33 Olympics Quiz Questions and Answers
This page lists 33 real questions from the Quizlino Olympics Quiz category, each with four options, the correct answer and, where available, a short explanation. They are arranged from easy to hard, so you can start at the level that suits you.
- Cover the answer line, read the question and decide on your option first.
- Check the answer, then read the explanation even if you were right.
- Make a note of the questions you missed and come back to them after a few days.
- When you feel ready, play the timed Olympics Quiz to test yourself properly.
Olympics: Easy Questions
Warm-up questions that most players can answer.
Q1. In which country did the ancient Olympic Games begin?
Answer: D. Greece
Explanation: They were held at Olympia from 776 BC.
Q2. Which city hosted the 2024 Summer Olympics?
Answer: D. Paris
Explanation: Paris also hosted in 1900 and 1924, exactly 100 years earlier.
Q3. What is awarded to the winner of an Olympic event?
Answer: B. A gold medal
Explanation: Second place gets silver and third place bronze.
Q4. What is carried around the world before each Olympic Games?
Answer: C. The Olympic torch
Explanation: The flame is lit at Olympia in Greece using the sun's rays and a curved mirror.
Q5. How often are the Summer Olympic Games normally held?
Answer: D. Every four years
Explanation: The four-year period between Games is called an Olympiad.
Q6. Which swimmer has won the most Olympic medals ever?
Answer: D. Michael Phelps
Explanation: Phelps won 28 Olympic medals, 23 of them gold.
Q7. The Winter Olympics include which of these sports?
Answer: A. Ice hockey
Explanation: Ice hockey has been an Olympic sport since 1920.
Olympics: Medium Questions
A step up in difficulty, for players who know the basics.
Q8. What is the Olympic motto (updated in 2021)?
Answer: C. Faster, Higher, Stronger โ Together
Explanation: The Latin original 'Citius, Altius, Fortius' was expanded with 'Communiter' (together).
Q9. Which sport made its Olympic debut at Paris 2024?
Answer: D. Breaking (breakdancing)
Explanation: Skateboarding, surfing and karate debuted at Tokyo 2020.
Q10. Which Asian city hosted the Summer Olympics in both 1964 and 2021?
Answer: D. Tokyo
Explanation: The 2020 Games were postponed to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Q11. Which city was the first to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics?
Answer: A. Beijing
Explanation: Beijing hosted the Summer Games in 2008 and the Winter Games in 2022.
Q12. Which US gymnast has won the most Olympic and World medals in gymnastics history?
Answer: D. Simone Biles
Explanation: Biles has several gymnastics skills named after her.
Q13. In which sport would you perform a 'Fosbury Flop'?
Answer: C. High jump
Explanation: Dick Fosbury won gold in 1968 by jumping backwards over the bar.
Q14. In 1976, Nadia Comฤneci became the first gymnast to score a perfect what?
Answer: B. 10
Explanation: The scoreboard could only show 1.00 because no one expected a perfect 10.
Q15. How long is an Olympic marathon?
Answer: C. 42.195 km
Explanation: The odd distance comes from the 1908 London Games route to the royal box.
Olympics: Hard Questions
Challenging questions for confident players.
Q16. Which country topped the medal table at the 2008 Beijing Olympics for gold medals?
Answer: A. China
Explanation: China won 48 gold medals at its home Games.
Q17. Which country invented the sport of judo, an Olympic event since 1964?
Answer: B. Japan
Explanation: Judo was created by Jigoro Kano in 1882.
Q18. Which country has won the most Winter Olympic medals overall?
Answer: C. Norway
Explanation: Norway has a long tradition in cross-country skiing and biathlon.
Q19. Which Kenyan athlete was the first to run a marathon in under two hours (unofficially, in 2019)?
Answer: A. Eliud Kipchoge
Explanation: His time of 1:59:40 in Vienna did not count as a record because of pacers.
Q20. Which Indian athlete won Olympic gold in javelin at Tokyo 2020?
Answer: A. Neeraj Chopra
Explanation: It was India's first-ever Olympic gold in athletics.
Q21. What colours are the five Olympic rings?
Answer: B. Blue, yellow, black, green and red
Explanation: Designer Pierre de Coubertin said that, with the white background, these colours included at least one colour from every national flag of the time.
Q22. Which British rower won gold at five consecutive Olympics from 1984 to 2000?
Answer: B. Steve Redgrave
Explanation: Redgrave was knighted in 2001.
Q23. Which 2000 Summer Olympics host city is in Australia?
Answer: D. Sydney
Explanation: Cathy Freeman lit the cauldron and later won the 400 m gold.
Q24. Which skateboarding superstar from Japan won gold at Tokyo 2020 at just 13 years old?
Answer: D. Momiji Nishiya
Explanation: She was one of the youngest Olympic champions in history.
Olympics: Expert Questions
The toughest questions in the category, for true fans of the subject.
Q25. In the ancient Olympics, what were winners crowned with?
Answer: D. An olive wreath
Explanation: The wreath came from the sacred olive tree at Olympia.
Q26. Which city hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics, the first held in the Southern Hemisphere?
Answer: B. Melbourne
Explanation: Due to quarantine rules, the equestrian events were held in Stockholm.
Q27. Which Olympic Games was boycotted by the USA and many other nations?
Answer: B. Moscow 1980
Explanation: The boycott protested the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; the USSR led a counter-boycott in 1984.
Q28. Which surprising sport was an official Olympic event from 1900 to 1920?
Answer: C. Tug of war
Explanation: Tug of war was an Olympic event from 1900 to 1920; Great Britain won the last one.
Q29. Which athlete won gold in the 5,000 m, 10,000 m and marathon at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics?
Answer: B. Emil Zรกtopek
Explanation: The Czech runner entered the marathon for the first time in his life at those Games.
Q30. Which barefoot runner won the 1960 Olympic marathon in Rome?
Answer: D. Abebe Bikila
Explanation: He became the first Black African Olympic gold medallist.
Q31. At the opening ceremony, one athlete makes a promise of fair play on behalf of all competitors. What is it called?
Answer: C. The Olympic Oath
Explanation: The athletes' oath was first taken at Antwerp 1920.
Q32. Which country's team traditionally enters first in the Olympic Parade of Nations?
Answer: A. Greece
Explanation: Greece leads as the birthplace of the Games; the host nation enters last.
Q33. Which nation is the only one to have won at least one gold medal at every Summer Olympics?
Answer: A. Great Britain
Explanation: Great Britain has won gold at every Summer Games since 1896.
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