Quiz | Easy like Sunday morning: On Olympics

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1 / 10 | On this day in 1894, the International Olympic Committee was founded in Paris. An initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who believed that organised sport can create moral and social strength, the first modern Olympic Games was held in Athens in 1896. At the 1912 games in Sweden, Coubertin himself won a gold medal for his effort ‘Ode to Sport’. In what now-defunct category did he win the medal?

2 / 10 | Born this day in 1877, Norman Pritchard was a hurdler who won two silver medals at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. Earlier, while studying at St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta, he scored the very first football hat-trick on record. When Neeraj Chopra struck gold in javelin at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he overtook Pritchard’s record in athletics. What was his record?

3 / 10 | Born this day in 1912, this English computer scientist loved running. He once said, “I have such a stressful job that the only way I can get it out of my mind is by running hard; it’s the only way I can get some release.” He almost qualified for the 1948 Olympics but had a leg injury. Who was this runner, whose work with the Enigma machine played a huge role in ending World War II?

4 / 10 | Born this day in 1972, Zinedine Zidane is a French footballer who is one of the most successful coaches as well. He led the French team to the trophy at the 1998 FIFA Word Cup. Although he has never played at the Olympics, he made a cameo appearance as ‘Numérodis’ in the 2008 live action film of the comic book ______ at the Olympic Games. Fill in the blanks with another French icon.

5 / 10 | Christa Luding-Rothenburger is a German athlete who won gold for speed skating in 500m at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics. At the next one in Calgary four years later, she won gold in 1000m. In the break between both, she was convinced by her coach to take up cycling and progressed so well that she represented East Germany in cycling at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, where she went on to win silver. What unique record does Christa have, which can never happen again?

6 / 10 | At the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics, the men’s pole vault event ended in a three-way tie for second place. After American Bill Sefton was eliminated in a jump-off, the two remaining athletes, both Japanese, refused to compete further. Officials chose one of them as silver medallist and the other for bronze. What did these two friends do with the medals after the games (in true friendship fashion)?

7 / 10 | One of the places during the Olympic flame journey to the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics required a special flare carrier, which had a mix of oxygen-generating chemicals as well as magnesium in a finely powdered form. This allowed the flame to burn at 2,000 degrees Celsius creating enough pressure to keep even surrounding water from entering the tube. This was done so that the flame could be carried through what iconic place?

8 / 10 | As part of the Olympic flame’s journey for the 1992 Albertville Olympics, it had to travel from Athens to Paris. During this trip, for the first time, it travelled faster than the speed of sound. What was its mode of transport?

9 / 10 | This sport was contested as a team event in the Summer Olympics from 1900 to 1920. The teams consisted of six members each, and Great Britain has won five medals in it. It is the only land-sport in which you have to go backwards to win. What sport is this, which nowadays you mostly see only in fun picnics and at company outings?

10 / 10 | The original Olympic motto Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger in Latin) was proposed by Pierre de Coubertin at the creation of the International Olympic Committee in 1894. Since then, this year will be the first time the updated motto will be used. Now, “Citius, Altius, Fortius — Communiter”, what does it stand for?