History Likely Judges Sports

[DoubleRBar]

Happy birthday today (Wednesday) to two Olympic champions who were born approximately 520 miles (838 kms) from each other and will be known today as Athlete "H" and Athlete "T".

Athlete "H" was 70 years old on the day when Athlete "T" was born.

One of our two champions carried the national flag during the Olympic Games opening ceremonies.

These two individuals competed in a total of five Olympic Games and won a total of two Olympic gold medals.

Both athletes competed in the "same event" during the Olympic Games.

Our birthday athletes have a total of 194 years since their births and one of them died at the age of 93.

You might know that "T" was born on a Wednesday 62 years ago today.

The athlete that carried the national flag during the Olympic Games opening ceremonies died almost exactly three months before the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

It is true that one of these two champions competed in the same event at four consecutive Olympic Games and all on different continents.

Can you name our birthday athletes on this second Wednesday of May?

Without using any research, please give it a go.

[Trickstat]

I think that the only sequence of four consecutive Olympics taking place on 4 different continents would be from 1988 to 2000 (Asia-Europe-North America-Oceania). Athlete T would have been born in 1960 and thus would have made his Olympic debut at the relatively advanced age of 28 and last competed at 40. Discus throwers have something of a reputation for still being world-class well past 30 and I believe T is Jurgen Schult. Being from the GDR his then country boycotted the '84 Olympics.

[DoubleRBar]

Happy 62nd birthday today to Jurgen Schult. Very well done, Trickstat.

Jurgen Schult was born in East Germany during the Olympic year of 1960. He threw the discus at four Olympics. Schult won the gold medal at the first of those four Games (1988 in Seoul). He took the silver medal in Barcelona in 1992 and was sixth place at the 1996 Atlanta Games. His final Olympics came in 2000 (Sydney) where he placed eighth in the discus.

Thank you, Trickstat.

[Olli]

For "some" reason, I believed the athletes are hurdlers or athlonists. (How do you say that in English? Someone who does decathlon or pentathlon or heptathlon?)

[Olli]

Okay, HL is then born in Europe in 1898 (if my math is right this time) and won discus ("same event"?) – or perhaps decathlon this time?

[LopenUupunut]

Helge Løvland?

[Trickstat]

For "some" reason, I believed the athletes are hurdlers or athlonists. (How do you say that in English? Someone who does decathlon or pentathlon or heptathlon?)

In the UK, we would tend to use "multi-eventer" for a specific athlete. The competitions themselves are grouped as "combined events". For example, over a weekend, you might have "The South of England Combined Events Championships" with decathlons, octathlons, heptathlons and pentathlons.

[DoubleRBar]

Helge Lovland was born in Norway 132 years ago yesterday (Wednesday). Very good job, LopenUupunut.

Helge Lovland carried the national flag of Norway at the 1920 Olympic opening ceremonies. He was fifth in the Pentathlon and won the gold medal in the Decathlon in Antwerp. Some of you might remember that Brutus Hamilton (U.S.) took the silver medal in the Decathlon (about 32 points behind Lovland). Hamilton went on to become the head coach at Cal (Berkeley). He died three days after Christmas in 1970. Lovland was a professional soldier and he, too, became a coach. Helge Lovland was 93 years old when he died in Norway on the last Thursday of April in 1984.

Thank you, LopenUupunut, Olli, and Trickstat.

[Olli]

In the UK, we would tend to use "multi-eventer" for a specific athlete. The competitions themselves are grouped as "combined events". For example, over a weekend, you might have "The South of England Combined Events Championships" with decathlons, octathlons, heptathlons and pentathlons.

Yeah, thanks. "Multi-eventer" was the word I was searching.