Thursday, July 19, 2012

Olympics Cities Destination Quiz (5 of 6) Atlanta to Seoul

We could perhaps call this entry "Beauty and the Beast," since we are featuring images of American gymnast Dominique Dawes, 36, and Turkish weightlifter Naim Suleymanoglu, 45, as we look at the distance between Atlanta, where the 1996 Olympics were held, and Seoul, where the 1988 Olympics took place.

Dawes and six other American gymnasts nicknamed "The Magnificent Seven," perhaps in reference to the western movie with Charles Bronson of that same name (well, we don't have time to research and verify everything), won team in front of home spectators at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics .

In recent years, Dawes has become a highly touted public speaker and physical fitness advocate. Her teammate Dominique Moceau, 30, has recently published a memoir called "Off Balance" about her trials and tribulations as an elite gymnast. And, another member of that team, Shannon Miller, 35, has survived a serious battle with cancer.

In addition to the team gold, Miller won gold on balance beam, Dawes won bronze on the floor and another American team gymnast Amy Chow, 34, won silver on bars, an event which was won by Russian gymnast Svetlana Khorkina, 33, a feat she repeated at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The 1988 Seoul Olympics were the first ones to have the United States and the Soviet Union since the 1976 Montreal Olympics, and coincidentally they were the last Olympics between the two countries as the U.S.S.R. abruptly dissolved in 1991.

For those games, which were boycotted by neighboring North Korea, Suleymanoglu, 45, won gold  and set new world records in weightlifter. The athlete nicknamed "the Pocket Hercules," sought political asylum from Turkey's neighbor Bulgaria via Australia due to the fact that Bulgarian citizens of Turkish heritage were being oppressed by the communist regime in Sofia. He would go on to win two more gold medals in the sport at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, then in Atlanta.

The 1988 Seoul Olympics were also noted for American diver Greg Louganis, 52, successful efforts, which garnered him another two gold medals. And, Soviet gymnast Svetlana Boginskaya, 39, who would later represent Belarus, won two gold meals in women's gymnastics in South Korea.

So, today's quiz is just far these two cities are from one another? Is the answer:

A) 7,003 miles

B) 7,123 niles

C) 7,223 miles

D) 7,563 miles

http://www.olympic.org/naim-suleymanoglu

http://www.dominique-moceanu.com

http://www.dominiquedawes.com

http://www.shannonmillerlifestyle.com

UPDATE: The answer is B) 7,123 miles, upon further research, we have come to the unofficial conclusion that Dominique Dawes, who is 5 feet, 3 inches tall, is about two inches taller than Naim Suleymanoglu!

No comments: