C’est un grand plaisir d’écrire sur les Jeux olympiques d’hiver. I didn’t want to run afoul of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), whose official languages are French and English. That said, I’ll roll mostly with English the rest of the way. Here’s a quick overview of the Winter Olympics in 10 numbers.
1924
The year of the first Winter Olympics, held in Chamonix, France. Over 250 athletes from 16 nations participated. Originally called International Winter Sports Week and held in association with the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, the games were retroactively labeled as the Winter Olympics.
2
The number of times the Winter Olympics have been held in Lake Placid, a point that is not particularly important aside from the fact that the village is located in my preferred part of the world—upstate New York. (The famed Miracle on Ice occurred in Lake Placid during the 1980 proceedings.) Including 2022, the Winter Games have been held 24 times—less than might be expected due to cancellations in 1940 and 1944 on account of World War II—in 13 countries spanning 3 continents.
1
The number of cities that have hosted both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics. That city is Beijing, hosting the former in 2008 and the latter in 2022.
91
The number of countries and territories sending athletes to the 2022 Winter Olympics, less than half of the 206 that were represented in the preceding Summer Olympics.
2,861
The approximate number of athletes participating in the 2022 Winter Games, about one-fourth the number that participated in the preceding Summer Games. The US accounts for close to eight percent of those athletes, the largest share of any country.
109
The number of medal events in the 2022 Winter Olympics, spread across 15 disciplines in seven sports. My favorite sport is biathlon—who wouldn’t want to be really good at shooting a rifle while skiing?
5.4 million
The population of Norway, the country with the most all-time Winter Olympic medals. If Germany is considered just one country throughout the history of the Winter Games (ignoring the whole East Germany-West Germany thing), Norway drops to number two. Here’s a more complete medal table.
49 million
An estimate of the number of gallons of water needed to make artificial snow at the 2022 Winter Games.
3.9 billion
The estimated budget in US dollars announced by Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics. The ability to reuse some venues partly explains the massive discount relative to the $43 billion spent on the 2008 Summer Games.
12 billion
The amount in US dollars that NBC paid to the IOC for the rights to broadcast (in the US) all the Olympic Games—summer and winter—from 2014 to 2032. It follows that the sale of broadcast rights is a critical source of revenue for the IOC.
As a final point, I’ve found that watching the Winter Olympics is a lot easier than actually trying to play any of the sports. So while the world’s best athletes showcase their gifts, I can be located in my favorite place—the couch (sorry, le sofa).
2 Responses
Winter Olympics must exclude many countries in the tropical zone where the climate is hot in winter and hotter in summer.
Absolutely. Winter is typically a prerequisite for interest in winter sports.