method as there is propensity to score a field goal (worth one point) as these are the easiest to score.

Answer: 70-68 Isner

In the first round match, it took 11 hours, 5 minutes of play over three days, with a final score of 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7-9), 7-6(7-3), 70-68 making a total of 183 games. It remained by far the longest match in tennis history, measured both in time and number of games.

The final set was longer than the previous longest match time. A rule change in 2019 meant the match will always be the longest match played at Wimbledon. In the new rule, the last set will be decided by advantage (two games clear) until 12-12 and then tiebreak (two points clear).

This means at the time of this rule change only the French Open and Fed Cup play a last set advantage rule. All other professional tennis matches play a tie-break instead.

Answer: 1956 World Series - Yankees 2, Dodgers 0

The 1956 World Series was memorable because Don Larsen pitched the first perfect game in World Series history. This was game 5. In game 2 Larsen blew a 6-0 lead to the Yankees to lose 13-8. In this game Larsen only needed 97 pitches to win the game and he only went to a 3-ball count on one occasion. two singles, one in the fourth and one in the sixth was enough to get the Yankees home. Interestingly game six went to ten innings with the Dodgers winning 1-0 at the bottom of the 10th. The Yankees won the World Series in seven. This was the last time the two New York teams met in a World Series decider before the Dodgers moved to LA for the 1958 season.

All the other games were indeed the closest possible result to win a World Series with the 1991 Twins' win the closet of all. Many argue the 2016 Cubs- Indians game seven was the best World Series game ever played. The 1997 Marlins win was absolutely remarkable given their first MLB game was in 1992 and they were 2-1 down in the bottom of the ninth requiring 1 innings to win.

Answer: Germany

Luge is a Winter Olympic sport where supine racers on a tiny sled (the luge) hurtle down a curved icy track at speeds of up to 140 kph. In the 1998 Women's singles it was Silke Kraushaar and Barbara Niederhuber first and second and daylight third before a pack of others. Over a total of four runs totalling 3:23.779, Ms Niederhuber trailed Ms Kraushaar by 0.002 of a second.

The pack were at least half a second further back. To put that in perspective, that is four times the times it would take you to travel the length of the average pinky fingernail and the blink of an eye is between 0.3 and 0.4 second or 150-200 times more than the winning margin.

There was never more than 0.075 second between them on any run. You have to feel for Ms Niederhuber who won silver because she was 0.002 second slower.

In the same event, neighbouring Austria won Bronze followed by another German in fourth place.