GEMINI

  Before writing this book, my knowledge of Gemini was simply that they were mythical twin brothers called Castor and Pollux in the days of ancient Rome. I also knew that when they were supposed to have died, they were given their own constellation in the sky. (It’s actually one of the easier Zodiac constellations to spot).

 That wasn’t helping me in finding out what Gemini athletes excelled at, so I decided to google Gemini. The first entry I found was the Wikipedia page on Gemini (astrology) where I was attracted to the following Gemini traits:

• Active

• Adaptable

• Articulate

• Communicative

• Charming

• Multitasking

• Nimble

• Entertaining

• Upbeat

• Social

• Talkative

• Open-minded

• Joyful

• Enthusiastic

• Attention-loving

• Energetic

• Playful

• Out-going

• Adventurous

• Spontaneous

• Verbal

• Risk-taking

• Friendly

• Dynamic

• Youthful

These seemed to me to be team player traits. Not necessarily those for aggressive sports like Ice Hockey or Field Hockey but more like those needed for a sport like Curling.

 Was I right?

 Well, yes and no. Yes for females and No for males. Here is the chart showing the percentage of total medals won by female Gemini athletes for all Olympic team sports.

The dotted grey line shows the expected percentage. Water Polo, Curling, Basketball and Football (Soccer) are significantly above expected.

Combining these significant sports for Women, gives this result.

All Women’s Water Polo, Curling, Football and Basketball Competitions.

  The probability of Gemini athletes getting this many medals is over 1 in 100,000. However, it is fair to criticise this probability on the grounds that I have somewhat arbitrarily chosen these four sports. Nevertheless, the chances of getting four probabilities as high as this out of a total of 9 sports is still very slim (approximately 2,000 to 1).

 On looking at the male team sports, only Polo is significantly higher than expected.

And that gave me a clue to the next Gemini aptitude.

 Going back to Wikipedia, the article specifically on Castor and Pollux states that Castor was a great horseman and that he was venerated much more than Pollux, who was a boxer. So, we’ll never mind the Pollux and concentrate on the equestrian side.

 Currently, the Olympic Equestrian disciplines are:

• Jumping
• Eventing
• Dressage

 Of these, Gemini equestrians, although not much better than average at Jumping, are better than average at Dressage and Eventing. Eventing has a substantial Dressage component to it.

These two disciplines have competitions for individuals and for teams. Gemini are not much better than average at Individual competitions but are highly significantly better than average in the team competitions.

 Combining these team competitions with the Polo competitions, (Polo was an Olympic sport in 1900, 1908, 1920, 1924 and 1936), gives the following chart.

 All Equestrian Team Dressage, Eventing and Polo Competitions.

The probability of Gemini being due to chance is more than 1 in 350.

 There is one other sporting area I found Geminis to be good at. Male Geminis are significantly better than average at Weightlifting. (Women’s Weightlifting events only started in 2000 so it is too early yet to make a judgement on them).

When combined with Tug of War, which was an Olympic event from 1900 to 1920, it gives the following chart. Gemini is once more very highly significant.

All Weightlifting and Tug of War Competitions

What does this mean?

 It seems to me that Gemini athletes excel when they are trying to unite themselves with something else. In female teams, they are trying to unite the individual players in a team. I suspect that in the teams where they don’t excel and in male teams, other qualities probably count for more than what is often called “team spirit”.

 With the Equestrian discipline of Dressage, the Gemini athlete unites with the horse and this carries over onto Eventing. It seems that they need the additional impetus of being on a team to be able to beat their nearest competitors, which happen to be Leos.

 In Weightlifting, is the Gemini athlete uniting with the bar to lift the weight as in the Tug of War where he is uniting with his fellow athletes to pull the rope?

 I don’t know!

 Curiosity Corner

 Did you know that there have been several twins who have been awarded the same medal in the same competition at the same time? 

For example: 

·         Sandy & Sonia Chick of Zimbabwe - gold medallists in Hockey in 1980 - and Geminis! 

·         Peter & Pavol Hochschorner of Slovakia - gold medallists in Canoe Slalom in 2004

·         Patrick & Pascal Barré of France – bronze medallists in the 4 x 100m relay in 1980 

·         Henrik & Daniel Sedin of Canada -  gold medallists in Ice Hockey in 2006 

·         Bernd & Jorg Landvoigt of East Germany- gold medallists in Coxless Pairs Rowing in 1976 & 1980 

·         Yuri & Nikolai Pimenov of the Soviet Union – silver medallists in Coxless Pairs Rowing in 1980, the same competition in which Bernd & Jorg Landvoigt won the gold medal. Moreover, both sets of twins are identical and both sets are Aries, the only sign which has significantly more medallists in Rowing.