Sports Mix Alphabetically - the P's Quiz

Answer: Alain Prost

Frenchman Prost made his Formula One debut in 1980, driving for McLaren. He joined Renault the following season, winning three races. Back with McLaren, he won his first drivers' championship in 1985, and retained the title the following year. A third title followed in 1989, and a fourth, with Renault Williams, in 1993, following which he retired. From 1998-2001, Prost ran his own Grand Prix team.

Answer: Pele

Pele, who was a striker, made his professional debut with Santos in 1956 when he was just 15 years old. He helped them to the Copa Libertadores (South America's most prestigious club tournament) in both 1962 and 1963. He won his first Brazilian cap in 1957, and a year later scored twice as Brazil beat host nation Sweden in the final of the World Cup. Two more World Cup winners medals followed, in 1962 and 1970, before he retired from international soccer in 1971, having scored 77 goals in 92 appearances.

His domestic career ended in the unlikely setting of New York, where he spent three seasons with the Cosmos of the NASL.

Answer: Philadelphia Athletics

Mack began his managerial career with the Pirates as player-manager between 1894-96. After a spell in the minor leagues, he was appointed manager of the Athletics in 1901, and would remain at the helm for an amazing 50 seasons. His teams would win World Series titles in 1910, 1911, 1913, 1929, and 1930. Mack was also the owner of the club for a number of years, but sold it shortly after his retirement at the age of 87. Shibe Park was renamed Connie Mack Stadium in his honour in 1953, although, ironically, the Athletics relocated to Kansas City shortly afterwards, leaving the Phillies as the sole tenant of the ballpark.

Answer: Gary Player

Player was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1935. He made his pro debut in 1953, joining the PGA Tour four years later. Between 1959 and 1978, he won nine Majors, the first of them the British Open at Muirfield, and the final one the Masters at Augusta. His 'Black Knight' nickname came from his habit of dressing all in black on the golf course.

Answer: Polo

Polo is contested by teams of four players mounted on horseback. Players use mallets to try and drive a ball into their opponents' goal. The word chukka is derived from the sanskrit word for a wheel.

Answer: Purdue

Purdue University is located in West Lafayette, Indiana, and its sports teams are members of the Big Ten Conference. The school has won team national titles in men's golf (1961), women's basketball (1999) and women's golf (2010). The Purdue gridiron team were Rose Bowl champions in 1967, when they defeated the USC Trojans 14-13.

Answer: Fred Perry

Perry was born in Stockport, England in 1909. His first Grand Slam success came at the U.S. Championships in 1933, with his first triumphs at both Wimbledon and in Australia coming the following year. He completed the set with victory at the French Championships in 1935. Altogether he won eight Grand Slam singles titles, as well as a further five in doubles competition.

He may well have gone on to win even more, but turned professional in 1937 during an era when the Grand Slam events were strictly amateur only.

Answer: Walter Payton

Payton played college football at Jackson State, before being drafted by the Chicago Bears in the first round of the 1975 draft. After a quiet first season in the pro ranks, he burst onto the scene in 1976, rushing for over 1000 yrads and being selected to the Pro Bowl, in which he was voted the game's MVP.

The highlight of Payton's career came following the 1985 season, when he helped the Bears defeat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX. He retired folowing the 1987 season as the holder of the record for most career rushing yards with 16,726.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993, Payton died at the young age of 45 in 1999. The NFL honoured Payton's memory shortly afterwards by renaming their Man Of The Year Award after him.

Answer: Mike Powell

Powell, from Philadelphia, won silver at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. At the 1991 World Championships, in Tokyo, he broke the world record that had been set by Beamon at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. That effort earned him a gold medal, which he successfully defended at Stuttgart in 1993.

He never managed to add Olympic gold to his collection, having to settle for silver again at Barcelona in 1992.

Answer: Scottie Pippen

Pippen was drafted out of Central Arkansas by the Seattle Supersonics in 1987. He was traded to the Bulls without ever playing a game for the Sonics. He was selected to the first of seven All-Star games in 1990, and the following season won his first NBA championship ring.

His sixth championship season in 1998 was his last with the Bulls, then he was traded to the Houston Rockets where he played one strike-shortened season. He then spent four years with the Portland Trailblazers before returing to Chicago for a final farewell season in 2003-04.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.