Olympics
Insider’s Guide: Springboard Diving
Performed on a board 3m above the water, springboard diving requires split-second
timing and precise execution of moves. A clean entry into the water, making
as little splash as possible is also key. Each dive type has its own degree
of difficulty expressed as a number. The more complex a dive, the higher
its degree of diff. In individual events, a team of 7 judges mark a diver,
each giving a score out of 10. The highest and lowest scores are removed.
The remainder are added up, multiplied by the dive’s degree of difficulty
and finally by 0.6 to give the final score for the dive.
This is an inward one and a half somersault dive with the diver performing the somersault in a tuck position with her legs brought up close to her chest. It has a degree of difficulty of 1.9, making it a middle-ranking dive.
Olympic Quiz 2
1. How many events were there in the very first ancient Greek Olympics?2. Where was the first modern Olympic games held?
3. How many athletes competed at Sydney 2000: 5,400, 7,800, 9,300 or 10,600?
4. How many rings make up the Olympic symbol?
5. In which year were women first allowed to compete in Athletics events?
6. In 1994, which island, with a population under 15,000, joined the Olympic movement, becoming the smallest competing nation?
7. Can you name all three of the US cities which have held the Summer Games?
8. How many cities have held the Summer Olympics twice?
Quiz 3: Olympic Firsts
1. Who became the first Olympian to win 7 gold medals at one Summer Games?2. The Olympic motto first appeared at the 1912, 1920 or 1932 games?
3. Cricket appeared in one Olympics; was it the 1900, 1908 or 1950 games?
4. 1964 was the first time that the Summer Games were held in Asia , Oceania or South America ?
5. Drugs testing began on a trial basis at which Olympic games? 6. Which British Olympian became the first Olympian to win five gold medals at consecutive games in an endurance sport?
7. At what Olympics was mountain biking first introduced as a medal sport?
8. Which sport, introduced in 2000, involves cycling, swimming and running?
Top Olympic Trivia
Australian Henry Pearce was so dominant in the 1928 single sculls rowing event that he stopped to let a line of ducks pass, before continuing his rowing to win gold.
The City of London Police Force remain reigning Olympic champions at Tug of War. They won Gold at the 1920 games, the last time Tug of War appeared.
Japanese gymnast Shun Fujimoto broke his kneecap during his floor routine at the 1976 Montreal games. Masking the pain, eschewing painkillers and keeping his injury a secret, he valiantly completed the remaining disciplines, scoring a personal best on the rings despite a jarring dismount. His performance led Japan to gold medal glory over the Soviet Union by just 0.4 points.
The Olympic record for the men's hammer throw is
84.80m recorded by Sergey Litvinov back in 1988
Baseball was a demonstration at the 1988 Seoul games. The pitcher for the winning US team, Jim Abbott was born without a right hand. He wore a pitching glove over his right arm which he would transfer to his left hand for fielding after a pitch.
The combined Danish and Swedish tug of war team at the 1900 games were a man short and asked a Danish journalist covering the games, Edgar Aaybe, to join in. Aaybe became part of the gold-medal winning team.
Olympics Links
IOC
The home page on the internet of the International Olympic Committee. This
substantial website contains details of all the previous Olympics, great
Olympians and the many events contained at the Summer and Winter games.
Special Olympics
The website of the Special Olympics movement responsible for assisting over
one million people with mental disabilities in their quest to play sports.
The Ancient Olympics
Using material culled from a large museum collection on the Ancient Greeks,
this website provides a detailed and fascinating look at the Ancient Olympics.
Athens 2004
The official website with pages in English for the 2004 Summer Games held
in Athens, Greece. News, details of events and features on the venues and
preparations behind the games are all displayed.
Bejing 2008
The official website of the 2008 games which will be held in and around
China’s capital city of Beijing.
BOC
Home pages of the British Olympic Association. The website contains materials
on the Olympic’s history and the performance of British competitors at previous
games.
USOC
The webpages of the United States Olympic Committee, this internet site
is chock-full of news of competitions and athletes as well as interesting
information on many of the events that feature in the Olympics.
AOA
The website of the Australian Olympic Association, this colourful and interesting
website contains details of Australian competitors’ preparation for games
in the future and performances from the past.
Quiz answers on next page...