| This is a quiz on the oldest and most haphazard event at the Olympics, the marathon. Ever since Pheidippides ran 26.2 miles (or so) in 490 B.C. to proclaim a war victory for Athens—and collapsed and died on the spot—the marathon has been a mess of confusion and awkward moments. For answers, scroll to the bottom. |
| 1. Whose first hit song was inspired by Italian runner Dorando Pietri, a heavy pre-race favorite who built a big lead but lost in the last 400 yards? |
| 2. In that hit song, what reason was given for Dorando’s loss? |
| a) In an attempt at authenticity, course directions were in Greek, and Pietri got lost. |
| b) A trainer served Irish beef stew, not “da spaghetti” for a pre-race meal. |
| c) Jesse Owens tackled him. |
| d) His shoes kept coming unlaced. |
| 3. What was the special ingredient in the off-label “energy drink” that Japanese runner Naoko Takahashi credits for her 2000 marathon gold medal? |
| 4. How many animals died to produce Takahashi’s brew? |
| 5. In 2004, at the 22-mile mark, a defrocked Irish priest tackled marathon leader Vanderlei de Lima. What message did the priest have scribbled on his back? |
| a) “Sodom Gomorrah Athens, pray before it’s to [sic] late.” |
| b) “7 deadly sins + 15 stations of the cross = Mankind repent now!” |
| c) “Israel fulfillment of prophecy says the bible, the second coming is near.” |
| d) “John 3:16: Look it up already.” |
| 6. After dusting himself off, de Lima, a Brazilian, recovered and ran to the bronze medal. What did he impersonate, in celebration, during the last 300 yards? |
| a) Izzy, Atlanta’s ignominious 1996 mascot |
| 7. What did Emil Zatopek, the Czech runner famed his ugly stride, do in the eight days before winning the 1952 marathon? |
| a) Win the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races for kicks. |
| b) Cheer on his wife to victory in the women’s race. |
| c) Invent a new type of running shoe: the waffle sole. |
| d) Sail back to Czechoslovakia because he forgot his lucky laces. |
| 8. What was notable about Ethopian Abebe Bikila’s 1960 victory in Rome? |
| a) He was the first African to win. |
| b) He was the first mustached man to win. |
| d) He ran the last lap (in the stadium) backwards to celebrate. |
| 9. What did Bikila do immediately upon finishing the 1960 race? |
| a) Bite his thumb at the Italian crowd, as payback for Mussolini invading Ethiopia in the 1930s. |
| b) Do calisthenics, to prove that 26 miles was nothing to him. |
| c) Throw up his wife’s corn porridge, which he’d consumed during the race for energy. |
| d) Keep running, since no one told him to stop. |
| 10. What did Englishman Thomas J. Hicks include in an energy drink he consumed while running in the 1904 marathon, to boost his vigor? |
| d) Dr. McGillicuddy’s Green Bull elixir |
Answers: d, b, b, c, c, c, a, a/c, b, a/b/c
