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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 25 general entries.
Special Topics
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Women in Sports
| This athlete set world records for the 100 and 200 meter sprints in 1988, records which still stood 15 years later. Her trademarks were her super long fingernails and interesting track suits. Who was she? | Extraordinary Women Athletes
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Florence Griffith Joyner. Rarely has there been more speculation about an athlete's performance. Florence won a silver medal in the 200 meter race at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. She had quit the sport almost entirely, when suddenly came back on the scene and set a world record at the next Olympic trials. She went on to the Summer Olympics in Seoul, and won three gold medals and one silver in the sprint races. Flo-Jo died in 1998, when she was only 37. The cause of death was determined by the coroner to be a result of a grand mal seizure. There has been much speculation about that as well, and doubt remains in the minds of many people in the sports world. Some felt the cause of her death can be attributed to steroid use, although that had never been proven.
| She was a U.S. Alpine skier, with two World Cup Championships in downhill skiing and gold and silver Olympic medals to boot. Her first name is Picabo. What is her last name? | Extraordinary Women Athletes
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Street. Picabo was born in Idaho in 1971. She won the silver medal in the Lillehammer Olympics downhill race, and got her gold in the 1998 Nagano Super-G. Picabo was once number 45 on the Sports Illustrated list of top women athletes.
| Dawn Fraser was a champion swimmer and gold medalist, winning gold in 1956, 1960, and 1964. She was also known for being quite a free spirit. Where was she from? | Extraordinary Women Athletes
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Australia. Dawn Fraser was born in Sydney in 1937. She won a total of eight Olympic medals, including four golds. A sprint swimmer, she was the first woman to swim the 100 meters in under a minute, a record which lasted for eight years. She was in constant hot water with Australian officialdom in her sport, and was eventually banned from swimming for 10 years. Her offenses included wearing the wrong swimsuit for the opening ceremonies in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, and allegedly attempting to steal a Japanese flag after some late-night partying. Sports Illustrated placed her in 21st place on their list of greatest female athletes.
| Her name is Laila, and she's a boxing champion, just like her dad was. She won the super middleweight championship in 2002. Who is her very famous father? | Extraordinary Women Athletes
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Muhammed Ali. Laila is a fine boxer, and she's even a good trash-talker, just like Muhammed. She was born in Miami Beach in 1977, to Muhammed and Veronica Porshe. In her first 22 bouts, she had been undefeated. Her opponents included Mavis Frazier, the daughter of Joe Frazier, her father's nemesis. She also took out Christy Martin in four rounds. Martin was considered her toughest competition, but Laila beat her easily.
| Marie-José Pérec was a runner in the 200 and 400 meter races, and a three-time gold medal winner in the Olympic Games. What country did she represent? | Extraordinary Women Athletes
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France. Pérec won the World Championship in the 400 meters in Tokyo in 1991, and then the gold in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. She went on to compete in Atlanta in 1996, and won the 200 and the 400 meters, becoming the first athlete to accomplish this remarkable feat.
She was born in Guadeloupe in 1968, and moved to France as a teenager. Her career took a rather bizarre turn when she was set to compete at the Sydney Olympics, then suddenly departed before the competition began, claiming she had been threatened by someone at her hotel.
| Yvonne Goolagong and Margaret Court are two of the top players in the history of women's tennis. Which country are they from? | Extraordinary Women Athletes
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Australia. Both of the women appeared on Sports Illustrated's list of all-time great sportswomen, with Court placing `15th, and Goolagong at number 72. Evonne caused quite a stir when in 1971, she won the Women's Singles title at Wimbledon (defeating Margaret Court) and the French Open. She was born in New South Wales in 1951, and was the first Aboriginal woman to achieve success in any sport. She was great fun to watch, and very charismatic. Margaret Smith Court is from New South Wales as well, born in 1942. She was one of the all-time greats in women's tennis.
| Annika Sorenstam, Nancy Lopez, Lorena Ochoa, and Kathy Whitworth have all been top players in their sport at one time or another. What is their sport? | Extraordinary Women Athletes
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Golf. Kathy Whitworth and Nancy Lopez were both great champions. Annika Sorenstam is a a strong golfer who has competed with men players in several competitions, while Lorena Ochoa is a real up-and-comer.
| Her trademark was her elegant figure skating style, that led her to Olympic gold in 1968 in Grenoble, France. She also won three World titles in her sport. Who was this U.S. figure skater? | Extraordinary Women Athletes
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Peggy Fleming. Peggy Fleming's original skating coach, William Kipp, was killed in a plane crash in 1961. He was on a flight to the World Figure Skating Championships when the plane carrying the entire U.S. skating team crashed, killing everyone on board. The competition was canceled for that year. It was one of the greatest tragedies in sports history. Peggy went on to work with the Italian coach Carlo Fassi, and under his tutelage she won three World Championships from 1966-68, in addition to her Olympic gold medal.
| Brandy Chastain, Mia Hamm, Brianna Scurry, and Julie Foudy were a few of the players on the 1999 FIFA World Cup Championship soccer team. Which country did they play for? | Extraordinary Women Athletes
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United States. Although soccer was not enormously popular in the United States, the whole country was watching while these women played for the World Championship in 1999, and won it. And who can forget when Brandi Chastain whipped off her jersey after their victory, and waved it over her head? They were a terrific inspiration and role model for young girls in the U.S.
| She came from Romania and created a sensation in the 1976 Olympic Games. She scored the first perfect tens ever awarded to a competitor in her sport, and won five Olympic medals. Can you name this gymnast? | Extraordinary Women Athletes
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Nadia Comaneci. Nadia was 6 when she began gymnastics training in Romania. Her trainers were the famous Bela and Marta Karolyi. Nadia was 16 when she went to the Summer Olympics in Montreal. The public response to her performances was extremely enthusiastic, and she inspired many young girls to become gymnasts. She received the perfect 10 score seven times at the 1976 Olympics, an amazing feat. When she returned home to Romania, she was received as a national heroine.
| Bonnie Blair was right up there with the all-time greats in her sport. She has represented the U.S. in four Olympic Games, winning a total of six medals, five of them gold. Can you name her sport? | Extraordinary Women Athletes
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Speed Skating. Bonnie Blair won five gold medals and one bronze in her Olympic career, competing in the Calgary, Albertville and Lillehammer Winter Games. Bonnie was born in 1964 in New York. She was the top-notch speedskater of her era, and one of the all-time high medal winners in the history of the Winter Olympics.
| This Czech-born tennis player has won 18 Grand Slam singles titles. She has won the Women's Singles title at Wimbledon nine times. Can you name this all-time great champion? | Extraordinary Women Athletes
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Martina Navratilova. All these women were well-known Czech-born tennis players, but Martina Navratilova was the best. Martina was born in 1956 in Prague. She defected to the United States in 1975, and was the dominant player in women's tennis for most of her career. Her main rival was the U.S. player Chris Evert, and their battles were always wonderful to watch. She finally retired in 1994.
| This athlete has won six Olympic medals in her career. She's an heptathlon competitor and long jumper, and has represented the United States in three Olympic Games. Can you name her? | Extraordinary Women Athletes
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Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee was honored by Sports Illustrated magazine as the top woman athlete of the 20th century. She's also one of the most admired sportswomen in the United States. She was born in 1962 and comes from East St. Louis, Illinois. She overcame exercise-induced asthma, which was a concern for her every time she competed. Her husband and coach, Bob Kersee, was always close by with an inhaler at the ready, always yelling at her to do better at the same time. She finally retired from competition, after an illustrious career.
| What female jockey in 1969 became the first woman to ride in a United States parimutuel race? | Women in Sport
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Diane Crump. In 1969, Diane Crump at the Hialeah racetrack became the first woman to ride in a United States parimutuel race. The next year she would become the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby.
| At the 1960 Rome Olympics, who was the first American woman to win three Olympic gold medals in track and field at one Olympic Games? | Women in Sport
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Wilma Rudolph. Wilma Glodean Rudolph won gold at the 1960 Olympics in the 100m, 200m (Olympic record) and the 4x100m relay (Olympic record). The incorrect answers were her Tennessee State teammates: Martha Hudson, Lucinda Williams, and Barbara Jones whom she ran with in the 4x100 relay.
| Who in 1953 became the first woman to win a Grand Slam, all four major tennis championships in a calendar year? | Women in Sport
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Maureen Connolly. She defeated Julie Sampson Haywood in the Australian Championships final. She beat Doris Hart in the finals of the French, Wimbledon, and U.S. Championships. She lost only one set during her "Grand Slam" matches.
| What 12-year old in 1950 becomes the first female ever to play Little League Baseball in Corning, N.Y.?
| Women in Sport
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Kathryn Johnson. At the time, there were no official rules against females playing "midget" or Little League baseball. She tried out with her brother, cut her hair, and called herself "Tubby". Tubby made the King's Dairy team and played first base.
| What Olympian in 1948 was the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal? | Women in Sport
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Alice Coachman. Alice Marie Coachman won gold in the high jump during the 1948 Summer Olympics held in London, England. Coachman's winning leap was 1.68 m (5 ft 6 1/2 in).
| What athlete in 1932 won the team championship single-handedly at the AAU national track and field meet? | Women in Sport
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Babe Didrikson. Mildred Ella ("Babe") Didrikson Zaharias would compete in 8 out of 10 events, winning 5, and tying for 1st in a 6th event. Her performance was good enough to win the team championship, despite her being the only member of her team.
| What female pitcher in 1931, became the first woman in professional baseball to strikeout Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game? | Women in Sport
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Jackie Mitchell. This event took place on April 1, 1931, in an exhibition game between the New York Yankees and the Chattanooga Lookouts (AA). She was all of 17 years old at the time. Baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis would ban women from the sport later that year.
| Which American woman became, in 1926, the first woman to swim the English Channel? | Women in Sport
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Gertrude Ederle. Gertrude Caroline Ederle won a gold and a bronze in the 1924 Olympics. At 20 years old, she swam the English Channel in 14 hours and 30 minutes. Her record stood until 1950 when bested by Florence Chadwick.
| Who was the first African-American women in 1917 to win a major sports title, when she won at the American Tennis Association (ATA) national tournament? | Women in Sport
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Lucy Diggs Slowe. Lucy Diggs Slowe was also an original founder of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. She was also a college administrator, a civic organizer, and a champion to African-American women's causes.
| Which female British figure skater in 1902, entered the men's world championships and placed second? | Women in Sport
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Madge Syers. There was no women's figure skating competition in 1902. She would enter the men's world championships and place 2nd. In 1908, she would win the first women's Olympic gold medal.
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