Winter Olympics Trivia: Did You Know?
Fun Olympic facts
for trivia buffs and novices
by Gerry Brown, John Gettings, and Mike Morrison
The word "mogul" comes from the
Austrian word "mugel," which means "small hill" or "mound."
Men's gold medal favorite Yevgeny Plushenko is the first and only skater
in history to successfully land a quad-triple-triple jump combination in competition.
Curling is one of four winter Olympic sports contested indoors. The other
three are hockey, figure skating, and speed skating.
German Luge master Georg Hackl will attempt to add to his legend and
win a medal in his sixth straight games at Turin in 2006. Hackl is already
the only athlete to medal in the same event in five straight games.
Nordic combined is one of three current Olympic Winter Games
events in which the United States has never won a medal. (Biathlon and curling
are the others.)
According to the National Sporting Goods Association, U.S. consumers
spent nearly than $270 million on snowboarding equipment in 2004. That's more
than hockey and football equipment combined ($225 million).
American
Jennison Heaton won the first skeleton gold medal in 1928, beating his brother
John, who took the silver, by one second. A 39-year-old John Heaton would
win the silver again in 1948, finishing second to Italy's Nino Bibbia. American
Jim Shea, Jr., won the men's gold in the 2002 return of the sport to the Olympics.
Ice hockey made its Olympic debut at the
1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. The first Winter Olympics didn't
take place until 1924.
American Shani Davis narrowly failed in his historic
attempt to compete on both the long track and short track speed skating teams
at the same Olympics but as the world record holder in the men's 1500 meters
he will still be a favorite to medal in the long track events at Turin.
American skier and Turin gold medal threat Lindsey Kildow
was awarded a cow by some local dairy farmers for her World Cup win in Val
D'Isere, France in 2005. She had a choice between the cow or an additional
$1,200 in prize money. She went with the cow.
The first known biathlon competition took place between
two Norwegian guard companies in 1767.
It's been 18 years since the
Jamaican bobsled team made its debut at the Olympics.
The oldest man to receive a Winter Olympics medal is 83-year-old Anders
Haugen. The Norwegian-American actually received his ski jump bronze medal
50 years after he competed in 1924 when a scoring error was discovered in
1974.
The Shea Family of Lake
Placid, New York, is the first to produce three generations of Olympians.
Father Jack, 91, was a double-gold medalist in
speed skating, son Jim, Sr., was a U.S. ski team member at the
1964 Innsbruck Games, and in 2002 grandson Jim, Jr., won a gold medal
in skeleton.
Only two
countries south of the equator have ever won medals at the Olympic Winter
Games—Australia and New Zealand.
Legends
Eric Heiden and Dan Jansen
, as well as current stars Chris Witty and Casey FitzRandolph, are from
the same U.S. state, Wisconsin.
Norway has won more gold
medals at the Winter Games than any other country.
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
