Paris 2024 Olympic Firsts Quiz

The Summer 2024 Olympics in Paris ended a little while ago on Sunday, August 11th. Congratulations to all athletes who came to these Olympics and competed fairly and to the best of their ability! This GeoFact of the Day quiz highlights medal winners representing countries — and an athlete valiantly competing for the Refugee Team — that have not won a medal previously or have not won a gold medal until Paris 2024. Three Caribbean island countries, three African countries, one European country, one Central American country, and the Refugee Olympic Team are all represented in this post. Quiz answers are listed below — enjoy and good luck!

1)      GRENADA earned bronze medals in men’s javelin throw and men’s decathlon. 2024 is the first Olympic year in which Grenada won more than one medal. Which name is not one of the athletes who won these medals?
A — Lindon Victor
B — Anderson Peters
C — Timothy Conch

2)      BOTSWANA celebrates its first ever gold medal, which was won by Letsile Tebogo. Letsile also earned a silver medal as a teammate on the men’s ___________ team.
A — badminton
B — 4 x 400 meter relay
C — football

3)      ____________ is the home country of Cindy Ngamba, the women’s 75 kg boxer who earned the first ever medal (bronze) on the Refugee Olympic Team.
A — CAMEROON
B — SOMALIA
C — YEMEN

4)      True or false: EL SALVADOR is the Central American country winning its first ever gold medal.

5)      Track athlete Julien Alfred won a gold medal in the women’s 100 meter dash and a silver medal in the women’s 200 meter dash at the Paris 2024 Olympics. She won these first ever medals on behalf of which Caribbean island country?
A — SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS
B — SAINT LUCIA
C — TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
D — BARBADOS

6)      Two freestyle wrestlers — Chermen Valiev and Islam Dudaev — won the first ever medals (both bronze) for their country in Southeastern Europe. Which country?
A — ALBANIA
B — GREECE
C — NORTH MACEDONIA
D — MONTENEGRO

7)      David de Pina (Daniel Varela de Pina) won a bronze medal in men’s 51 kg boxing and therefore earned the first ever medal for which island country in Africa? Hint: this country is an archipelago located west of mainland West Africa, and the country’s name translates to green cape in Portuguese.
A — MAURITIUS
B — SEYCHELLES
C — SÃO TOMÉ AND PRÍNCIPE
D — COMOROS
E — CABO VERDE
F — MADAGASCAR

8)      True or false: Thea LaFond competed in women’s triple jump and earned the first ever medal — and a gold one at that — for DOMINICA.























ANSWERS

Question 1:
C . . . . . Timothy Conch

Question 2:
B . . . . . 4 x 400 meter relay

Question 3:
A . . . . . Cameroon

Question 4:
False . . . . . Guatemala

Question 5:
B . . . . . Saint Lucia

Question 6:
A . . . . . Albania

Question 7:
E . . . . . Cabo Verde

Question 8:
True

Independence Day Recently Celebrated in Central America

People all across several countries in Central America — COSTA RICA, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, and NICARAGUA — celebrated Independence Day on Tuesday, September 15th. All five countries achieved independence from Spain in 1821. Happy belated Independence Day!

Guatemala Exports

The following items are major exports of GUATEMALA: bananas, cardamom, chicle, clothing and textiles, cocoa (small amounts), coffee, corn (maize), furniture, metal, nickel, petroleum, rubber, seafood, sugar, and wood. According to the International Monetary Fund (data.imf.org), countries and territories buying and importing most of those exports (February 2017 statistics) include the United States (top importer), El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, Canada, Dominican Republic, the United Kingdom, China, Italy, Kazakhstan, Japan, Belize, Venezuela, Ghana, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

Orchid Sanctuary in the Heart of Guatemala

Near the city of Cobán (population: 255,000) in central GUATEMALA sits an orchid sanctuary named Vivero Verapaz (Verapaz Nursery). Vivero Verapaz protects hundreds of rare and common orchid species. There are well over 10,000 individual orchid plants housed here, including the Monja Blanca. Known as the White Nun Orchid in English, Monja Blanca orchids are aptly named due to their three petals resembling a nun's habit headwear. The usually elusive-in-the-wild White Nun Orchid is Guatemala's national flower. Many orchids at Vivero Verapaz boast a vibrant, large display of color, but some orchids are so small that each visitor is given a magnifying glass to see them! The orchid nursery is typically opened throughout the year, but preferred visitations occur between October and February when most orchids are blooming. Vivero Verapaz has a 4.5 out of 5 (★★★★½) rating on TripAdvisor.

Guatemala Extinct and Endangered Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for GUATEMALA in Central America and southern North America currently lists 1 extinct species since the beginning of IUCN recordkeeping, 42 critically endangered species, and 103 endangered species. The Atitlán Grebe aquatic bird is believed to be extinct. Guatemala's critically endangered species include the Bocourt's Treefrog, Central American River Turtle, Guatemala Spikethumb Frog, Hartweg's Spikethumb Frog, and Mayan Deer Mouse. The Brown False Brook Salamander, Goebel's False Brook Salamander, Jalpa False Brook Salamander, and Royal False Brook Salamander are four critically endangered salamander species, all living in southern and southwestern Guatemala. Endangered species include the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, Azure-rumped Tanager, Baird's Tapir, Brown Sea Cucumber, Great Hammerhead Shark, Posada's Graceful Brown Snake and Stadelman's Graceful Brown Snake, and Walking Lady flowers (Vitex gaumeri).

Guatemala post - link opens in a new tab or window

Land Use in Guatemala

GUATEMALA, a country in Central America located west of Belize and southeast of Mexico, is an agricultural producer of coffee and corn. Coffee and corn are mainly found growing in the southern part of the country, in the vicinity of Guatemala's southern coastline with the Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, northern Guatemala is home to a timber industry.

Guatemala

Click here to enlarge the map from Eric Olason in a new window.

GUATEMALA is located in Central America. Guatemala's bordering countries are Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico. It also borders the Pacific Ocean as well as the Gulf of Honduras in the Caribbean Sea. The capital is Guatemala City (Ciudad de Guatemala), which has over 900,000 residents. The currency is the Guatemalan Quetzel; the ISO 4217 currency code is GTQ. Guatemala is famous for being the center of Mayan civilization and features a plethora of ancient temples, Mayan pyramids, and historic civilizations.