Olympics
Olympics sports
The Olympic programme, sport by sport.
How olympics is organised, and which parts of it Arena already runs a page for. Anything without a link is architecture we have built but not yet filled — we do not publish a page until there is something on it.
Competitions
Summer Games
Architecture ready for a Games-by-Games page.
Winter Games
Architecture ready for a Games-by-Games page.
How the Games work
One calendar, dozens of independent sports and their own rulebooks.
Qualification
Quota places, ranking routes and national selection.
Medal table
Gold-first against total medals, and what the count hides.
The Olympic programme
How sports are added, changed and removed between editions.
Youth Olympic Games
Architecture ready. Not covered yet.
Paralympic Games
Architecture ready. Not covered yet.
Olympics reading
Arena original · Analysis
Why peaking is the whole Olympic problem
Most sports reward being good for months. The Olympics rewards being best on one specified morning, four years apart.
Arena original · Analysis
How heats and finals change tactics
Qualifying rounds are not smaller versions of the final. They are a different task with a different definition of success.
Arena original · Analysis
What judged sports are actually measuring
Scoring codes are attempts to convert a performance into a number, and understanding the code explains most apparent controversies.
Arena original · Analysis
Why marginal gains work, and when they do not
Small improvements compound in sports where outcomes are decided by tiny margins. In sports decided by decisions, they matter far less.
Arena original · Feature
The four-year life of a minority sport athlete
For most competitors the Games are the only fortnight anyone watches, and the rest is funding forms, part-time work and travel.
Arena original · Feature
How to watch a sport for the first time
Every four years millions of people watch disciplines they know nothing about. There is a quick way in, and it is not the rulebook.
Arena original · Feature
What a host city is actually buying
Hosting is sold as investment and criticised as expense. Both framings skip the part that determines the outcome: what happens to the venues afterwards.
Arena original · Blog
The medal table measures population and money
Ranking countries by medals mostly ranks them by size and spending, then presents the result as sporting merit.
Arena original · Blog
Every traditional sport was once the new one
Objections to newly added disciplines are usually objections to unfamiliarity, dressed as concerns about standards.