Everything Track and Field Quiz

Question: Who was the first pole-vaulter to clear 20 feet (6.1 metres)?

Answer: Ukrainian athlete Sergey Bubka became the first pole-vaulter to clear 20 feet (6.1 metres) in 1991 in San Sebastian, Spain.

Question: Which American athlete won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin?

Answer: American track-and-field star Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. For a time, Owens held alone or shared the world records for all sprint distances recognized by the International Amateur Athletic Federation.

Question: Which film, based on a book of the same name, won the Academy Award for Best Picture for its retelling of British athletes Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams’ experiences at the 1924 Olympic Games?

Answer: The experiences of British runners Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams at the 1924 Olympics in Paris provided the subject of the 1981 Academy Award-winning film Chariots of Fire, which emphasized Abrahams’s victory as a personal triumph over anti-Semitism.

Question: Usain Bolt is the only man ever to win the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4 x 100-meter relay in a single Olympics.

Answer: Usain Bolt is not the only man ever to win the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4 x 100-meter relay in a single Olympics. Carl Lewis did it in 1984. Bolt did it in 2008 (setting three world records in the process) and again in 2012.

Question: Who won the 400-metre gold medal in the Olympic Games in London in 1908 in the only walkover in Olympic history?

Answer: British runner Wyndham Halswelle won the 400-metre gold medal in the only walkover in Olympic history at the 1908 Summer Games in London. The 400-metre final had been nullified by officials who disqualified the apparent winner, American John Carpenter, for deliberately impeding Halswelle’s path.

Question: Which British athlete won four Olympic medals and set eight world records in middle-distance running and later served in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords?

Answer: British athlete Sebastian Coe won four Olympic medals and set eight world records in middle-distance running. He served as a Conservative member of the House of Commons from 1992 to 1997 and was elevated to the House of Lords in 2000.

Question: Which decathlete was the youngest to win a gold medal in the Olympics?

Answer: American Bob Mathias was the youngest person to win a gold medal in the decathlon in Olympic competition. After his victory in 1948, at age 17, he returned to win a second Olympic gold medal in 1952.

Question: What is the standard distance for Olympic marathons?

Answer: In 1924 the Olympic marathon distance was standardized at 42,195 metres (26 miles 385 yards). The marathon commemorates the legendary feat of a Greek soldier who is supposed to have run in 490 BCE from Marathon to Athens, a distance of about 40 km (25 miles), to bring news of the Athenian victory over the Persians.

Question: What event involves women competing in seven different track-and-field events in two days?

Answer: The heptathlon is a women’s athletics competition in which athletes take part in seven different track-and-field events on two days. The seven events include 100-metre hurdles, high jump, shot put, and 200-metre run on the first day and the long jump, javelin throw, and 800-metre run on the second day.

Question: Who was the first athlete to run the mile in less than four minutes?

Answer: English neurologist Roger Bannister was the first athlete to run a mile in less than four minutes. Bannister is said to have achieved his speed through scientific training methods and thorough research into the mechanics of running.

Question: What is the world’s oldest annual foot race?

Answer: The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual foot race. It was held first in 1897 and annually thereafter on Patriots’ Day, which honours the 1775 ride of Paul Revere. It became the first marathon race to admit women runners officially, in 1972, and the first major marathon to hold a wheelchair race, in 1975.

Question: Who was the first British woman to win an Olympic gold medal in track-and-field competition?

Answer: Mary Rand won a gold medal in the long jump at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, becoming the first British woman to win an Olympic gold medal in track-and-field.

Question: Which woman was a three-time All-American in basketball, won two track-and-field gold medals at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and won three U.S. Women’s Open titles in golf?

Answer: American sportswoman Babe Didrikson Zaharias was a three-time All-American in basketball, won two track-and-field gold medals at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and won three U.S. Women’s Open titles in golf. She also excelled in baseball and softball, swimming, figure skating, and billiards.