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Sports trivia

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Did you know 1

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...that tug of war (pictured) was included in the Olympic Games from 1900 until 1920?
...that even though Denis Potvin retired in 1988, fans of the New York Rangers still practice a tradition aimed at insulting him?
...that Bridgett Riley lost her contact lenses in the fifth round of a boxing match against Theresa Arnold on September 19, 1996, leading to her first ever defeat?
...that Marn Grook is the name of ball game played by Australian Aborginals which is thought to be the basis for the modern game of Australian rules football?
...that the earliest record of Gaelic handball is the 1527 town statutes of Galway, Ireland, which forbade the playing of ball games against the walls?

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Did you know 2

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Pitstop underway for Fernando Alonso at 2008 Chinese Grand Prix

...that sex determination in sports is no longer practiced at the Olympic Games?
...that in the history of Major League Baseball, twelve batters have hit two grand slams in the same game?
...that the 1903 Tour de France often required riders to cycle through the night?
...that French tennis player Henri Leconte won 9 ATP titles in an 11 year period?
...that a pit stop (pictured) in Formula One autosport involves about 20 mechanics?

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Did you know 3

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...that in 1968, Swedish pentathlete Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall became the first Olympian disqualified for drug use, for drinking two beers?
...that golf ball (pictured) design is a real world application of Platonic solids?
...that the 2007 Fiesta Bowl ended on a Statue of Liberty play from Jared Zabransky to Ian Johnson, giving the Boise State Broncos the winning two-point conversion?
...that the French footballer Lucien Laurent scored the first ever World Cup goal, against Mexico in 1930?
...that the Arctic Winter Games are held biennially for athletes from the "circumpolar North"?

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Did you know 4

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...that Ray Wilson, who was the eldest member of England's victorious 1966 World Cup team, became an undertaker after he retired from football?
...that professional wrestler Gorilla Monsoon grew a long beard and billed himself as a terrifying giant from Manchuria as a heel gimmick?
...that Westpac Stadium (pictured) in Wellington, New Zealand is known colloquially as "The Cake-tin"?
...that high jumper Ulrike Meyfarth became the youngest individual Olympic champion in athletics?
...that baseball player Jim Creighton's death at age 21 may have been caused by the force with which he swung his bat?

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Did you know 5

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A Northwestern Wildcats women's lacrosse player in a game

...that the Northwestern Wildcats women's lacrosse team (player pictured) has won the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship five consecutive times since 2005?
...that 1943 Triple Crown winner Count Fleet was both sire of and sired by Kentucky Derby winners?
...that the now-closed Opryland was the official theme park of NASCAR?
...that the heavyweight class in boxing has no maximum weight limit?
...that Taiwan professional baseball was started in 1989, and the two leagues merged in 2003?

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Did you know 6

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2009 game between Kashima Antlers and Singapore Armed Forces FC

...that the Curse of Billy Penn is an alleged curse that may explain the failures of Philadelphia professional sports teams?
...that Swiss cyclist Hugo Koblet, a Tour de France winner and the first non-Italian to win the Giro d'Italia, died at age 39 under mysterious circumstances?
...that Clint Benedict was the first ice hockey goalie to wear a protective facemask?
...that there have only been two tied Tests in the 128 years of Test cricket, both involving the Australian cricket team?
...that Kashima Antlers (pictured) is the name of a professional association football club in the Japanese J.League?

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Did you know 7

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...that women's kickboxing in New South Wales, Australia, was banned by law in 1986 and only became legal again in 2008?
...that, at the age of fourteen, Elizabeth Edmondson (pictured) was told that she had broken a world record while swimming at Beatty Park?
...that Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton was the first African American to sign a contract to play in the National Basketball Association?
...that only three Super Rugby rugby union teams ever won the Super 12?
...that in the 26 uses of the Page playoff system in championship curling tournaments, only once has a third- or fourth-placed team won the tournament?

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Did you know 8

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...that Marcos Daniel is the highest placed Brazilian tennis player on ATP's ranking despite not winning any official ATP tournament?
...that diamond magnate Woolf Barnato won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times, and in 1930 won a race across France in his Bentley against Le Train Bleu?
...that the Daytona Beach Road Course was the site of fifteen world land speed records, and the course was instrumental in the formation of NASCAR?
...that a 1906 football match between a team of youngsters from Kraków and the troupe of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show is one of the milestones in the history of football in Poland?
...that bicycle helmets (pictured) are not designed to be re-used after a major accident?

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Did you know 9

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A flèche during the qarter-finals of the Masters à l'épée 2012

...that the Birdsville Races in Queensland, Australia used to have separate races for horses that ate grass and those that ate corn?
...that the layback spin was invented by 1936 Winter Olympics silver medalist Cecilia Colledge?
...that Jerry Reuss was one of a few players in Major League Baseball history to play in four different decades?
...that the flèche (pictured) is an aggressive fencing attack generally used with the foil and épée weapons, and is actually illegal to use with the sabre under USFA rules?
...that the French footballer Lucien Laurent scored the first-ever World Cup goal, against Mexico in 1930?

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Did you know 10

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...that Jim Roper was credited with NASCAR's first Strictly Stock (now Monster Energy Cup Series) win after apparent winner Glenn Dunaway was found to have illegally modified springs?
...that the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is India's highest sporting honour?
...that Leyton F.C. had to win a High Court action in order to call itself the oldest football club in London?
...that Australian Paralympic swimmer Teigan Van Roosmalen (pictured) is legally blind and deaf?
...that the South Korean long track speed skater Lee Kyou-hyuk has held the 1500 m world record, despite never winning a World Cup event or an Olympic medal at the distance?

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Did you know 11

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...that in 1962, the Mount Washington Lacrosse Club was forced to win an overtime game for a second time because a sudden death goal was scored during a television timeout?
...that Ruth Riley, an all-star center in the Women's National Basketball Association, also wrote a children's book?
...that Australian swimmer Fanny Durack was considered to be the world's greatest female swimmer from 1910 until 1918?
...that Italo Santelli (pictured, left) is widely considered to be the "father of modern sabre fencing"?
...that Lee McClung, a College Football Hall of Famer, also served as Treasurer of the United States, advocating the withdrawal of worn, dirty banknotes on sanitary grounds?

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Did you know 12

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...that Vulcana was a Welsh strongwoman who traveled the world with her husband, performing as The Atlas and Vulcana Group of Society Athletes?
...that Julien Wiener is the only Jewish Australian Test cricketer?
...that a cousin of curling, ice stock sport (pictured), is played primarily in Germany and Austria?
...that Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis, the son of professional wrestler Road Warrior Animal, is the first Buckeyes scholarship football player from Minnesota since 1933?
...that the longest NHL overtime game in the history of hockey was a 1936 match between the Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Maroons?

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Did you know 13

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The All Blacks performing a Haka in front of the French team

...that Ilsa Konrads, former editor of Belle, was an Australian Olympic swimmer who set 12 world records?
...that Canada won the first Paralympic gold medal in wheelchair curling at the 2006 Games?
...that the largest score and winning margin between the All Blacks and France at rugby union (pictured) was a 61–10 victory by the All Blacks at Westpac Stadium in 2007?
...that Jack Broughton was the first person to develop a set of rules for boxing?
...that teams in the International Basketball League scored nearly 130 points per game in its first season?

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Did you know 14

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...that Cuban boxer Kid Charol fought former world middleweight champion Dave Chade and held him to a twelve-round draw despite being in critical condition due to tuberculosis?
...that Major League Cricket planned to launch a professional cricket league in the United States, with the goal of qualifying the U.S. for the Cricket World Cup by 2011?
...that the race horse Flockton Grey did not even run in the race for which it is best remembered?
...that Raghib Ismail became the highest paid player in gridiron football history when he joined the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League?
...that Comiskey Park (pictured) was the oldest stadium in Major League Baseball until its demolition in 1991?

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Did you know 15

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...that Ed Brown was an African-American slave who rose to become a Belmont Stakes-winning jockey and a Kentucky Derby-winning horse trainer?
...that Bearcat Stadium (pictured) of Northwest Missouri State University, originally opened in 1917, is the oldest stadium of any NCAA Division II school?
...that Australian sprinter Stanley Rowley is the only Olympic participant to win medals for two countries at the same Olympic Games?
...that Battlefield Baseball, a Japanese film, features elements of the sports, martial arts and horror genres, as well as including three musical numbers?
...that whipcracking, the art of using a whip to create a miniature sonic boom, is a competitive sport in Australia, where it was also elaborated into whipboxing?

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Did you know 16

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...that West Ham Stadium in London holds the record for the lowest ever attendance of a football match in The Football League, despite its capacity of 120,000?
...that cyclist Gerald Ciolek (pictured) became the youngest ever German National Cycling Champion, aged just 18 in 2005?
...that Thoroughbred racehorse Arazi's victory over Bertrando has been described as the single-most spectacular performance in Breeders' Cup history?
...that Welsh international footballer Joe Davies was suspended by Sheffield United for "lodging in a public house"?
...that Buzz Holmstrom was the first person to row alone all the way down the Colorado River from Green River, Wyoming to the Boulder Dam?

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Did you know 17

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...that the site of SSAWS (pictured), once the world's largest indoor ski slope, now hosts Japan's first IKEA superstore?
...that only one horse in the International Special horse races was born outside the United States?
...that Blair Cherry was the first high-school football coach in Texas history to lead his team to three consecutive state championships?
...that former NASCAR chairman Bill France, Jr. once used a mule while helping with the construction of Daytona International Speedway?
...that Y Clwb Rygbi was the first Welsh language television programme to win a Royal Television Society Sports Award?

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Did you know 18

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...that English lower-league football team Bristol Rovers once beat the Netherlands national football team 3-2?
...that 2012 Australian Paralympic wheelchair basketball player Jannik Blair (pictured) has a partial wheelchair basketball scholarship from the University of Missouri?
...that Kanken Toyama, who developed the Shūdōkan school of karate, was originally an elementary school teacher?
...that the breeding rights for the Thoroughbred racehorse Graustark sold for a record US$2,400,000?
...that the 1989 Glasnost Bowl was an attempt to schedule an American college football game in the Soviet Union?

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Did you know 19

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...that the 2000 Black Coaches Association Classic was postponed by an electrical storm during which lightning struck ESPN broadcaster Lee Corso's rental car?
...that Homer Mensch, the double bassist who played the theme for Jaws, originally wanted to be a tennis player?
...that on Mother's Day, May 14, 2006, the Louisville Slugger Company produced more than 400 pink baseball bats (pictured) for game use by more than 50 professional baseball players?
...that although Kylie Gauci is a 2 point player, she was the only player on her team to score a three point basket at the 2012 Paralympics?
...that Matthew Robinson, older brother of Baseball Hall of Fame member Jackie Robinson, was a world-class sprinter and won a silver medal in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin?

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Did you know 20

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...that Bobby Pearce (pictured) won the single sculls at the 1928 Summer Olympics despite stopping mid-race for a passing flock of ducks?
...that Brian Boitano narrowly won the Battle of the Brians, a 1988 Winter Olympics figure skating rivalry between two elite skaters named Brian?
...that the yobidashi serves as a sumo wrestler's handyman, promoter and assistant?
...that Estonian Margus Hunt won two gold medals at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics, setting a world junior record in discus throw and a national junior record in shot put?
...that at 7'3" (2.21 m), Swede Halbrook became the tallest person to ever play college basketball when he joined the Oregon State Beavers in 1954?

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Did you know 21

Portal:Sports/Did you know/21

...that Leyton F.C. had to win a High Court action in order to call itself the oldest football club in London?
...that the Iowa Cornets made it to the Women's Professional Basketball League championship in both of its seasons in the league, and lost both times?
...that in 1994, Horace Dove-Edwin became the first medalist in athletics for Sierra Leone, but lost it due to a positive doping test?
...that Sabeena Saleem is the first mother to compete alongside her daughter at the Asian Games in Indian bowling history?
...that Jaime Navarro (pictured) was the opposing and winning pitcher for the inaugural Texas Rangers game at The Ballpark in Arlington in 1994?

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Did you know 22

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...that, during the summer of four captains in 1988, Chris Cowdrey became only the second son to follow his father as captain of the English cricket team?
...that Winning Colors is one of only three fillies to have won the Kentucky Derby?
...that the 2006 Boise State University football team returned more starters from 2005 than any other team in NCAA Division I-A football?
...that Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Guy Bush (pictured) gave up Babe Ruth's last two career home runs on May 25, 1935, just five days before Ruth retired?
...that Buzz Holmstrom was the first person to row alone all the way down the Colorado River from Green River, Wyoming to the Boulder Dam?

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Did you know 23

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... that para-alpine B2 classified visually impaired skier Gabriel Gorce (pictured) was the youngest member of the 2010 Spanish Winter Paralympic team?
... that Caleb Moore became the first competitor to die as a result of injuries sustained during the X Games?
... that professional baseball player Tony Cingrani did not expect his college team to invite him back for his senior season after he struggled as a junior?
... that Vahram Papazyan and Mıgırdiç Mıgıryan, the two athletes who represented Turkey in its first-ever Olympics, were both ethnic Armenians?
... that Manny McIntyre was a member of the first all-black line in professional hockey history and the first known Black-Canadian to play professionally in organized baseball?

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Did you know 24

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... that Turkey women's national footballer Berivan İçen (pictured) scored 11 goals in a girls' under-13 league match that ended 15–0 for her team?
... that Gerhard Weber signed tennis player Steffi Graf, at age 17 and before her international success, as an ambassador for the fashion brand Gerry Weber that he co-founded?
... that aerobics pioneer Jacki Sorensen was voted the best dancer in the 1962 Miss California pageant?
... that Japanese voice actress Nene Hieda was a member of a 3x3 basketball team?
... that before Gryan Miers was even drafted to an Australian Football League club, Fox Sports labelled him one of the competition's "next big cult heroes"?

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