Liven up with sports day trivia quizzes! Fun facts you’ll be glad to know

Tug of war

Tug-of-war is one of the Olympic events that can no longer be seen today. From the 1900 Paris Games to the 1920 Antwerp Games, tug-of-war helped enliven the Olympics as an official competition. The International Olympic Committee, concerned about the expansion of the Games, decided to cut back on several events. Tug-of-war was reportedly among those eliminated, partly due to reasons such as the lack of an international governing body.

The Genji and the Heike

Depending on the region, school sports festivals in Japan are often divided into red and white teams, aren’t they? It’s said that this tradition was inspired by the Genji and Heike clans being distinguished by red and white. In battles, large numbers of soldiers would get mixed together, making it hard to tell who was friend or foe. To allow instant identification, they used red and white flags. By the way, red was the Heike and white was the Genji.

torch

In the ancient Greek relay race known as the Lampadedromia—the precursor to modern relays—runners carried lit torches instead of batons and passed the torch to the next runner. This also held religious significance, symbolizing the continuous carrying of a sacred fire without letting it go out.

pig

Known as “pig chasing,” it was enjoyed at festivals in Europe and America. It is said to have been a competition where oil or other slippery substances were applied to a pig, and participants would chase it. Records suggest that Japan also had an event called “pig-chasing race” during the Meiji era.

spring

Autumn is often called the season for sports, and many schools hold their sports festivals in the fall. However, in recent years it has also become common to hold them in spring. One reason is that some regions still experience intense lingering heat in autumn. There have even been cases of students being taken to the hospital for heatstroke during sports festivals held in September or October. Another reason is that it’s also the peak typhoon season, so the weather tends to deteriorate. In addition, a new school term is a time to meet new classmates. Holding a sports festival in spring can also help build a stronger sense of unity within the class.

America

Relay races using batons are said to have originated in the United States in the early 1900s. Before that, relays involved simply touching with the hand, but the introduction of batons at sporting events led to a form closer to what we have today. By using batons, the success or failure of the exchange became clear, enabling fairer competition management.

around 2000 BC

On ancient Egyptian wall paintings from around 2000 BCE, there are depictions of people interlocking their bodies and balancing in ways reminiscent of modern group gymnastics, and this is said to be one of the oldest roots of the practice. In Japan, it was introduced in the early Meiji period as something that incorporated elements of German gymnastics.