Sports Trivia Quiz: Rules, Records and Big Events

This sports trivia quiz mixes rules, records and big events, from basketball and golf to tennis at Roland Garros, judo from Japan, cricket, the Tour de France, snooker and the marathon. Ten questions, 90 seconds, answers explained.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 90 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 90s

Basketball
How many players from each team are on a basketball court at one time?
Tennis
In which sport is a score of zero called love?
Golf
How many holes are there in a standard round of golf?
Martial Arts
In which country was judo created?
Tennis
Which Grand Slam tennis tournament is played on clay courts?
Cricket
How many balls are bowled in a standard over in cricket?
Racket Sports
Which sport uses a shuttlecock?
Cycling
The Tour de France is a famous race in which sport?
Snooker
What is the maximum break in a standard frame of snooker?
Athletics
What is the official distance of a marathon?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: How many players from each team are on a basketball court at one time?
Answer: 5
Each team has five players on the court: usually two guards, two forwards and a center. Basketball was invented by James Naismith in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Q2: In which sport is a score of zero called love?
Answer: Tennis
One popular theory says love comes from the French word l'oeuf, meaning egg, because a zero looks like an egg. Tennis scoring goes love, 15, 30, 40 and game.
Q3: How many holes are there in a standard round of golf?
Answer: 18
A standard round has 18 holes, a number set at the Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland in 1764. Many courses also offer shorter nine-hole rounds.
Q4: In which country was judo created?
Answer: Japan
Jigoro Kano created judo in Japan in 1882, and it became an Olympic sport at the 1964 Tokyo Games. Taekwondo comes from Korea and kung fu from China.
Q5: Which Grand Slam tennis tournament is played on clay courts?
Answer: French Open
The French Open at Roland Garros in Paris is the only Grand Slam on red clay. Rafael Nadal won it a record 14 times.
Q6: How many balls are bowled in a standard over in cricket?
Answer: 6
A standard over has six legal deliveries. Some countries, including Australia, once used eight-ball overs before the six-ball over became standard in the late 1970s.
Q7: Which sport uses a shuttlecock?
Answer: Badminton
A shuttlecock is traditionally made with 16 goose feathers fixed into a cork base. Badminton smashes can travel faster than 400 kilometers per hour, the fastest of any racket sport.
Q8: The Tour de France is a famous race in which sport?
Answer: Cycling
The Tour de France was first held in 1903 and covers about 3,500 kilometers over three weeks each July. The race leader wears the yellow jersey, the maillot jaune.
Q9: What is the maximum break in a standard frame of snooker?
Answer: 147
A maximum break of 147 means potting all 15 reds, each followed by the black, and then all the colors. Ronnie O'Sullivan has made more official 147s than anyone else.
Q10: What is the official distance of a marathon?
Answer: 42.195 km
The marathon was fixed at 42.195 kilometers, or 26.2 miles, after the 1908 London Olympics, where the course ran from Windsor Castle to the royal box in the stadium.

Sports Trivia Quiz – A Tour Around the Sporting World

Sport is one of the few things that brings billions of people together. Whether it is a local football match, a Grand Slam final or the Olympic Games, sport gives us heroes, rivalries and unforgettable moments. Sports trivia is a great way to explore games you may not follow yourself, from cricket and snooker to cycling and judo.

Many of today's rules have surprising origins. The 18-hole round of golf was settled in Scotland in the 1700s, the marathon's odd distance comes from the 1908 London Olympics and the word love in tennis may come from a French word for egg. Knowing where these rules came from makes watching sport more interesting.

The quiz also touches on some of sport's biggest events. The Tour de France has been raced every summer for more than a century, the French Open is the clay-court jewel of tennis and the Olympic Games bring together sports from every corner of the world.

Records are part of the fun too. A perfect 147 in snooker and a badminton smash faster than a racing car show how far athletes can push the limits of their sport.

This quiz mixes team games, individual sports, rules and records, so there is something for every kind of fan.

Sport also reflects the history of the places that play it. Cricket spread across the former British Empire, baseball traveled from the United States to Japan, Cuba and South Korea, and judo carried Japanese ideas about discipline and respect to dojos around the world.

What This Quiz Teaches

This quiz suits sports fans, pub quiz teams and anyone who wants to learn a little about many different sports.

Basic rules of basketball, tennis, golf and cricket
Where judo and other sports began
Why the marathon is 42.195 kilometers long
What makes the French Open different
What a maximum break means in snooker
How the Tour de France works

Quick Facts About Sports

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, with billions of fans.
A regulation basketball hoop is 10 feet, or 3.05 meters, above the floor.
Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, first played in 1877.
Ice hockey pucks are frozen before games so they bounce less.
A golf ball usually has between 300 and 500 dimples.
Table tennis became an Olympic sport in 1988.