STARTING BLOCKS

Well done! You've reached the first pit stop of the race! Now, let's explore the first theme of our journey together: gender representation.
The Olympic Games have for a long time reflected broader social attitudes toward gender.
For decades, women were limited in their participation in the Olympics. They were excluded from many disciplines considered physically demanding or socially inappropriate. As a result, early editions of the Games were overwhelmingly dominated by men.

Over time, social change, institutional reforms and growing demands for equality expanded opportunities for women across sports and disciplines.
Swipe right to discover how the share of women evolved over time, and how some sports included women earlier than others. Have fun selecting different years to see how things have changed in both the Summer and Winter Games! You can also click on the play button to watch the timeline scroll through on its own. Remember this feature – you'll need it later on in the run!

Here we are – you've reached the second stop! Let's now take a closer look at how the medals are spread across the world!
As we might expect, Olympic medals are not distributed evenly across the world. While some countries and continents appear repeatedly on the podium, others participate without winning any medals. This reflects more than just athletic talent; access to training, funding, infrastructure and international sporting systems also play a part in determining Olympic success.

By swiping a first time to the right, you can find out where the world's medallists come from. In particular, you can explore the top 10 sports that have won the most medals.
Swiping a second time will let you find out more about the countries that have competed without winning a medal over the years. Don't be surprised if the number of countries without medals increases in the final plot. It's simply because more countries are participating overall. Feel free to click on the diagrams – sometimes additional information may appear!

Welcome to the third refreshment stand! Here, you can find out more about how athletes' physiques have changed over time!
As you may know, Olympic performance is also shaped by the physical demands of each sport. Different disciplines reward different combinations of height, weight, power, endurance, balance, and flexibility. There is no single "ideal" Olympic body: the body type that helps an athlete succeed depends strongly on the event.

By going to the next page, you will be able to compare medal-winning athletes by sport, disciplines, year, gender, height and weight! By exploring podiums across events, you will see how certain body profiles appear more often in specific disciplines. This will show you how athletic excellence is connected to both training and physical particularities! Have a blast!

You've reached the fourth pit stop of the race! We know geopolitics may sound boring, but it plays a critical role in the context of the Olympic Games. Indeed, the Olympics are often presented as a moment of global unity. However, they have repeatedly been shaped by wars, boycotts, political tensions, and international conflicts. Some Games were cancelled entirely, while others were marked by protests, exclusions, or reduced participation.

Now go and explore the world through its key geopolitics events and discover how they affected Olympic participation and medal rewards! By exploring specific years and countries, you will see how political decisions outside the stadium directly influenced who could compete, who stayed away, and how the Games were remembered. Don't waste any time! Go on!

Phew! This is your final stop! And perhaps the most important one… Of course! What could be more important than fairness?
In fact, in Olympic Games, medal tables usually reward countries with the highest number of podium finishes. But this can hide major differences in population, wealth, and resources. A country with a large population or strong economy may have more athletes, better facilities, and greater access to international competition.

If you swipe right, you can compare two countries' actual medals with a "fair" medal distribution adjusted by mean population and GDP. Compare your favourite countries, and don't forget to select years and seasons in which both of them took part!
By swiping another time to the right, you will be able to get a global view of a fair ranking compared to the real one!
Looking beyond the raw medal count will allow you to question what Olympic success really means, and whether the podium reflects equal opportunity or broader global inequalities. Why don't you go and try it all out?