This summer it’s the 2024 Olympic games! In honor of this sporty season, Forever Ago host Joy Dolo quizzes producers Rosie duPont and Anna Weggel all about Olympic games of the past.
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SPEAKER: Now entering Brains On headquarters.
JOY DOLO: Hi, smarty pals. It's summer, summer, summer time. It's the summer time, time to kick back and rewind. I've got SPF on deck, beach balls galore, and fresh lemonade with curly straws. [SLURPING] Ah, so refreshing. Plus, I'm here with my pals-- Rosie DuPont and Anna Weggel.
ANNA WEGGEL: Thanks for the lemonade, Joy. It's the perfect summer drink.
ROSE DUPONT: Plus, these straws are so much fun.
JOY DOLO: Summer is so fun. You know what one of my favorite things is about this summer?
ANNA WEGGEL: Ah, ice cream trucks.
ROSE DUPONT: Swimming pools?
JOY DOLO: Yes and yes-- but also, the Olympic games. Every four years, athletes from around the world compete in different summertime sporting events.
ANNA WEGGEL: I love the Olympics. And you're right. They are happening this summer.
ROSE DUPONT: Yeah, the 2024 Olympics are in Paris, France.
JOY DOLO: In honor of the Summer Olympics, are you too down to play some Olympics trivia? After all, you are the sportiest people I know.
ANNA WEGGEL: Ooh, boy, oh, boy, do I love trivia? It's my third favorite thing after fiddles and ferrets.
JOY DOLO: Then let's do it. Cue the trivia Olympics theme song.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
There have been many Olympic sports throughout history. But sometimes the organizers get rid of a sport for some reason, and it's no longer played. For this game, I'm going to list three sports and you have to tell me which one is a lost Olympic sport of the past. Makes sense?
ANNA WEGGEL: Yeah
ROSE DUPONT: Yeah.
JOY DOLO: Great. Then let's get started. Rosie, you're up first. Which one of these sports was once part of the Olympics but is no longer played there? Lacrosse, ping pong, or skateboarding.
ROSE DUPONT: Ooh, I love this question. So lacrosse is a fantastic sport, but it is not played in the Olympics anymore. And I think that's my answer because I have done some research into ping pong and skateboarding. And I know that they have been recently added to the Olympics. So lacrosse is my final answer.
JOY DOLO: Well, Rosie, the answer is lacrosse. If you haven't heard of lacrosse before, it's a sport where you catch and throw a ball with a net on a long stick. It started with the Haudenosaunee people who first played lacrosse nearly 1,000 years ago.
The sport was last played in the 1908 Olympics before it was discontinued. However, lacrosse will be returning to the 2028 Olympics in a few years. Exciting stuff.
ROSE DUPONT: I'm going to watch it.
JOY DOLO: OK, Anna, you're up next. We've got sailing, surfing and hot air ballooning. Which do you think is no longer a sport at the Olympics?
ANNA WEGGEL: Oh, I'm having an existential crisis about this because I feel like I once read that there's not surfing anymore, but I've never heard of hot air ballooning being a part of the Olympics in my life.
But I so want it to be because what could be more joyful. I also don't-- is it a race? Is it how high you can go. Is it how colorful your balloon is? Where's the competitive aspect of it? I don't know. I guess I'm going to say hot air ballooning, but it makes me sad if it's not part of the Olympics anymore.
JOY DOLO: I think it's a really magical choice that you've chosen there, if anything. Yeah. And I commend you for that. Sailing and surfing are still Olympic games. But hot air ballooning was ditched over 100 years ago.
The sport only appeared once at the 1900 Olympic games in Paris. Competitors were judged on how far they traveled, time in the air, and their landing abilities. Would either of you ever go hot air ballooning?
ANNA WEGGEL: I have been.
ROSE DUPONT: Oh, I am so jealous. I would love to go.
ANNA WEGGEL: Can I tell you the most surprising thing about hot air ballooning to me, is how hot the fire is.
ROSE DUPONT: I love that that's surprising to you, Anna.
ANNA WEGGEL: Well, I didn't know. I didn't know how close it was to my body.
JOY DOLO: Ooh, how close-- how close is it?
ANNA WEGGEL: Very close. Like, sometimes you need to duck down a little bit-- at least in the hot air balloon I was in, which hopefully was up to code.
JOY DOLO: OK, Rosie, back to you. We've got croquet, cornhole, or hopscotch. And as a reminder, croquet is the game where you hit colorful balls through hoops with wooden mallets. Cornhole is the lawn game where you try to throw little beanbags into a hole on a board. And hopscotch is a game where you hop across squares on the ground. Which do you think used to be an Olympic sport?
ROSE DUPONT: Which do I think of these used to be an Olympic sport-- croquet, cornhole, hopscotch? I don't think hopscotch because it's just a fun pastime. No hate, but I don't think it was an Olympic sport. Cornhole is more of a relaxed beach activity in my mind. So I'm going to go with croquet because croquet is, wow-- do the queen of hearts?
JOY DOLO: Off with their heads.
ROSE DUPONT: She loved croquet. And she probably used to watch the Olympics, so I'm going to go with croquet.
JOY DOLO: I think she was the Olympics. And actually, Rosie, you are absolutely right. The answer is croquet.
ROSE DUPONT: Wow.
JOY DOLO: Just like hot air ballooning, croquet was only played once at the 1900 Paris Olympics. That year marked the first Olympics that allowed women to compete. And croquet was the first sport that women competed in.
ROSE DUPONT: If you want to hear more about the history of women and the Olympics, we have a whole episode about it on the Forever Ago podcast.
JOY DOLO: Definitely check it out. OK, Anna, this is the final round, and it's all about rope. We've got jump rope, rope climbing, or tightrope walking. Which do you think used to be an Olympic sport?
ANNA WEGGEL: OK, OK, OK, a rope-themed question. I'm going to eliminate tightrope walking. I feel like it's too high up in the air for the Olympics. I feel like people couldn't crane their necks for that long to watch and enjoy. I feel like TV cameras couldn't get up there. It doesn't feel right.
So I think I'm going to go with rope climbing because I feel it fits the Olympic aesthetic a little bit more than jumping rope. But I'm very bad at rope climbing and at jumping rope. So this isn't one that I would ever excel in. I don't think.
JOY DOLO: Rosie, do you want to just throw in a guess anyway? Might as well. It's the last one.
ROSE DUPONT: Sure. Oh, my gosh. Thanks for the invitation. I'm going to go with jump roping because I think it's fun. Yeah.
ANNA WEGGEL: My number two, yeah.
ROSE DUPONT: Yeah.
ANNA WEGGEL: I feel good about that.
JOY DOLO: So, one or the other. Well, the answer is rope climbing.
ROSE DUPONT: OK, great, great, great, great.
ANNA WEGGEL: Wow, wow. Yeah.
JOY DOLO: This event used to be a part of the gymnastics program starting in the late 1800s. Athletes would have to climb a rope as fast as they could, using only their hands and arms, which takes some major upper body strength. The sport was last shown in the 1932 games. And that concludes our Olympic trivia. Great job, Rosie and Anna.
ROSE DUPONT: Woo! I really worked up a sweat talking about sports.
ANNA WEGGEL: Me too. I'm parched. Is there any more lemonade?
JOY DOLO: Is there any more lemonade? Well, actually, no. We drank all of it. But there are more ingredients in the kitchen. First one to juice 10 lemons wins the curliest straw.
ANNA WEGGEL: Deal. You're on. A curly straw is better than a gold medal any day.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[LISTING HONOR ROLL]
JOY DOLO: Hi, smarty pals. It's summer, summer, summer time. It's the summer time, time to kick back and rewind. I've got SPF on deck, beach balls galore, and fresh lemonade with curly straws. [SLURPING] Ah, so refreshing. Plus, I'm here with my pals-- Rosie DuPont and Anna Weggel.
ANNA WEGGEL: Thanks for the lemonade, Joy. It's the perfect summer drink.
ROSE DUPONT: Plus, these straws are so much fun.
JOY DOLO: Summer is so fun. You know what one of my favorite things is about this summer?
ANNA WEGGEL: Ah, ice cream trucks.
ROSE DUPONT: Swimming pools?
JOY DOLO: Yes and yes-- but also, the Olympic games. Every four years, athletes from around the world compete in different summertime sporting events.
ANNA WEGGEL: I love the Olympics. And you're right. They are happening this summer.
ROSE DUPONT: Yeah, the 2024 Olympics are in Paris, France.
JOY DOLO: In honor of the Summer Olympics, are you too down to play some Olympics trivia? After all, you are the sportiest people I know.
ANNA WEGGEL: Ooh, boy, oh, boy, do I love trivia? It's my third favorite thing after fiddles and ferrets.
JOY DOLO: Then let's do it. Cue the trivia Olympics theme song.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
There have been many Olympic sports throughout history. But sometimes the organizers get rid of a sport for some reason, and it's no longer played. For this game, I'm going to list three sports and you have to tell me which one is a lost Olympic sport of the past. Makes sense?
ANNA WEGGEL: Yeah
ROSE DUPONT: Yeah.
JOY DOLO: Great. Then let's get started. Rosie, you're up first. Which one of these sports was once part of the Olympics but is no longer played there? Lacrosse, ping pong, or skateboarding.
ROSE DUPONT: Ooh, I love this question. So lacrosse is a fantastic sport, but it is not played in the Olympics anymore. And I think that's my answer because I have done some research into ping pong and skateboarding. And I know that they have been recently added to the Olympics. So lacrosse is my final answer.
JOY DOLO: Well, Rosie, the answer is lacrosse. If you haven't heard of lacrosse before, it's a sport where you catch and throw a ball with a net on a long stick. It started with the Haudenosaunee people who first played lacrosse nearly 1,000 years ago.
The sport was last played in the 1908 Olympics before it was discontinued. However, lacrosse will be returning to the 2028 Olympics in a few years. Exciting stuff.
ROSE DUPONT: I'm going to watch it.
JOY DOLO: OK, Anna, you're up next. We've got sailing, surfing and hot air ballooning. Which do you think is no longer a sport at the Olympics?
ANNA WEGGEL: Oh, I'm having an existential crisis about this because I feel like I once read that there's not surfing anymore, but I've never heard of hot air ballooning being a part of the Olympics in my life.
But I so want it to be because what could be more joyful. I also don't-- is it a race? Is it how high you can go. Is it how colorful your balloon is? Where's the competitive aspect of it? I don't know. I guess I'm going to say hot air ballooning, but it makes me sad if it's not part of the Olympics anymore.
JOY DOLO: I think it's a really magical choice that you've chosen there, if anything. Yeah. And I commend you for that. Sailing and surfing are still Olympic games. But hot air ballooning was ditched over 100 years ago.
The sport only appeared once at the 1900 Olympic games in Paris. Competitors were judged on how far they traveled, time in the air, and their landing abilities. Would either of you ever go hot air ballooning?
ANNA WEGGEL: I have been.
ROSE DUPONT: Oh, I am so jealous. I would love to go.
ANNA WEGGEL: Can I tell you the most surprising thing about hot air ballooning to me, is how hot the fire is.
ROSE DUPONT: I love that that's surprising to you, Anna.
ANNA WEGGEL: Well, I didn't know. I didn't know how close it was to my body.
JOY DOLO: Ooh, how close-- how close is it?
ANNA WEGGEL: Very close. Like, sometimes you need to duck down a little bit-- at least in the hot air balloon I was in, which hopefully was up to code.
JOY DOLO: OK, Rosie, back to you. We've got croquet, cornhole, or hopscotch. And as a reminder, croquet is the game where you hit colorful balls through hoops with wooden mallets. Cornhole is the lawn game where you try to throw little beanbags into a hole on a board. And hopscotch is a game where you hop across squares on the ground. Which do you think used to be an Olympic sport?
ROSE DUPONT: Which do I think of these used to be an Olympic sport-- croquet, cornhole, hopscotch? I don't think hopscotch because it's just a fun pastime. No hate, but I don't think it was an Olympic sport. Cornhole is more of a relaxed beach activity in my mind. So I'm going to go with croquet because croquet is, wow-- do the queen of hearts?
JOY DOLO: Off with their heads.
ROSE DUPONT: She loved croquet. And she probably used to watch the Olympics, so I'm going to go with croquet.
JOY DOLO: I think she was the Olympics. And actually, Rosie, you are absolutely right. The answer is croquet.
ROSE DUPONT: Wow.
JOY DOLO: Just like hot air ballooning, croquet was only played once at the 1900 Paris Olympics. That year marked the first Olympics that allowed women to compete. And croquet was the first sport that women competed in.
ROSE DUPONT: If you want to hear more about the history of women and the Olympics, we have a whole episode about it on the Forever Ago podcast.
JOY DOLO: Definitely check it out. OK, Anna, this is the final round, and it's all about rope. We've got jump rope, rope climbing, or tightrope walking. Which do you think used to be an Olympic sport?
ANNA WEGGEL: OK, OK, OK, a rope-themed question. I'm going to eliminate tightrope walking. I feel like it's too high up in the air for the Olympics. I feel like people couldn't crane their necks for that long to watch and enjoy. I feel like TV cameras couldn't get up there. It doesn't feel right.
So I think I'm going to go with rope climbing because I feel it fits the Olympic aesthetic a little bit more than jumping rope. But I'm very bad at rope climbing and at jumping rope. So this isn't one that I would ever excel in. I don't think.
JOY DOLO: Rosie, do you want to just throw in a guess anyway? Might as well. It's the last one.
ROSE DUPONT: Sure. Oh, my gosh. Thanks for the invitation. I'm going to go with jump roping because I think it's fun. Yeah.
ANNA WEGGEL: My number two, yeah.
ROSE DUPONT: Yeah.
ANNA WEGGEL: I feel good about that.
JOY DOLO: So, one or the other. Well, the answer is rope climbing.
ROSE DUPONT: OK, great, great, great, great.
ANNA WEGGEL: Wow, wow. Yeah.
JOY DOLO: This event used to be a part of the gymnastics program starting in the late 1800s. Athletes would have to climb a rope as fast as they could, using only their hands and arms, which takes some major upper body strength. The sport was last shown in the 1932 games. And that concludes our Olympic trivia. Great job, Rosie and Anna.
ROSE DUPONT: Woo! I really worked up a sweat talking about sports.
ANNA WEGGEL: Me too. I'm parched. Is there any more lemonade?
JOY DOLO: Is there any more lemonade? Well, actually, no. We drank all of it. But there are more ingredients in the kitchen. First one to juice 10 lemons wins the curliest straw.
ANNA WEGGEL: Deal. You're on. A curly straw is better than a gold medal any day.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[LISTING HONOR ROLL]
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