Story of the Olympics

Rio 2016 Vs. The World: Percentage Margin Of Victory

A photo finish. Down to the last hit of the game. Waiting anxiously as Hawkeye reveals if the ball was in or out. Sport is full of these make or break moments, fine lines between failure and glory. Sometimes though, the adrenaline gets pumping due to the sheer domination of a team or athlete. The infographic below, based on research by Sports Illustrated, looks at these winning margins - both in Rio and other selected records or achievements.

When the American cyclist Kristin Armstrong beat Russian Olga Zabelinskaya to gold in the women's time trial, there was a mere 0.21 percent difference in their times. After over 44 hard fought minutes, less than 6 seconds separated them. Usain Bolt's march to the 'triple triple' was also a tight affair with Justin Gatlin just 0.09 seconds behind Bolt after a stunning comeback from the Jamaican in the 100m final - a margin of 0.82 percent.

At the other end of the scale, in Rio, Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk hammer threw her way to a new world record, leaving the competition without a hope - 5.5m ahead of the nearest challenger with a margin of 6.73 percent. The biggest margin selected for this infographic comes from outside the world of sport. Psy's Gangnam Style enjoys a cushion of almost 26 percent as Youtube's most viewed video.

Description

This chart shows the percentage margin of victory from selected Olympic events and other global records/achievements.

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Percentage distribution of the investment made for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, by sector
Gold medal winning times in the Men's and Women's 100m Sprint at the Summer Olympics from 1896 to 2024 (in seconds)
Gold medal winning times in the Men's 110m hurdles and Women's 80m and 100m hurdles at the Summer Olympics from 1896 to 2020 (in seconds)
Gold medal winning times in the Men's and Women's 800 meters at the Summer Olympics from 1896 to 2020 (in seconds)
Share of Rio 2016 Olympics organizing committee's revenue by function
Gold medal winning times in the Men's and Women's 4x100m relay at the Summer Olympics from 1912 to 2020 (in seconds)

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