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The 2012 Classical Olympians Puzzler

Some characters in classical music have Olympian athletic abilities.
Julia Vynokurova
/
Getty Images
Some characters in classical music have Olympian athletic abilities.

The grumbling of Londoners and the off-putting remarks of Mitt Romney are all but forgotten now as the 2012 Summer Olympics are in spectacular full swing. From here on out the race for the gold continues.

The London games include 302 events, with 23,000 athletes and officials, at 34 venues over 19 days. About 10 million visitors are expected along with some 20,000 journalists.

For those watching at home — all 4.8 billion of us — I offer an alternative Olympic competition as a diversion during all the Coke and McDonald's ads.

Characters in classical music and opera are not all kings, queens and couch potatoes. Some have genuine athletic abilities, and others find themselves in situations requiring Olympic-worthy strength and stamina. Listen to the music clip below and match each one to its appropriate sport from this summer's Olympics. Answer them all correctly and wear your gold medal with pride. Mess up, and you'll have to wait an embarrassing four years to try again.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Tom Huizenga is a producer for NPR Music. He contributes a wide range of stories about classical music to NPR's news programs and is the classical music reviewer for All Things Considered. He appears regularly on NPR Music podcasts and founded NPR's classical music blog Deceptive Cadence in 2010.