007 For the Love of Olympics – For the Love of Data

Fun Fact: The main riff in NBC’s Olympic them is from Bugler’s Dream (1958) by  Leo Arnaud. History Most believe games started in 776 BC as part of a religious festival in Greece to honor Zeus; however, some evidence suggests it could have started as early as the 10th century BC The stadion race was the first event, a 600 foot race. This may have been the only event for the first 13 Olympics They occurred every four years for twelve centuries, until 396 AD; then there was a break in games until 1896 How to Qualify for the Olympics Individual: For each gender, up to three people per country can attend if they meet the entry standard For each gender, one person per country can attend if no one meets the standard Team: Each country may send one team that meets the entry standard Slightly more complicated criteria for relays and marathon – generally involving your finish in various qualifying events Fun Fact: The marathon was not added until 1896 in Athens and was standardized at 26.2 miles in the 1908 London games because that was the distance between Windsor Castle and White City Stadium. Cost of the Games Many people feel the Olympics are a terrible investment for the host country. Rio’s estimated cost was $3bn, but it is projected to be at least 50% over budget at approximately $4.6bn. MetricValue BRL / month1972 BRD to USD0.31 USD / month611.32 USD / year7335.84 Estimated cost of games4600000000 Cost in # of yearly salaries627058.39 Population209567920 Cost in % of population0.002992 Sochi is the most expensive so far, but Summer games are typically more expensive than Winter. Fun Fact: The first Winter games were in 1924 (Chamonix). Who are the Athletes? Country Rankings CountryPopulation AthletesRank by # of Athletes United States3241187875631 Brazil2095679204832 Germany806823514403 Australia243093304284 France646681294085 United Kingdom (Great Britain)651111433726 China13823233323527 Canada362863783208 Japan1263237153129 Spain4606460431210 CountryPopulation AthletesRank by Population China13823233323521 India13268015761232 United States3241187875633 Indonesia260581100284 Brazil2095679204835 Pakistan19282650276 Nigeria186987563777 Bangladesh16291086478 Russian Federation1434398322839 Mexico12863200412510 CountryPopulation AthletesRank Per Capita Republic of the Cook Islands*2094891 Palau2150152 Nauru1026323 San Marino3195054 British Virgin Islands*3065945 Bermuda*6166286 Saint Kitts and Nevis5618377 Seychelles97026108 Tuvalu994319 Antigua and Barbuda92738910 Fun Fact: The flame started at the 1928 Amsterdam games. Gender & Age Breakdown Who are the Oldest and Youngest of All Time? CategoryMaleFemale Oldest CompetitorOscar Swahn (Sweden) Age 72 1920, ShootingLorna Johnstone (UK) Age 70 1972, Equestrian Oldest Gold MedalistOscar Swahn (Sweden) Age 64 1912, ShootingLida "Eliza" Pollock (USA) Age 63 1904, Team Archery (Bronze) Oldest MedalistOscar Swahn (Sweden) Age 72 1920, Shooting (Silver)Lida "Eliza" Pollock (USA) Age 63 1904, Archery (Bronze) Youngest Gold MedalistKlaus Zerta (Germany) Age 13 1960, RowingDonna Elizabeth de Varona (USA) Age 13 1960, Swimming - Team Youngest MedalistDimitrios Loundras (Greece) Age 10 1896, Gymnastics - Team (Bronze)Luigina Giavotti (Italy) Age 11 1928, Gymnastics - Team (Silver) Fun Fact: Boxing and wrestling were added in 708 BC and 688 BC respectively. A Look at the Medals Summer Medal Values & Rewards Gold: $600 (The gold medal consist of just 1% of actual gold, 92.5% silver and 6.16% copper). Silver: $325 (While in silver medal, the gold is replaced by more copper, the rest of the material is the same like gold medal) Bronze: $3 (Bronze medal however is 97% copper and 2.5% zinc and 0.5% tin) Who are the Big Winners at Rio 2016? Total Medals Italy and Canada had a strong showing in total medals, but fell off in gold medals Top 10 controlled almost 60% of total medals CountryTotal Medals % of Total MedalsRunning TotalRank United States1210.124229979466120.124229979466121 China700.0718685831622180.196098562628342 United Kingdom (Great Britain)670.0687885010266940.264887063655033 Russian Federation560.0574948665297740.32238193018484 Germany420.0431211498973310.365503080082145 France420.0431211498973310.408624229979475 Japan410.0420944558521560.450718685831626 Australia290.0297741273100620.480492813141687 Italy280.0287474332648870.509240246406578 Canada220.022587268993840.531827515400419 Korea, South210.0215605749486650.5533880903490810 Fun Fact: If Texas were a country, it would rank 8th for # of medals in the 2016 Summer Olympics. Total Gold Brazil and Argentina won many golds, but few others Top 10 controlled 70% of total golds CountryGold % of Gold MedalsRunning TotalRank United States460.149837133550490.149837133550491 United Kingdom (Great Britain)270.0879478827361560.237785016286642 China260.0846905537459280.322475570032573 Russian Federation190.0618892508143320.384364820846914 Germany170.0553745928338760.439739413680785 Japan120.0390879478827360.478827361563526 France100.032573289902280.51140065146587 Korea, South90.0293159609120520.540716612377858 Netherlands80.0260586319218240.566775244299679 Australia80.0260586319218240.59283387622159 Hungary80.0260586319218240.618892508143329 Italy80.0260586319218240.644951140065159 Brazil70.0228013029315960.6677524429967410 Spain70.0228013029315960.6905537459283410 Percentage of Medal Type by Country Six countries won nothing but Gold Fiji and Argentina dominated in Golds as a % of total medals CountryGold Silver Bronze Total Medals Puerto Rico*1001 Singapore1001 Tajikistan1001 Kosovo1001 Jordan1001 Fiji1001 Argentina0.750.2504 Jamaica0.545454545454550.272727272727270.1818181818181811 Hungary0.533333333333330.20.2666666666666715 Croatia0.50.30.210 Greece0.50.166666666666670.333333333333336 Slovakia0.50.504 Bahrain0.50.502 Vietnam0.50.502 Independent Olympic Athletes0.500.52 Cote d'Ivoire0.500.52 The Bahamas0.500.52 Fun Fact: Swimming was added as an event in 1896 (freestyle); backstroke was added in 1904. Michael Phelps 32nd among 205 currently competing countries as far as most medals won 28 total medals – 23 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze 13 individual medals puts him ahead of Leonidas of Rhodes – sprinter form 152BC 50 miles swam per week in prep for 2008 Olympics; 12,000 calories consumed each day If Katie Ledecky maintained her current medal pace, she’d be 39 before she tied Phelps He hasn’t won bronze since 2004   Popularity of Events Swimming, Track and Field, Gymnastics, and Soccer are the most popular sports for people to watch. 538 did an interesting comparison in the 2012 Olympics to come up with a medal multiplier based on number of events vs. number of viewers. The US, China, and Russia dominate on an adjusted medal count.   See the chart below (again based on London 2012). Sailing, for instance, has a lot of events but not much viewership, so it gets a reduction. Soccer, however, has only a few events but a large amount of viewers, so it’s multiplier is very high. Growth – Interest in the Olympics, number of events, number of competitors, and costs are all going up. On a per capita basis, it hasn’t been this hard to win a medal since 1896. Sources http://www.penn.museum/sites/olympics/olympicorigins.shtml http://www.npr.org/sections/thetorch/2016/08/11/487838010/what-team-usa-looks-like-a-by-the-numbers-look-at-america-s-olympic-athletes?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news https://github.com/flother/rio2016 http://www.npr.org/sections/thetorch/2016/08/14/489832779/if-michael-phelps-were-a-country-where-would-his-gold-medal-tally-rank http://www.foxsports.com/olympics/gallery/28-incredible-facts-about-michael-phelps-28-olympic-medals-23-golds-count-how-many-081316 http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-country/http://olympstats.com/ http://olympstats.com/ http://www.topendsports.com/events/summer/oldest-youngest.htm http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/winning-an-olympic-gold-medal-hasnt-been-this-difficult-since-1896/ http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/which-countries-medal-in-the-sports-that-people-care-about/ http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/hosting-the-olympics-is-a-terrible-investment/ https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1607/1607.04484.pdf http://www.chron.com/olympics/article/Where-Texas-would-rank-in-Olympic-medal-count-if-9176024.php http://www.tradingeconomics.com/brazil/wages https://www.google.com/?ion=1&espv=2#q=brl%20to%20usd http://www.totalsportek.com/news/olympic-gold-medal-prize-money/ http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/19/sport/olympic-rewards-by-country/ https://www.olympic.org/swimming-equipment-and-history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_2016_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Qualification#Qualifying_standards