So today FIFA saw the doggy doo-doo hit the rotary cooling instrument at the Baur au Lac Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland, when 14 people were indicted by FBI officials for purported bribery on various FIFA projects.

I think I’ve seen things like this before. And in fact, I wrote a lot about it. Attached is a PDF of the article I wrote on the 1999 Olympic Bribery Scandal for the Journal of Olympic History, which can also be found here – library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/JOH/JOHv8n2/johv8n2f.pdf

Plus ça change, plus ça meme chôse

• Olympic Bribery Scandal

The FIG (Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique) today voted to change the size of men’s and women’s gymnastics teams at the Olympics from 5 to 4, beginning at the 2020 Olympics. This is in keeping with the trend in decreasing the size of gymnastics teams at the Olympics. In general, this has occurred every few years, with rare exceptions (1932, 1996). Since 1924, when the team all-around assumed basically the modern format, here are the allowed number of gymnasts in the team event at the Olympics.

This is really getting down to a small team, and not sure what the rationale is here. There will be four gymnasts in 2020, all competing on each apparatus, with the best three scores on each apparatus to count.

[table]

year,gender,###

1924,M,8

1928,M,8

1932,M,5

1936,M,8

1948,M,8

1952,M,8

1956,M,6

1960,M,6

1964,M,6

1968,M,6

1972,M,6

1976,M,6

1980,M,6

1984,M,6

1988,M,6

1992,M,6

1996,M,7

2000,M,6

2004,M,6

2008,M,6

2012,M,5

2016,M,5

2020,M,4

,,

1928,F,10

1936,F,8

1948,F,8

1952,F,8

1956,F,6

1960,F,6

1964,F,6

1968,F,6

1972,F,6

1976,F,6

1980,F,6

1984,F,6

1988,F,6

1992,F,6

1996,F,7

2000,F,6

2004,F,6

2008,F,6

2012,F,5

2016,F,5

2020,F,4

[/table]

With the NCAA basketball final tonite in the United States (which Duke will quite obviously win [disclaimer – yes, I went to Duke]), this is one of the three major basketball titles that US basketballers can win. Technically, any player could win, especially that foreign players are now much more common both in the NBA and in college basketball, but historically this has been mostly limited to American players.

How many players have managed to win the Triple Crown – winning a title at the NCAA level, in the NBA, and an Olympic gold medal? Well, its only 7 players and it hasn’t happened now in quite awhile, possibly because the top players don’t stay in college as long. Here is the list:

[table]

Name,Olympics,NCAA,NBA

Clyde Lovelette,1952, Univ. of Kansas-1952,Lakers-1954/Celtics-1963-64

Bill Russell,1956,Univ. of San Francisco-1955-56,Celtics-1957/59-66/1968-69

K.C. Jones,1956,Univ. of San Francisco-1955-56,Celtics-1959-66

Jerry Lucas,1960,Ohio State Univ.-1960,Knicks-1973

Quinn Buckner,1976,Indiana Univ.-1976,Celtics-1984

Michael Jordan,1984/92,UNC-1982,Bulls-1991-93/96-98

Magic Johnson,1992,Michigan State Univ.-1979,Lakers-1980/82/85/87-88

[/table]

Of note, Clyde Lovelette won an NBA title with the Lakers when they were the Minneapolis Lakers.

Its now been 23 years since Magic and Michael Jordan were on the Dream Team in 1992 and Magic completed his Triple Crown – Michael had already done that in 1991 when he led the Chicago Bulls to the NBA title.

Evelyn Furtsch, gold medalist in the 4×100 metre relay with the United States team at the 1932 Olympics, died in her sleep in Santa Ana, California on 5 March 2015. She was 100-years-old, only a few weeks short of her 101^st birthday (17 April). In our post (by Paul Tchir) a few days ago on oldest living Olympians, Furtsch was described as the oldest living gold medalist in track & field athletics, while in fact she had passed away a few weeks before we wrote that. The news has only just reached us.

There are still six remaining Olympic centenarians (see https://olympstats.com/2015/03/23/oldest-living-olympians-part-2/). The oldest living track & field Olympian remains Simone Schaller (USA-1932/1936), born 22 August 1912, and now over 102-years-old.

The oldest living female track & field Olympic gold medalist now becomes Dana Zátopková, Czech javelin thrower who won the 1952 Olympic title, who will turn 93-years-old on 19 September of this year, and is three days older than Esther Brand, who won the high jupm that year in Helsinki. The oldest living track & field gold medalist, however, is Cliff Bourland, who won gold in the 4×400 relay at the 1948 Olympics. Bourland was born 1 January 1921, and is now over 94-years-old. We believe the oldest living female gold medalist in any sport  is Finnish cross-country skiier Lydia Wideman, who won gold in the 10 km race at the 1952 Oslo Winter Olympics, and was born on 17 May 1920.

Rest in peace to Evelyn Furtsch, a pioneer in women’s sports in the United States, and our sympathies to her family.

From our group of OlyMADMen, the following has been produced by Paul Tchir, aka Canadian Paul, our resident expert on oldest living Olympians.

 

The death at the age of 106 of Swiss artist Hans Erni, believed to be the oldest living former Olympian, raises the issue of who has succeeded him in this title. Erni was the second-longest-lived Olympian of all time, behind his predecessor to the title American Walter Walsh, as well of one of very few remaining individuals who competed in the Olympic Art Competitions, which were last held in 1948. Although there were are a handful of Olympians older than Erni whose death has not been confirmed, it seems unlikely that someone would have reached 106 years of age in the era of the internet and escaped any notice whatsoever.

Erni was born in 1909 and was the last known living Olympian to have been born that year. His longevity meant that he outlived the final known survivors from 1910 (Italian Attilio Pavesi, a double Olympic champion from the 1932 cycling tournament, who died August 2, 2011) and 1911 (Chilean Juan Reccius, a competitor in the 1936 triple jump, who died June 29, 2012), although Mien Klaver, an alternate on the Dutch women’s 4×100 metre relay team, turned 104 on February 26 of this year. Olympians born in 1912, however, have fared far better, with four of the five Olympians who reached their centenary in 2012 still with us as of this posting (the fifth, French skiing legend and 1936 Olympic bronze medalist Émile Allais died several months after his 100^th birthday). They are:

Guo Jie of China, who took part in the men’s discus throw at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Guo, born January 16, 1912 in Dalian, is his nation’s longest-lived competitor, the last member of its delegation to the 1936 Games, and was still physically active at his 102^nd birthday. To the best of our knowledge, he now takes the title of the oldest living Olympic competitor.

Swedish diver Ingeborg Sjöqvist, born April 19, 1912, who took part in the 1932 and 1936 Summer Olympics and was runner-up in platform diving at the 1931 and 1934 European Championships.

American athlete Simone Schaller, born August 22, 1912, who participated in the 80 m hurdles tournament in 1932 and 1936 and is the longest-lived American female Olympian.

Baron Eduard von Falz-Fein, born September 14, 1912, who represented Liechtenstein in bobsled at the 1936 Winter Olympics and is the longest-lived Winter Olympian.

Additionally, there are three other known living Olympic centenarians:

Sándor Tarics, born September 23, 1913, who was a member of Hungary’s gold medal-winning water polo team in 1936 and is confirmed as the oldest living Olympic champion and the second- longest-lived Olympic champion, behind American James Stillman Rockefeller, who died in August 2004 at the age of 102 years, 63 days.

Evelyn Furtsch, born April 17, 1914, who earned a gold medal with the United States’ 4x100m relay team in 1932 and is the longest-lived Olympic track and field gold medalist.

Evelyn Furtsch

American John Lysak (born August 16, 1914), who competed in the Men’s Folding Kayak, 10 km canoeing event at the 1936 Summer Games.

Outside of centenarians, Carla Marangoni (born November 13, 1915) is notable as the last known survivor of the 1928 Summer Olympics: she won a silver medal for Italy in the team gymnastics competition that year. Moreover, it is also possible to produce a definitive list of the six oldest Olympic champions:

Sándor Tarics, born September 23, 1913, M HUN WAP 1936

Evelyn Furtsch, born April 17, 1914, F USA ATH 1932

Durward Knowles, born November 2, 1917, M BAH SAI 1964 (also bronze in 1956 and competed in 1948, 1952, 1960, 1968, 1972, and 1988)

Martin Lundström, born May 30, 1918, M SWE CCS 1948 (twice, also bronze in 1952)

Adolph Kiefer, born June 27, 1918, M USA SWI 1936

Jack Günthard, born January 8, 1920, M SUI GYM 1952 (also silver)

[table]

Field,Parameter

Full Name,Elizabeth Evadna “Betty” Brey (Mullen-)

Used Name,Betty Brey

Born,23 November 1931 – Weissport; Pennsylvania (USA)

Died,21 March 2015 – Orlando; Florida (USA)

Vitals (1956),165 cm / 59 kg

Affiliations,Walter Reed Swim Club; Washington

[/table]

[table]

Olympics,Event,Place,Medal

1956 Summer ,4×100 free relay,2 ,

[/table]

[table]

Pan-Ams,Event,Place,Medal

1951,200 freestyle,2,Silver

1951,4×100 free relay,1,Gold

1955,100 butterfly,2,Silver

1955,4×100 medley relay,1,Gold

[/table]

Betty Brey won two gold medals at the Pan-American Games, winning with the 4×100 freestyle relay in 1951 and the medley relay in 1955. She also won individual silvers in the 200 freestyle in 1951 and the 100 butterfly in 1955. Brey won three national titles, swimming with the winning Walter Reed Swim Club medley relay at the 1956 AAU Indoors and Outdoors, and winning the 100 yard butterfly at the 1955 AAU Indoors, where she set a short course world record. She competed as Betty Mullen until 1956. At the 1956 Olympics she swam in the heats of the 4×100 freestyle relay, and by the rules in force at that time, she did not receive a medal.

Brey attended Purdue University where she was a majorette with the Purdue Marching Band, She was also an accomplished musician and later coached swimming at George Washington University. Brey is a member of the Indiana Swimming Hall of Fame. Her son, Mike Brey, became a well-known college basketball coach in the United States, serving as an assistant coach at Duke from 1987-1995, as head coach of the University of Delaware from 1995-2000 and as head coach at Notre Dame beginning in 2000. His mother, Olympian Betty Mullen Brey, died the morning that he coached his Notre Dame team to a victory against Butler in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. She must be smiling down today, cheering on the Irish.

Although the rumor mill was in action for several weeks noting that this would occur, Toyota officially signed on today to be a TOP Sponsor of the Olympic Movement for the 2017-2020 and 2021-2024 Olympiads. This is a game changer in many ways.

The figures announced are that Toyota will provide support to the IOC equal to $835 million (US) over 8 years. In the most recent Olympiads TOP Sponsor support has been in the $100-$150 million range per Olympiad, but Toyota is increasing this to the $400-$425 million range.

Below we give the details of all the TOP sponsors since the program began in 1984. TOP originally stood for The Olympic Programme, but more recently has been changed to The Olympic Partners. TOP was devised by then IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch and Vice-President Dick Pound as a way to generate income for the IOC and make it less dependent on the largesse of US television networks. The plan was to make it exclusive, with only a few sponsors, and only one in each product category, but to charge dearly for that exclusivity. The idea was based on the sponsorship policy that Peter Ueberroth used to make the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics so financially successful.

But paying dearly is relative. In the 1985-88 Olympiad, TOP brought in about $96 million total, while companies now must pay more than that each simply to be a member. Official figures are not always announced anymore so the numbers below from 2004-2016 must be considered estimates, but they are certainly close for total revenue generated by the IOC. You will note that for TOP VIII (2013-16) total revenue to the IOC was about $1.15 billion (US). The Toyota support for TOP IX (2017-20) will already push those numbers to $1.56 billion (US), a 35% increase.

But if the Toyota deal becomes more standard, and other companies are pushed to provide support in the same range, this could completely change Olympic economics for Organizing Committees (OCOGs). Let’s assume that the IOC can get $300 million per Olympiad now per company, still less than what Toyota is paying, and that it gets between 10-15 TOP sponsors each Olympiad (there have been a maximum of 12). That now brings the numbers up to the $3-4 billion range per TOP program (perhaps more), an increase in the 250-300% range.

Further, the IOC provides money from the TOP program to OCOGs with most recent figures being about 50% provided to the OCOGs and a large percentage of the rest to the NOCs (International Federations receive IOC money from television sponsorship money). The IOC has kept only about 10% of TOP dollars for its own operating expenses. Assuming those expenses are relatively fixed, increasing perhaps slightly more than inflation, the IOC could now afford to provide a larger percentage of TOP income to OCOGs and NOCs, and this would be a larger percentage of an already greatly increased corpus.

While recent summer host cities have been receiving money in the $1.0-1.5 billion range from the IOC, via TOP income and television contracts, as seed money to get started with their operating expenses, it is possible, with this new paradigm for TOP sponsorship that this could greatly increase, perhaps more than even double. That would make the option to host Olympics again more financially viable to host cities.

A few other things about the Toyota sponsorship. Its becomes the first automobile manufacturer to become a TOP sponsor. It is the 30^th company to become a TOP sponsor and its sponsorship of TOP is also a landmark for the IOC, making it the 100^th sponsorship overall, as many companies have been sponsors multiple times. Coca-Cola, Matushita/Panasonic, and VISA have been TOP sponsors at every Olympiad since the program’s inception, although Coca-Cola and VISA have not yet signed on for 2021-24. As Michael Payne, former director of IOC marketing, pointed out in a tweet, it will be interesting to see how the Toyota deal affects negotiations for future TOP sponsorship with Coca-Cola and VISA.

[table]

TOP,I,II,III,IV,V,VI,VII,VIII,IX,X,

End,1988,1992,1996,2000,2004,2008,2012,2016,2020,2024,Totals

3M,x,x,,,,,,,,,2

Acer,,,,,,,x,,,,1

Atos Origin,,,,,,x,x,x,x,,4

Bausch & Lomb,,x,x,,,,,,,,2

Bridgestone,,,,,,,,x,x,x,3

Brother,x,x,,,,,,,,,2

Coca-Cola,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,,9

Dow Chemical,,,,,,,x,x,x,,3

Federal Express,x,,,,,,,,,,1

General Electric,,,,,,x,x,x,x,,4

IBM,,,x,x,,,,,,,2

John Hancock,,,x,x,x,,,,,,3

Johnson & Johnson,,,,,,x,,,,,1

Kodak,x,x,x,x,x,x,,,,,6

Lenovo,,,,,,x,,,,,1

Manulife,,,,,,x,,,,,1

Mars,,x,,,,,,,,,1

Matushita/Panasonic,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,10

McDonalds,,,,x,x,x,x,x,x,,6

Omega,,,,,,x,x,x,x,,4

Philips,x,x,,,,,,,,,2

Proctor & Gamble,,,,,,,x,x,x,,3

Ricoh,,x,,,,,,,,,1

Samsung,,,,x,x,x,x,x,x,,6

Schlumberger SEMA,,,,,x,,,,,,1

Time/Sports Illustrated,,x,x,x,x,,,,,,4

Toyota,,,,,,,,,x,x,2

UPS,,x,x,x,,,,,,,3

VISA,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,,9

Xerox,,,x,x,x,,,,,,3

# Sponsors,8,12,10,11,10,12,11,11,12,3,100

Money ($US [millions]),$96,$172,$279,$579,$663,$866,$958 ,$1155 ,$1560 ,$900 ,$7228

[/table]

A bit more on the tragic helicopter crash that took the lives of French swimming gold medalist Camille Muffat, French boxing medalist Alexis Vastine, and renowned French sailor, although not an Olympian, Florence Arthaud.

Muffat was the gold medalist in the women’s 400 metre freestyle at the London Olympics, and thus died while holding the crown. She becomes the 83^rd Olympian to have died as the holding gold medalist. She is the 29^th Olympian to have been an individual gold medalist, but dying before the event was next contested. (Earlier post incorrect as when checking the database I looked for Olympians dying within 4 years, and neglected some of the 1912 and 1936 Olympians who waited 8 and 12 years for the next Olympics. Thanks to Harri Piironen for pointing this out.)

The full list of the 83 Olympians who died while the holder of a gold medal is as follows:

[table]

Name,Gdr,Ssn,NOC,Spt,Year,YOD

Joseph Olivier,M,S,FRA,RUG,1900,1901

Alfred Tysoe,M,S,GBR,ATH,1900,1901

Galen C. Spencer,M,S,USA,ARC,1904,1904

David Bratton,M,S,USA,WAP,1904,1904

Étienne Desmarteau,M,S,CAN,ATH,1904,1905

George Van Cleaf,M,S,USA,WAP,1904,1905

George Sheldon,M,S,USA,DIV,1904,1907

David Hesser,M,S,USA,WAP,1904,1908

John B. Taylor,M,S,USA,ATH,1908,1908

Carl Holmberg,M,S,SWE,GYM,1908,1909

Reggie Doherty,M,S,GBR,TEN,1908,1910

Bernard Redwood,M,S,GBR,MTB,1908,1911

Carl Folcker,M,S,SWE,GYM,1908,1911

Kostas Tsiklitiras,M,S,GRE,ATH,1912,1913

Ralph Rose,M,S,USA,ATH,1912,1913

Ronald Brebner,M,S,GBR,FTB,1912,1914

Guido Romano,M,S,ITA,GYM,1912,1916

Gaston Salmon,M,S,BEL,FEN,1912,1917

Alister Kirby,M,S,GBR,ROW,1912,1917

Isaac Bentham,M,S,GBR,WAP,1912,1917

Victor Willems,M,S,BEL,FEN,1912,1918

Joseph Dines,M,S,GBR,FTB,1912,1918

Cecil Healy,M,S,ANZ,SWI,1912,1918

Henry Macintosh,M,S,GBR,ATH,1912,1918

Harry Sears,M,S,USA,SHO,1912,1920

Mike Kelly,M,S,USA,SHO,1920,1923

Frans De Haes,M,S,BEL,WLT,1920,1923

Émile Albrecht,M,S,SUI,ROW,1924,1927

Sybil Bauer,F,S,USA,SWI,1924,1927

Ödön von Tersztyánszky,M,S,HUN,FEN,1928,1929

René Borjas,M,S,URU,FTB,1928,1931

George Saling,M,S,USA,ATH,1932,1933

Andrew Libano,M,S,USA,SAI,1932,1935

Paul Wevers,M,S,GER,CAN,1936,1941

Ludwig Stubbendorf,M,S,GER,EQU,1936,1941

Herbert Adamski,M,S,GER,ROW,1936,1941

Hugo Strauß,M,S,GER,ROW,1936,1941

Kalle Jalkanen,M,W,FIN,CCS,1936,1941

Heinz Körvers,M,S,GER,HAN,1936,1942

Martin Karl,M,S,GER,ROW,1936,1942

Ernst Winter,M,S,GER,GYM,1936,1943

Arthur Knautz,M,S,GER,HAN,1936,1943

Hans Maier,M,S,GER,ROW,1936,1943

Hans Woellke,M,S,GER,ATH,1936,1943

Foy Draper,M,S,USA,ATH,1936,1943

Heinz Brandt,M,S,GER,EQU,1936,1944

Kurt Hasse,M,S,GER,EQU,1936,1944

Toni Merkens,M,S,GER,CYC,1936,1944

Endre Kabos,M,S,HUN,FEN,1936,1944

Georg Dascher,M,S,GER,HAN,1936,1944

Hannes Hansen,M,S,GER,HAN,1936,1944

Shigeo Arai,M,S,JPN,SWI,1936,1944

Lauri Koskela,M,S,FIN,WRE,1936,1944

Kustaa Pihlajamäki,M,S,FIN,WRE,1936,1944

Rudolf Lippert,M,S,GER,EQU,1936,1945

Willi Menne,M,S,GER,ROW,1936,1945

Ferenc Csík,M,S,HUN,SWI,1936,1945

Olivér Halassy,M,S,HUN,WAP,1936,1946

Corny Johnson,M,S,USA,ATH,1936,1946

Charles Leaf,M,S,GBR,SAI,1936,1947

Sayed Jaffar,M,S,IND,HOK,1936,1937

Gunnar Höckert,M,S,FIN,ATH,1936,1940

Nils Östensson,M,W,SWE,CCS,1948,1949

George Ahlgren,M,S,USA,ROW,1948,1951

Ed Sanders,M,S,USA,BOX,1952,1954

Skippy Browning,M,S,USA,DIV,1952,1956

Viktor Blinov,M,W,URS,ICH,1968,1968

István Kozma,M,S,HUN,WRE,1968,1970

Yuliya Riabchynska,F,S,URS,CAN,1972,1973

Yuriy Lahutin,M,S,URS,HAN,1976,1978

Bronisław Malinowski,M,S,POL,ATH,1980,1981

Volodymyr Smyrnov,M,S,URS,FEN,1980,1982

Sergey Rogozhin,M,S,URS,EQU,1980,1983

Valeriy Hoborov,M,S,URS,BAS,1988,1989

Paolo Caldarella,M,S,ITA,WAP,1992,1993

Roberto Balado,M,S,CUB,BOX,1992,1994

Fabio Casartelli,M,S,ITA,CYC,1992,1995

Sergey Grinkov,M,W,RUS,FSK,1994,1995

Sandra Schmirler,F,W,CAN,CUR,1998,2000

Bekzat Sattarkhanov,M,S,KAZ,BOX,2000,2000

Sammy Wanjiru,M,S,KEN,ATH,2008,2011

Camille Muffat,F,S,FRA,SWI,2012,2015

[/table]

Here is the list of the 29 individual gold medalists who died as holders:

[table]

Name,Gdr,Ssn,NOC,Spt,Year,YOD

Étienne Desmarteau,M,S,CAN,ATH,1904,1905

George Sheldon,M,S,USA,DIV,1904,1907

Kostas Tsiklitiras,M,S,GRE,ATH,1912,1913

Ralph Rose,M,S,USA,ATH,1912,1913

Frans De Haes,M,S,BEL,WLT,1920,1923

Sybil Bauer,F,S,USA,SWI,1924,1927

Ödön von Tersztyánszky,M,S,HUN,FEN,1928,1929

George Saling,M,S,USA,ATH,1932,1933

Gunnar Höckert,M,S,FIN,ATH,1936,1940

Ludwig Stubbendorf,M,S,GER,EQU,1936,1941

Hans Woellke,M,S,GER,ATH,1936,1943

Kurt Hasse,M,S,GER,EQU,1936,1944

Toni Merkens,M,S,GER,CYC,1936,1944

Endre Kabos,M,S,HUN,FEN,1936,1944

Lauri Koskela,M,S,FIN,WRE,1936,1944

Kustaa Pihlajamäki,M,S,FIN,WRE,1936,1944

Ferenc Csík,M,S,HUN,SWI,1936,1945

Corny Johnson,M,S,USA,ATH,1936,1946

Ed Sanders,M,S,USA,BOX,1952,1954

Skippy Browning,M,S,USA,DIV,1952,1956

István Kozma,M,S,HUN,WRE,1968,1970

Yuliya Riabchynska,F,S,URS,CAN,1972,1973

Bronisław Malinowski,M,S,POL,ATH,1980,1981

Volodymyr Smyrnov,M,S,URS,FEN,1980,1982

Roberto Balado,M,S,CUB,BOX,1992,1994

Fabio Casartelli,M,S,ITA,CYC,1992,1995

Bekzat Sattarkhanov,M,S,KAZ,BOX,2000,2000

Sammy Wanjiru,M,S,KEN,ATH,2008,2011

Camille Muffat,F,S,FRA,SWI,2012,2015

[/table]

Full details of the Olympians, the events in which they competed, and their deaths can be found at www.sports-reference.com/olympics.

The time you won your town the race,
We chaired you through the marketplace.
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder high.

Yesterday, two helicopters crashed in Argentina during the filming of a reality survival show. All aboard the choppers were killed, including French swimmer Camille Muffat, a gold medalist in the 400 metre freestyle at the 2012 London Olympics, and Alexis Vastine, a French boxing bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It was, sadly, not the first time that plane disasters claimed the lives of Olympic athletes, often those still young, still in their prime, still with lives to live, victories to win, and laughs to laugh.

Today the road all runners come,
Shoulder high we bring you home.
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.

Camille Muffat 1989-2015 RIP

Shortly after the 1948 Winter Olympics, on 8 November 1948, the Czechoslovak ice hockey team boarded a flight from Paris to London, but the plane disappeared over the English Channel, and six Czechoslovak Olympians, along with all the other passengers, would skate no more. Gone were Jaroslav Jiřík, Karel Stibor, Ladislav Troják, Miloslav Pokorný, Vilibald Šťovík, and Zdeněk Jarkovský.

Smart lad to slip betimes away,
From fields where glory does not stay.
For quickly though the laurel grows,
It withers quicker than a rose.

On 15 February 1961 the US figure skating was travelling to the World Championships in Praha, Czechoslovakia, when their Sabena Boeing 707 crashed on approach to the Brussels airport in Belgium, Everyone was killed including the entire US figure skating team, which included Olympians Laurie Owen, Maribel Owen, Maribel Vinson Owen, Dudley Richards, Ray Hadley, Jr., and Ila Ray Hadley.

Eyes the shady night has shut,
Cannot see the record cut.
And silence sounds no worse than cheers,
After earth has stopped the ears.

In August 1979, two Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-134s collided over Dniprodzerzhynsk, Ukraine, killing 178 including the complete football team of Pakhtakor Toshkent. On the plane was Soviet footballer Vladimir Fyodorov, who had played for the Soviet Union at the 1976 Montréal Olympics.

Now you will not swell the rout,
Of lads who wore their honors out.
Runners whom renown outran,
And the name died before the man.

On 27 April 1993, a Buffalo DHC-5D of the Zambian Air Force crashed off the coast of Gabon about 500 metres from Libreville, killing all 30 aboard including 18 Zambian footballers and their coaches. This include 8 previous Zambian Olympians – Alex Chola, Derby Makinka, Efford Chabala, Eston Mulenga, Godfrey Chitalu, Richard Mwanza, Samuel Chomba, and Wisdom Chansa.

The Zambian team at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations pay tribute to the lost generation of Zambian football.

So set, before its echoes fade,
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup.

On 7 September 2011, a Yakovlev Yak-42D carrying the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team crashed on take-off from Tunoshna Airport, in Yaroslavl, Russia. Olympians from five different nations were lost that night – Pavol Demitra (Slovakia), Stefan Liv (Sweden), Ruslan Saley (Belarus), Kārlis Skrastiņš (Latvia), and Josef Vašíček (Czech Republic).

And round that early-laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl’s. – A. E. Housman

There have been others. And likely there will sadly be more in the future. For the most complete list of Olympians who have died in plane crashes, see our list at http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/friv/lists.cgi?id=2. May they all rest in peace, may we give honor to their lives, and may they stay, in our memories, forever young.

Today, 8 March, is International Women’s Day, which has been celebrated now since 1909. So in terms of the Olympics, which nations have been most fair in promoting female participation? This is a difficult question to answer as many of the most prominent nations have competed in the Olympics for the longest time, when there were far fewer women’s events. But here are the nations that have had the highest percentage of females on their Olympic teams, overall, looking at the Summer Games only:

[table]

NOC,Total,Men,Women,Fem%%%

East Timor,5,2,3,60.0%

Bhutan,19,8,11,57.9%

Saint Kitts and Nevis,17,8,9,52.9%

China,2076,1015,1061,51.1%

Palau,18,9,9,50.0%

DPR Korea (North),325,172,153,47.1%

Saint Lucia,17,9,8,47.1%

São Tomé and Principe,11,6,5,45.5%

Belarus,537,295,242,45.1%

Angola,148,82,66,44.6%

[/table]

Among the major nations, the players you would expect, here is how their Summer Olympic team breakdown works out:

[table]

NOC,Total,Men,Women,Fem%%%

Russia,1633,942,691,42.3%

Jamaica,320,207,113,35.3%

German Demo. Rep.,1129,761,368,32.6%

Romania,1456,995,461,31.7%

New Zealand,1112,760,352,31.7%

The Netherlands,2468,1795,673,27.3%

Germany,3516,2592,924,26.3%

United States,7327,5467,1860,25.4%

Brazil,1708,1279,429,25.1%

Fed. Rep. of Germany,1371,1027,344,25.1%

Great Britain,5281,4011,1270,24.0%

Cuba,1204,918,286,23.8%

Poland,2233,1715,518,23.2%

Sweden,2738,2263,475,17.3%

Norway,1361,1125,236,17.3%

France,4911,4082,829,16.9%

Switzerland,1741,1486,255,14.6%

[/table]

Again, remember that many of these nations competed prior to World War II, when there were very few women’s events.

And what about those nations who have had very few, in some cases, almost no, female Summer Olympians:

[table]

NOC,Total,Men,Women,Fem%%%

Saudi Arabia,142,140,2,1.4%

Kuwait,192,189,3,1.6%

Pakistan,354,346,8,2.3%

Afghanistan,100,97,3,3.0%

Monaco,64,62,2,3.1%

Iraq,174,168,6,3.4%

Qatar,108,104,4,3.7%

Botswana,52,50,2,3.8%

British Virgin Islands,23,22,1,4.3%

Iran,463,441,22,4.8%

[/table]

Among current IOC Member nations, only three have had only 1 female competitor – British Virgin Islands (22), Brunei (5), and Tuvalu (4), while six have had only 2 women compete – Botswana (50), Kiribati (5), Monaco (62), Nauru (6), Oman (37), and Saudi Arabia (140). The numbers in parentheses indicate those nations’ male Olympians

 

As noted, in those early years, there were very few events for women at the Olympics. How bad was it, Johnny? Here is the breakdown:

[table]

Events,Men,Women,Mixed,Total,Fem%%%,FemEligible

1896,43,0,0,43,0.0%,0.0%

1900,71,2,22,95,2.1%,25.3%

1904,92,3,0,95,3.2%,3.2%

1906,72,1,1,74,1.4%,2.7%

1908,96,3,7,106,2.8%,9.4%

1912,91,5,6,102,4.9%,10.8%

1920,130,7,15,152,4.6%,14.5%

1924,112,10,4,126,7.9%,11.1%

1928,92,14,3,109,12.8%,15.6%

1932,99,14,4,117,12.0%,15.4%

1936,110,15,4,129,11.6%,14.7%

1948,112,19,5,136,14.0%,17.6%

1952,117,25,7,149,16.8%,21.5%

1956,116,26,9,151,17.2%,23.2%

1960,113,29,8,150,19.3%,24.7%

1964,119,33,11,163,20.2%,27.0%

1968,115,39,18,172,22.7%,33.1%

1972,132,43,20,195,22.1%,32.3%

1976,130,49,19,198,24.7%,34.3%

1980,134,50,19,203,24.6%,34.0%

1984,144,62,15,221,28.1%,34.8%

1988,151,72,14,237,30.4%,36.3%

1992,159,86,12,257,33.5%,38.1%

1996,163,97,11,271,35.8%,39.9%

2000,168,120,12,300,40.0%,44.0%

2004,166,125,10,301,41.5%,44.9%

2008,165,127,10,302,42.1%,45.4%

2012,162,132,8,302,43.7%,46.4%

Totals,3374,1208,274,4856,24.9%,30.5%

[/table]

Wojdan Shaherkani, Judo player from Saudi Arabia – London 2012

So, as you can see, prior to World War II, women rarely had even 15% of the events in which they could compete, with the exception of 1900 when there were a lot of mixed events.

How many women have actually competed at the Summer Olympics, as a percentage of the total, since 1896? Here is that table:

[table]

Year,Women,Total,Wom%,WomNOCs,NOCs,%NOC

1896,0,246,0.0%,0,12,0.0%

1900,23,1614,1.4%,6,31,19.4%

1904,6,650,0.9%,1,15,6.7%

1906,6,841,0.7%,2,21,9.5%

1908,44,2023,2.2%,3,22,13.6%

1912,53,2377,2.2%,10,27,37.0%

1920,77,2670,2.9%,14,29,48.3%

1924,135,3067,4.4%,20,44,45.5%

1928,274,2878,9.5%,25,46,54.3%

1932,126,1334,9.4%,19,38,50.0%

1936,329,3956,8.3%,27,49,55.1%

1948,393,4073,9.6%,32,59,54.2%

1952,521,4932,10.6%,41,69,59.4%

1956,383,3344,11.5%,38,72,52.8%

1960,612,5350,11.4%,45,83,54.2%

1964,680,5137,13.2%,53,93,57.0%

1968,783,5557,14.1%,54,112,48.2%

1972,1060,7113,14.9%,67,121,55.4%

1976,1260,6073,20.7%,65,92,70.7%

1980,1123,5259,21.4%,56,80,70.0%

1984,1569,6798,23.1%,95,140,67.9%

1988,2202,8453,26.0%,118,159,74.2%

1992,2723,9386,29.0%,134,169,79.3%

1996,3519,10339,34.0%,168,197,85.3%

2000,4069,10648,38.2%,191,200,95.5%

2004,4304,10561,40.8%,192,201,95.5%

2008,4611,10901,42.3%,195,204,95.6%

2012,4657,10520,44.3%,201,205,98.0%

Totals,25467,107829,23.6%,209,221,94.6%

[/table]

So as we celebrate International Women’s Day, we can see that at the Olympics, in terms of female participation, things were once very bad, they are better now, but there is still a long way to go.