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127 free Olympics trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
40 free Olympic trivia questions with answers. This Olympics quiz runs from the ancient Games at Olympia to the modern Summer and Winter Olympics: host cities, the five rings, record-breaking athletes, famous upsets and the traditions that surround the torch relay and the medal ceremony. It works for a sports round at quiz night, a classroom warm-up during the Games, or a quick test of how much you really remember from years of watching. Questions start easy enough for a casual viewer and build toward ones that will catch a devoted fan. Every answer has been checked against a reference source, and each question shows its explanation and citation once you have answered, so any disagreement can be settled on the spot.
30 of 127 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The ancient Games were a religious festival held at the sanctuary of which god?
Zeus
The ancient Games honoured Zeus at Olympia, whose temple held Phidias' 12-metre gold-and-ivory statue of Zeus, one of the Seven Wonders; a myth credits Heracles, son of Zeus, with founding the festival.
Q 02Which Roman emperor's 393 AD decree against pagan cults is the most cited end of the ancient Games?
Theodosius I
Theodosius I, a Christian emperor, banned pagan cults in 393 AD, the date most often given for the last ancient Games; his grandson Theodosius II's 426 AD order to destroy Greek temples is the other candidate.
Q 03Which city hosted the inaugural modern Olympic Games?
Athens
Athens hosted the first modern Games in a restored ancient stadium that Evangelis Zappas' bequest had paid to excavate; 14 nations took part and Greek runner Spyridon Louis won the marathon.
Q 04What do the interlocking Olympic rings primarily symbolize?
The union of the inhabited continents and the meeting of athletes from around the world
The Olympic Charter spells this out, though the flag's designer originally said only that the number of rings stood for the parts of the world 'now won over to Olympism'.
Q 05In 2021 the IOC added which word, after an en dash, to the Olympic motto?
Together
The motto became 'Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together' in July 2021; the Latin 'Communiter' was chosen, though some Italian Latinists argued 'Una' better conveyed acting as one.
Q 06In which year did 400 athletes gather in Rome for the first official Paralympic Games?
1960
Guttmann's 1960 'Parallel Olympics' drew 400 athletes from 23 countries; only later were they recognised as the first Paralympics.
Q 07Who has won more Olympic medals than anyone else, in any sport?
Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps won 28 medals, 23 of them gold, across the 2004–2016 Games; no other Olympian has more than Larisa Latynina's 18.
Q 08Which country leads the all-time Summer Olympics medal count?
United States
The United States has topped the medal table at 19 Games; the USSR managed seven, and France, Great Britain, Germany and China once each.
Q 09Which inhabited continent has never hosted a Summer Olympic Games?
Africa
Africa has never staged a Summer Games; the only Southern Hemisphere hosts have been Australia — three times, most recently awarded Brisbane 2032 — and Brazil, with Rio 2016.
Q 10Which city was chosen to host the 2028 Summer Olympics, its third Summer Games?
Los Angeles
Los Angeles was awarded the 2028 Games in 2017, after hosting in 1932 and 1984; St. Louis (1904) and Atlanta (1996) are the other US Summer hosts.
Q 11Who was the first president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)?
Demetrios Vikelas
Demetrios Vikelas, a Greek businessman and writer, was IOC president from 1894 until after the first Games had been staged, then handed the post to the committee's founder.
Q 12In what year did Sydney, Australia, host the Summer Olympics?
2000
Sydney staged the Games in September–October 2000, the second time Australia and the Southern Hemisphere had hosted, after Melbourne in 1956.
Q 13In which year did Chamonix stage what became the first Winter Olympic Games?
1924
It was billed as an international winter sports week (it actually ran 11 days) in 1924; only later was it declared the first Winter Games.
Q 21Who founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894?
Pierre de Coubertin
Pierre de Coubertin convened the June 1894 Sorbonne congress that created the IOC; he became its second president after the first Games and served until 1925.
Q 22In what year were women first allowed to compete in the modern Olympic Games?
1900
Women first competed at the Paris Games of 1900, in sailing, tennis, croquet, equestrianism and golf; Charlotte Cooper became the first woman to win an individual event, in tennis.
Q 23Which city was first to host both Summer and Winter Olympic Games, 14 years apart?
Beijing
Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Games and the 2022 Winter Games, making it the first city to stage both; the 2022 snow events were held in the Yanqing and Zhangjiakou zones.
Q 14Which Greek myth lies behind the Olympic flame that is carried to the Games?
The theft of fire by Prometheus from Zeus
The modern flame burns in the cauldron for the whole Games, or in a lantern as at Paris 2024, until it is put out at the closing ceremony.
Q 15Which resort, host in 1928 and 1948, was the first to stage the Winter Olympics twice?
St. Moritz
St. Moritz hosted in 1928 and again in 1948, its venues untouched by the war thanks to Swiss neutrality; Germany and Japan were not invited to the 1948 Games.
Q 16In what year were the first modern Olympic Games held?
1896
1896 saw the first Games held under the auspices of the IOC, founded at the Paris Sorbonne congress of 1894; 14 nations and about 240 athletes, all men, took part.
Q 17Which Norwegian town hosted the 1994 Winter Olympics, the first Winter Games held in a different year from the Summer Games?
Lillehammer
Lillehammer is the northernmost city ever to host the Winter Games, and Juan Antonio Samaranch called them 'the best Olympic Winter Games ever' at the closing ceremony.
Q 18How many interlocking rings are on the Olympic flag?
Five
The Americas count as a single continent in the scheme, which is why there are not six.
Q 19Hélène de Pourtalès, the first female Olympic champion, won her title at the Paris Games in which sport?
Sailing
Hélène de Pourtalès won gold in sailing as crew on the yacht Lérina in the 1–2 ton class at the Paris Games; born Helen Barbey in New York, she competed for Switzerland.
Q 20Since the 1994 rescheduling, how far apart do the Summer and Winter Games fall within an Olympiad?
Two years
Summer and Winter Games now fall two years apart: the IOC decided in 1986 to alternate them, so the Winter Games held in 1992 were followed by another in 1994 rather than 1996.
Q 24What sport combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting?
Biathlon
Biathlon pairs cross-country skiing with rifle shooting; its ancestor, military patrol, was a medal event at the first Winter Games and a demonstration sport in 1928, 1936 and 1948 before biathlon joined the programme in 1960.
Q 25Where are the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) located?
Lausanne, Switzerland
The committee opened a new headquarters in the Vidy district in 2019, while the Olympic Museum stays in Ouchy on the lakefront.
Q 26What is the ancient Greek tradition of 'Ekecheiria' also known as in the context of the Olympics?
Olympic Truce
Ekecheiria is the Olympic Truce: heralds from Elis proclaimed it before each festival so athletes and spectators could travel safely to Olympia; the UN revived the idea by resolution in 1993.
Q 27How often are the Summer Olympic Games held?
Every four years
The Summer Olympic Games are held every four years, maintaining a tradition that dates back to ancient Greece.
Q 28Which two languages are the official languages of the International Olympic Committee?
English and French
According to the Olympic Charter, French and English are the official languages of the International Olympic Committee.
Q 29Pierre de Coubertin, who designed the Olympic rings, said their five colours plus the white background reproduced what?
The colours of every competing country at the time
He wrote in 1913 that the six colours combined reproduced the colours of every competing country at the time, 'without exception'; the idea that each ring stands for one continent came later.
Q 30The first symbolic Olympic flame of the modern Games burned in the Marathon Tower of which 1928 host city?
Amsterdam
Amsterdam's Olympic Stadium had a Marathon Tower in which a flame burned throughout the 1928 Games, lit by an employee of the city's electric utility, with no relay involved.