Sports GK Mixed Quiz: Set 1

The correct answer is B, 776 BCE. The ancient Games were held at Olympia in Greece in honour of Zeus, and 776 BCE is the earliest celebration for which a written record of the winner survives. The prize was a wreath of olive leaves, and only free Greek men were allowed to compete.

Option A, 1200 BCE, belongs to the legendary period before any record of the festival exists. Option C, 490 BCE, is the year of the battle of Marathon, which gave the modern marathon race its name and its story, so it is placed here as a deliberate distraction. Option D, 393 CE, is the year the ancient Games were abolished by the Roman emperor Theodosius I, who treated them as a pagan festival, so it is the closing date rather than the opening one. Learn the two dates 776 BCE and 393 CE as a pair, because papers ask for one and offer the other.

The correct answer is D, Olympic Council of Asia. ASIAD is the short name for the Asian Games, the continent's multi-sport event held every four years, and it is run by the Olympic Council of Asia, OCA, headquartered in Kuwait City. The OCA was formed in 1982, taking over from the Asian Games Federation that had organised the Games since the first edition in New Delhi in 1951; New Delhi hosted again in 1982, the year Appu the elephant became the mascot. The Games are recognised by the International Olympic Committee, but the day-to-day regulation is the OCA's job. A, International Olympic Council, is a distorted name for the International Olympic Committee, which runs the Olympic Games, not the Asian Games. B, the Commonwealth Games Federation, governs the Commonwealth Games. C, Indian Olympic Council, points to the Indian Olympic Association, India's national body, which only sends the Indian team. Exam tip: Asian Games = OCA, Kuwait; first held 1951 in New Delhi; motto "Ever Onward".

The correct answer is B, England. The 2019 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, the 12th edition, was played in England and Wales from 30 May to 14 July 2019. In the final at Lord's, England and New Zealand both scored 241, the super over was also tied at 15 each, and England were declared champions on boundary count, 26 to 17, their first World Cup title, under captain Eoin Morgan; Ben Stokes made 84 not out and was Player of the Match. Kane Williamson of New Zealand was Player of the Tournament, Rohit Sharma scored the most runs (648, with five centuries) and Mitchell Starc took the most wickets (27). Option A is wrong because Pakistan finished fifth and missed the semi-finals on net run rate. Option C is wrong because India topped the league table but lost the semi-final to New Zealand at Manchester. Option D is wrong because Australia lost the other semi-final to England at Birmingham. Exam tip: 2019 = England beat New Zealand at Lord's on boundary count; 2023 = Australia beat India at Ahmedabad.

The correct answer is A, Badminton. The Sudirman Cup is the world mixed team championship of badminton, organised by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). It was first held in 1989 in Jakarta and is named after Dick Sudirman, the founder of the Badminton Association of Indonesia. Each tie has five matches, men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles, so a country needs strong men and women players to win. It is held every two years. The other two team trophies of badminton are the Thomas Cup for men and the Uber Cup for women. B is wrong because baseball's top events include the World Series in the United States and the World Baseball Classic. C is wrong because volleyball has the FIVB World Championship and the Volleyball Nations League. D is wrong because basketball's world event is the FIBA World Cup, and the William Jones Cup is another basketball trophy. Exam tip: badminton team trophies, Thomas Cup (men), Uber Cup (women), Sudirman Cup (mixed).

The correct answer is C, Football. All three are Indian football tournaments. The Durand Cup, first played in 1888 and named after Sir Mortimer Durand, then Foreign Secretary of British India, is Asia's oldest football tournament and is still organised with the help of the armed forces. The Santosh Trophy is the national football championship for state teams, first held in 1941. The Rovers Cup was a famous club tournament played in Mumbai from 1891. Papers often mix these with trophies from other sports, so learn them in sets. A is wrong because hockey's well-known Indian trophies include the Beighton Cup and the Aga Khan Cup. B is wrong because cricket's domestic trophies are the Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Irani Cup and Vijay Hazare Trophy. D is wrong because badminton's world team events are the Thomas Cup for men, the Uber Cup for women and the Sudirman Cup for mixed teams. Exam tip: Durand, Santosh, Rovers, Federation Cup = football; Ranji, Duleep, Irani = cricket; Beighton, Aga Khan = hockey.

The correct answer is C, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. The French educationist believed that sport built character in the young, and at a congress at the Sorbonne in Paris he founded the International Olympic Committee on 23 June 1894, which led directly to the first modern Games at Athens in 1896. He also designed the five-ring symbol in 1913.

Option B, Demetrius Vikelas of Greece, was the first president of the IOC, a fact often confused with founding the movement; Coubertin was the second president and served much longer. Options A and D, Avery Brundage and Juan Antonio Samaranch, were later presidents of the IOC who shaped the Games in the twentieth century but had no part in reviving them. The safe way to answer is to separate two ideas: the founder of the movement is Coubertin, while the first president is Vikelas.

The correct answer is C, New Delhi. The first Asian Games were held at the National Stadium in New Delhi in March 1951, two years after the Asian Games Federation was formed in the same city, and eleven nations took part. Jawaharlal Nehru declared them open.

Option A, Manila, hosted the second edition in 1954, which makes it the most tempting wrong answer in this set. Option B, Tokyo, hosted the third edition in 1958 and later became the first Asian city to host the Olympic Games. Option D, Bangkok, came in only in 1966 but then hosted more often than any other city. Candidates lose this mark by remembering that Delhi hosted an Asiad and then attaching the memory to 1982, which was the second Indian edition. Keep both Delhi years, 1951 and 1982, in mind together.

The correct answer is D, Athens. Greece was chosen for the first modern Games because the ancient festival had been held there, and the event took place in 1896, two years after the International Olympic Committee was founded. The Panathenaic Stadium in Athens was restored for the occasion.

Option A, Paris, hosted the second modern Games in 1900, which is also the Games at which India took part for the first time. Option C, St. Louis in the United States, hosted the third Games in 1904. Option B, London, hosted the Games for the first time in 1908 and is remembered as the first city to host them three times. All three are genuine early hosts, which is what makes them good distractors. Fix the sequence Athens, Paris, St. Louis for the first three modern Games and the question becomes easy.

The correct answer is A, Ever Onward. The motto was adopted with the first Asian Games of 1951 at New Delhi and it goes with the emblem of a bright rising sun ringed by interlocking circles, which stands for the new energy of the Asian nations after the Second World War.

Option B, Faster, Higher, Stronger, is the motto of the Olympic Games, not of the Asiad. Option C, Humanity, Equality, Destiny, is the motto of the Commonwealth Games, and this is the swap examiners most often try in this chapter. Option D, Come Out and Play, was only the slogan of the 2010 Commonwealth Games at Delhi, a single edition, not a standing motto. Learn the three mottoes as a set, one line each for the Olympics, the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games, and the whole family of questions becomes safe.

The correct answer is A, Lausanne in Switzerland. The International Olympic Committee moved its headquarters there during the First World War and has remained in the city since, which is why Lausanne is also called the Olympic Capital and houses the Olympic Museum.

Option B, Geneva, is the seat of many United Nations bodies, the World Health Organisation and the International Committee of the Red Cross, so students often place any international body there by habit. Option C, Zurich, is the headquarters of the international football federation, which is a common source of confusion in sports questions. Option D, Paris, is where the IOC was founded in 1894 at the Sorbonne, but it was never the permanent seat of the organisation. Separate the two facts clearly: founded at Paris, headquartered at Lausanne.

The correct answer is B, Guru Dutt Sondhi, the Indian sports administrator who put the proposal to the Asian delegates during the 1948 London Olympics. His idea led to the formation of the Asian Games Federation at New Delhi in 1949 and to the first Games there in 1951.

Option A, Jawaharlal Nehru, is closely tied to the event because he declared the 1951 Games open and gave them their public standing, but the proposal was not his. Option C, Pierre de Coubertin, revived the modern Olympic Games and founded the International Olympic Committee, which places him in a different chapter altogether. Option D, Melville Marks Robinson, is the organiser of the first British Empire Games at Hamilton in 1930, so he belongs to the Commonwealth Games half of this topic. Sondhi for Asia and Robinson for the Commonwealth is the pair to remember.

The correct answer is C, Faster, Higher, Stronger. The three Latin words were suggested to Pierre de Coubertin by his friend Henri Didon, a French priest and educator who used them for the pupils at his school, and Coubertin adopted them for the Olympic movement. In 2021 a fourth word, Communiter, meaning Together, was added, so the complete motto is now Citius, Altius, Fortius, Communiter.

Option A replaces Higher with Farther, which sounds plausible for athletics but is not the Latin word used. Option B replaces Faster with Braver, another word that fits the spirit of the Games but not the motto. Option D mixes the order and inserts Together in the place of Stronger, which is a good trap now that Communiter has been added at the end. Remember the sequence exactly as it runs, one word for each of speed, height and strength, with togetherness added last.

The correct answer is B, Appu, an elephant. The ninth Asian Games at New Delhi in 1982 were the first Games organised under the newly formed Olympic Council of Asia, and their elephant mascot became one of the best remembered images in Indian sport.

Option A, Shera the tiger, is the mascot of the 2010 Commonwealth Games at Delhi, and the two are the classic pair that examiners interchange, because both belong to Delhi editions. Options C and D name no mascot of either event and are placed only to test whether the candidate has learnt the names or is guessing from Indian animals. The clean way to hold this is by year: 1982 Asiad gives Appu the elephant, 2010 Commonwealth Games gives Shera the tiger.

The correct answer is B, the five inhabited continents. Pierre de Coubertin designed the symbol in 1913, and the rings are interlaced to show the meeting of athletes from every part of the world at the Games. The flag itself was first flown at the Antwerp Games of 1920.

Option A, the five oceans, is the commonest wrong answer and is offered in almost every version of this question. Option C, five founding nations, is wrong because far more than five countries took part from the beginning and the rings were never tied to a list of members. Option D, five original sports, is also wrong, since the first modern Games included several sports and the rings carry no sporting meaning. A related fact worth holding: the colours blue, yellow, black, green and red, together with the white background, were chosen because every national flag of that time carried at least one of them, so no colour officially belongs to a named continent.

The correct answer is C, the Olympic Council of Asia. It was set up in 1982 with its headquarters at Kuwait City and took over the running of the Asian Games from that year, which is why the 1982 Delhi Asiad is described as the first Games held under the new body.

Option A, the Asian Games Federation, is the older organisation, formed at New Delhi in 1949, and it ran the Games from 1951 until it was replaced, so it is correct only for the earlier period. Option B, the International Olympic Committee, recognises the Asian Games but does not organise them; it runs the Olympic Games. Option D, the Commonwealth Games Federation, belongs to the other half of this chapter and has nothing to do with Asia as a region. The year 1982 does double duty here: the new body and the second Delhi Asiad.

The correct answer is A, Chamonix in France. The event held there in 1924 was recognised afterwards as the first Winter Olympic Games, and it created a separate cycle for sports played on snow and ice. Until 1992 the Winter Games fell in the same year as the Summer Games, after which they were shifted so that an Olympic event now comes every two years.

Option B, St. Moritz in Switzerland, hosted the second Winter Games in 1928 and is remembered as one of the few places to host them twice. Option C, Lake Placid in the United States, hosted the third Winter Games in 1932 and again in 1980. Option D, Oslo in Norway, hosted them in 1952, and Norway is otherwise the country most closely associated with winter sport, which is why it is placed in the options. The safe pairing is 1896 Athens for the Summer Games and 1924 Chamonix for the Winter Games.

The correct answer is D, Hamilton, in Canada. The first edition was held there in 1930 under the name British Empire Games, organised by Melville Marks Robinson, and it grew out of a proposal made as far back as 1891 by John Astley Cooper for a festival of the nations of the Empire.

Option A, London, hosted the second edition in 1934, the first in which India took part. Option B, Sydney, hosted a later edition and is placed here because Australia is so closely associated with these Games. Option C, Cardiff, hosted the 1958 Games, which matter for two other facts: the Baton Relay began there and Milkha Singh won the 440 yards there. Each of the three wrong options is therefore a real host city, which is why the year must be learnt with the city rather than the city alone.

The correct answer is B, K. D. Jadhav. Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav won a bronze medal in wrestling at the Helsinki Games of 1952, the first individual Olympic medal won by an Indian after independence, at a time when India's Olympic reputation rested entirely on the hockey team.

Option A, Leander Paes, won a bronze in men's singles tennis at Atlanta in 1996, ending a long gap after Jadhav but not preceding him. Option C, Karnam Malleswari, won a bronze in weightlifting at Sydney in 2000 and is remembered as the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal. Option D, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, won a silver in double trap shooting at Athens in 2004, India's first individual silver. All four are genuine individual medallists, so the examinable word is first, and the answer is the earliest of them.

The correct answer is A, British Empire Games. That was the official name from the first edition at Hamilton in 1930 until 1950. The title then changed with the politics of the Commonwealth: British Empire and Commonwealth Games from 1954, British Commonwealth Games from 1970 and simply the Commonwealth Games from 1978.

Option B, Empire Olympic Games, has never been an official name of the meet. Option C, the Friendly Games, is a popular nickname and not a formal title, so it is wrong for a question that asks what the Games were known as when they began. Option D, Pan-Britannic Games, is close to the wording of the original 1891 proposal by John Astley Cooper for a Pan-Britannic festival, but that festival was never held under that name, which makes this the most attractive distractor in the set.

The correct answer is C, field hockey. The Indian men's hockey team won the gold medal at the Amsterdam Games of 1928 and then kept winning, taking eight Olympic golds in all, in 1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964 and 1980. The six in a row from 1928 to 1956 remain unmatched in the sport, and Dhyan Chand, who played in the first three, is remembered as its greatest player of the age.

Option A, shooting, gave India its first individual gold much later, when Abhinav Bindra won the 10 metre air rifle at Beijing in 2008. Option B, wrestling, gave India its first individual medal after independence through K. D. Jadhav in 1952, but that was a bronze. Option D, athletics, produced India's earliest Olympic medals of any kind, the two silvers Norman Pritchard won in 1900, again not gold. Read whether the question asks for the first medal, the first gold or the first individual gold.