The Olympics Quiz Part 1

1

How did the first men’s singles gold medalist, John Pius Boland of Ireland, come to enter the  1896 Athens Games?

A) He was ranked No. 1

B) He was the reigning Wimbledon champion

C) He was visiting a friend in Greece

D) Nobody else played tennis in Ireland then

2

What did Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka do after winning the men’s doubles gold at the 2008 Beijing Games?

A) They chest-bumped

B) They lifted each other’s arms like boxers

C) They pounded their hearts five times

D) Wawrinka lay on the court, while federer blew on his hands to “cool stan off”

3

Which player has the distinction of having denied a 19-year-old Federer the bronze medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000?

A) Xavier Malisse

B) Tommy Haas

C) Arnaud di Pasquale

D) Patrick Rafter

4

What was the furthest round that Pete Sampras advanced to at an Olympic Games?

A) Final

B) First round

C) Third round

D) Quarterfinals

5

Before the 2012 London Games, Serena Williams was asked whether winning a bronze would be an acceptable result. What was her answer?

A) “A medal is a medal.”

B) “I guess I would have to live with it.

C) “Maybe I could have it dipped in gold?”

D) “Oh, please.”

6

Who was the first male player ranked in the Top 5 to win an Olympic singles gold medal?

A) Andre Agassi

B) Yevgeny Kafelnikov

C) Rafael Nadal

D) Andy Murray

7

Who is the only player to win a “Golden Slam”—the four Grand Slam tournaments plus an Olympic gold medal—in the same season?

A) Rafael Nadal

B) Steffi Graf

C) Don Budge

D) Margaret Court

8

When tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988 after six decades away, the men’s singles gold medalist was Miloslav Mecir. What was this finesse player’s nickname?

A) The Czech Chiseler

B) The Prague Powderpuff

C) The Big Cat

D) Mr. Good Hands

9

Which player said this after going on to win Olympic gold? “All week I watched the other athletes up there [listening to their national anthems]... and I thought, ‘Wow, that would be so cool.’”

A) Lindsay Davenport

B) Yevgeny Kafelnikov

C) Jennifer Capriati

D) Roger Federer

10

Tennis was part of the Olympics from 1896 to 1924. Why was it dropped for 60 years, beginning in 1928?

A) Bill Tilden demanded an appearance fee

B) Olympic and tennis authorities couldn’t agree on the definition of amateurism

C) It was replaced by ping-pong

D) “If the Greeks didn’t play it, we don’t want it,” the head of the IOC said

Scroll down for answer key.

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Answers: 1) C  2) D  3) C 4) C  5) D  6) A  7) B  8) C  9) C  10) B