Paralympic Games Trivia

1. Trischa Zorn of the United States earned an amazing 55 total medals over the course of seven Paralympics (1980-2004). In which sport did she earn her medals?

From Quiz Paralympians: Sport's Unsung Heroes

Answer: Swimming

Trischa Zorn (born 1964) has been blind since birth. She earned medals (either gold, silver, or bronze) in the following events: backstroke (50 m, 100 m, and 200 m), butterfly (100 m), freestyle (50 m, 100 m, and 400 m), breast stroke (100 m and 200 m), individual medley (200 m and 400 m), freestyle relay (4 X 100 m), and medley relay (4 X 100 m). With 54 of those medals won during the Games she participated in during the 20th century (1980-2000), she earned more than twice as many medals as any other Paralympian during that time. In 2012 she was inducted into the International Paralympian Hall of Fame.

From Quiz London 2012 Paralympics - Team GB Gold Medals

Answer: Swimming

The amazing Paralympic career of Sarah Storey began at the 1992 Barcelona Games, when she won two gold medals (plus three silvers and a bronze) as a swimmer. She won more swimming medals in 1996, 2000 and 2004, before switching events in 2008, when she won two gold medals as a cyclist in Beijing. On the first day of the 2012 London Games she won a gold medal in the individual pursuit C5 event, and followed it up with three further golds in the 500m C4-5 time trial, the C5 individual road time trail and the C4-5 60km road race.

From Quiz The Paralympic Games

Answer: They run alongside or parallel to the Olympic Games.

The term Paralympic Games came into official use at the 1988 Games in Seoul. Prior to this, such terms as International Games for the Physically Disabled and the Olympiad for the Disabled were used. The Games are sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as are the Special Olympics World Games (for athletes with intellectual disabilities) and the Deaflympics. Paralympic athletes are classified into six types, namely: amputees (A), cerebral palsy (CP), intellectually disabled (ID), visually impaired (VI), wheelchair (WC) and "les autres" (LA). The last category, French for the others, are those that don't fall into the first five such as those with dwarfism or multiple sclerosis.

From Quiz Special Olympics

Answer: Eunice Kennedy Shriver

Eunice Kennedy Shriver was the sister of John F. Kennedy. She started camps at her home that stressed physical activity for persons with intellectual disabilities. These summer camps blossomed into Special Olympics in 1968.

From Quiz Paralympians: Sport's Unsung Heroes

Answer: Ice Sledge Hockey

Ragnhild Myklebust (born 1943) did not let polio stop her from winning 27 medals in five Paralympics (1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002). She holds the distinction of having won a medal (gold, silver, or bronze) in every Olympic event that she ever entered--27 medals in 27 events! Within the cross-country category she has won short, middle, and long distance events. During the time she competed, ice sledge hockey was a male only event in the Paralympics.

From Quiz London 2012 Paralympics - Team GB Gold Medals

Answer: Achondroplasia (dwarfism)

At the Beijing Paralympics in 2008, Eleanor "Ellie" Simmonds was the youngest member of the British team, and won gold medals in the 100m and 400m freestyle swimming events. At the London 2012 Games, she won gold medals in the 400m freestyle, the 200m individual medley, etc etc. Incidentally, her 2008 performance did not make her the youngest ever British Paralympic gold medallist. This distinction was held by Joanne Round, who was only 12 when she won two swimming relay gold medals at the 1988 Seoul Paralympics.

From Quiz Special Olympics

Answer: Chicago

The first games were held in Soldier Field in Chicago in 1968 for all track and field events. Athletes from the United States and Canada participated. The 4th Special Olympics were held in 1975. From there forward they have been held every 4 years.

From Quiz Paralympians: Sport's Unsung Heroes

Answer: Italy

Roberto Marson (1944-2011) lost the use of his legs when a tree fell across his back while he was chopping it. He competed in four Paralympic Games (1964, 1968, 1972, 1976). He won a total of 26 medals (16 gold, 7 silver, 3 bronze). He also competed in wheelchair basketball, but his team did not medal. He was posthumously elected into the International Paralympian Hall of Fame in 2012.

From Quiz London 2012 Paralympics - Team GB Gold Medals

Answer: 100 metres

Specifically, she won the 100 metres T34 event, for wheelchair athletes with cerebral palsy. Aged 21, this was her first ever appearance at a Paralympic Games. Later in the Games, she added a second gold in the 200 metres event.

From Quiz Special Olympics

Answer: Yale

The 9th Special Olympics were held at Yale University, located in New Haven CT. The 11th games were held in 2003 in Dublin; the first time they were held outside the USA.

From Quiz London 2012 Paralympics - Team GB Gold Medals

Answer: Jessica-Jane Applegate

With her red-dyed hair, waterproof mascara and painted nails, Jessica-Jane Applegate was one of the more glamorous competitors in the swimming events. No one seemed more surprised than her when she snatched the gold medal in the 200m freestyle event, setting a new Paralympic record of 2:12:63 in the process.

From Quiz The Paralympic Games

Answer: Tokyo

After Rome in 1960 and Tokyo in 1964, Mexico refused to host the Paralympics in 1968 so they went to Tel Aviv in Israel. The games were held in the same country as the Munich and Montreal Olympics in 1972 and 1976 respectively, but not the same city (Heidelberg and Toronto). Moscow's attitudes were highlighted by an official at the Moscow Olympics who, when asked by a Western journalist if they would participate at the games in Arnhem, the Netherlands, reputedly replied "There are no invalids in the USSR". The LA games of 1984 were accompanied by the Paras of Stoke Mandeville and New York. From Seoul 1988 onwards, the two games have been in the same city. I must add that the attitudes of Mexico and post-Soviet Russia towards people with disabilities have since softened. For example, at the London 2012 Paralympics, Mexico sent 81 competitors and Russia sent 182.

From Quiz Special Olympics

Answer: Steamboat Springs, Colorado

This was the first World games for winter sports in Special Olympics. They are held every four years.

From Quiz Paralympians: Sport's Unsung Heroes

Answer: Shooting

Diagnosed with paralysis shortly after birth and using a wheelchair, Jonas Jacobsson (born 1965) has won 28 medals (17 gold, two silver, and nine bronze) all in shooting. He was only 14 years old at the time of his first Paralympic Games. In 2008 he won the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal, Sweden's highest honor in sports.

From Quiz London 2012 Paralympics - Team GB Gold Medals

Answer: Three

Sophie Christiansen, who has cerebral palsy, won gold medals in the Grade 1a freestyle dressage and individual championship test events, and was a member of Great Britain's winning team in the mixed team test. British riders won medals in every one of the 11 Paralympic equestrian events - five golds, five silvers and a bronze.

From Quiz Special Olympics

Answer: intellectual disabilities

The primary handicapping condition is intellectual disabilities. An athlete may have other handicapping conditions such as physical disabilities but intellectual disabilities must be primary.

From Quiz Paralympians: Sport's Unsung Heroes

Answer: Archery

Zipora Rubin-Rosenbaum (born 1946) won her medals (15 gold, eight silver, and nine bronze) at seven Summer Paralympics (1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988). Within the athletics category, she competed in several events including shot put, discus, javelin, and the women's pentathlon. She also competed in the 1992 Paralympic Games but did not earn any medals there. In 1964 she also won a bronze medal for women's doubles table tennis.

From Quiz The Paralympic Games

Answer: Fencing

In 1988, Pál Szekeres won an Olympic bronze in the team foil event in fencing. After a competition in Germany in 1991, he was involved in a bus crash and suffered spinal injuries. He went on to win a Paralympic gold in wheelchair fencing the following year and won a further two gold medals and three bronzes.

From Quiz Paralympians: Sport's Unsung Heroes

Answer: Kenya

As a teenager, Margaret Harriman suffered a fractured spine in a farm accident. She won eight medals (five gold, one silver, and two bronze) for Rhodesia in archery, dartchery (a sport that combined archery and darts), and swimming in the 1960 and 1964 Paralympic Games. She won nine medals (six gold, one silver, and two bronze) for South Africa in the 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1996 Paralympic Games in archery, dartchery, and lawn bowls. Her absence from the 1980 through 1992 Paralympic Games was due to an international ban on South Africa in sports competitions.

From Quiz London 2012 Paralympics - Team GB Gold Medals

Answer: Wales

Aled Davies was born in Bridgend in south Wales. He had already won a bronze medal in the shot put when two days later he struck gold in the discus. Even so, he was not Wales' first 2012 Paralympic gold medallist - that honour going to cyclist Mark Colbourne, who won the 3km pursuit on the first day of the games.

From Quiz The Paralympic Games

Answer: Yellow and black

The three agitos (from the Latin for "I move") of red, blue and green, encircling a common centre represent athletes coming from all over the globe and also the Olympic motto "spirit in motion". This symbol has been used at the games since 2003. Other Paralympic symbols are the mascots such as Lizzie, the Sydney lizard, Fu Niu Lele, the multi-coloured cow in Beijing and Mandeville, the London mascot named in honour of the English hospital that hosted the precursor to the games.

From Quiz Special Olympics

Answer: Wichita, Kansas

The Law Enforcement Torch Run was started in Wichita in 1981. It has become the largest grass roots financial contributor. Not only do law enforcement personnel raise funds, they are committed to volunteering their time at different Special Olympics events.

From Quiz Paralympians: Sport's Unsung Heroes

Answer: Cycling

From 1992 to 2016, Sarah Storey (born 1977) earned 25 medals (14 gold, eight silver, and three bronze). She was born with a non-functioning left hand because of a prenatal condition. She switched from swimming to cycling in 2005 because of a persisting ear infection. In 2012, she was nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

From Quiz London 2012 Paralympics - Team GB Gold Medals

Answer: Pink

Danielle Brown's trademark pink floppy hat made it easy to pick her out from her competitors. In an extremely close competition in the finals of the women's individual compound event, she beat fellow Briton Mel Clarke with her last arrow. Two years previously, she had won a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games competing against able-bodied athletes.

From Quiz The Paralympic Games

Answer: S11

In many paralympic sports there are categories so that those with comparable disabilities compete in the same events. The letters at the start indicate the sport, so that T and F are track and field athletics respectively, C is cycling and S is swimming. Swimmers with physical disabilties run from S1 (most severe) to S10 (least severe), S11 to S13 are those with visual impairment and S14 is for intellectual disability. Tappers are assistants who tap blind and visually impaired swimmers on the head with a long stick, with a ball at the end, to let them know the wall is approaching. The many Paralympic assistants also include guides who hold onto blind runners and let blind jumpers know the board is coming. There are also numerous technicians on hand to repair running blades and sports wheelchairs.

From Quiz Paralympians: Sport's Unsung Heroes

Answer: Canada

Chantal Petitclerc (born 1969) represented Canada as she won 14 gold medals, five silver medals, and two bronze medals. Her focus was running events (100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, and 1500 m). She lost the use of her legs after an accident at the age of thirteen crushed her spine. She was appointed to represent Quebec in the Canadian Senate and made the rights of persons with disabilities a priority.

From Quiz Paralympians: Sport's Unsung Heroes

Answer: Basketball

Marijke Ruiter (born 1954) competed in the 1972 and 1976 Paralympic Games where she won ten gold medals in swimming. She earned an eleventh medal--a bronze--as part of the 1988 women's wheelchair basketball team. Wheelchair basketball has been a men's event since the 1960 Paralympics and a women's event since the 1968 Paralympics.

From Quiz London 2012 Paralympics - Team GB Gold Medals

Answer: Discus

Wheelchair athlete Josie Pearson has competed in a range of disability events, including equestrianism and sprinting, although her first Paralympic appearance was as a member of the British wheelchair rugby team at the 2008 Beijing Games. For the 2012 Paralympics, she switched to throwing events, and competed in both the club throwing and discus events in the F51/52/53 classes. If there were medals for throwing a public tantrum, 2012 London Paralympic gold medallist would certainly be British cyclist Jody Cundy, who was justifiably livid at being disqualified in the 1km time trial when the starting equipment malfunctioned, although officials claimed that it was Cundy's error and refused to allow him a restart.

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Last Updated Mar 14 2026 5:53 AM

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