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Sports Facts Trivia

This Sports Facts Trivia collection highlights 4 More Sports: the Olympics, Boxing, Table Tennis and Badminton.

Sports Trivia

At Gamerisms, we have extensively defined the top 10 sport games worldwide, however we wanted more to offer passionate players and fans around the globe.

In selecting the sport games: Olympics, Boxing, Table Tennis and Badminton for this Sports Facts Trivia entry, it was our intention to create a mood equal to watching the excitement of these games/sports live. There are oddball facts about the origin of a sport, famous names and player info in the mix. It is our belief that while you know some facts and trivia, others will surprise and amaze you.

Olympics Games Sports Facts Trivia

  1. The Olympic games date back to ancient Greece but the official modern games as we know them started in 1896 and was founded by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a Frenchman.
  2. The five rings on the Olympic flag symbolize the five participating continents in the world interlocked in friendship.
  3. The Olympic Games occurred for the first time in US at St. Louis, Mo. in 1904.
  4. Canada has presented 3 Olympics: 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal,1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
  5. No games were held during 1916, 1940 and 1944 due to WWI and WWII.
  6. Up until the 1912 games, the gold medals awarded were made entirely of gold.
  7. The Greek team always leads the opening ceremony procession. The last team is the hosting country and the order of the teams in the middle is in alphabetical order.

Summer Olympics
Sports Facts Trivia

  1. During the 1900 Olympic Games, women were allowed to participate.
  2. Margaret Abbott played for Olympic gold for Golf in 1900 and went down in the record books as the first U.S. woman to medal.
  3. Soviet Olga Korbut was the first to clinch a back somersault on the balance beam receiving a 9.9 score at the 1972 Olympics. 
  4. For 1996 Olympics, Mary Decker Slaney, a distance runner, qualified for a fourth time.
  5. Former Olympiad Stella Walsh was born Stanislawa Walasiewicz of Poland. During the 1932 Olympics held in Los Angeles she won the 100-meter race and went down in the history books as the first woman to break the 12-second barrier. After a freak robbery attempt in 1980, she was discovered to be a he.
  6. Daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Anne, was the only female competitor who did not have to undergo a sex test during the 1976 Olympics. She competed on the British equestrian team.
  7. During the 1996 Summer Olympics, Womens’ Beach Volleyball played on sand was a new entry.
  8. Eddie Eagan is the only Olympic participant who won gold medals at both the Summer and Winter games. The American won boxing gold in 1920 and a team bobsled event in 1932.
  9. Unique sports facts trivia: the Fosbury Flop is the term for jumping head first and ending up on your back when participating in the high jump event.
  10. The 1996 Marathon race gold medal went to Josia Thugwane, the first black man from South Africa to win gold.
  11. The pommel horse is named ‘the pig’ by male gymnasts.
  12. Inge Sorenson from Denmark is the youngest individual to win a medal for her third place win during the 200-meter breaststroke event.
  13. Pigeon shooting was a medal sport in 1900 but was later discontinued.

Winter Olympics
Sports Facts Trivia

  1. Figure Skating: first triple jump was performed by Dick Button in 1952.
  2. Peggy Fleming, figure skater is in the records books as the only US athlete to win a gold medal at the 1968 Winter Olympics.
  3. Innsbruck was the setting for both the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics. 
  4. The 1994 Winter Olympics saw only one competing athlete for Israel.
  5. Bonnie Blair holds the most Winter Olympic medals. 
  6. Norway's Johann Olay Koss picked up three golds for speed skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics.
  7. Odd sports facts trivia: Although Janet Lynn won five U.S. figure skating titles, she never grabbed an Olympic gold medal.
  8. Boxing:  Sports Facts Trivia
  9. At 20 years old, Mike Tyson was the youngest man to win the heavyweight title.
  10. For over 106 months, and 25 title defenses, Joe Louis held the championship title within any weight division.
  11. Rocky Marciano is the only undisputed, undefeated heavyweight champion in boxing history. His record was 49-0. Of those, 43 were knock-outs.
  12. Sonny Liston had huge hands. His fist measured 15 inches. These were the largest fists of any Heavyweight Champion.
  13. Joe Louis and challenger Billy Conn fought in the first televised Heavyweight Championship on June 19, 1946.
  14. After Floyd Patterson lost to Sonny Liston in 1962, he was spotted wearing a fake beard and sunglasses.
  15. Joe Frazier was the first person to defeat Muhammad Ali during his professional boxing career in what was dubbed as the Fight of the Century on March 8, 1971.
  16. Three men have won the Heavyweight Championship title three times: Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis and Muhammad Ali.
  17. After a male boxer dies in 1997, the governing Italian boxing association outlawed female boxing.
  18. Zambia sanctioned female boxing in 1994.
  19. Interesting sports facts trivia: the first ever internationally recognized male vs. female boxing match took place on October 9, 1999 between Margaret MacGregor and Loi Chow in Seattle, Washington. Ms. MacGregor won in 4 rounds.

Table Tennis
Sports Facts Trivia

  1. Table tennis is also referred to as ping-pong. Parker Brothers trademarked the name ping-pong.
  2. Under the belief that this sport was harmful to the eyes, the Soviet Union banned it from 1930-1950.
  3. During the 1988 Olympic summer games, table tennis became a medal sport.
  4. Top countries that produce table tennis prodigies are Sweden, South Korea and China.
  5. In China and Sweden, top players are paid just to practice.
  6. Top players can hit balls at speeds well over 100 miles per hour.
  7. An average table tennis match at professional levels lasts about 30 minutes.
  8. Jackie Bellinger and Lisa Lomas hold the record for hitting 173 balls back and forth during a 60-second time period in 1993.
  9. The dimensions of the modern ping-pong table are 9 ft. long by 5 ft. wide and 2.5 feet high.
  10. The net is six inches in height.

Badminton
Sports Facts Trivia

  1. During the 1992 Barcelona Games, Badminton is officially admitted as a medal sport.
  2. In 1936, the United States Badminton Association was established.
  3. The world’s shortest badminton match lasted only six minutes.
  4. The most favored badminton shuttles are made from goose feathers. The left wing to be more precise.
  5. The reigning countries with the highest percentage of wins at International Badminton Federation or IBF events are China and Indonesia, who both won 70 percent.
  6. Shuttlecock was Badminton’s original name.
  7. There are over 150 member nations of the IBF.
  8. A shuttle is comprised of 16 feathers.
  9. The first official Badminton Club was formed in 1877 and it was called the Bath Badminton Club.

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