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We’re on the ground in Rio covering the 2016 Summer Olympics. Check out all our coverage here.
Welcome to the latest episode of Hot Takedown, FiveThirtyEight’s sports podcast. On this week’s show (Aug. 16, 2016), FiveThirtyEight editor-in-chief Nate Silver joins us to talk about his Olympics viewing schedule and what would happen if the medal table were weighted toward the most popular sports. Then we talk to FiveThirtyEight’s Allison McCann, on location in Brazil, about the quarterfinal loss by the U.S. women’s national soccer team. Finally, we discuss Usain Bolt, who on Sunday won his third straight Olympic gold medal in the 100 meters. Is he already the greatest Olympian of all time? How can we quantify that anyway? Plus, a significant digit on the amount of money spent by English Premier League teams during the summer transfer window.
Links to what we discuss are here:
- Nate Silver investigates which countries medal in the sports that people watch the most.
- Carl Bialik writes that according to FiveThirtyEight’s odds, the USWNT probably wasn’t going to win Olympic gold anyway.
- ESPN’s Stats & Information Group breaks down the numbers behind the U.S.’s loss to Sweden.
- Laura Wagner at Slate thinks the USWNT will be fine as long as it dumps goalkeeper Hope Solo.
- The New York Times uses a series of graphics to show how Bolt compares with 100-meter Olympic champions of the past.
- The Times breaks down how Bolt came from behind to win.
- Significant Digit: £794 million. That’s the amount of money spent by EPL teams in the 2016 summer transfer window, through the beginning of August. There are still two weeks to go before the window closes, and spending looks like it will break the EPL record of £870 million that was set last year.
