In just a few hours, the 2016 Summer Olympic Games will officially begin. Although some events have been underway since yesterday, the inaugural ceremony at the Maracanã stadium marks the opening of the Rio de Janeiro’s Games. Amidst controversies, political instability and some fears (ranging from mosquito bites to terrorist attacks), this edition of the Olympics is, above all, an edition of records: number of countries, number of sports – and the first to be held entirely during the host country’s winter season.
More than 11 thousand athletes will be showcasing their skills in 28 Olympic sports — including rugby sevens and golf, which were added by the International Olympic Committee in 2009. These sporting events are distributed throughout 33 venues in Rio and 5 venues in São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Brasília and Manaus.
We sincerely hope that this event becomes a memorable celebration of the values of sports, in a moment when so many tragic things have been happening around the world. And similarly to what we did in the 2012 London Olympics, we are sharing in this post a first round up of interactive graphics, visualizations, multimedia specials and long-form narratives about Rio 2016. They cover pretty much all the afore mentioned aspects of the event, and were developed not only by some of the main newsrooms in the world, but also by other organizations, specially humanitarian ones, trying to bring to light the many problems Rio’s citizens face in their daily lives.
Let’s start with the picks from the host country, where the popular sports website Globoesporte.com (and a regular presence in the lists of Malofiej winners in the online categories) was particularly prolific. Brazil’s major newspapers, Folha de São Paulo, O Globo and Estado de São Paulo also put together interesting features, although perhaps not as many as one would expect, when you look at the uniqueness of the moment.
The technology in the Rio 2016 Olympics | Galileu
(image: Galileu)
The Olympic torches | O Globo
(image: O Globo)
Crossfire: Shootings in Rio de Janeiro | Amnesty International
(image: Amnesty International)
OBSERVATÓR!O2016 | VISGRAF Lab/IMPA
(image: VISGRAF Lab/IMPA)
Guanabara Bay | Globoesporte.com
(image: Globoesporte.com)
Olympic Medals World Map | Globoesporte.com
(image: Globoesporte.com)
My Olympic Podium | Globoesporte.com
(image: Globoesporte.com)
Olympic sports – animation video series | Globoesporte.com
(image: Globoesporte.com)
The weight of the Gold Medal in football | Globoesporte.com
(image: Globoesporte.com)
Biotype of the Olympic Athletes | Globoesporte.com
(image: Globoesporte.com)
Mindset of a Champion | Globoesporte.com
(image: Globoesporte.com)
Olympic mascots | Globoesporte.com
(image: Globoesporte.com)
Rio 2016’s Olympic Torch | Globoesporte.com
(image: Globoesporte.com)
How to get to the Olympic venues | G1
(image: G1)
Rio 2016: The Olympic legacy | Estado de S. Paulo
(image: Estado de S. Paulo)
Rio 2016: Guide for the Olympic tourist | Estado de S. Paulo
(image: Estado de S. Paulo)
The 4G challenge in Rio 2016 | Estado de S. Paulo
(image: Estado de S. Paulo)
My Olympic moment (series) | Folha de S. Paulo
(image: Folha de S. Paulo)
What Sport is this? (series) | Folha de S. Paulo
(image: Folha de S. Paulo)
The Rio 2016 Olympic medals | Folha de S. Paulo
(image: Folha de S. Paulo)
Inside the Games | CidadeOlimpica.rio
(image: CidadeOlimpica.rio)
English
Most major news websites are covering the Olympics, so you won’t have any trouble finding calendars and overviews of the venues, the athletes and so on. We open this section with a mention to the official website of the 2016 Olympic Games, and then move on to explore some of the work already published by outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal, alongside some independent projects as well.
Rio 2016 Official website
(image: Rio 2016 Official website)
Rio – Beyond the Map | Google Artys & Culture
(image: Google)
Visualizing Rio 2016 | The Washington Post
(image: The Washington Post)
(image: The Washington Post)
(image: The Washington Post)
(image: The Washington Post)
The Olympics issue | The New York Times Magazine
(image: The New York Times Magazine)
Who’s polluting Rio’s Bay | The New York Times Magazine
(image: The New York Times Magazine)
Olympic bodies | The Wall Street Journal
(image: The Wall Street Journal)
100 Olympians to watch at Rio 2016 | The Guardian
(image: The Guardian)
How evictions have laid bare Rio’s real Olympic legacy | The Guardian
(image: The Guardian)
Great Sporting Moments in Olympic History | BBC
(image: BBC)
Do you have the mentality of an Olympian? | BBC
(image: BBC)
Ready or Not, Let the Games Begin | Esri
(image: Esri)
The Summer Olympics: What It Takes, Who’s on Top and Who’s Competing | NBC
(image: NBC)
We also picked a couple of data visualizations created with Tableau Public, among the great examples featured in the Viz of the Day gallery.
Olympic Games Candidates | Jade Le Van
(image: Jade Le Van)
History of the Summer Olympics | Alexandria Duke
(image: Alexandria Duke)
Michael Phelps – King of the Pool | Rody Zakovich
(image: Rody Zakovich)
Other languages
Featuring graphics from the French data visualization powerhouse publication, Le Monde, and from Spain’s main sports newspaper, Marca. Here too we thought the number of compelling projects drop quite a bit, comparing with the previous edition. But again, with so many breaking news stories in recent months, plus the financial crisis in the news industry that led to so many layoffs, it’s really hard to ask for more from graphics desks – specially when the editorial decision isn’t theirs.
5000 events in 120 years of Olympic Games | Le Monde
(image: Le Monde)
10 information that you haven’t (yet) on the French delegation | Le Monde
(image: Le Monde)
From Rio to Athens: 120 years of Olympic Games | ShopAlike
(image: ShopAlike)
Olympic sports visual encyclopedia | Marca
(image: Marca)
As usual, this is not supposed to be an ‘ultimate selection’, and we always like to think that we left out some amazing works. It’s quite natural that we make a follow-up post, after the Games, so feel free to drop us your suggestions on Twitter or the comment box below.
Written by Tiago Veloso
Tiago Veloso is the founder and editor of Visualoop and Visualoop Brasil . He is Portuguese, currently based in Bonito, Brazil.
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