by Jen Ruhl
1. The International Olympic Committee exchanged Koji Murofushi's silver medal for gold after the Hungarian player was found to have violated doping rules. Which sport?
a. Judo
b. 100m-breaststroke
c. Gymnastics
d. Hammer throw
2. The Japanese competitors won gold in all but which of the following sports?
a. Wrestling (women)
b. Baseball (men)
c. Marathon (women)
d. 200m-breaststroke (men)
3. Which of these women is the child prodigy athlete voted "most popular" among Japanese youth?
a. Ai Fukuhara
b. Ryoko Tani
c. Maki Tsukada
d. Mizuki Noguchi
4. Japan won 8 of its 16 gold medals in judo. In which of these heavyweight classes did they fall short of gold?
a. Men's 100kg
b. Men's 100+kg
c. Women's 78kg
d. Women's 78+kg
5. American swimmers protested the awarding of the gold medal to Kosuke Kitajima in the 100m breaststroke. Why?
a. They claimed he made a false start.
b. They claimed he was using not-yet-banned performance-enhancing drugs.
c. They claimed he used an illegal kick.
d. They just didn't like him.
6. The Japanese men's gymnastics team performance was remarkable for what reason?
a. It was their 1st time qualifying for the Olympic finals.
b. It was their 1st gold in more than 20 years.
c. They squeezed ahead of silver when one teammate scored 10.00.
d. They lost. Big time.
Answers:
1. d. Murofushi was granted the gold medal after the unfortunately named Adrian Annus of Hungary tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, after the medal ceremony at which Murofushi was given the silver. Annus has yet to give up his medal, and Murofushi arrived at Narita airport wearing a gold necktie.
2. b. In an embarrassing display for Japanese baseball, the all-professional team failed to capture gold and had to settle for bronze. They were knocked down by Australia in the semifinals. Who says Australians don't play baseball?
3. a. Ai Fukuhara is the youngest woman to compete in Olympic table tennis, at age 15. Although she didn't win a medal in these Olympics, she is no stranger to major competitions, having made it to the top 16 in Japan's National Juniors competition when she was only 4, and competing in the last 8 World Championships. Tani and Tsukada are judo champions, while Noguchi won the gold in the women's marathon.
4. a. The Men's 100kg class is one of only 4 classes where Japan received no medal. Heavyweights Keiji Suzuki (100+), Maki Tsukada (78+), and Noriko Anno (78) were all gold medallists.
5. c. Kosuke Kitajima was accused of using an illegal dolphin kick after his turn in the 100m breaststroke. This kind of kick breaks form, but cannot be detected by judges at poolside. Kitajima denied the accusations and went on to win gold in the 200m breaststroke as well.
6. b. Japan edged out the United States gymnastics team for the gold medal. It was the first time winning a team gold since 1976, despite having a consistently strong group of athletes. Hiroyuki Tomita was the hero of the day.