Athletes and Their Sports Trivia Quiz

Answer: Table Tennis

China's Ma Long is regarded as one of the best table tennis players of all time. He won six Olympic gold medals (two in the men's singles, the remainder as a team player) and was the World Champion three times, amongst his many achievements. In 2024, he also set a record for the most Olympic gold medals won by a Chinese athlete.

He won his singles gold medals at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.

Answer: Swimming

A middle-distance swimmer born on Tasmania in Australia, Ariarne Titmus won the 400 metres freestyle event at both the 2020 Tokyo and the 2024 Paris Olympics. She also gained six world records in three long course freestyle events and another in the short course 400 metres freestyle in the five years leading up to the 2024 Olympics.

In addition, she also set Olympic records at both the 2020 and 2024 Olympics.

Answer: Marathon

Africa is known for its long-distance runners and Ethiopian-born Sifan Hassan fits the mould. She left Ethiopia as a refugee and became a Dutch citizen in 2013. She won the gold medal in the women's marathon at the 2024 Olympics. She is known for her versatility at middle- and long-distances, winning gold medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres events as well as bronze at the 1500 metres event. The 2024 marathon gold made her the first woman to win gold at the three long-distance events.

Answer: Javelin

Neeraj Chopra broke the world junior record for the javelin in 2015 and at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics he became the first Indian to win a gold medal in any track or field event. He won a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He has also had a World Championship qualifying event named after him, the NC Classic.

Answer: Pole vault

American-born Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis won the gold at the 2024 Olympics as well as setting a world record height. In fact this was the ninth time he had set a world record with another three set in the year following the 2024 Olympics. He also won the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and has taken multiple world outdoor and indoor titles, as well as being one of the few athletes to be a world champion at youth, junior and senior levels.

Answer: 5000 metres

Another versatile runner at different distances, the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the gold medal in the 5000 metres event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he won the gold medal in the 1500 metres event. He has broken the world records for the short track 1500 metres, short track mile, 2000 metres, 3000 metres and two miles.

He was also the youngest person for a time to run a sub-four minute mile at the age of 16. His two elder brothers also compete in middle-distance events.

Answer: Diving

Now retired, the British diver Tom Daley is an Olympic champion, four-time World Champion and two-time junior World Champion, amongst other honours. He won his gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, with a silver at Paris in 2024. He also competed in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics winning a total of five medals over his five Olympic appearances.

Answer: Canoeing

Up to and including the 2024 Paris Olympics, New Zealand's Lisa Carrington won nine medals (including eight gold medals) in Olympic canoeing events. This included three consecutive gold medals for the K-1 200 metres at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics she collected three gold medals for the K-1, K-2 and K-4 events over 500 metres and equalled the record for winning all three 500 metres events at the same Olympics.

Answer: Gymnastics

Simone Biles (United States) is a multi-medal winning artistic gymnast who first performed at the Olympics in 2016. She withdrew from most of the 2020 events due to the "twisties", a temporary loss of air awareness while twisting. She collected three golds and a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, adding to the seven medals previous won.

She also won 30 medals, 23 of them gold, at the World Championships between 2013 and 2023. At the 2023 World Championships her total medal count at both World and Olympic level grew to a new record and she became the most decorated gymnast in history of any gender.

Answer: Fencing

Olga Kharlan of Ukraine competed in the Olympics at sabre fencing, winning the gold medal at the 2008 and 2024 Olympics as well as a silver in 2016 and bronze medals in 2012, 2016 and 2024. A controversial qualifier for the 2024 Olympics saw her miss out on the opportunity to compete as an individual.

She won her 2023 match against the Russian Anna Smirnova but was disqualified for not shaking her opponent's hand, which was due to the conflict in Ukraine.