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Sports
Records, Rings & Legends
The rules, records and moments the world actually watched.
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How often are the modern Summer Olympic Games normally held?
The Numbers Behind Sport
Every sport runs on agreed numbers. These are the ones worth carrying around.
About this topic
A surprising amount of sport comes down to fixed measurements that almost nobody can recall on demand: how high a basketball hoop sits, how long a football match runs, how far a sprinter actually travels indoors. These numbers are not arbitrary trivia. They are what makes results comparable across countries and decades, and several were fixed for practical reasons that have long since disappeared — a distance that suited one particular stadium, or a height that matched a gymnasium balcony.
Questions & answers
The Numbers Behind Sport: all 10 questions and answers
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
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1How high is a basketball hoop in professional play?
- A 2.5 metres
- B 3.5 metres
- C 4 metres
- D 3.05 metres, or ten feet Correct
Answer: D. 3.05 metres, or ten feet
Why: The height was set by the balcony rail Naismith nailed his baskets to, and has never changed.
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2How long is a standard football match, excluding stoppages?
- A 100 minutes
- B 120 minutes
- C 90 minutes Correct
- D 80 minutes
Answer: C. 90 minutes
Why: Two halves of 45 minutes. Added time compensates for stoppages and is at the referee's discretion.
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3A standard Olympic swimming pool is how long?
- A 40 metres
- B 50 metres Correct
- C 25 metres
- D 100 metres
Answer: B. 50 metres
Why: Short-course competition uses 25 metres, and times in the two are recorded separately because turns give an advantage.
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4How many holes are played in a standard round of golf?
- A 18 Correct
- B 9
- C 24
- D 12
Answer: A. 18
Why: The number came from St Andrews, which reduced its course to eighteen in 1764 and became the model for others.
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5A tennis net is lower in the middle than at the posts. Roughly how much lower?
- A About 30 centimetres
- B It is level
- C About 1 metre
- D About 6 centimetres Correct
Answer: D. About 6 centimetres
Why: Three feet at the centre and three feet six inches at the posts, the sag being part of the specification rather than slackness.
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6How many players are on a netball team on court?
- A Six
- B Nine
- C Seven Correct
- D Five
Answer: C. Seven
Why: Each position is restricted to particular thirds of the court, which is the main structural difference from basketball.
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7An Olympic sprint track measures how far around the inside lane?
- A 440 metres
- B 400 metres Correct
- C 300 metres
- D 500 metres
Answer: B. 400 metres
Why: Outer lanes are staggered at the start so every athlete covers the same distance.
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8How many frames are in a standard game of ten-pin bowling?
- A Ten Correct
- B Twelve
- C Nine
- D Fifteen
Answer: A. Ten
Why: A perfect game scores 300, which requires twelve consecutive strikes rather than ten because of the bonus balls in the final frame.
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9A regulation dartboard is hung with the bullseye at what height?
- A 1.5 metres
- B 2 metres
- C 1.2 metres
- D 1.73 metres Correct
Answer: D. 1.73 metres
Why: Five feet eight inches, with the throwing line set at 2.37 metres from the board face.
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10How many squares does a chessboard have in total?
- A 100
- B 49
- C 64 Correct
- D 81
Answer: C. 64
Why: Eight by eight. The board is oriented so that each player has a light square in their nearest right-hand corner.
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