News: 2024 Olympics thread

Here an interesting overview:

https://nos.nl/artikel/2533024-cari...atieve-medaillelijstjes-nederland-in-top-tien

If you look only at medals for women, 'we' are fourth in the table. Among men 'we' are sixth. With Great Britain an equal amount of gold but more silver medals.

Hungary in relation to population also strong; you can see the Orban efforts there.

Our government only subsidizes for 45 million per year. If you compare this to Australia it is basically nothing.

Many of the top countries in the table have recently hosted a Summer Olympics in the last 30 years or will do soon again. USA, China, Australia, France, UK, Japan.

South Korea and Japan have recently hosted Winter Olympics, as did Italy (2006 and 2026).

Only Netherlands and Germany haven't nor will do in the near future.

 

I think it was also for Barcelona in 1992 helpful, even if it cost some money.

But it is just an observation by me that the top of the table is dominated by recent hosts or soon-to-be hosts. Many of them did or will do a Winter Olympics as well.

The exception is Germany + Netherlands.

 

Anyway, where did you read she wore it to make a statement against the French ban for their athletes?
I didnot see anything of that kind.

 

There is someone called Andrew Zimbalist who is very critical when it comes to the economic costs and benefits.

But he also wrote and said Barcelona 1992 is the poster child. The infrastructure, facilities received a huge boost. The number of tourists the city can handle.

Since the debacle of 2004 became clear, the IOC has seen increased difficulty in finding hosts. Paris, Los Angeles and Brisbane had simply limited or no competition.

 

Are you sure the IOC isnot twiddling the numbers on that wiki page

 

"Recent research by Alexander Budzier and Bent Flyvbjerg at Oxford University estimates that each Olympiad overshoots its original budget by an average of 195% (see chart 1). In Paris the figure is projected to be 115%."

https://www.economist.com/internati...-change-how-cities-host-the-olympics-for-good

Also mentions they have difficulty now to find someone. The 2012 edition had nine potential cities, 2016 seven, 2020 six, 2024 and 2028 together just two (one for each).

The 2020 edition included bids from Baku, Doha and Istanbul. There is an increased reliance on authoritarian regimes, too.

 

Global megalomaniac organisations only's resort for the idiotic spending for such an event are those authoritarian nations.

 

The nice thing is the BBC itself opted for sorting the table by gold medals. Suddenly it was like 'oooops others are now ahead'. There is no official IOC medal table or so.

I think the Brits are really nasty in some sports. Football increasingly so. In football they are increasingly using their power and economic weight, crooking their way in 2018, 2021 and 2024.

In Athletics they bumped our 4 × 400 relay team out in the qualifiers (silver in Tokyo), and a British jury did the rest. One competitor out and GB won bronze in Paris. They likely don't win a medal with our team qualifying for Paris.

In track cycling we have also those type of things, with a British jury doing some incredibly biased stuff. Screwing the French might not be so easy - and Australia is commonwealth territory - but smaller countries like ours consistently received the short end of the stick.

So yeah, great that we finished ahead of the 'Rule Britania' brigade. The win at all cost brigade, with a military mentality.

 

Some interesting articles and charts to conclude. Especially the first link. Search for the Orange dot!

https://english.elpais.com/sports/o...tries-fared-the-best-at-the-paris-games.html#

https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-ac...chien-wel-minder-goed-dan-we-denken~bb0ab1db/

"Using this system, only one team has beaten the Americans on medal points in the past nine games: the unified team representing the disbanded Soviet Union, at the Barcelona games in 1992. When China hosted the games in Beijing in 2008, it won more golds than the Americans but still lost when measuring by medal points. Hosts almost always enjoy a boost: France’s medal points nearly doubled from the previous edition in Tokyo. That may put China on the back foot at the next edition of the games in Los Angeles in 2028.

Although America and China have dominated the competition in recent years—together, they accounted for 22% of all medal points on offer in Paris, more than the accumulated share of the next four countries—more countries are getting on the podium. This year around 45% of participating countries won at least one medal. In 1992, the equivalent figure was 38%. Albania, Cape Verde, Dominica and St Lucia won their first-ever medals in Paris; Botswana and Guatemala secured their first golds. The improvement reflects the greater number of medals on offer, as more events are added, as well as sport’s globalisation, which has allowed techniques and knowledge to spread further and faster.
Ultimately, however, serious Olympic success is determined by the wealth and population of a country. Rich, big countries have more resources to invest and deeper pools of talent. The share of countries with more than 20 medals has remained largely unchanged since 1992. That makes a minnow’s success all the more special.
https://www.economist.com/graphic-d...medal-tally-at-the-olympic-games-was-lopsided

"But these tallies are in part the result of economic and demographic advantages. Rich countries, for example, can invest more money than poor ones in sporting infrastructure and coaching. In 2021 The Economist calculated that GDP explained more than half of the variation in Olympic medals between countries since 1960. Holding other things constant, if a country increases its share of global GDP by two percentage points, its share in Olympic medals increases by three points. At the Tokyo Games in 2021, for example, America, with a quarter of global GDP, won a tenth of the medals. It was the largest country on both measures.
To level the playing field we analysed countries that have won at least 20 medals this century and adjusted their final tally for GDP. By this measure the island nation of Jamaica is the top performer (see chart 2). For every $100bn worth of GDP (at 2015 prices) it nets 69 medals. Most of its medals come from just one event, athletics. Usain Bolt, a legendary, now-retired sprinter, accounts for eight golds. China and America both shoot down the ranking to 40th and 50th, respectively. India—which has won 0.3% of all medals since 2000—comes in last.

Population size plays a role, too. Bigger countries should, in theory, have a deeper pool of talent. That makes a ranking by medals per 1m people a bit fairer (see chart 3). India, now the world’s most populous country, again comes last: its medal haul since 2000 is 0.0026 of a medal per 1m people (or one medal per 385m people). China, the second most populous country, slides down to 40th and America to 50th; Jamaica—home to fewer than 3m people—tops the charts again with 3.5 medals per million.
These measures are not perfect indicators of national sporting prowess, either. The criterion of medals per person tends to favour small countries, many of which specialise in one sport. For example, if India’s athletes in Paris were to match Jamaica’s medal-per-person ratio at the Tokyo games, they would need to win 5,500 medals—more than five times the number that are on offer. A new paper by Robert Duncan and Andrew Parece, two statisticians, adjusts for the relatively large number of countries with small populations, and the limited number of medals on offer. By their calculations, Australia, which won 46 medals in Tokyo, is the leader in terms of the number of trophies as a share of its population, followed by Britain. America would slide down to sixth place.
https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2024/07/24/which-country-has-the-most-olympic-medals

 

https://sportnieuws.nl/olympische-s...-op-de-olympische-spelen-2024081119575826655/

There is no better time to receive the gold medal at the Olympic Games. The big smile on Sifan Hassan's face was more than justified. In a packed Stade de France, surrounded by all the Olympians, she was presented with the gold. Hassan took a historic gold medal in the marathon on Sunday morning. Earlier, she also won two bronze medals in Paris in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters. This had to be accompanied by an equally historic celebration. She got that too. The athlete received her gold medal at a very special moment: during the closing ceremony. She was surrounded by all the athletes, who had just entered the stadium. The Olympians of TeamNL were also close to the podium. Because of Hassan's gold medal, the national anthem was also played during the closing ceremony in Paris. And that's special. A beautiful moment for the Olympic champion who smiled from ear to ear.

 

https://sportnieuws.nl/olympische-s...ensen-niet-die-bang-zijn-2024073010113139510/
Sifan's headscarf had nothing to do with any "statement".