We sought out these odd and interesting facts and figures about the Winter Olympics and Colorado in preparation for this year’s games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
102
Total number of events athletes from 88 countries (with Russian athletes participating under the IOC flag) will compete in when South Korea hosts the Winter Olympics for the first time. The opening ceremonies kick off on February 9 and the games run until February 25.
57.2
Average number of snow days per year in PyeongChang, South Korea. That amounts to about eight feet of snow each year, approximately the same annual total as Mount Sunapee, New Hampshire.
8
The number of stones each team uses in curling. Reminder: Curling is hot!
78
Lindsey Vonn’s victory count in World Cup competition as of December 2017. That makes her the winningest American skier ever (male or female) and the top international female ski racer of all time. It also puts her just eight victories behind all-time champ Ingemar Stenmark. She holds four overall world titles and won Olympic gold at the 2010 games.
1976
Year that Austrian Franz Klammer won the Olympic downhill in Innsbruck, wearing Dynafit alpine boots. The brand, now famed for its AT boots made its first touring model in 1980.
282
Total number of Winter Olympic medals won by the U.S.A. in the history of the games. That’s good for second place all-time, trailing only Norway’s 329.
150,000
Cubic feet of snow the Austrian army had to transport to the slopes during the 1964 Olympics in Innsbruck. At the 2014 Olympics in unreliable Sochi, Russia, organizers cached 16-million cubic feet of snow in reservoirs to ensure that there would be winter on the balmy slopes.
151
Number of appearances athletes from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, have made in the winter games. They have represented 12 different countries and participated in 19 games. The town’s first Olympian, John Steele, placed 15th in Nordic jumping in the 1932 games.
0
Number of medals the U.S. has won in biathlon, which combines skiing and rifle shooting. The big hope this year rests as usual with four-time Olympian Tim Burke, 35, who was the first U.S. biathlete to lead the sport’s World Cup in 2009.
Two
Gold medals won by Denver native Eddie Egan. He stood atop the podium in boxing in 1920 in Antwerp, and in bobsled in 1932 at Lake Placid, making him the only person to achieve the feat at both the summer and winter games.
259
The total number of medals made in preparation for the PyeongChang games. A computer program created by entertainment and data company Gracenote predicts that Norway will take home 40 of those medals, Germany 34 and the U.S. 32.
$1.1 Million
Amount the Denver Olympic Organizing Committee (DOOC) spent in 1972 in a failed bid to host the 1976 Winter Olympics. That cost came without even building any infrastructure in preparation for the games, which Denver claimed it could put on for $30 million, despite the 1972 games costing Japan $70 million. In 2017, Colorado and city of Denver formed a committee to explore the possibility of hosting future games.
2
Number of skimo events, a vertical and individual race, that will be on exhibition at the PyeongChang games with the hope of landing the sport an official spot in China in 2022.
3
Number of times figure skating was included in the Summer Olympics before it moved to the Winter Olympics in 1924.
Five Hundred
The number of athletes and coaches the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center can accommodate with housing, dining, training facilities, recreational facilities and other services at one time. The U.S. Olympic Committee also makes its headquarters in the Springs.
