The Olympics Trivia Questions and Answers

Summer and Winter Games, host cities, and the moments that outgrew their sport. Because the Olympics touches everything from sprinting to curling, this is one of the broadest topics in the bank — a good pick when a table cannot agree on which sport to be tested on. Questions cover who hosted when, records that stood for decades, events that have been added or quietly dropped, and the handful of performances that get replayed every four years. The hardest ones are usually about the Winter Games, which most people watch for a fortnight and forget for the next three and a half years.

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  1. 1. Which city hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics?Easy

    • Beijing ✓
    • Seoul
    • Shanghai
    • Tokyo

  2. 2. Which Russian city hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics?Easy

    • Sochi ✓
    • Moscow
    • St. Petersburg
    • Kazan

  3. 3. How often are the Winter Olympics held?Easy

    • Every four years ✓
    • Every two years
    • Every three years
    • Every five years

  4. 4. Which French town hosted the very first Winter Olympics in 1924?Hard

    • Chamonix ✓
    • Albertville
    • Grenoble
    • Annecy

  5. 5. In which two sprint distances did Usain Bolt win Olympic gold?Easy

    • 100m and 200m ✓
    • 200m and 400m
    • 100m and 400m
    • 400m and 800m

  6. 6. At which Olympics did Usain Bolt first win the 100m title?Easy

    • Beijing 2008 ✓
    • Athens 2004
    • London 2012
    • Rio 2016

  7. 7. What was Usain Bolt's final Olympic Games?Medium

    • Rio 2016 ✓
    • London 2012
    • Beijing 2008
    • Tokyo 2020

  8. 8. How many gold medals did Michael Phelps win at the 2008 Beijing Olympics?Easy

    • Eight ✓
    • Five
    • Six
    • Seven

  9. 9. Which country did Michael Phelps compete for?Easy

    • United States ✓
    • Australia
    • Canada
    • Great Britain

  10. 10. At which Games did Michael Phelps end his career with a final gold?Medium

    • Rio 2016 ✓
    • London 2012
    • Beijing 2008
    • Tokyo 2020

  11. 11. In which sport is Simone Biles a superstar?Easy

    • Gymnastics ✓
    • Diving
    • Athletics
    • Swimming

  12. 12. How old was Nadia Comaneci when she scored her perfect 10?Medium

    • 14 ✓
    • 16
    • 18
    • 20

  13. 13. Which apparatus is contested by men but not women in Olympic gymnastics?Hard

    • The pommel horse ✓
    • The balance beam
    • The uneven bars
    • The vault

  14. 14. Which American won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics?Easy

    • Jesse Owens ✓
    • Carl Lewis
    • Ralph Metcalfe
    • Bob Hayes

  15. 15. Which high jump technique was introduced at the 1968 Olympics and now dominates the sport?Medium

    • The Fosbury Flop ✓
    • The straddle
    • The scissors
    • The western roll

  16. 16. Which Finnish runner known as the Flying Finn won nine golds in the 1920s?Hard

    • Paavo Nurmi ✓
    • Lasse Viren
    • Emil Zatopek
    • Hannes Kolehmainen

  17. 17. Which Chinese gymnast appeared to run through the air around the stadium in 2008?Hard

    • Li Ning ✓
    • Yao Ming
    • Liu Xiang
    • Zou Kai

  18. 18. Who traditionally performs the ceremony that lights the flame in Olympia?Hard

    • Actresses dressed as priestesses ✓
    • The Greek prime minister
    • IOC officials
    • Local schoolchildren

  19. 19. How many rings are on the Olympic flag?Easy

    • Five ✓
    • Four
    • Six
    • Seven

  20. 20. Which anthem is played at an Olympic medal ceremony?Medium

    • The gold medallist's anthem ✓
    • The Olympic hymn only
    • The host nation's anthem
    • All three medallists' anthems

  21. 21. Which country topped the medal table at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics?Hard

    • United States ✓
    • China
    • Japan
    • Great Britain

  22. 22. What were the two London 2012 mascots called?Medium

    • Wenlock and Mandeville ✓
    • Ben and Lock
    • Bond and Boyle
    • Tick and Tock

  23. 23. Which Soviet action prompted the boycott of the 1980 Olympics?Medium

    • The invasion of Afghanistan ✓
    • The Berlin Wall
    • The Cuban Missile Crisis
    • The Prague Spring

  24. 24. What was the name of the original and only event of the earliest ancient Games?Medium

    • The stadion race ✓
    • The marathon
    • The discus
    • The pankration

  25. 25. Which brutal ancient event combined boxing and wrestling?Medium

    • The pankration ✓
    • The pentathlon
    • The stadion
    • The hoplitodromos

  26. 26. Which Roman emperor is said to have abolished the ancient Olympic Games?Hard

    • Theodosius I ✓
    • Nero
    • Constantine
    • Hadrian

  27. 27. What was the ancient truce that paused wars during the Games called?Hard

    • The ekecheiria ✓
    • The pax olympia
    • The agon
    • The symposium

  28. 28. Which racing equipment is used in Paralympic track events for wheelchair athletes?Easy

    • Racing wheelchairs ✓
    • Handcycles
    • Sledges
    • Standing frames

  29. 29. Which precision sport, similar to bowls, is contested only at the Paralympics?Medium

    • Boccia ✓
    • Petanque
    • Curling
    • Croquet

  30. 30. How long is an Olympic swimming pool?Easy

    • 50 metres ✓
    • 25 metres
    • 75 metres
    • 100 metres

  31. 31. Which Australian swimmer won gold at three consecutive Games in the 100m freestyle?Hard

    • Dawn Fraser ✓
    • Shane Gould
    • Susie O'Neill
    • Emma McKeon

  32. 32. Which American snowboarder won three Olympic halfpipe golds?Medium

    • Shaun White ✓
    • Chloe Kim
    • Scotty James
    • Ayumu Hirano

  33. 33. Which American figure skater was attacked in a 1994 plot linked to a rival?Easy

    • Nancy Kerrigan ✓
    • Michelle Kwan
    • Kristi Yamaguchi
    • Sarah Hughes

  34. 34. In which year was the women's Olympic marathon first held?Medium

    • 1984 ✓
    • 1928
    • 1972
    • 1996

  35. 35. Which American won the first women's Olympic marathon?Hard

    • Joan Benoit ✓
    • Grete Waitz
    • Rosa Mota
    • Ingrid Kristiansen

  36. 36. Why was the 1908 Olympic marathon lengthened to its awkward distance?Hard

    • To finish at the royal box ✓
    • To match the ancient route
    • To avoid the London tramlines
    • To start at Buckingham Palace

  37. 37. Which combined event for men consists of ten athletics disciplines?Medium

    • The decathlon ✓
    • The heptathlon
    • The pentathlon
    • The triathlon

  38. 38. Which unusual sport combines fencing, swimming, riding, shooting and running?Hard

    • Modern pentathlon ✓
    • The decathlon
    • The triathlon
    • The biathlon

  39. 39. Which Games were the first to be broadcast live on television worldwide by satellite?Hard

    • Tokyo 1964 ✓
    • Rome 1960
    • Berlin 1936
    • Mexico City 1968

How to play these as a game

Trivia Tavern runs these as a live round: one person opens a room, everyone else joins with a five-character code, and answers are locked in on each player’s own phone with a clock running. Faster correct answers score more, and a match draws from the full the olympics pool — around two hundred questions, of which the 39 above are a sample.

Two to eight players, about fifteen minutes for three rounds, and nobody needs to make an account to sit down.

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