With the Tokyo Olympics underway, we wanted to revisit some of our favoriteOlympics-related Question of the Day trivia from over the years. Quiz yourselfor challenge a friend or family member with these 12 fun facts.Photo courtesy: Shutterstock1. What's the motto of the Olympic games? A. Faster Higher StrongerB. Be BestC. Celebrating Man's Greatest AchievementsD. Hard Work Beats TalentAnswer: Faster Higher Stronger. The Olympic motto is made of three Latin words –Citius, Altius, Fortius – which translate to "Faster Higher Stronger." TheOlympic creed takes it a step further: "The important thing in life is not thetriumph, but the fight; the essential thing is not to have won, but to havefought well." (Sure, but try telling that to those who don't win gold!)Image courtesy: Le Cartophilion2. Olympic gold medals are made from which metal?A. GoldB. CopperC. SilverD. NickelAnswer: Silver. Despite its name, the Olympic gold medal is mostly silver.Current requirements state that gold medals must be made from at least 92.5%silver, but also must contain a minimum of 6 grams of gold. The last Olympicgold medal that was made from solid gold was awarded at the 1912 Summer Games inStockholm.Photo courtesy: Town and Country Magazine3. In a modern pentathlon, four of thefive components are swimming, fencing, shooting, and running. What's the fifthcomponent?A. ArcheryB. CyclingC. Equestrian jumpingD. Cross country skiingAnswer: Equestrian jumping. In the ancient Olympic Games, the pentathlonincluded the long jump, javelin throwing, discus throwing, running, andwrestling. However, the modern pentathlon focuses on the skills required by alate 19th century soldier, which involves horses, running, swimming, fencing,and shooting.Image courtesy: TeamUSA.org4. Which athlete holds the record for winning themost Olympic medals in history?A. Larisa LatyninaB. Carl LewisC. Nadia ComăneciD. Michael PhelpsAnswer: Michael Phelps. With 28 Olympic medals, American swimmer Michael Phelpshas won more Olympic medals than any other athlete in history. Over four SummerOlympics – 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 – he won 23 gold, three silver, and twobronze medals.Photo courtesy: Sports Illustrated5. In the 1908 Olympics, what caused theRussian team to arrive late?A. Airport securityB. WoodpeckersC. Gregorian calendarD. HurricaneAnswer: Gregorian calendar. Over 2,000 years ago, the Julian calendar was widelyused, but didn't include leap years. As the calendar fell out of sync with theseasonal equinoxes, the Gregorian calendar was created, and adoption meantskipping 10 days to catch up. Russia was one of the very last countries to adoptthe Gregorian calendar, and hadn't yet caught up by the 1908 Olympics.Image courtesy: HistoryExtra.com6. Between 1900 and 1920, which children's gamewas a team event at the Summer Olympics?A. Tug-of-warB. HopscotchC. TetherballD. Musical chairsAnswer: Tug-of-war. Teams consisted of six members in 1900, five members in1904, and eight members in the last three Olympic appearances of the sport.Learn more about tug-of-war and other unusual Olympic sports in this article[https://olympics.time.com/2012/07/16/really-strange-sports-that-are-longer-in-the-olympics/] from Time magazine.Photo courtesy: Time.com7. Which country did Nadia Comăneci represent in the1976 Olympics when she became the first gymnast in history to score a perfect10?A. RomaniaB. HungaryC. ItalyD. RussiaAnswer: Romania. After becoming the first gymnast to receive a perfect score,Comăneci received six more perfect 10s, and won three gold medals. At the 1980Summer Olympics in Moscow, she won two more gold medals and attained two moreperfect 10s.Photo courtesy: Sports Illustrated8. In which year did beach volleyball becomean official Summer Olympic event?A. 1992B. 1996C. 2000D. 1988Answer: 1996. Beach volleyball was introduced at the Summer Olympic Games in the1992 Games as a demonstration event, and has been an official Olympic sportsince 1996.Photo courtesy: KHON2.com9. The biathlon is a winter sport and Olympic eventthat combines cross-country skiing with which other sport?A. Ski jumpingB. Rifle shootingC. RunningD. SwimmingAnswer: Rifle shooting. In Scandinavian countries, the biathlon was historicallypromoted by the government in order to promote civilian marksmanship in supportof national defense. And it first became an Olympic event in 1924.Photo courtesy: The Washington Post10. In 1994, the Winter Olympics were held inthe town of Lillehammer in which country?A. DenmarkB. GermanyC. SwedenD. NorwayAnswer: Norway. Lillehammer is a ski resort town in southern Norway. The citycenter is a late 19th century concentration of wooden houses, creating apicturesque location overlooking parts of lake Mjøsa and the river Lågen,surrounded by mountains.Lillehammer photo courtesy: Trip Savvy11. In the first modern Olympics held in1896, which prizes did the first place winner receive?A. Silver medal and olive branchB. Two horsesC. Gold medal and a wreath crownD. NothingAnswer: A silver medal and olive branch. The gold, silver, and bronze medalsthat we know today as the prizes for first, second, and third place weren'tdistributed until the third modern Olympic games, held in 1904 in St. Louis. Image courtesy: Getty Images12. Which of the following colors isn't found on theOlympic flag?A. BlackB. YellowC. GreenD. PurpleAnswer: Purple. The Olympic flag consists of a white banner with five rings, oneeach that is blue, yellow, black, green and red. The colors were chosen becausethey incorporated the colors of all national flags in existence at the time theOlympic flag made its debut, in 1914. Learn more about the history of theOlympic flag in our recent article [https://www.askqotd.com/the-olympic-flag-2/].
