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Twisted History: The Olympics

Created by Flynn_17

Fun Trivia : Quizzes : Olympics History
Twisted History The Olympics game quiz
"Enchanting and mysterious, the Olympic Games have seen the most prominent sportsmen held in high regard since the time of the Ancient Greeks. This quiz will see us delving into the long, sordid, and sometimes surprising past of the Olympic Games!"

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  



1. As most people believe, the Olympics are one of the oldest organised games in the world, but they are far from the oldest. The first recorded organised games were held in Ireland much earlier than the first Olympics, but when were they held, and what were the called?
    A Maori version of the games, called the Rungan Arii are the earliest known, stretching from 1100 B.C until 13 A.D, when the Maoris left their Polynesians homes.
    From 490 - 396 B.C, the Sparta games (held by Princess Kyniska) were the earliest games.
    The games were held from 1800 B.C until around 1180 A.D, and they were called The Tailteann Games.
    Between 300 B.C and 120 A.D, the Boudican games were the oldest, and were held in honour of Boudicca's greatness.


2. In the Greece of 700 B.C, the Greek people would measure time in Olympiads, which were intervals of four years. This is why the Olympics were held every four years. Of course, the Olympics were not the only set of games played in Greece at this time. Which of the following was not one of the other three games that were played?
    Nemean
    Peloponnesian
    Pythian
    Isthmian


3. In the days of the first Olympics in Greece, homosexuality was a widely accepted lifestyle choice. At one point, it even became fashionable and chic, and so the Olympics were sometimes used as a way for men to meet each other. Only males were allowed to be in the audience at the Olympic games, but there was always one woman present at the games; the priestess of Demeter.
    True
    False


4. All of the people that participated in the Games were male, as the Greeks were in fact rather uptight as far as women and their participation went. This meant that the majority of the games were played in the buff, but which of these words has a root that comes from the naked nature of the first Olympics?
    Athletics
    Gymnasium
    Vertissement
    Olympiad


5. Many philosophers in Ancient Greece spent a lot of time thinking about sport and its connotations. Which of the following lines can be attributed to the great Greek philosopher, Plato?
    "A man should spend his whole life at play."
    "Man does manifest his warrior ethic in the games of Olympia."
    "Animals not only play, but just like men."
    "For me, sport is a religion with church, dogma, ritual."


6. As the Irish have shown, the Greeks weren't the first people to use sport as a method of recreation. How is it known that the Ancient Egyptians and Assyrians also participated in modern day Olympic sports, as far back as 4000 B.C?
    Tomb paintings in Egypt show running, rowing, and archery being played by the Ancient Egyptian people.
    Hieroglyphics were found, recording the popularity and spread of boxing as a sport throughout the Nile Valley.
    Wall etchings that were located in Luxor, Egypt, show the Assyrian people swimming a stroke with the Greeks later called 'the crawl'.
    All of these three answers are correct. The Egyptians left a lot of evidence for their love of sports.


7. Although archery has always been an Olympic event, the Japanese samurai had their own variations, such as mounted archery, which came about as early as the sixth century. What was the penalty for missing the target in these games of mounted archery?
    The lowering of ranks - if the target was missed, the person who missed it would have their rank lowered by one level for every target they missed.
    Death - the warrior would be set up by his fellow samurai if he missed a target.
    Excommunication - every target missed would result in one day of being ignored by the fellow warriors.
    Enforced suicide - if the target was frequently missed, then seppuku had to be carried out by the person who missed the target.


8. When it comes down to the modern Olympic sports, one of the most competitive events is gymnastics. Gymnastics is a sport that was played in the original Olympic games, but diving is a much newer sport. In fact, it came from 'fancy diving', which was first carried out in Germany and Sweden. People who were a part of the gymnastic clubs that had formed there first began 'fancy diving' in the early 1800s.
    True
    False


9. In 1766, the site of the original Olympic games was rediscovered in Olympia, Greece, and exactly 130 years later, one man took it upon himself to revive the Olympic games. This man was Baron de Coubertin, a French man (but an infamous Anglophile) who wanted to reinstate the great games as a testament to masculinity. He was also extremely purist in his views, and wanted all professionals to be banned from the games. Which of these descriptions best fits de Coubertin's attitude of the games?
    The wreath or death for the participants of the Olympiad!
    Playing for victory is the goal of all sport, and victory shall be achieved at all costs.
    The Games are a show of stregnth and courage of those whose proffesion is excellence, and should not be blighted by the common man .
    The most important thing in the Olympic games is not to win, but to take part.


10. Many games, played in the Olympics and in many other sporting tournaments, have basis in real life. Javelin throwing, for example, is as the throwing of a spear. Pole vaulting, the leaping of a stream by using a big stick. One such sport is the 'harrijasotzaileak', a sporting event played in the Basque regions of Spain and France. What does this sporting event actually involve?
    Live pigeons are shot from a distance of 500 feet, as a testament to the masculinity of the shooter.
    A boulder or stone, weighing 350lb (159kg), being lifted to chest height.
    A ball-and-chain are heaved by pulling movements over the head. It's similar to hammerthrowing.
    This is very similar to the aforementioned pole vaulting, but weights are also attached the the vaulter.


11. Hammer throwing is a sport that dates back almost a thousand years, to the 11th century. In fact, it was one of the sports that was played in the early Scottish games that was also in the first few Olympics. Which of these other sports were played in the first Scottish games, as well as the early modern Olympic games, but is not played in today's Olympics?
    Cockfighting
    Shot-putting
    Tug-of-war
    Caber tossing


12. Although the Olympic Games have many of this type of sport today, no games of this kind were played in Ancient Greece. They were not held in high regard by the Greeks, and even though the Romans set aside specific areas for these kind of games, they were not spectator sports. They would be played on the street, while chariot racing was held in large arenas. What kind of games/sports am I talking about?
    Swimming, which was seen as a waste of time by both of the ancient cultures.
    Archery games, mounted archery or 'Odysseus-style' bow and arrow sports.
    Ball games, which were often played with pig's bladders or, even earlier that that, skulls.
    Foot races of any length - chariot races were seen as the only way to compete.


13. In the early 1900s, there was lawn tennis. This extremely popular modern sport was in fact only a game to play in one's own back garden before Suzanne Langlen brought it into the fore. With her interesting gait, incredibly graceful movements, and astoundingly short skirts, she shocked and amazed the spectators at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. What nationality was this famous player?
    French
    Polish
    Swiss
    Hungarian


14. In 1976, a young Romanian by the name of Nadia Comaneci arrived at the Montreal Olympics. What was so special about this young gymnast and her achievement at the 1976 Olympics?
    She was the youngest person from Eastern Europe to ever win a medal in the Olympic Games.
    She was the first person to clear 20 feet in the pole vaulting, despite it not being her competition of choice
    She was the first person to get perfect 10s from all of the judges.
    She fell and broke her arm on the parallel bars, but still managed to compete.


15. The last major Olympic upset of the 20th century was the boycotting of the Moscow Olympics by the USA, because Russia entered Afghanistan (something which the USA also did 20 years later). 60 countries followed the USA in the boycott, but the United Kingdom and many other European countries chose to enter. Which other city did Moscow beat to hold the 1980 Olympic Games?
    New York
    Los Angeles
    Paris
    Harare


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Compiled Jun 28 12