The organisers of the Tokyo Olympic games have presided over the largest expansion since the 1920s
BY TODAY’S standards the first modern Olympics in 1896 were an understated affair. The games in Athens featured 241 men from 14 countries, competing for 43 gold medals across ten sporting disciplines. Like a weightlifter pumped full of steroids, the games have ballooned in the 125 years since. Tokyo will host 11,479 sportspeople from 206 countries who will compete for 339 gold medals in 50 different disciplines.
The International Olympic Committee reasons that this maximalist approach suits everybody. Since theof the Olympics in the late 1980s, ten sports have been added to the games, and 51 medal events added to sports that were already included. For some niche sports, such as archery, judo and weightlifting, competing at the Olympics is the pinnacle of a competitor’s career. For other sports, such as tennis and football, the games are just another event in a packed calendar .
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