Erebus

Fact library / Trivia

Sports facts

78 sports facts, each paired with a strange little scene and a hook for the hard word.

The extra bit for the royals

The marathon's distance of 26.2 miles (42.195 km) comes from the 1908 London Olympics, where the course ran from Windsor Castle to the royal box.

Picture it

Runners leave Windsor Castle and run toward a London stadium. At mile 26, the Queen's box is a little further down the track, so they're made to run an extra .2, puffing and glaring at the royal family.

Memory hooks

  • 26.2: an extra 0.2 to finish in front of the royals (narrative)
  • London: Windsor Castle to a London stadium (visual association)

Back to Athens

The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896, revived by Pierre de Coubertin.

Picture it

A French baron named COUBERTIN ("koo-ber-TAN") gets a COOL BIRTHDAY TAN in Greece in 1896, while athletes race in a marble stadium at the first modern Olympics.

Memory hooks

  • 1896: the baron's birthday in Greece (number hook)
  • Pierre de Coubertin: a cool birthday tan (sound-alike)

Peach baskets on the balcony

James Naismith invented basketball in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts, using peach baskets as the first hoops.

Picture it

In a chilly gym in 1891, a teacher nails two peach baskets to the balcony and hands his bored students a football. Every time someone scores, a janitor has to climb a ladder to get the ball out. The teacher's name is NAISMITH: a NICE SMITH.

Memory hooks

  • James Naismith: a nice smith nailing up baskets (sound-alike)
  • peach baskets: a janitor climbing up to fetch the ball (visual association)

Tennis on the croquet lawn

Wimbledon, the oldest tennis tournament in the world, was first held in 1877 by the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club.

Picture it

A croquet club in south-west London needs money to fix its pony roller, so in 1877 it holds a lawn tennis tournament. The pony still pulls the roller across the grass at Wimbledon.

Memory hooks

  • 1877: a tournament to pay for the pony roller (narrative)

The aviator's clay courts

The French Open is played on clay at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, named after a First World War aviator.

Picture it

A First World War pilot's plane swoops low over Paris and drops a red cloud of crushed brick onto the tennis courts. The stadium takes his name: Roland Garros.

Memory hooks

  • Roland Garros: a pilot dropping red clay from his plane (visual association)

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The yellow jersey

The Tour de France began in 1903; its leader wears the yellow jersey, the colour of the sponsoring newspaper L'Auto's pages.

Picture it

A cyclist in 1903 races round France on a heavy bike. The race was set up to sell a newspaper printed on yellow paper, so the leader wears a yellow jersey: the maillot jaune.

Memory hooks

  • yellow jersey: the colour of the newspaper's pages (visual association)

The pink jersey

The leader of the Giro d'Italia wears the pink jersey, the maglia rosa, after the pink pages of La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Picture it

In Italy, the race leader zooms through the Dolomites in a pink jersey, the colour of the pink pages of the sports paper Gazzetta dello Sport.

Memory hooks

  • pink: a pink newspaper fluttering behind the bike (visual association)

The first World Cup

The first FIFA World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930, and the hosts won.

Picture it

In 1930, a football stadium in Montevideo is still wet with concrete as 13 teams arrive by ship. The hosts, Uruguay, win the final, and the whole country gets a holiday.

Memory hooks

  • 1930: 13 teams in '30 (number hook)

They think it's all over

England won the 1966 World Cup final 4–2 against West Germany at Wembley, with a hat-trick from Geoff Hurst.

Picture it

At Wembley in 1966, a striker smashes his third goal into the net in extra time as fans run onto the pitch. "They think it's all over... it is now!" His name: Hurst, as in hurtling shots.

Memory hooks

  • Hurst: hurtling the ball into the net three times (sound-alike)

The Hand of God

Diego Maradona scored the "Hand of God" goal against England at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

Picture it

In a Mexico City quarter-final in 1986, a short Argentine jumps and punches the ball past England's keeper. The referee allows it. He calls it "the Hand of God" and then scores the goal of the century.

Memory hooks

  • Hand of God: a fist rising out of the clouds (visual association)

Three World Cups

Pelé is the only player to have won the World Cup three times, with Brazil in 1958, 1962 and 1970.

Picture it

A Brazilian footballer holds up three golden trophies, one under each arm and one on his head. His name is short, like a pellet: Pelé.

Memory hooks

  • three: a trophy under each arm and one on his head (number hook)

The ashes of English cricket

The Ashes is the Test cricket series between England and Australia, named after an 1882 mock obituary of English cricket.

Picture it

In 1882 a London newspaper prints a mock obituary: English cricket has died, and "the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia". A tiny urn of burnt bails becomes the prize.

Memory hooks

  • Ashes: a mock funeral for English cricket (narrative)

Four runs short of 100

Australian batsman Don Bradman finished his Test career with an average of 99.94, by far the highest ever.

Picture it

An Australian batsman walks out for his final Test innings needing just 4 runs to average 100. He's bowled for a duck. His average stays at 99.94, still the best ever.

Memory hooks

  • 99.94: out for a duck, four runs short of 100 (number hook)

The first Cricket World Cup

The first Cricket World Cup was played in England in 1975 and won by the West Indies.

Picture it

At Lord's in 1975, a team in maroon caps from the West Indies lifts the first Cricket World Cup, and steel drums play long into the night.

Memory hooks

  • West Indies: steel drums at Lord's (visual association)

The boy who picked up the ball

Legend says rugby began when William Webb Ellis ran with the ball at Rugby School in 1823; the Rugby World Cup trophy is named after him.

Picture it

At a school in the town of Rugby in 1823, a boy picks up the football and runs with it. A web of legend grows around him, and the World Cup trophy bears his name: William Webb Ellis.

Memory hooks

  • Webb Ellis: a web of legend around the running boy (visual association)

The first Rugby World Cup

The first Rugby World Cup, in 1987, was won by New Zealand, whose team performs the haka before matches.

Picture it

In 1987, men in black perform the haka before every match and go on to lift the first Rugby World Cup in Auckland.

Memory hooks

  • New Zealand: the haka before the final (visual association)

The Super Bowl trophy

The Super Bowl winners receive the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named after the coach who won the first two Super Bowls with the Green Bay Packers.

Picture it

A silver American football stands on a stand, poised as if about to be kicked. It's named after a legendary Green Bay Packers coach: Vince Lombardi, who won the first two Super Bowls.

Memory hooks

  • Lombardi: "lom-BAR-dee": a Lombardy coach in Green Bay (sound-alike)

The governor-general's hockey cup

The Stanley Cup, awarded to the National Hockey League champions, was donated in 1892 by Lord Stanley, Governor General of Canada.

Picture it

A British lord, Governor General of Canada, buys a silver bowl in 1892 for the best ice hockey team. Players have since drunk champagne from it and had babies baptised in it.

Memory hooks

  • Stanley Cup: a lord's silver bowl full of champagne (narrative)

The Great One

Wayne Gretzky, "The Great One", wore number 99, which the NHL retired across the whole league.

Picture it

An ice hockey player called "The Great One" skates off for the last time, and every NHL team hangs up his number, 99, so no one can ever wear it again.

Memory hooks

  • 99: a pair of hockey sticks shaped like 9s (number hook)

The green jacket

The winner of golf's Masters at Augusta National in Georgia receives a green jacket.

Picture it

A golfer sinks a putt among the azaleas in Georgia and the last year's champion helps him into a green jacket. The course: Augusta National, where it's always August-hot.

Memory hooks

  • Augusta: an August-hot course full of azaleas (visual association)

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The seed merchant's trophy

Golf's Ryder Cup between Europe and the USA is named after Samuel Ryder, an English seed merchant.

Picture it

An English seed merchant hands a small gold cup topped with a golfer to two teams, one from each side of the Atlantic. The golfer on top is his own coach. He rides off on a horse: a rider.

Memory hooks

  • Ryder: the seed merchant riding off on a horse (sound-alike)

There is no second

The America's Cup, sailing's oldest trophy, is named after the schooner America, which won it in 1851.

Picture it

In 1851, a schooner called America beats a fleet of British yachts round the Isle of Wight. Queen Victoria asks who's second. "Ma'am, there is no second."

Memory hooks

  • 1851: "There is no second", said to Queen Victoria (narrative)

Three Grand Nationals

Red Rum won the Grand National at Aintree a record three times, in 1973, 1974 and 1977.

Picture it

A horse trained on the sands of Southport gallops through the fences at Aintree. His name spelled backwards is "murder". He wins the race three times: Red Rum.

Memory hooks

  • Red Rum: "murder" backwards (visual association)

The Run for the Roses

The Kentucky Derby, known as "the Run for the Roses", is run at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

Picture it

Women in enormous hats sip mint juleps as horses thunder round a track topped with twin church spires. The winner is draped in a blanket of roses.

Memory hooks

  • Churchill Downs: the twin spires like church towers (visual association)

The grand champion of sumo

Yokozuna is the highest rank in sumo wrestling; holders wear a thick white rope in their ring-entering ceremony.

Picture it

A huge sumo wrestler stamps into the ring wearing a thick white rope round his waist. The rope means he's reached the very top rank, yokozuna: you're yolk of the zone.

Memory hooks

  • Yokozuna: "yolk of the zone": the best of the best (sound-alike)

The gentle way

Judo was founded in Japan in 1882 by Kanō Jigorō; its name means "the gentle way".

Picture it

A slight Japanese teacher throws a much bigger man by using his own weight against him. He calls it judo, "the gentle way", and paddles off in a canoe: Kanō.

Memory hooks

  • Kanō: paddling off in a canoe (sound-alike)

Basketball's gentler cousin

Volleyball was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan, who first called it mintonette.

Picture it

In 1895, a YMCA instructor in Massachusetts holds a tennis net up high and has businessmen bat a ball over it. He calls it mintonette, a minty little badminton. Soon it's volleyball.

Memory hooks

  • mintonette: a minty little badminton (sound-alike)

Four golds in Berlin

Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Picture it

In Hitler's Berlin stadium in 1936, a Black American sprinter crosses the line and owns the track: Owens. He goes on to win four gold medals.

Memory hooks

  • Jesse Owens: he owns the track (sound-alike)

Under four minutes

Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile at Oxford in 1954.

Picture it

A medical student leans on a banister to catch his breath at an Oxford running track in 1954. The clock says 3 minutes 59.4 seconds: the first mile under four minutes.

Memory hooks

  • Bannister: leaning on a banister to get his breath back (visual association)

The scoreboard that couldn't show 10

Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci scored the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics at the 1976 Montreal Games.

Picture it

In Montreal in 1976, a 14-year-old Romanian gymnast swings off the uneven bars. The scoreboard shows 1.00: it wasn't built to display a perfect 10.

Memory hooks

  • 1976: a scoreboard showing 1.00 (visual association)

Over the bar backwards

Dick Fosbury won high jump gold at the 1968 Olympics with his backwards technique, now called the Fosbury Flop.

Picture it

In Mexico City in 1968, a lanky American high jumper runs up and flips over the bar on his back, head first. Everyone laughs, then he wins gold. A fozzy bear flops onto the mat.

Memory hooks

  • Fosbury Flop: a fuzzy bear flopping backwards (sound-alike)

The leap into the next century

Bob Beamon long-jumped 8.90 metres at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, beating the world record by 55 centimetres.

Picture it

At the thin-aired Mexico City Olympics in 1968, a long jumper soars so far the optical measuring device can't reach. They measure by tape: 8.90 metres. A beam of light follows him: Beamon.

Memory hooks

  • Beamon: a beam of light following his jump (sound-alike)

Eight golds in one Games

Michael Phelps won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a record for one Games.

Picture it

A swimmer with a huge wingspan touches the wall in Beijing in 2008. He stacks eight gold medals round his neck until he can barely stand: Phelps, who felt them all.

Memory hooks

  • eight: 2008: eight golds in '08 (number hook)

Lightning in Berlin

Usain Bolt ran the 100 metres in 9.58 seconds at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

Picture it

A tall Jamaican sprinter strikes his lightning-bolt pose, then crosses the line in Berlin in 2009. The clock stops at 9.58.

Memory hooks

  • 9.58: nine-point-five-eight, like a lightning flash (number hook)

Float like a butterfly

Boxer Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Clay and changed his name in 1964.

Picture it

A young boxer from Louisville moulds himself out of clay, then smashes the mould and steps out with a new name: Muhammad Ali. A butterfly lands on his glove.

Memory hooks

  • Cassius Clay: a boxer breaking out of a clay mould (visual association)

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Rope-a-dope in Kinshasa

In the 1974 "Rumble in the Jungle" in Kinshasa, Zaire, Muhammad Ali beat George Foreman using his "rope-a-dope" tactic.

Picture it

In 1974, two heavyweights fight at dawn in Kinshasa. One leans on the ropes for round after round and lets the other punch himself out. Then he knocks out Foreman, who was foreman of the jungle.

Memory hooks

  • Kinshasa: a dawn fight by the Congo River (visual association)

The gloves go on

Modern boxing follows the Marquess of Queensberry rules of 1867, which introduced gloves and three-minute rounds.

Picture it

A Victorian marquess in a top hat writes rules for boxing: gloves on, three-minute rounds, a ten-count for a knockdown. He signs it with a queen's berry-red seal.

Memory hooks

  • Queensberry: a queen's berry-red seal (sound-alike)

Named after a country house

Badminton is named after Badminton House, the Duke of Beaufort's country house in Gloucestershire, where the game became popular.

Picture it

In the 1870s, guests at a duke's country house in Gloucestershire bat a feathered cork back and forth in the hall. The house is called Badminton, and so is the game.

Memory hooks

  • Badminton: shuttlecocks flying across a stately hall (visual association)

The maximum break

The maximum break in snooker is 147: fifteen reds each followed by the black, then all six colours.

Picture it

A snooker player pots red, black, red, black, fifteen times, then all the colours. The scoreboard ticks up to 147, and the crowd stands.

Memory hooks

  • 147: 15 × 8 = 120, plus 27 for the colours (number hook)

One hundred and eighty!

The highest score with three darts is 180: three treble 20s.

Picture it

Three darts thud into the thin red band at the top of the board. The caller bellows "ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY!" Three treble twenties.

Memory hooks

  • 180: 3 × 60 (number hook)

Twelve strikes in a row

A perfect game in ten-pin bowling is 300, made by bowling twelve strikes in a row.

Picture it

A bowler rolls a strike, then another, and another, twelve in all. The screen flashes 300, the perfect game.

Memory hooks

  • 300: 12 strikes, 30 points a frame for 10 frames (number hook)

Birdie, eagle, albatross

In golf, a score of three under par on a hole is called an albatross, or double eagle.

Picture it

On the golf course, a birdie flies over at one under par, an eagle at two under, and at three under par, a rare huge albatross glides past.

Memory hooks

  • albatross: bigger and rarer than birdie or eagle (visual association)

The height of the hoop

A basketball hoop is 10 feet (3.05 metres) high, the height of the balcony where James Naismith hung the first peach basket.

Picture it

Dr Naismith nails a peach basket to a gym balcony that just happens to be ten feet high. Every basketball hoop since has been the same height.

Memory hooks

  • 10: the height of the gym balcony (number hook)

Six rings in Chicago

Michael Jordan won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls, wearing number 23.

Picture it

A basketball player soars from the free-throw line with his tongue out, wearing 23 on a red Bulls shirt. Six championship rings glitter on his fingers.

Memory hooks

  • 23: the number on the flying red shirt (number hook)

A hundred points in one game

Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single NBA game in 1962.

Picture it

In 1962, a seven-foot centre named Wilt scores again and again until someone holds up a scrap of paper reading 100. The other team is wilting.

Memory hooks

  • Wilt: the other team wilting (sound-alike)

Number 42

Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball's colour line with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

Picture it

In 1947, a Black player steps onto the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers, dodging insults from the stands. His number, 42, is now retired by every Major League team.

Memory hooks

  • 42: the number every team now retires (number hook)

The Curse of the Bambino

The Boston Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1920, starting the "Curse of the Bambino".

Picture it

In 1920, the Red Sox sell a baby-faced slugger, the Bambino, to the New York Yankees. Boston doesn't win the World Series again for 86 years.

Memory hooks

  • Bambino: a baby-faced slugger: Babe (visual association)

The luckiest man

Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig, "the Iron Horse", played 2,130 games in a row; ALS is often called Lou Gehrig's disease.

Picture it

An iron horse in a Yankees cap plays game after game, 2,130 in a row, until illness stops him. He tells a packed stadium he is "the luckiest man on the face of the earth."

Memory hooks

  • Iron Horse: an iron horse that never misses a game (visual association)

Do you believe in miracles?

The "Miracle on Ice" was the US amateur team's win over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.

Picture it

In Lake Placid in 1980, a team of American college ice hockey players beats the mighty Soviet team. The commentator shouts "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" The lake is anything but placid.

Memory hooks

  • Lake Placid: a lake that's anything but placid (visual association)

The plasterer who flew

Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards became Britain's first Olympic ski jumper at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

Picture it

A short-sighted plasterer from Cheltenham with thick glasses launches off a ski jump at Calgary in 1988. He comes last, but flaps his arms like an eagle and the crowd loves him.

Memory hooks

  • Calgary: flapping like an eagle over the Rockies (visual association)

Cool Runnings

Jamaica's bobsleigh team made their Olympic debut in 1988, inspiring the film Cool Runnings.

Picture it

Four sprinters from a tropical island who've never seen snow push a borrowed bobsleigh down an icy track at the 1988 Olympics. They crash, then carry the sled over the line together.

Memory hooks

  • Jamaica: tropical sprinters carrying the sled over the line (narrative)

The games at the spinal hospital

The Paralympics grew from games for injured servicemen organised by Ludwig Guttmann at Stoke Mandeville hospital in 1948.

Picture it

On the day of the 1948 London Olympics, a German-Jewish doctor holds an archery contest for wheelchair users on the lawn of Stoke Mandeville hospital. It grows into the Paralympics.

Memory hooks

  • Stoke Mandeville: archery on the hospital lawn (visual association)

The first Olympic Games

The ancient Olympic Games were held at Olympia in Greece, traditionally from 776 BC.

Picture it

In 776 BC, a cook named Koroibos sprints barefoot down a stadium track at Olympia in honour of Zeus. He wins an olive wreath, the first recorded Olympic champion.

Memory hooks

  • 776 BC: seven-seven-six: three steps to the finish (number hook)

Five rings

The Olympic flag's five rings were designed by Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics.

Picture it

A French baron with a huge moustache draws five interlocking rings on a white flag for the five inhabited continents. He's the founder of the modern Games: Coubertin, cub in a tin.

Memory hooks

  • Coubertin: "koo-bair-TAN": a cub in a tin (sound-alike)

The greatest athlete in the world

Jim Thorpe, a Native American athlete, won the pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics.

Picture it

At the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, a Native American athlete wins both the pentathlon and the decathlon. The King of Sweden says "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world." "Thanks, King."

Memory hooks

  • Jim Thorpe: "Thanks, King" (narrative)

The father of modern surfing

Olympic swimmer Duke Kahanamoku of Hawaii spread surfing around the world and is called the father of modern surfing.

Picture it

A Hawaiian Olympic swimming champion paddles out on a huge wooden board off Waikiki and shows the world how to ride waves. Everyone calls him Duke.

Memory hooks

  • Duke: a duke on a wooden board off Waikiki (visual association)

Say it: Kahanamoku (ka·HA·na·MO·ku)

Swim, bike, run

The Ironman triathlon, first held in Hawaii in 1978, is a 3.8 km swim, a 180 km bike ride and a full marathon.

Picture it

A naval officer at an awards dinner in Hawaii argues about who's fitter: swimmers, cyclists or runners. Solution: do all three back to back, ending with a full marathon. The winner is an Ironman.

Memory hooks

  • Ironman: an argument settled by doing all three (narrative)

The oldest annual marathon

The Boston Marathon, first run in 1897, is the world's oldest annual marathon.

Picture it

A year after the first modern Olympics, fifteen runners line up outside Boston in 1897. It's been run every spring since, on Patriots' Day.

Memory hooks

  • 1897: the year after the 1896 Olympic marathon (number hook)

The first Formula One championship race

The first Formula One World Championship race was held at Silverstone, England, in 1950.

Picture it

In 1950, on an old wartime airfield in Northamptonshire, cars roar past runways while King George VI watches. The airfield gleams like silver stone.

Memory hooks

  • Silverstone: a silver stone on an old runway (visual association)

Racing round the clock

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is an endurance car race run every year in France since 1923.

Picture it

Drivers sprint across the track to their cars, then race all day and all night, for 24 hours, through a French town where one man (Le Mans) stays awake to count laps.

Memory hooks

  • 24: a whole day and night of racing (number hook)

The Brazilian legend

Brazilian three-time Formula One champion Ayrton Senna died in a crash at Imola in 1994.

Picture it

A Brazilian driver with a yellow helmet wins three world titles, then crashes at Imola in 1994. A whole nation mourns. His name is short and sharp: Senna.

Memory hooks

  • Senna: a yellow helmet, green and blue stripes (visual association)

The Battle of the Sexes

In the 1973 "Battle of the Sexes", Billie Jean King beat former men's champion Bobby Riggs.

Picture it

In 1973, a former men's champion boasts he can beat any woman. Billie Jean King is carried onto a Houston court on a litter like Cleopatra, and wins in straight sets. Riggs is rigged to lose.

Memory hooks

  • Riggs: the match was rigged for him to lose (sound-alike)

Nine Wimbledon singles titles

Martina Navratilova won a record nine Wimbledon women's singles titles.

Picture it

A left-handed Czech-born player serves and volleys her way across the Wimbledon grass and lifts the plate nine times. She navigates the court: Navratilova.

Memory hooks

  • Navratilova: she navigates the grass (sound-alike)

Forty all

In tennis, a score of 40–40 is called deuce, from the French "à deux", meaning a player needs two points in a row.

Picture it

Two tennis players reach 40–40. The umpire calls "Deuce!", from the French "à deux": two more points in a row to win.

Memory hooks

  • deuce: "à deux": two more points (sound-alike)

A hat for three wickets

The term hat-trick comes from cricket, where a bowler who took three wickets with three balls was given a hat.

Picture it

In 1858, a cricket bowler takes three wickets with three balls in a row. The crowd passes round a hat, and buys him a new one with the money.

Memory hooks

  • hat-trick: a collection in a hat buys him a new hat (narrative)

Three swords

Olympic fencing uses three weapons: the foil, the épée and the sabre.

Picture it

Three fencers in white line up with three different swords: a thin, bendy foil, a heavy épée that can hit anywhere, and a slashing sabre from the cavalry.

Memory hooks

  • foil: a thin bendy sword like kitchen foil (visual association)

Stones from a Scottish island

Most Olympic curling stones are made from granite quarried on Ailsa Craig, an island off Scotland.

Picture it

A curling stone slides down the ice while two players sweep furiously. It came from a lonely granite island off the Scottish coast: Ailsa Craig, a sail on a crag.

Memory hooks

  • Ailsa Craig: a sail on a granite crag (sound-alike)

The Cannibal

Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx, nicknamed "the Cannibal", won the Tour de France five times.

Picture it

A Belgian cyclist wins so many races he leaves nothing for anyone else, so they call him the Cannibal. He wins the Tour de France five times. His mercs gobble up every hill.

Memory hooks

  • Merckx: the Cannibal who leaves no wins for anyone (narrative)

The Tiger Slam

Tiger Woods held all four golf major titles at once in 2000–01, a feat called the "Tiger Slam".

Picture it

A golfer in a red Sunday shirt holds all four major trophies at once, won in a row across 2000 and 2001. A tiger prowls beside him.

Memory hooks

  • Tiger Woods: a tiger guarding four trophies (visual association)

The home of golf

The Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland is known as "the home of golf".

Picture it

On a windswept Scottish links, golfers have been hitting balls over the dunes since the 1400s. The patron saint, Andrew, carries a golf bag over the Swilcan Bridge.

Memory hooks

  • St Andrews: the patron saint carrying a golf bag (visual association)

Football's governing body

FIFA, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, was founded in Paris in 1904.

Picture it

In 1904, representatives of seven European countries meet in a back room in Paris to found a federation. The French name gives the letters: FIFA.

Memory hooks

  • FIFA: Fédération Internationale de Football Association (chunking)

The split at the George Hotel

Rugby league split from rugby union in 1895 at a meeting in Huddersfield, over paying working-class players.

Picture it

In 1895, northern rugby clubs meet at the George Hotel in Huddersfield and walk out of the union because their working players can't be paid for missing work. Rugby league is born.

Memory hooks

  • Huddersfield: clubs huddled in the George Hotel (narrative)

The Creator's game

Lacrosse was first played by Indigenous peoples of North America; French settlers named it after the bishop's crozier, "la crosse".

Picture it

Hundreds of Haudenosaunee players chase a deerskin ball across miles of open ground with netted sticks. French missionaries think the sticks look like a bishop's crosse: lacrosse.

Memory hooks

  • Lacrosse: a stick like a bishop's crook (visual association)

The fastest game on grass

Hurling, played with an ash stick and a ball called a sliotar, is an ancient Irish sport.

Picture it

An Irish player sprints with a small ball balanced on the flat end of an ash stick, a hurley, then hurls it over the bar. It's been played for 3,000 years.

Memory hooks

  • Hurling: hurling the ball with an ash stick (visual association)

Skateboarding's Olympic debut

Skateboarding made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games, held in 2021.

Picture it

In a Tokyo skatepark, a 13-year-old ollies over a rail and wins Olympic gold. Skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing all make their first Olympic appearance, at Games held a year late.

Memory hooks

  • Tokyo: a teenager skating to gold (visual association)

Three stumps and two bails

A cricket wicket is made of three stumps topped by two bails.

Picture it

A cricket ball smashes into the wicket and two little wooden bails fly off the top of three stumps. The batsman is bowled.

Memory hooks

  • three: three stumps, two bails (number hook)

The ice man

Swedish player Björn Borg won five Wimbledon men's singles titles in a row, from 1976 to 1980.

Picture it

A calm Swede with a headband wins Wimbledon five times in a row, from 1976 to 1980. He's so cool they call him the Ice Borg.

Memory hooks

  • Björn Borg: a calm Swede with a headband: Ice Borg (visual association)

The long nails of Seoul

Florence Griffith-Joyner, "Flo-Jo", set world records in the women's 100 m and 200 m in 1988.

Picture it

A sprinter with dazzling long painted nails and a one-legged running suit blazes down the track at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Her nickname flows: Flo-Jo.

Memory hooks

  • Florence Griffith-Joyner: FLOrence + JOyner = Flo-Jo (chunking)