Answer: 1947
Kathrine was born January 5th, 1947 to a father who was an army major. According to her website, she started running at the age of twelve because she wanted to join the field hockey team. It was her father who encouraged her to run a mile a day as a way to train for the team. By the time she was twenty years old, she had run her first marathon.
From Quiz: Kathrine Switzer, Marathon Pioneer
Answer: A hearing mistake from a school teacher
Aged just nine, the Owens family left their hometown of Oakville, Alabama to find more opportunities in the more urban and industrial north. His new teacher asked him what his name was and Owens used his first two initials "J.C" as his name. When his teacher misheard Owens, thinking he had said "Jesse", due to his heavy southern accent, the name stuck forever.
From Quiz: The Life and Times of Jesse Owens
Answer: Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital of Jamaica. Usain Bolt won the gold medal by completing 200m in 20.61 seconds. He was less than sixteen years old at the time of the event! Brendan Christian of Antigua and Barbuda came second, while Wes Felix of the U.S.A. came third. Was competing in his home country an advantage? It is posiible as Bolt also won silver medals in the 4x100 metres relay race and in the 4x400 metres relay race.
From Quiz: Freeze the Seconds
Answer: Jamaica
Jamaica achieved a time of 36.84 seconds to win the gold medal at 2012 London Olympics. The 38 second barrier was set up by USA in 1983 Helsinki World Championships with a time of 37.86 seconds.
From Quiz: Barrier Breakers in Track & Field - Part 2
Answer: Jim Hines (USA)
Jim Hines (born 10 September 1946) won the gold medal at 1968 Mexico Olympics in 9.95 seconds and became the first man to break the 10 seconds barrier. He held that record for 15 years until Calvin Smith (born 8 January 1961) broke it in 9.93 seconds in 1983. Jamaican Usain Bolt (born 21 August 1986) was the first man to go under 9.6 seconds, achieving 9.58 seconds at the 2009 World Athletics Championship in Berlin.
From Quiz: Barrier Breakers in Track & Field - Part 1
Answer: He'd never run a competitive marathon
Emil felt uneasy about marathons, fearing what it might do to his body (he famously said at the start of 1956 marathon at the Melbourne Olympics "Men, today we die a little"). In the warm up to the Helsinki race he went forward to introduce himself to the British champion Jim Peters who was the then world record holder and pre race favourite for the gold medal. Peters accepted the handshake but gave Zatopek the competitive cold shoulder verbally.
Halfway through the race Zatopek pulled alongside Peters, who was leading the race, and asked him "Is this pace too fast"? In an effort to kid the inexperienced marathoner he replied "No, it isn't fast enough". Zatopek responded by increasing the pace and in little time at all had disappeared from view. Emil won convincingly, set a new Olympic record and was carried around the stadium on the shoulders of the gold medal winning Jamaican 4 x 400 metre relay squad. In an effort to catch Zatopek, Peters fell prey to cramp and ended up catching a ride to the stadium with a busload of journalist.
From Quiz: Like a Bat Outta Helsinki
Answer: 3
Usain won 3 gold medals at the Olympics, all in world record times. They were the 100m, 200m, and the 4x100m.
He subsequently lost the relay gold medal in January 2017 when one of his team mates was found guilty of doping.
From Quiz: Usain Bolt
Answer: St. Leo
He was born Usain St. Leo Bolt on 21st August 1986, in the rural town of Sherwood Content in Trelawny parish, Cornwall county, Jamaica. His parents Jennifer and Wellesley ran the local grocery store. He spent much of his free time as a child playing soccer and cricket with his brother Sadeeki.
From Quiz: Usain Bolt: The King of Speed
Answer: Cornell
Hall held the school and Ivy League records for the hammer throw long after his graduation in 1956. He has been inducted into the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame.
From Quiz: Al Hall: U.S. Hammer Thrower
Answer: Czech Republic
Zelezny was born in Mlada Boleslav, in 1966. His father (Jaroslav) who was also a prolific javelin thrower, taught Zelezny the proper techniques of javelin. Zelezny also enjoyed playing handball as a child.
From Quiz: Jan Zelezny: Javelin Sensation
Answer: twice
He ran it in Gateshead early in the season and then later on in Zurich he once again ran it edging out Tyson Gay.
From Quiz: Asafa Powell
Answer: Oregon
Many people visit Eugene, Oregon to run the same trails that Pre once did.
From Quiz: Steve Prefontaine
Answer: 3
She was aiming for 5 gold medals but she ended up with 3 gold and 2 bronze. Still, that is the most medals won in track and field by a female in the Olympics ever up to 2000!
From Quiz: Marion Jones
Answer: Germany
Kathrine was born in Amberg, Germany where she spent the first two years of her life. In 1949 her family moved to Virginia, USA and as a teen she attended George C. Marshall High School in Fairfax County, Virginia. After graduating high school she attended Lynchburg College.
From Quiz: Kathrine Switzer, Marathon Pioneer
Answer: His school track coach, Charles Riley
Riley was Owens' junior high track coach at Fairmount Junior High School. As Owens came from a poor, segregated background, he had to work in a shoe repair shop after school to help provide for his family. Riley allowed Owens to practice before school instead, giving Owens the chance to develop his running ability and keep food on the table.
From Quiz: The Life and Times of Jesse Owens
Answer: 2007, Osaka
Usain Bolt won the silver medal in the 200 metres race and the 4x100 metres relay race in the 2005 World Championship in Athletics. Tyson Gay got gold in both the 100 metres race as well as the 200 metres race. In the 200 metres race, Tyson Gay had a time of 19.76 seconds while Usain Boot had a timing of 19.91 seconds. In the 4x100 metres relay race, the U.S.A. stood first, Jamaica second and Great Britain third.
From Quiz: Freeze the Seconds
Answer: Hicham El Guerrouj (MOR)
Two men had broken the 3 minute 27 seconds mark. Hicham El Guerrouj (born 14 September 1974) was the first to clock a time of 3 minute 26 seconds in 1998 at Rome. In 2001, the time of 3 minutes 26.34 seconds was set by Bernard Lagat (born 12 December 1974). El Guerrouj was considered the best middle distance runner of all times by International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). He won 2 gold medals at 2004 Athens Olympics in 1500 meters and 5000 meters.
From Quiz: Barrier Breakers in Track & Field - Part 2
Answer: Tommie Smith (USA)
Tommie Smith (born 6 June 1944) won the gold medal in 19.83 seconds to become the first man to go under the 20 seconds barrier at the 1968 Mexico Olympics Games. Usain Bolt was the first man to go under 19.2 seconds, after clocking a time of 19.19 seconds at the 2009 World Athletics Championship in Berlin.
From Quiz: Barrier Breakers in Track & Field - Part 1
Answer: 5000m
At just 23-years of age, Paula earned her first trip to the Olympics as a member of the British team in the 5000m event. Paula qualified comfortably for the Final in 1996 by running 15:23 in the semi-finals. In the final she ran faster (15:13) but could only finish 5th. On that day, the gold medal was won by Wang Junxia of China who Paula had beaten 4 years earlier at the World Junior cross-country championships.
From Quiz: Paula Radcliffe's Ups & Downs!
Answer: 2
Haile won the Olympic Gold medal in the 10,000m event at the 1996 Athens Olympics and returned four years later to retain his Olympic title at the 2000 Sydney Games.
From Quiz: Haile Gebrselassie
Answer: 19.93
He achieved this in 2004 at the age of 17.
From Quiz: Usain Bolt
Answer: 200m and 400m
Bolt won the medals at the 2001 CARIFTA (Caribbean Free Trade Association) Games posting times of 21.81s for the 200m and 48.28s for the 400m. The following year he went to the Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships, competing in the same events and setting record times of 20.61 and 47.12 respectively.
From Quiz: Usain Bolt: The King of Speed
Answer: Harold Connolly
Connolly held the world record six different times from 1956 to 1965. Krivonosov finished second, Samotsvetov grabbed the bronze, and Csermak finished fifth.
From Quiz: Al Hall: U.S. Hammer Thrower
Answer: 4
In 1988, he won a silver medal. In 1992, 1996, and 2000, he won the Gold medal. In other words, he was the Olympic champion 3 times.
From Quiz: Jan Zelezny: Javelin Sensation
Answer: Helsinki, Finland
2005 World Track and Field championships held in Helsinki, Finland. Asafa suffered from a groin injury causing him to not be able to attend. Justin Gatlin, who at the time was his main rival, ended up winning the 100m world title.
From Quiz: Asafa Powell
Answer: 1972
Pre was expected to win, and many believe he would have won any other race.
From Quiz: Steve Prefontaine
Answer: Runners who 'sit and kick', letting everyone else do all the work
Pre hated runners that would do no work, runners that would sit on him and then kick by him.
From Quiz: Prefontaine: Long Distance Hero
Answer: Syracuse
Kathrine studied journalism and English literature at Syracuse University. She transferred there from Lynchburg College in 1967. She received a Bachelor's Degree in 1968 and a Master's Degree in 1972. She wanted to be a sports writer and while studying at Syracuse, she started running with the men's cross-country team as there was no women's running team at the time.
From Quiz: Kathrine Switzer, Marathon Pioneer
Answer: Berlin
The 2009 World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany with the Men's 100 metres race being conducted at the Olympiastadion. The race was hyped as a duel between Tyson Gay of the U.S.A. and Usain Bolt of the U.S.A. Usain Bolt won the gold medal by creating a world record of 9.58 seconds. Tyson Gay won the silver medal with a timing of 9.71 seconds. Asafa Powell from Jamaica won the bronze medal with a timing of 9.84 seconds.
From Quiz: Freeze the Seconds
Answer: Nadezhda Olizarenko (URS)
Nadezhda Olizarenko（28 November 1953-18 February 2017) a former Soviet Union runner ran 1 minute 53.43 seconds to win the gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Her record was broken by Jarmila Kratochvílová (born 26 January 1951) a Czech athlete set the time of 1 minute 53.28 seconds at the 1983 World Championships. Pamela Jelimo (born 5 December 1989) clocked 1 minute 54.01 seconds in 2008. Caster Semenya (born 7 January 1991) set a time of 1 minute 54.25 seconds in June 2018 at Paris.
From Quiz: Barrier Breakers in Track & Field - Part 2
Answer: Javiar Sotomayor (CUB)
Sotomayor (born 13 October 1967), a top high-jumper from the late 1980s to 1990s achieved that height in 1989 at the Central American and Caribbean Championships held in San Juan. In 1993, he created another new mark at 2.45 m (8 feet and one-half inch). Sotomayor won an Olympic gold medal at 1992 Barcelona.
From Quiz: Barrier Breakers in Track & Field - Part 1
Answer: Polio
Afrer the polio struck, Blanche Rudolph took her daughter to Meharry Hospital, the black medical college of Fisk University in Nashville. Blanche traveled 50 miles with her daughter twice a year for two years until she was able to walk with a metal brace. The staff instructed Blanche on the physical therapy exercises, which Wilma was able to do at home. With the help of her brothers and sisters, Wilma was able to thrive. By age 12, she could walk without crutches, braces, or orthopedic shoes.
From Quiz: Wilma Rudolph, the World's Fastest Woman
Answer: Abebe Bikila
Abebe Bikila became the first ever Black African Olympic Champion in the Rome Olympics in 1960. He captured the Gold medal in 1960 by running barefoot in 2 hours and 15 minutes. Four years later, he won the Tokyo Gold medal in 2 hours and 12 minutes, this time wearing shoes.
From Quiz: Haile Gebrselassie
Answer: 200m
At the annual High School Championships of 2001, Usain won the silver medal in the 200m, with a time of 22.04.
From Quiz: Usain Bolt
Answer: Conjunctivitis
In the run up to the games, Bolt suffered from a bout of conjunctivitis and it ruined his training schedule. The Jamaican Amateur Athletics Association realised he would not be fit to compete, and withdrew him from the competition stating his youth and inexperience as the reason.
From Quiz: Usain Bolt: The King of Speed
Answer: 90.17m
Zelezny performed an unbelievable feat by throwing an 800g javelin (102.4 inches long) 90.17m during those Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. However, this was just an Olympic record.
From Quiz: Jan Zelezny: Javelin Sensation
Answer: 24
Pre died one night in May 1975, after drinking several beers at a party, and getting into a car accident.
From Quiz: Steve Prefontaine
