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Tuesday, 31 July 2012 |
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Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) first participated in the Olympics in 1948 and has since been an active member of the international Olympic movement. The country’s National Olympic Committee has been active since 1937. In today’s Wiz Quiz, we continue our coverage of the Olympics with a handful of questions on Sri Lanka and the Olympics, and also the Paralympics. 1. Even though Ceylon first sent a sporting contingent to the Olympics in 1948, a Ceylonese sportsman was included in the British team to the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics - and can thus be considered the first Ceylonese to participate in the Olympics. Born in 1902, this sportsman excelled in high jump and held the Asian Record in men’s high jump in mid 1920s. His performance as a Cambridge student drew the attention of athletic officials in Britain. In Amsterdam, he was placed 19th out of 35 competitors in the high jump event. He later served as President of Sri Lanka Athletics Association. Who was he? 2. Duncan White was the first Lankan (or Ceylonese) to win an Olympic medal when he came second in the men’s 400 metre hurdles event at the 1948 London Olympics. Two years later, he competed in the same event (440 yards hurdles) at the British Empire Games (now called Commonwealth Games) and came first, beating the favourite Dutch Holland of New Zealand into second place and breaking the existing Empire Games record. In which city and country did he perform this feat in February 1950? 3. At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Sri Lanka’s Susanthika Jayasinghe came third in women’s 200 metres, thus earning Sri Lanka’s second Olympic medal after more than half a century. In December 2009, the International Olympic Committee stripped Marion Jones of the United States of her medals after she admitted in 2007 that she used steroids at the time of the Sydney Games. In doing so, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) reallocated the medals, moving up Susanthika from bronze to silver, and the original second place winner to the gold. Who is now deemed to have come first in women’s 200 metres at the Sydney Olympics? 4. Some athletes are applauded and remembered for upholding the spirit of competition even if they do not win. Such an Olympian was a long distance runner from Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) at Tokyo 1964 Olympics. He was placed 47 out of 52 participants in the men’s 5,000 metre race. Then he ran in 10,000 metre race, on October 14, 1964, reportedly while suffering from a bad cold. The event was won by Billy Mills of the United States, who lapped the Ceylonese runner by four rounds. But the determined Ceylonese runner kept running and completed the race - to a standing ovation from the entire stadium. Who was this remarkable runner? 5. Sri Lanka has participated in all Summer Olympic Games since 1948 except for one, where, it appears from some records, that the participation of even the single Lankan sportsman who qualified was bungled by the bureaucracy. Which Games after 1948 saw no Lankan contingent, which might be described as an ‘own goal’? 6. The Paralympics started small in 1948 with British veterans of the Second World War, but has evolved to become one of the largest international sport events by the early 21st century. These Games are open to qualifying athletes with a physical disability including those with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness and cerebral palsy. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which are held immediately following their respective Olympic Games. Sri Lanka first participated in the Paralympic Games at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta, with a single athlete in track and field. Who was this first Paralympian from Sri Lanka? He took part in men’s 100m, 200m and long jump. 7. Success in sporting requires not only committed sportsmen and sportswomen but also capable administrators and promoters. The Sri Lanka National Olympic Committee was inaugurated on April 8, 1937 at a meeting of representatives of Athletic, Swimming and Boxing Associations. It was originally called Ceylon Olympic and Empire Games Association. It was recognized by the International Olympic Committee that same year. Who was elected President of this body at its first meeting held on April 30, 1937? 8. Who was he? An urban politician, he was initially a municipal councilor of Colombo, and twice served as Mayor of Colombo - from 1956 to 1957 and again from 1963 to 1965. He became Sri Lanka’s first minister of sports from 1966 to 1970, and was also President of the Sri Lanka National Olympic Committee from 1962 to 1972. 9. Four Lankan sportsmen and three sportswomen are currently representing Sri Lanka at the London Olympics 2012. It includes two swimmers, two badminton players, two athletes (one marathon runner and one sprinter) and one marksman (shooting). Who is the overall captain of the Sri Lankan sporting contingent? 10. London 2012 Olympics features 26 sports and a total of 39 disciplines. For the first time, women’s boxing is included, with 36 athletes competing in three different weight classes. Which are these weight classes? 11. In 1966, at the height of his boxing career, this American boxer was wrongly convicted twice of a triple murder and imprisoned for nearly two decades. During the mid 1970s, his case became a cause célèbre for a number of civil rights leaders, politicians, and entertainers. He was ultimately exonerated in 1985. While in prison he wrote this powerful autobiography called ‘The Sixteenth Round’ in the hope that it would inspire, and bring to life the harsh circumstances of his false incarceration. In 1999 Norman Jewison directed the movie Hurricane based on his life. Bob Dylan wrote the title track of The Hurricane after reading The Sixteenth Round. Denzel Washington played his character and was nominated for best actor Oscar that year. Who is this boxer? 12. The polar regions receive a lot of attention in discussions on climate change impact. There is a place in Asia that has more ice stored than anywhere outside the Arctic and Antarctic - and is sometimes called the ‘Third Pole’. The Asian continent’s nine largest rivers originate here, and provide over 1.5 billion people with water and three billion people with their food and electricity. What is sometimes known as the ‘Third Pole’? 13. According to the preliminary results of the latest 2011/12 census, Sri Lanka’s population growth rate since the last census in 2001 has been 0.7%. In fact, there has been a declining trend in population growth rate for over half a century, even though the population still keeps increasing in absolute numbers. The highest population growth rate in the 140-year history of census taking in Sri Lanka was 2.8%. Which year’s census recorded that highest growth rate? 14. What famous English novelist and dramatist once advised: “At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely.” 15. The red coloured telephone box, or telephone kiosk, is a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom (UK). It is also used in some current or former British colonies around the world like Malta, Bermuda and Gibraltar. The red telephone box was the result of a competition in 1924. Whose winning design was adapted by the British Post Office, with some minor modifications? Last week’s answers1. Bishop Ethelbert Talbot (1848 - 1928) |
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