Olympics Trivia Questions and Answers

Welcome to the Olympics Trivia Challenge! This quiz is perfect for anyone who loves the Olympic Games or wants to learn more about them. We'll ask questions about famous moments, record-breaking athletes, and interesting facts about the Games and the countries that take part.

The Olympics are a global celebration of athleticism, where athletes from around the world come together to compete in a wide range of sports. The Games have a rich history dating back to ancient Greece, where they were first held to honor the god Zeus. Today, the Olympics are a major international event, featuring summer and winter sports and celebrated every four years.

Whether you're a sports fan or just curious, you'll have fun testing your knowledge about this incredible global event. Get ready to find out how much you know about the Olympics and enjoy the challenge!

Olympics Trivia Questions and Answers

1. Question: In which country did the Olympics originate?

Answer: Greece

2. Question: The Olympic games in Greece were held how often?

Answer: Every four years

3. Question: When were the first known Olympic games held?

Answer: 776 B.C.

4. Question: The first modern Olympics were held in what year?

Answer: 1896

5. Question: Who is credited with starting the modern Olympic games?

Answer: Baron Pierre de Coubertin

6. Question: What is the official motto for the Olympics?

Answer: “Citius, Altius, Fortius”

7. Question: What does “Citius, Altius, Fortius” mean in English?

Answer: “Faster, Higher, Stronger”

8. Question: What colors are the Olympic rings?

Answer: Blue, yellow, black, green and red

9. Question: What are the five official Olympic values?

Answer: Joy of effort, fair play, respect for others, pursuit of excellence; and balance between body, will and mind.

10. Question: The Olympic torch is a tribute to the fire that burned throughout the ancient Greek Olympic games honoring which goddess?

Answer: Hestia

11. Question: Where were the first modern Olympic Games held?

Answer: Athens, Greece

12. Question: What do the Olympic rings represent?

Answer: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceana

13. Question: When were the first winter Olympics held?

Answer: 1924

14. Question: Where was the first winter Olympics held?

Answer: Chamonix, France

15. Question: When were the Olympic gold medals last made entirely of gold?

Answer: 1912

16. Question: Who wrote the music for The Olympic Hymn?

Answer: Spyros Samaras

17. Question: Who wrote the lyrics for The Olympic Hymn?

Answer: Kostis Palamas

18. Question: What prize was given to winners of the Olympics in ancient Greece?

Answer: Olive branch crown

19. Question: Which country has hosted the most Olympic Games?

Answer: United States

20. Question: When did the Olympics first award gold, silver and bronze medals?

Answer: 1904

21. Question: Which city has hosted the Olympics three times?

Answer: London, however Paris will join the three-timers club in 2024.

22. Question: How many countries boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics?

Answer: 66

23. Question: The Olympic Torch is lit where each year?

Answer: Olympia, Greece

24. Question: The Olympic Torch is used to light what?

Answer: The Olympic Cauldron

25. Question: A race was held in the 1896 Olympic Games in honor of whom?

Answer: Pheidippides

26. Question: Where did Pheidippides run?

Answer: From Marathon, Greece to Athens

27. Question: In 2016, which sport made the Olympic roster for the first time since 1924?

Answer: Rugby

28. Question: In what year did the Olympic flag debut?

Answer: 1920

29. Question: The Olympics were first held to honor which Greek god?

Answer: Zeus

30. Question: The first opening ceremony for the Olympics was held in which city and year?

Answer: London, 1908

31. Question: The priestess of which Greek goddess was the only married woman permitted to watch the ancient Greek Olympics?

Answer: Demeter

32. Question: The only event in the first-known ancient Greek Olympics was a footrace of what length?

Answer: 192 meters

33. Question: Who won the first-known Olympics in ancient Greece?

Answer: Coroebus

34. Question: Which ancient Greek mythical figure is said to have founded the Olympics?

Answer: Heracles (Roman name Hercules)

35. Question: When did the Olympic Games first feature a marathon?

Answer: 1896

36. Question: How long a distance was the first Olympic marathon?

Answer: 25 miles

37. Question: Who won first place in the first-ever Olympic marathon race?

Answer: Spyridon Louis

38. Question: What is the standard marathon race length today?

Answer: 26 miles and 385 yards (42,195 meters)

39. Question: Which Roman emperor declared himself the winner of an Olympic chariot race...even though he fell out of his chariot?

Answer: Nero

40. Question: Which emperor banned the Olympics in 393 A.D.?

Answer: Theodosius I

41. Question: How many events were held at the first modern Olympics?

Answer: 43

42. Question: How many athletes participated in the first modern Olympics?

Answer: 280

43. Question: How many nations participated in the first modern Olympics?

Answer: 13

44. Question: Which four years have seen the Olympics canceled?

Answer: 1916, 1940, 1944 and 2020

45. Question: The Olympic flag first flew in which city?

Answer: Antwerp, Belgium

46. Question: When was the first Olympics closing ceremony?

Answer: 1924

47. Question: When were women first permitted to compete in the Olympics?

Answer: 1900

48. Question: Who was the first female Olympic champion?

Answer: Hélène de Pourtalès

49. Question: The ancient Greeks sacrificed which animal at the conclusion of the earliest Olympic games?

Answer: Oxen

50. Question: In ancient Greece, a separate festival celebrating female athletes was called what?

Answer: Heraean Games

51. Question: The ancient pentathlon event was a combination of which sports?

Answer: Discus, javelin, long jump, running and wrestling

52. Question: Which ancient Greek athlete won 12 titles across four consecutive Olympics?

Answer: Leonidas of Rhodes

53. Question: What was the punishment for breaking the rules in the ancient Greek Olympic Games?

Answer: Public whipping and/or fines

54. Question: Wrestlers covered their bodies in what in the ancient Greek Olympics?

Answer: Oil

55. Question: In the ancient Greek Olympics, wrestlers used oil to keep what out of their pores?

Answer: Sand

56. Question: Wealthy winners of the ancient Greek Olympics could erect statues of themselves where?

Answer: The Olympia Altis Grove

57. Question: Which American Olympic athlete was later a prisoner of war in World War II?

Answer: Louis Zamperini

58. Question: Which Olympic Games featured an unknown champion in rowing?

Answer: 1900

59. Question: Which American athlete with a wooden leg won six gymnastics medals at the 1904 Olympics?

Answer: George Eyser

60. Question: Which Olympic athlete was known as the "Milwaukee Meteor?"

Answer: Archie Hahn

61. Question: South Africa participated in which Olympic Games for the first time since 1960?

Answer: 1992

62. Question: Which city hosted the first boycott-free Olympics since 1972?

Answer: Barcelona

63. Question: What year did the NBA "Dream Team" participate in the Olympics?

Answer: 1992

64. Question: The 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis coincided with which other major event in the city?

Answer: World's Fair

65. Question: Which male gymnast won four gold medals in a single day?

Answer: Vitaly Scherbo

66. Question: Which German athlete was a third-generation Olympian in 1992?

Answer: Andrea Keller

67. Question: When did snowboarding make its Olympic debut?

Answer: 1998

68. Question: In 1900, which Olympic athlete refused to participate in a race on Sunday because of his religious beliefs?

Answer: Myer Prinstein

69. Question: Which American figure skating became the youngest champion ever in the Winter Olympics?

Answer: Tara Lipinski

70. Question: Triathlon and taekwondo were added to the Olympics in what year?

Answer: 2000

71. Question: Who was the first female athlete to win Olympic gold medals 20 years apart?

Answer: Brigit Fischer

72. Question: Who became the first rower to win gold medals in five consecutive Olympic Games?

Answer: Steven Redgrave

73. Question: Who was the first Black athlete to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics?

Answer: Vonetta Flowers

74. Question: In which year did women’s wrestling make its Olympic debut?

Answer: 2004

75. Question: BMX racing made its first Olympic appearance in which city?

Answer: Beijing

76. Question: What was the age difference between the oldest and youngest athletes at the Beijing Olympics?

Answer: 55 years

77. Question: Which athlete was disqualified from the 1904 Olympics for covering part of the 40-kilometer race by car?

Answer: Fred Lorz

78. Question: Whose record for the most gold medals in swimming did Michael Phelps break at the 2008 Olympics?

Answer: Mark Spitz

79. Question: Which comedian performed in the 2012 London Olympic Games opening ceremony?

Answer: Rowan Atkinson ("Mr. Bean")

80. Question: In what year did the Olympic Games first become available to view on mobile devices?

Answer: 2006

81. Question: When did Zimbabwe first compete in the Winter Olympics?

Answer: 2014

82. Question: Which Olympian also won "The Masked Dancer"?

Answer: Gabby Douglas

83. Question: Which Latin American city was the first to host the Olympic Games?

Answer: Mexico City

84. Question: Who was the first woman to light the Olympic Cauldron?

Answer: Enriqueta Basilio

85. Question: The 1968 Olympic Torch relay followed the route of which explorer?

Answer: Christopher Columbus

86. Question: What was the largest city to host the Winter Olympics?

Answer: Tokyo, Japan

87. Question: Which men’s soccer team did not concede a single goal at the 2004 Olympics?

Answer: Argentina

88. Question: In 2008, Usain Bolt broke the world records for which two sprint distances?

Answer: 100 meters and 200 meters

89. Question: When did team figure skating make its Olympic debut?

Answer: 2014

90. Question: Which two Black American athletes were expelled from the Olympic Village for protesting racial segregation in the 1968 Olympics?

Answer: Tommie Smith and John Carlos

91. Question: In which city and year did Japan win its first Olympic gold medal?

Answer: Sapporo, 1972

92. Question: Who was the first athlete to win eight medals in a single Olympic Games?

Answer: Aleksandr Dityatin

93. Question: Which host city was the first to use artificial snow in the Winter Olympics?

Answer: Lake Placid, New York

94. Question: How many gold medals did Eric Heiden win at the 1980 Winter Olympics?

Answer: Five

95. Question: In which American city did the Soviet Union boycott the Olympics?

Answer: Los Angeles

96. Question: Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis both won gold in which four events?

Answer: 100 meters, 200 meters, 4x100 meters relay, and long jump

97. Question: The 1976 Montreal Olympics saw the debut of which three women’s sports?

Answer: Basketball, rowing, and handball

98. Question: In which Olympics did the women’s marathon make its debut?

Answer: Los Angeles, 1984

99. Question: How old was Lindsey Vonn when she made her Olympic debut?

Answer: 17

100. Question: Which Olympic figure skating duo received perfect scores for their performance of Maurice Ravel's "Bolero"?

Answer: Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean

101. Question: When was electronic timing used as the official method for the Olympics?

Answer: 1968

102. Question: Who was the first American woman to win an Olympic event?

Answer: Margaret Abbott

103. Question: When was the last instance of the United States dipping the American flag to a foreign leader at the Olympics?

Answer: 1932

104. Question: Which new sports made their debut at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games?

Answer: Skateboarding, surfing, sport climbing, and karate

105. Question: What was the first official Olympic mascot breed?

Answer: Dachshund

106. Question: How many Olympic medals has Simone Biles won to date?

Answer: Five (four gold, one bronze)

107. Question: Which Olympian is known for her smirk featured in a GEICO car insurance commercial?

Answer: McKayla Maroney

108. Question: Who was the first Olympic athlete disqualified for testing positive for steroids?

Answer: Ben Johnson

109. Question: In what year did table tennis first appear in the Olympics?

Answer: 1988

110. Question: Who is the only athlete to win medals at both the Winter and Summer Olympics in the same year?

Answer: Christa Luding-Rothenburger

111. Question: In which city were the first smoke-free Olympic Games held?

Answer: Calgary

112. Question: Who is the only woman to have competed in six editions of the Winter Olympics?

Answer: Marja-Liisa Kirvesmiemi-Hämäläinen

113. Question: Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic Cauldron in which city?

Answer: Atlanta

114. Question: Which Olympic gymnast was the first to receive a perfect 10 on the uneven bars?

Answer: Nadia Comaneci

115. Question: Michael Johnson was the first man to win both the 200 meters and which other race?

Answer: 400 meters

116. Question: When was softball introduced to the Olympics?

Answer: 1996

117. Question: When was the first American fencing gold medal awarded?

Answer: Athens, 2000

118. Question: After a terrorist attack, the Olympics were suspended for 36 hours in which city's Olympic Village?

Answer: Munich

119. Question: Which city withdrew its bid, leading to the 1976 Winter Olympics being held in Innsbruck, Austria?

Answer: Denver, Colorado

120. Question: How many silver medals did Dana Torres win at the Beijing Olympics?

Answer: Three

121. Question: Which Winter Olympic sports were originally part of the Summer Olympics?

Answer: Ice hockey and figure skating

122. Question: What is the lowest-populated country to win a medal at the Summer Olympic Games?

Answer: Bermuda

123. Question: How many grams of gold are contained in an Olympic gold medal?

Answer: Six grams

124. Question: Which Winter Olympic Games were the first to be broadcast in color?

Answer: Grenoble

125. Question: How long did the London Olympic Games of 1908 last?

Answer: 188 days