The Games of the Olympiad were most recently held in Tokyo, Japan. Scheduled for 2020, something really messed up '20 so the games were rescheduled for this summer ('21). The host country of Japan took extra measures to ensure all coaches and athletes were protected during the Olympics. NBC Sports paid 1.45 billion for the rights to these games, and NBC was ready to deliver a good product to those purchases of ads. Staying on broadcasting, NBC focused plenty on swimming, beach volleyball, women's gymnastics, and later in the games, track and field. For those viewers who wanted more international coverage of athletes from around the world, NBC was sorely lacking. However, I will give kudos to NBC for having multiple broadcast partners covering different events, there was plenty of coverage and unfortunately, plenty of ads. Honestly, I can't point out the exact reason why but I quite enjoyed the Olympics and more than I thought.
Getting back to our past Olympics viewing habits, it's been roughly one week since most of the action was completed. During the games, I wondered how much I'd remember about the competition once they finished. My focus this week after they were completed was to get a recap of the games, and to read various articles from online publications summarizing the games and indeed -- of course, looking for that great story. What was incredible? What was really memorable? What won't happen again in our lifetime? To that end, I developed a little quiz to help us gauge (with my sample questions) how many key points we still retain, almost a week after its completion. BTW, I didn't do well on this quiz, I hope your retention exceeds my level as it applies to the XXXII Olympiad.
Questions
1. Which Kenyan defended his gold medal in the men’s marathon race, 26.2 miles?
2. What Austrian athlete won the women’s cycling road race, not an active professional cyclist but someone who’s working on a Ph.D. in mathematics?
3. Which two Americans won their 5th gold medal in women’s basketball?
4. Which Italian sprinter (yes, I did write that) won the coveted men's 100-meter dash?
5. Who was that diver from Great Britain who knitted while sitting in the stands?
6. Which team won the bronze medal in women’s soccer for the first time?
7. Which swimmer used the same pink goggles (decent hint) in these games as what she wore as a child?
8. Which water polo goalie was the first African-American player to play in the 2021 Olympics where she helped her team win the gold medal?
9. Which two Americans, in the men and women’s category, won gold medals in golf in Tokyo?
10. Which country won the women’s soccer gold medal? (Their first gold medal in their history in soccer.)
11. Which track and field event saw two competitors (Norway’s Karsten Warholm and the U.S.’s Rai Benjamin) smash the world record?
12. Which Australian swimmer became the first female swimmer to collect seven medals in a single Game?
13. Which female track star became the most decorated U.S. track and field Olympian ever with 10 medals?
14. Which gymnast took over for Simone Biles (who stepped aside due to mental distress) and captured gold in the women’s all-around gymnastics?
15. Which swimmer from Alaska won the gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke?
16. Which Olympic game at Tokyo might just throw shade onto how the current NBA is structure?
17. The 3-on-3 basketball is showing which organization that 6 players on the court work well and needless running up and down is not always necessary?
18. New sports like skateboarding and surfing made their Olympic debuts. Can anyone name any winners from these two categories?
19. Which German swimmer dominates the men’s 10K open water by beating the second-place finisher by over 25 seconds?
20. Consider Florian swam 6.2 miles in less than 2 hours. Technically, he swam at over 3 mph for that entire distance, incredible swimming and almost unfathomable. Think personally, how many of us could walk at that same pace for over 6 miles let alone 1 mile?
Answers
1. Which Kenyan defended his gold medal in the men’s marathon race, 26.2 miles? Eliud Kipchoge.
2. What Austrian athlete won the women’s cycling road race, not an active professional cyclist but someone who’s working on a Ph.D. in mathematics? Anna Kiesenhofter.
3. Which two Americans won their 5th gold medal in women’s basketball? Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi.
4. Which Italian sprinter (yes, I did write that) won the coveted men's 100-meter dash? Lamont Marcell Jacobs.
5. Who was that diver from Great Britain who knitted while sitting in the stands? Tom Daley.
6. Which team won the bronze medal in women’s soccer for the first time? The United States.
7. Which swimmer used the same pink goggles (decent hint) in these games as what she wore as a child? Lydia Jacoby.
8. Which water polo goalie was the first African-American player to play in the 2021 Olympics where she helped her team win the gold medal? Ashleigh Johnson.
9. Which two Americans, in the men and women’s category, won gold medals in golf in Tokyo? Xander Schauffele and Nelly Korda.
10. Which country won the women’s soccer gold medal? (Their first gold medal in their history in soccer.) Canada.
11. Which track and field event saw two competitors (Norway’s Karsten Warholm and the U.S.’s Rai Benjamin) smash the world record? 400-meter hurdles.
12. Which Australian swimmer became the first female swimmer to collect seven medals in a single Game? Emma McKeon.
13. Which female track star became the most decorated U.S. track and field Olympian ever with 10 medals? Allyson Felix.
14. Which gymnast took over for Simone Biles (who stepped aside due to mental distress) and captured gold in the women’s all-around gymnastics? Suni Lee.
15. Which swimmer from Alaska won the gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke? Lydia Jacoby.
16. Which Olympic game at Tokyo might just throw shade onto how the current NBA is structure? 3-on-3 basketball.
17. The 3-on-3 basketball is showing which organization that 6 players on the court work well and needless running up and down is not always necessary? National Basketball Association (NBA).
18. New sports like skateboarding and surfing made their Olympic debuts. Can anyone name any winners from these two categories? I can’t.
19. Which German swimmer dominates the men’s 10K open water by beating the second-place finisher by over 25 seconds? Florian Wellbrock.
20. Consider Florian swam 6.2 miles in less than 2 hours. Technically, he swam at over 3 mph for that entire distance, incredible swimming and almost unfathomable. Think personally, how many of us could walk at that same pace for over 6 miles let alone 1 mile? Personal response.