Everybody knows that the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece in 1896, and that Greece is the only country to have participated in all Olympic Games ever since. What about those facts that not everyone knows?

Go ahead and test your grey cells for Olympic knowledge.

1.    Which city has hosted Olympic Games on three occasions? 2.    Which athlete has won the most number of gold medals at the Olympics? 3.    Which athlete has won the most number of medals (gold/silver/bronze) at the Olympics? 4.    Which athlete has won the most gold medals during one Olympic event? 5.    Name the youngest gold medal winner at the Olympics? 6.    Name the oldest gold medal winner at the Olympics? 7.    Which athlete has featured in the most number of Olympic Games? 8.    Which Olympian has also been awarded the Nobel Prize? 9.    Which cricket captain has won a gold medal at Olympic Games as well? 10.    How many athletes have won gold medals for two separate nations at the Olympics?

ANSWERS

1.    London is now the first city to host the Games three times — in 1908, 1948 and 2012. 2.    American swimmer Michael Phelps holds the distinction of winning as many as 14 gold medals at the Games.

3.    Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina has won 18 medals and leads the overall medal race. 4.    American swimmer Michael Phelps won as many as eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

5.    At 13 years and 283 days, Germany’s Klaus Zerta was part of the rowing (Men’s Coxed Pairs) team that won gold at the 1960 Olympics. At 13 years and 268 days, American Marjorie Gestring won a gold medal at the women’s Springboard Diving event in 1936.

6.    The oldest man to compete in the Summer Olympic Games was Oscar Swahn of Sweden, in shooting (1908, 1912, 1920, and 1924). He became the oldest gold medallist when he won gold at 64 years and 280 days in 1912.

7.    Hurbert Raudaschl represented Austria in sailing event from 1964 to 1996, becoming the only athlete to be part of as many as nine Olympic Games.

8.    The only Olympian ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize was Philip Noel-Baker of Great Britain, who won the silver in the 1500-metre dash in 1920. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for his hard  work to end World War II.

9.    Johnny Douglas, who captained England in 18 of his 23 Tests, had won the middleweight boxing event at the London Olympics in 1908. Australia’s Brian Booth, England’s Jack MacBryan and South Africa’s Percy Buckenham have also represented their country in Olympic Games as well as in cricket.

10.    Two athletes have struck gold at the Olympic Games for two separate nations. Australian rugby player Daniel Carroll won gold for his country in 1908, and later repeated the feat competing for the USA 12 years later. Georgian weightlifter Akakide Kakhiashvili won his first gold medal in 1992 for the Unified Team, and later as a Greek citizen in 1996 and 2000.

— Seema Faruqi