Quiz: Olympic Cities
This bridesmaid city lost bids to: Paris in 1924, Berlin in 1936, Tokyo in 1940, and Munich in 1972. It finally got its chance to host two decades later during the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' voyage to the Americas.
- It took new IOC president and Catalonia native Juan Antonio Samaranch to bring Spain its first games in 1992.
After hosting its first Olympic games, the organizing committee for this city reconvened in 1939 and participated in every Olympic bid competition for the next 39 years. In 1984, which city joined Athens, London, and Paris as two-time hosts?
- The City of Angels hosted the games in 1932 and finally got its second chance in 1984.
Which country has won the most medals at the Olympic games—without ever hosting the games?
- Hungary has won 426 medals, good for 8th on the all-time list. Sweden, which is 5th, hosted the games in 1912.
Due to extravagant building before the games, the residents of this North American host city needed 17 years to raise the money needed to pay off their Olympic debt.
- Montrealers finally paid off their share of the debt in 1993, but consumers of tobacco in Canada are still paying a special levy to offset the shortfall caused by the $1.2 billion capital costs.
This European city was originally awarded the 1908 Summer Games, but had to relinquish it to London after the costly destruction caused by the 1906 eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.
- The Italian government discovered it did not have the resources to rebuild the area and finance the Games.
This busy European port city was nearly destroyed by a German invasion during World War I but recovered 20 months after the war's end to host the Summer Games.
- After the armistice in November 1918, Olympics founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin asked Antwerp officials if they wanted the 1920 or 1924 games. They officially chose the 1920 games on April 5, 1919, just 16 months before the opening ceremony.
The Olympic torch relay to this Olympic city bypassed the Pacific Island of Fiji because of mob violence provoked by an attempted coup d'etat:
- The torch, which was scheduled to arrive in Fiji on June 3, was rerouted to neighboring Tonga.
Which Asian city was two votes shy of Sydney in its bid to host the 2000 Summer Games?
- Sydney won a majority of votes in the fourth and final round (45-43) after Beijing led the voting in the first three rounds. However, Beijing won the bid for the 2008 Olympics.
Located 7,400 feet above sea level, this city is by far the highest to ever be host.
- Did the high altitude have an effect on the games? Nobody's sure how much was the altitude and how much was psychological, but 24 world and 56 Olympic records were broken at the Mexico City games.
Which city hosted the first Olympic Summer Games to be held south of the equator?
- The choice left some resounding problems. The high cost of traveling to Australia in 1956 meant some athletes couldn't afford the trip. And strict quarantine laws meant the equestrian events would have to be held in Stockholm, Sweden.
