Home > Olympics

Sochi Cost $18 Million Per Athlete (and 34 Other Fascinating Olympic Facts)

Support us! GearJunkie may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

Opening of the Sochi Winter Olympics; photo by Presidential Press and Information Office of Russia

$51 Billion — Dollars Spent (more than all the previous 21 Winter Olympics combined)

2,800 — Number of athletes (estimate)

18,214,285.7143 — Dollars spent per athlete

132 — Number of countries worldwide with GDP less than $50 Billion

7 — Nations making their Winter Olympic debut (Dominica, Malta, Paraguay, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, and Zimbabwe)

18 — Countries represented by just one athlete

12 — Sports making their Winter Olympic debut

3,000 — Artists and dancers in opening ceremonies

88 — Countries represented

15 — Youngest athlete (Germany’s Gianina Ernst turned 15 on Dec. 31, the last possible day to be old enough to qualify)

6,000 — People housed in Olympic Village

60,000— Workers needed to construct Sochi facilities

5 — Olympic rings

1 — Rings that failed to open

10 — Thickness of each medal in millimeters

100 — Diameter of each medal in millimeters

460 to 531 — Weight of the Sochi 2014 Olympic medals in grams.

525 — Grams of silver in Olympic gold medal

6 — Grams of gold in Olympic gold medal

18 — Average number of hours needed to produce one medal

98 — Sets of medals handed out in Sochi

41 — Athletes in the Dutch delegation

16 — Medals won by Dutch delegation in speed skating week one

69 — Blueprints made by BMW engineers of U.S. men’s 2-man bobsled

24 million — Cost in dollars of BMW’s sponsorship

246.5 meters — World record for ski jumping

photo sochi2014.com

924,802 — Tickets sold by Feb. 11

40,000 — Spectators that can fit in Fisht Olympic Stadium

Fischt Olympic Stadium; photo Wikipedia commons

1,234 — Dollars to buy the most expensive ticket (hockey)

40,300 — Number of miles Olympic Torch traveled to Sochi on tour

14,000 — People who served as torch bearers

3 — Number of Mascots (Leopard, Polar Bear and Hare)

2,000 or 0 — Stray dogs euthanized (Depending on if you believe one source or another)

0 — Number of gay people in Sochi, according to its mayor

2 — Number of gay nightclubs in Sochi according to Lonely Planet guidebook

—Sean McCoy

Subscribe Now

Get adventure news and gear reviews in your inbox!