1. On March 24 in 1921, the Women’s Olympiad was declared open, becoming the first ever international women’s sports event. It was organised as a response to the International Olympic Committee’s decision to not include women’s events in the 1924 Olympic Games. Over 100 participants took part in 10 events. In which tiny country did this path-breaking event take place, known more for its racing track and casinos?
2. Hélène de Pourtalès became the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal when her team, consisting of her husband and his nephew, won in the 1-2 tonne class. This was in one of the early events open to women, so she is arguably the first woman Olympian as well. What sport did she win the gold in, where she was the skipper and her husband, the helmsman?
3. Of the 32 Olympic sports, two are women-specific. In one event, the athlete performs on the floor with apparatus such as a hoop, ribbon or ball, and is judged on her execution of moves in time to music. The other is an aquatic event where a group of athletes perform a choreographed routine, which from the 2024 Olympics will be open to men as well. What are these two events?
4. The 2012 London Olympics was the first in which women competed in all the sports. This was due to the addition of three classes to what was till then a male-only event. The gold was won by Nicola Adams from England, but it was a memorable event for India too, as its athlete shared the bronze medal. She was eventually awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2020. Which sport is this?
5. Edurne Pasaban had a passion for her sport since a young age, and was only 28 when she pulled off the highest achievement in her field. Since then, she has become the first woman and only the 21st human, to finish all of the ‘eight-thousanders’. What sport is her achievement in?
6. Yelena Isinbaeva is a Russian athlete considered one of the greatest in her sport. She is one of a total of 10 athletes who have won the World Championship in Youth, Junior and Senior levels. She has broken the World Record in her sport 28 times, and set the current one at 5.06 metres in 2009, which is still standing. What sport is this?
7. Marta is regarded as the greatest woman footballer of all time. She was the first (of any gender) to score at five consecutive Olympic Games. She holds the record for being the top goal scorer for her country, with 115 goals. If the same country’s highest scoring men are ‘Ney’ and ‘Black Pearl’ (with 79 and 77 goals respectively), which country does she play for?
8. Babe Didrikson Zaharias was an American athlete who set four world records at the 1932 LA Olympics at the age of 21. She became the first (and so far only) athlete to win Olympic medals in a running event, a jumping event and a throwing event. She subsequently took on basketball, baseball and billiards competitively, before going on to join a sport where she was the only woman to compete. She eventually started the now global organisation ‘LPGA’. What sport did she revolutionise?
9. A Golden Slam in tennis is when a player wins each of the four Grand Slam tournaments (Australian, French and US Opens, and Wimbledon) as well as the Olympic gold medal. Only one player managed to do this in a single year (1988). Her husband won it over a period of five years. Who was this athlete, nicknamed Fräulein Forehand?
10. Ellen MacArthur achieved an endurance feat in 2005 and became the only woman in a total of four individuals to have done so. She took 71 days and 14 hours on a multi-hull sailboat, not stopping for assistance anywhere. What did MacArthur do, that Jeanne Baret did in 1769 while disguised as a man?
A molecular biologist from Madurai, our quizmaster enjoys trivia and music, and is working on a rock ballad called ‘Coffee is a Drink, Kaapi is an Emotion’. @bertyashley.
Answers:
1. Monaco
2. Sailing
3. Rhythmic Gymnastics and Synchronised swimming
4. Women’s Boxing
5. Mountaineering (heights above 8000 metres)
6. Pole Vault
7. Brazil
8. Golf
9. Steffi Graf
10. Sail around the world
