May 04, 2013
RAY: This is the debut puzzler from my 'Track and Field series." A fellow named David Johnson sent it in. I, of course, had to fool around with it a little bit. Here it is:
An athlete competing in the Olympic Games puts forth a record-setting performance in the long jump.
Not only does he record the longest jump, but he sets a world record as well. His jump is accepted into the record books, and no one has jumped farther than this fellow.
But, he does not win a gold medal. In fact, he does not win a bronze medal, or a silver medal. He wins squat.
TOM: But it's Olympic squat!
RAY: That's another event: the squat! There's the squat, the jerk - you should compete in that one! I didn't know they had an Olympic event just for you! What's the jerk doing? He's doing squat!
The question is, why doesn't he win a gold, silver, bronze, or any kind of medal, despite having a record setting jump?
RAY: The answer is he was in an event called the decathlon. Even though his record went into the books, he did so poorly in the other events that he didn't win.
The long jump was a hint, because that's one of the events in the decathlon.
Do we have a winner?
TOM: Yeah, we do. The winner is Jill Sanford from Fort Collins, Colorado!
