Chapter 322: The End of the Olympics and the Medal Table
On June 9, 1912, the fifth Summer Olympic Games, the Sydney Olympics, officially began in the capital of Australasia, Sydney.
31 countries from around the world, with more than 3,500 athletes, attended and participated in the opening ceremony held on June 9.
According to statistics from the Australasia government, over 50,000 spectators attended the opening ceremony, with an additional 100,000 Australians outside the stadium watching.
It was undoubtedly a nationally anticipated event. Worldwide, governments from multiple countries and tens of millions of people were also closely watching this Olympic Games.
Arthur also attended and personally announced the official opening of the Olympics.
Arthur's presence caused a frenzy among the people of Australasia, and it also showed the level of popularity he enjoyed in the country.
From the list of participants in both the opening and closing ceremonies, it was clear that the Australasia government attached great importance to this Olympic Games.
Arthur personally delivered the opening speech, and Prime Minister Kent would deliver the closing speech.
More importantly, the first gold medal of the Olympics was to be presented by Arthur himself and would be forever recorded in the history of the Sydney Olympics.
It's important to note that according to the announcement from the International Olympic Committee, all medals awarded at this Olympic Games would be recorded in history and officially recognized by the IOC.
This means that the first gold medal of this Olympics would be regarded as the first officially recognized gold medal in history, and its value and commemorative significance would naturally be irreplaceable.
It is worth mentioning that even the Balkan countries, despite being engulfed in war, sent a number of athletes to participate in this Olympic Games.
There were many new countries joining the Olympics for the first time, including Egypt, Luxembourg, Portugal, Syria, and the Island Nation.
This made the total number of athletes surpass previous records. As of now, the Sydney Olympics was the largest in terms of both the number of participating athletes and countries compared to the previous four Olympic Games.
The Olympics would last until the end of July. For Australasia, the two-month duration of the Olympics was one of the most important tasks for the government in recent times.
Conservative estimates suggest that the Olympics attracted hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors to Australasia, greatly boosting the development of Sydney and nearby cities.
However, at the same time, the large influx of foreign tourists also brought significant challenges to the security of these cities.
Starting from May, Arthur ordered the security departments to send more police from other cities to maintain law and order in Sydney and the surrounding cities.
Such a grand event, watched by the entire world, could not be allowed to be marred by security issues, and Arthur certainly would not accept such a scenario.
After all, Arthur was hoping that this Olympics would introduce the world to Australasia, showing them the quality of life in the country.
This would greatly help the government attract immigrants, and such small issues must not get in the way of that.
Compared to the Stockholm Olympics in history, the Sydney Olympics was somewhat more concise and moved faster than previous ones.
Under Arthur's personal supervision, in just over a month, events such as athletics, swimming, cycling, shooting, gymnastics, wrestling, equestrian, fencing, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, football, and tennis had all concluded, signaling that the Olympics was entering its final phase.
For Australasia, the good news was that every event had an audience of more than 30,000 people, setting a new record for spectators.
Australasia had conducted preliminary statistics based on ticket sales and expected viewers, and during the Olympics, a total of 2,433,251 tickets were sold, and more than 410,000 people attended. Both the total number of tickets sold and the number of spectators created new historical highs.
These more than 2.4 million tickets generated nearly 6 million Australian dollars in revenue for Australasia. Adding to this the spending of the athletes and foreign tourists in Sydney, the government was surprised to find that the cost of hosting the Olympics seemed to be much lower than expected.
Although building the Australasia National Stadium had cost a substantial amount, the construction of the stadium was necessary to meet the demands of developing sports.
Overall, the cost of hosting the Olympics was absolutely worth it. The Australasia government and royal family had spent nearly 15 million Australian dollars on the Olympics.
Currently, the revenue from ticket sales alone had already covered 6 million Australian dollars, and when factoring in the visibility and influence the Olympics brought to Australasia, the money spent was definitely not wasted.
Arthur was even planning to consider hosting another Olympic Games after the war, or perhaps creating other sporting events, as there was still money to be made from ticket sales and it would provide more entertainment options for the people of Australasia.
Thinking about this, Arthur was already considering organizing a national sports competition throughout Australasia.
But for now, with the Olympics just finished, there was no need for another national sporting event to overshadow the current one.
In terms of sports competition, this Olympics had been quite intense.
Currently, the political implications of sports were significant, meaning that athletes were under pressure from their governments, and they had even been given instructions before departure.
For these athletes, they had the expectations of their countries' citizens behind them, as well as the pressure from their governments.
The best way to satisfy both the people and the government was to win a gold medal or defeat athletes from rival countries in a specific sport.
This time, the Olympic Games published a medal table, and the International Olympic Committee specifically announced that the number of medals each country won would be recorded in history and added to the official Olympic medal tally.
This meant that countries with an advantage in medals would have a prominent place in the overall Olympic medal tally.
As the host country, Australasia naturally had an absolute advantage in the medal race.
The additional sports events that Australasia had introduced saw all the gold, silver, and bronze medals awarded to Australasian athletes.
At this time, there was no rule prohibiting a country from sweeping all the medals in a specific event, and as the host nation, Australasia had the advantage of training in advance for the new events, making it only natural that they took all the medals.
In the Sydney Olympics medal table, which was also part of the overall Olympic medal tally, Australasia held an absolute lead with a total of 71 medals.
Out of these 71 medals, 31 were gold, 24 were silver, and 16 were bronze. Australasia's gold and silver medal counts were both first in this Olympics, while their bronze count was second.
In second place in the medal table was the United States, which earned a total of 61 medals, with 23 gold, 19 silver, and 19 bronze. The United States had the second highest number of gold and silver medals, and the highest number of bronze medals, making them the second country in total medals, right after Australasia.
The third place went to the United Kingdom, currently the world's leading power. It was unthinkable for the UK to fall out of the top three, reflecting the strength and prestige of the British Empire.
The United Kingdom earned 41 medals in total, with 10 gold, 15 silver, and 16 bronze, placing third in all categories.
In fourth place was Finland, with 9 gold, 8 silver, and 9 bronze medals, totaling 26 medals.
France came in fifth with 7 gold, 4 silver, and 3 bronze medals, totaling 14 medals.
Germany came in sixth with 5 gold, 13 silver, and 7 bronze medals, totaling 25 medals.
In total, 18 countries won medals, making up nearly half of the countries that participated in the Olympics.
It's worth mentioning that all major powers earned medals. First, they had the resources to invest heavily in sports, and second, as major powers, they had to earn at least one medal, unless they were already declining.
The rules for ranking the medal table were simple: countries were ranked first by gold medals, then by silver, and if gold and silver were the same, by bronze.
Overall, this Olympics was quite fair, with the referees for each event mostly provided by the International Olympic Committee and Australasia.
Australasia, as the host, dominated the medal table and the overall Olympic medal tally, and other countries had little objection.
After all, it was considered a benefit of being the host nation, which allowed Australasia to freely add new sports events.
Typically, host countries choose sports that they are good at, or even create sports unique to their country. In such cases, it would be almost impossible for them not to take the top spots in the medal table.
This Olympics also broke many records, as athletes' training had become more formalized, and countries invested more in their sports programs.
This led to higher levels of performance, and breaking records in sports competitions became an expected occurrence.
Of course, the true reason behind the breaking of records in this Olympics was the fact that all results would be permanently recorded in the history of the Olympics.
In previous Olympics, breaking records often didn't make the news, but breaking records in Sydney would be forever remembered in the annals of Olympic history.
Unless future athletes broke those records, the record-breakers in this Olympics would always be the ones remembered for decades.
Athletes recognized their achievements in this Olympics, especially given the advanced electronic timing and finish-line camera equipment used.
Australasia had invested considerable funds into these technologies, which made the results of this Olympics, particularly in athletics, more accurate and precise to 0.1 seconds.
This was the main reason why the International Olympic Committee officially recognized the results of this Olympics and permanently recorded them in history.
With the combined technology of electronic timing and finish-line cameras, athletes' achievements were guaranteed to be correct, with minimal risk of human error.
(End of Chapter)
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