oldkicker
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- Joined
- Aug 23, 1999
- Messages
- 9,835
There are 192 countries on the face of the earth. Three of them (Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and the Vatican City) are not represented at these games. That leaves 189 countries. There are 202 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) represented at these games!
The balance is made up of thirteen territories, commonwealths, and protectorates that have NOCs and can thus participate in the Olympics: American Samoa (U.S.), Aruba (Netherlands), Bermuda (U.K.), British Virgin Islands (U.K.), Cayman Islands (U.K.), Cook Islands (New Zealand), Guam (U.S.), Hong Kong (China), Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands), Palestine (occupied by Israel), Puerto Rico (U.S.), Taiwan (China) and the Virgin Islands (U.S.).
Afghanistan is being welcomed back to the Olympic family, having been suspended in October, 1999. Timor-Leste is participating for the very first time, having voted for independence from Indonesia on August 30, 1999. Kiribati is a first-timer too, having been recognized by the IOC in 2003.
The distribution of NOCs looks like this:
53 from Africa
42 from the Americas
44 from Asia
48 from Europe
15 from Oceania
Imagine that, no team from the Vatican!
There are 28 sports in the Summer Olympics: Aquatics, Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Equestrian, Fencing, Football (Soccer), Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, Judo, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Softball, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Weightlifting, Wrestling.
The United States is not participating in three of them: Handball, Hockey and (amazingly) Baseball.
More than 45,000 volunteers will provide various services throughout the Athens games.
10,500 athletes will compete, supported by 5,500 team officials.
There will be 301 medal ceremonies.
45,000+ security forces are in place.
21,500 media passes have been issued.
NBC is generating 1,210 hours of coverage, an average of 70 hours per day, over seven networks (NBC, NBC HDTV, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Bravo and Telemundo.)
3,500 urine samples will be tested by a drug lab that employs 140 scientists.
The Greek Public Order Ministry has ordered that bars, night clubs and cafes in Athens must close at 4:30 am from Sunday to Thursday during the games. There is no closing time on Fridays and Saturdays.
16,000 athletes and team officials will be housed in the Olympic Village during the games.
130,000 condoms are available in the athletes' village. Given that this is day 3, I estimate that 113,750 are left, based on a daily rate of usage of 8,125.
New medals are being introduced this year, the first significanat redesign since 1928. The front side now shows the goddess Nike arriving at Panathinaikon Stadium, where the modern Olympics began in 1896.
Just do it.
The balance is made up of thirteen territories, commonwealths, and protectorates that have NOCs and can thus participate in the Olympics: American Samoa (U.S.), Aruba (Netherlands), Bermuda (U.K.), British Virgin Islands (U.K.), Cayman Islands (U.K.), Cook Islands (New Zealand), Guam (U.S.), Hong Kong (China), Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands), Palestine (occupied by Israel), Puerto Rico (U.S.), Taiwan (China) and the Virgin Islands (U.S.).
Afghanistan is being welcomed back to the Olympic family, having been suspended in October, 1999. Timor-Leste is participating for the very first time, having voted for independence from Indonesia on August 30, 1999. Kiribati is a first-timer too, having been recognized by the IOC in 2003.
The distribution of NOCs looks like this:
53 from Africa
42 from the Americas
44 from Asia
48 from Europe
15 from Oceania
Imagine that, no team from the Vatican!
There are 28 sports in the Summer Olympics: Aquatics, Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Equestrian, Fencing, Football (Soccer), Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, Judo, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Softball, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Weightlifting, Wrestling.
The United States is not participating in three of them: Handball, Hockey and (amazingly) Baseball.
More than 45,000 volunteers will provide various services throughout the Athens games.
10,500 athletes will compete, supported by 5,500 team officials.
There will be 301 medal ceremonies.
45,000+ security forces are in place.
21,500 media passes have been issued.
NBC is generating 1,210 hours of coverage, an average of 70 hours per day, over seven networks (NBC, NBC HDTV, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Bravo and Telemundo.)
3,500 urine samples will be tested by a drug lab that employs 140 scientists.
The Greek Public Order Ministry has ordered that bars, night clubs and cafes in Athens must close at 4:30 am from Sunday to Thursday during the games. There is no closing time on Fridays and Saturdays.
16,000 athletes and team officials will be housed in the Olympic Village during the games.
130,000 condoms are available in the athletes' village. Given that this is day 3, I estimate that 113,750 are left, based on a daily rate of usage of 8,125.
New medals are being introduced this year, the first significanat redesign since 1928. The front side now shows the goddess Nike arriving at Panathinaikon Stadium, where the modern Olympics began in 1896.
Just do it.
