The Opening Ceremonies for the 2012 Summer Olympics are set to kick off shortly at Olympic Stadium in London, featuring what hopes to be a stunning opening performance directed by Danny Boyle and appearances by British royalty such as Paul McCartney and David Beckham (as well as actual members of the British Royal Family.) But theatrics and ceremony aside, some Olympic hopefuls have already started competing in preliminary rounds, including a record-setting performance by Im Dong-hyun, a legally-blind archer from South Korea this this morning.
For record broken and for every medal awarded at the Olympics, there are a number of interesting correlations between an athlete’s success and his background. Though Im is 10 percent blind in one eye and 20 percent blind in another, many factors including his nation’s GDP, collective Olympic ambitions and overall sporting culture, will play into his and his fellow athlete’s successes throughout the Games.
For more insight on how records are set, medals are won and even how drug tests are performed, watch the following program from Gresham College (in London) that examines the relationship between mathematics and sport.
Mathematics and Sport: Records, Medals and Drug Taking from Gresham College and Gresham College on FORA.tv
