1960s Sports
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50 free 1960s Sports trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The 1960s changed sport for good. Television money arrived, new leagues challenged old ones, a first championship game between rival football leagues grew into America's biggest annual event, and athletes began using their fame to speak out on civil rights and war. This quiz covers the decade across the board: baseball's record chases and pitching feats, pro football's title games, basketball dynasties in the pros and in college, heavyweight boxing, the Summer and Winter Olympics, plus golf, tennis, hockey, soccer and motor racing. It suits anyone who watched these games the first time around, and it works just as well for a sixties-themed party, a family game night or a classroom unit on the decade. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so a wrong guess still leaves you with a good story.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which children's film did NBC switch to in 1968, cutting off the end of a Jets–Raiders thriller?
Heidi
Heidi started on schedule in the East, so viewers missed Oakland scoring two touchdowns in the final minute to win 43–32. Angry callers jammed NBC's switchboards.
Q 02What was the name of the dog that found the stolen World Cup trophy wrapped in newspaper in 1966?
Pickles
Pickles, a black and white collie, sniffed out the trophy beside a parked car while on a walk with his owner. He was later invited to the winning team's celebration banquet.
Q 03Which sports drink did University of Florida researchers invent in 1965 for its football team?
Gatorade
Gatorade takes its name from the Florida Gators, the team it was first mixed for. Its inventors, led by Robert Cade, wanted to replace the water and electrolytes players lost in sweat.
Q 04Which NBA star scored 100 points in a single game in Hershey, Pennsylvania, in March 1962?
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain did it for the Philadelphia Warriors in front of just 4,124 fans. The game was not televised, and no video footage of it has ever been found.
Q 05Which country did Abebe Bikila represent when he won the 1960 Olympic marathon in Rome barefoot?
Ethiopia
Ethiopia had never won an Olympic gold medal before Bikila's run. He went barefoot because the new running shoes he bought in Rome gave him blisters.
Q 06Which slugger hit 61 home runs in 1961, breaking Babe Ruth's 34-year-old single-season record?
Roger Maris
Roger Maris hit number 61 in the last game of the season. Because the schedule had just grown to 162 games, many people questioned whether his record was legitimate.
Q 07Which NFL team won the first two Super Bowls, played in January 1967 and January 1968?
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers beat the AFL's champions 35–10 and then 33–14. Quarterback Bart Starr was named most valuable player of both games.
Q 08Which Hollywood figure ran the pageantry for the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympics ceremonies?
Walt Disney
Walt Disney designed the opening, closing and medal ceremonies for the Games in California. The opening went ahead in the midst of a blizzard and finished with fireworks.
Q 09Which Jets quarterback guaranteed victory three days before upsetting the Colts in Super Bowl III?
Joe Namath
Joe Namath's team were 18-point underdogs, yet won 16–7. He was named the game's most valuable player without throwing a touchdown pass.
Q 10Why was Muhammad Ali stripped of his world heavyweight boxing title in the spring of 1967?
He refused the draft
Muhammad Ali refused the draft because of his religious beliefs and his opposition to the Vietnam War. Convicted of draft evasion, he did not fight from March 1967 to October 1970.
Q 11Which domed stadium, nicknamed the Eighth Wonder of the World, opened in Houston in 1965?
Astrodome
The Astrodome was the world's first domed multi-purpose stadium. Its natural grass soon died indoors, which led to the artificial surface that became known as AstroTurf.
Q 12Which country won the 1966 FIFA World Cup by beating West Germany 4–2 after extra time?
England
England won at Wembley thanks to Geoff Hurst, who scored the first hat-trick in a World Cup final. Their dubious third goal, given by a linesman, has been argued over ever since.
Q 13Which Dodgers ace sat out Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur?
Sandy Koufax
Q 21Which host of the 1968 Olympics saw Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise gloved fists on the podium?
Mexico City
Mexico City's 200 metres medal ceremony became a landmark protest. The two Americans were suspended from the US team and banned from the Olympic Village.
Q 22Which TV innovation did CBS director Tony Verna debut during the 1963 Army–Navy football game?
Instant replay
Instant replay was so unfamiliar that the commentator had to tell viewers Army had not scored a second time. That first replay ran at normal speed.
Q 23Which Brazilian forward scored his 1,000th career goal from a penalty at the Maracanã in 1969?
Pelé
Pelé's milestone goal, known in Brazil as O Milésimo, came against Vasco da Gama in what was a hugely anticipated moment across the country.
Sandy Koufax observed the holiest day of the Jewish calendar instead, then came back to win the deciding Game 7 on only two days' rest.
Q 14Which expansion team lost 120 games in 1962 but won the World Series just seven years later?
New York Mets
The New York Mets had never had a winning season before 1969. Nicknamed the Miracle Mets, they beat a much-fancied Baltimore Orioles team four games to one.
Q 15Which All-Star guard's silhouette is the basis for the NBA logo designed in 1969?
Jerry West
Jerry West picked up the nickname the Logo as a result. Designer Alan Siegel has said he based the outline on a photograph of West.
Q 16In which event did Bob Beamon beat the world record by 55 cm at the 1968 Olympics?
Long jump
Long jump history changed with his leap of 8.90 metres, a mark that stood for almost 23 years. Unused to metric distances, Beamon did not realise at first what he had done.
Q 17Which heavyweight champion did heavy underdog Cassius Clay beat in Miami Beach in February 1964?
Sonny Liston
Sonny Liston retired on his stool rather than come out for the seventh round. He had taken the title by knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round.
Q 18Which martial art made its Olympic debut at the 1964 Tokyo Games, the first held in Asia?
Judo
Judo joined the programme for a Games staged in the country that invented it. Dutchman Anton Geesink won the open category, denying the hosts a clean sweep of the golds.
Q 19Which NFL rushing champion retired at age 30 in 1966 while filming The Dirty Dozen?
Jim Brown
Jim Brown walked away at the peak of his career, months after winning his third league MVP award, to pursue acting full time.
Q 20Which NBA team won eight straight championships from 1959 to 1966 under coach Red Auerbach?
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics' eight titles in a row are an NBA record. Auerbach made a habit of lighting a victory cigar on the bench once he thought a game was won.
Q 24Which 22-year-old beat Arnold Palmer in a playoff at the 1962 US Open for his first pro win?
Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus won the 18-hole Sunday playoff at Oakmont, and the result marked the beginning of his long rivalry with Palmer.
Q 25Which American won 1968 Olympic gold by clearing the bar back-first, a style now named after him?
Dick Fosbury
Dick Fosbury sprinted at the bar on a curve and leapt over it backwards, which kept his centre of mass lower than the older techniques could.
Q 26Which sprinter, who wore a leg brace as a child, won three gold medals at the 1960 Rome Olympics?
Wilma Rudolph
Wilma Rudolph overcame polio and wore the brace until she was 12. In Rome she became the first American woman to win three track and field golds at a single Games.
Q 27Which university won five NCAA men's basketball titles from 1964 to 1969 under John Wooden?
UCLA
UCLA went on to win ten national championships in twelve years under Wooden, including a record seven in a row.
Q 28Which amateur won tennis's first open-era US Open in 1968 but could not accept the prize money?
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Ashe received only $20 a day in expenses for his win. The $14,000 winner's cheque went instead to Tom Okker, the man he beat in the final.
Q 29Which 1960s coach, whose name is now on the Super Bowl trophy, won five NFL titles in seven seasons?
Vince Lombardi
Vince Lombardi never had a losing season as an NFL head coach. The Super Bowl trophy was renamed in his honour in 1970, the year he died of cancer.
Q 30Which American carmaker ended Ferrari's six-year winning run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966?
Ford
Ford built the GT40 specifically to beat Ferrari, and the car went on to win the race four years running.