Q 01/05

The javelin was added to the Ancient Olympic Games as part of the pentathlon in which year?

A) 708 BC

B) 776 BC

C) 632 BC

D) 500 BC

Answer · why

A) 708 BC

There were two versions: one for distance and one for accuracy at a target.

Q 02/05

Ancient Greek throwers used an 'amentum' (ankyle) to add spin to the javelin. What was it?

A) a bronze counterweight

B) a leather strap wound round the shaft

C) a wooden launching cradle

D) a set of feather fins

Answer · why

B) a leather strap wound round the shaft

As the strap unwound on release it gave the javelin axial spin, stabilising its flight like a rifle bullet.

Q 03/05

Javelin great Eric Lemming, Olympic champion in 1908 and 1912, represented which country?

A) Norway

B) Denmark

C) Sweden

D) Germany

Answer · why

C) Sweden

His 62.32 m from 1912 was the first javelin world record officially ratified by the IAAF.

Q 04/05

A 'both-hands' javelin contest, adding the best right- and left-handed throws together, was held at the Olympics only once. In which year?

A) 1908

B) 1920

C) 1924

D) 1912

Answer · why

D) 1912

The last official both-hands world record was Yngve Häckner's 114.28 m total from 1917.

Q 05/05

Which Hungarian became the first man to break the 60-metre barrier in 1911, using a freestyle end grip?

A) Mór Kóczán

B) Julius Saaristo

C) Yngve Häckner

D) Jonni Myyrä

Answer · why

A) Mór Kóczán

Lemming and Saaristo did it with a regular grip a year later; the freestyle event was dropped after the 1908 Games.