Friday, July 20, 2012

The Backspin Olympic Tennis Quiz II


Four years ago, the original Backspin Olympic Quiz made its debut. Well, it's time for a sequel.

Here's the 2012 version. Just like the first time around, the questions center around tennis at the Olympics since the sport was reinstated as a medal sport in 1988. And in case you missed it the first time around, the (updated) '08 quiz is included at the end of the post.



>>>THE QUESTIONS<<<
1. There have been six Olympiads since tennis returned to the Games in 1988. Three of the six men's singles Gold winners do not also have grand slam singles titles to their names. How many of the six women's Gold Medalists are also slam-less?

a. 0 (they've all won slams)
b. 1
c. 2
============================
2. True or False? While Venus Williams won both the singles and doubles Golds in Sydney in 2000, there has never been a male player who's swept both titles in the same Olympics.
============================
3. Which woman has won the most Olympic medals in doubles?

a. Mary Joe Fernandez
b. Jana Novotna
c. Conchita Martinez
d. Gigi Fernandez
============================
4. Only one Medal Match (Gold or Bronze) has been contested between two women representing nations in which they weren't born. What was the match-up?

a. Monica Seles vs. Jelena Dokic
b. Martina Hingis vs. Mary Pierce
c. Martina Hingis vs. Monica Seles
d. Martina Navratilova vs. Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere
============================
5. Two women have won doubles medals with multiple partners. Who are they?

a. Mary Joe Fernandez & Helena Sukova
b. Rennae Stubbs & Gigi Fernandez
c. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario & Conchita Martinez
d. Conchita Martinez & Virginia Ruano Pascual
============================
6. Two women have won singles medals of multiple colors. Who are they?

a. Lindsay Davenport & Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
b. Steffi Graf & Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
c. Steffi Graf & Elena Dementieva
d. Jana Novotna & Elena Dementieva
============================
7. Andre Agassi (Atlanta '96) is the only player to win the men's singles Gold on home soil. Jennifer Capriati is the only woman to do the same. True of False?
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8. Pick from the following list all the match-ups that have occurred in Gold Medal Matches as well as grand slam finals:

a. Steffi Graf vs. Gabriela Sabatini
b. Steffi Graf vs. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
c. Lindsay Davenport vs. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
d. Lindsay Davenport vs. Martina Hingis
e. Venus Williams vs. Serena Williams
f. Justine Henin vs. Amelie Mauresmo
============================
9. Serena & Venus Williams have won doubles Gold at two Olympics, but they aren't the only women's duo to accomplish the feat. Who comprised the other double Gold-winning team?

a. Jana Novotna & Helena Sukova
b. Conchita Martinez & Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
d. Mary Joe Fernandez & Lindsay Davenport
d. Mary Joe Fernandez & Gigi Fernandez
============================
10. Seventeen different women have claimed Gold, Silver or Bronze Medals in singles since 1988. Seven of them never won grand slam singles titles. How many can you name?
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>>>THE ANSWERS (3 pts each unless noted)<<<
1. b - the only women's singles Gold Medalist who isn't also a slam winner was Elena Dementieva (2008)
============================
2. False. Chile's Nicolas Massu won both singles and doubles Gold in Athens in 2004.
============================
3. c - Conchita Martinez won three total doubles medals at three different Olympic Games between 1992-2004 -- two Silvers and one Bronze. Serena and Venus Williams (with a pair of Golds) could tie her career doubles medal total in London with a third women's doubles Gold.
============================
4. a - Monica Seles (USA = born in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia) defeated Jelena Dokic (AUS = born in Osijek, Croatia) in the Bronze Medal Match in Sydney in 2000
============================
5. d - Conchita Martinez & Virginia Ruano Pascual are the only women who've won doubles medals with more than one person. Martinez won with Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario & Ruano Pascual, while Ruano Pascual also won with Anabel Medina-Garrigues.
============================
6. c - Steffi Graf ('88 Gold & '92 Silver) & Elena Dementieva ('00 Silver & '08 Gold) are the only two women with singles medals of different hues
============================
7. False. While there has been only one woman who's won singles Gold in her home nation, it was Lindsay Davenport (Atlanta '96, the same Games in which Agassi won the men's) who did it, not Capriati. Capriati won the Gold in '92 in Barcelona.
============================
8. (3 pts. for each correct answer; total: 6 pts.) - a & f - the only two Gold Medal Match match-ups that have also been grand slam finals are Graf vs. Sabatini (1988, and in three slam finals) and Henin vs. Mauresmo ('04, and in two slam finals)
============================
9. d - Mary Joe Fernandez & Gigi Fernandez won Gold in 1992 and 1996. Novotna/Sukova ('88 & '96 Silver) and Martinez/Sanchez-Vicario ('92 Silver & '96 Bronze) both won two medals, but neither duo ever won Gold.
============================
10. (2 pts. for each correct answer; total: 14 pts.) - the seven medalists without slam singles crowns are Elena Dementieva ('00 Silver & '08 Gold), Dinara Safina ('08 Silver), Vera Zvonareva ('08 Bronze) & Alicia Molik ('04 Bronze), as well as Zina Garrison ('88 Bronze), Manuela Maleeva ('88 Bronze) and Mary Joe Fernandez ('92 Bronze). The final three on the list were awarded medals when both losing semifinalists claimed Bronzes without having to compete in a winner-takes-one-medal Bronze Match. That Bronze-awarding format changed in 1996.
============================

>>>THE SCORING<<<
GOLD (32-44 pts.) - Who said the Russians are the only ones who can sweep the Medal stand?
-----------------------------
SILVER (22-31) - A seat in the Royal Box is reserved just for you
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BRONZE (11-21) - Maybe YOU can play doubles with Leander Paes... since no one else really wants to
-----------------------------
4th PLACE (0-10) - Hey, unlike Marion Bartoli, at least you got to participate



Here's the original Olympic Quiz from 2008 (updated for 2012, all the way down to the scoring chart designations):

>>>THE QUESTIONS<<<
1. Who did Steffi Graf defeat in the '88 Seoul final to collect the Olympic title in her season's "Golden Slam?"

a. Gabriela Sabatini
b. Martina Navratilova
c. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
============================
2. Only one woman and one man have swept both the singles & doubles Golds at the Olympics since Vincent Richards and Helen Wills-Moody did it in 1924. Who were they?

a. Stefan Edberg & Jana Novotna
b. Stefan Edberg & Steffi Graf
c. Venus Williams & Nicolas Massu
d. Venus Williams & Andre Agassi
============================
3. Approximately how many months was Justine Henin out of action before she arrived in Athens and won the singles Gold?

a. one
b. three
c. five
============================
4. Which two teenagers won the Los Angeles '84 tournament when tennis was a demonstration event before its re-introduction as a medal sport in '88?

a. Steffi Graf & Boris Becker
b. Steffi Graf & Stefan Edberg
c. Gabriela Sabatini & Boris Becker
d. Chanda Rubin & Pat Cash
============================
5. Which Swiss man has won an Olympic singles Gold in his career?

a. Roger Federer
b. Marc Rosset
c. Stanislas Wawrinka
d. no Swiss man has ever won the singles Gold
============================
6. Pick the woman who has won the most Olympic medals in her career:

a. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
b. Venus Williams
c. Conchita Martinez
d. Mary Joe Fernandez
============================
7. How old was Jennifer Capriati when she won her Olympic singles Gold?

a. 16
b. 17
c. 18
============================
8. Only four women have played in a singles medal match (Gold or Bronze) in her home country at the Olympics since the sport's return in 1988. Pick the three:

a. Conchita Martinez (Barcelona '92)
b. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (Barcelona '92)
c. Lindsay Davenport (Atlanta '96)
d. Mary Joe Fernandez (Atlanta '96)
e. Jelena Dokic (Sydney '00)
f. Alicia Molik (Sydney '00)
g. Eleni Daniilidou (Athens '04)
h. Li Na (Beijing '08)
i. Zheng Jie (Beijing '08)
j. Peng Shuai (Beijing '08)
============================
9. What distinction do Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi share?

a. they're the only players who've won two Olympic singles Golds
b. they're the only Olympic Gold winners who've also won ten or more slam titles
c. they're the only two players in history to win a career singles "Six Pack" of Olympic Gold, all four slams and their tour's year-ending championship
============================
10. Pick the four current American TV tennis commentators who have won Olympic medals:

Katrina Adams
Tracy Austin
Darren Cahill
Jim Courier
Lindsay Davenport
Chris Evert
Brad Gilbert
Justin Gimelstob
Mary Joe Fernandez
John McEnroe
Patrick McEnroe
Corina Morariu
Martina Navratilova
Pam Shriver
Rennae Stubbs
============================

>>>THE ANSWERS (3 pts each unless noted)<<<
1. a - Sabatini
============================
2. c - Venus Williams ('00) and Nicolas Massu ('04) swept the singles and doubles Golds
============================
3. b - Henin was out about three months prior to Athens with what was later diagnosed as the cytomegalovirus, not playing after an early loss at Roland Garros in late May until the Games began in mid-August. After winning the Gold, she played four matches at the U.S. Open and then missed the rest of the season.
============================
4. b - Steffi Graf (15) and Stefan Edberg (18) won the demonstration event in L.A.
============================
5. b - Marc Rosset won the singles Gold in '92. Federer has never won an Olympic singles medal (he lost the Bronze Medal match in '00), but he and Wawrinka claimed the doubles Gold in Bejiing in '08.
============================
6. a - Sanchez Vicario won four Olympic medals (two Silver, two Bronze) since the return of the sport in 1988. Venus Williams, Conchita Martinez, Jana Novotna and Mary Joe Fernandez won three. Williams could surpass ASV's career total at the London Olympics. Fernando Gonzalez' three medals are the most by any male player.
============================
7. a - Capriati was 16 in Barcelona '92 when she defeated Graf in the singles final. It would be eight and a half years before she'd win her first slam title at the Australian Open in 2001.
============================
8. (3 pts. for each correct answer; total: 12 pts.) c, d, e, h - Davenport won singles Gold in Atlanta, while Fernandez lost the Bronze match in the same Games. Dokic (Sydney) and Li (Beijing) also lost Bronze medal matches.
============================
9. c - married Graf & Agassi are the only players who've won all four slams, Olympic Gold and the season-ending championship. Among active players, Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova only need a singles Olympic Gold to accomplish the feat. Novak Djokovic needs a Gold and a Roland Garros crown, while Rafael Nadal is only a season-ending ATP championship title short.
============================
10. (3 pts. for each correct answer; total: 12 pts.) - ESPN's Gilbert ('88 singles Bronze), Shriver ('88 doubles Gold) and Fernandez ('92 & '96 doubles Gold, '92 singles Bronze) are medal winners, as is Tennis Channel's Davenport ('96 singles Gold) have all won Olympic medals.
============================

>>>THE SCORING<<<
GOLD (36-48 pts.) - Even better than Andy Murray taking the Gold in London
-----------------------------
SILVER (23-35) - Maybe there's ANOTHER Williams Sister looking for a doubles partner?
-----------------------------
BRONZE (10-22) - "Naturalized" or not, just like Varvara Lepchenko, you've earned your spot on the roster
-----------------------------
4th PLACE (0-9) - You're like Donald Young -- you got to play, even though you probably didn't deserve it


All for now.



COMING NEXT: The Top Tennis Moments in Modern Olympic History

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