By the numbers

LONDON – To appreciate the Olympics, here are some interesting figures that will give you a clearer idea of the magnitude of coverage and preparations for the greatest sports show on earth.

10 million liters – used at the 17,500-seat Aquatics Center, venue for the events of swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and modern pentathlon. The stadium will host 192 events in both the Olympic and Paralympic programs. It is the gateway to the Olympic Park with a wave-like roof that has made a big splash among spectators. The facility has a 50-meter competition pool, a 50-meter warm-up pool, a 25-meter diving pool and a dry warm-up area. The temperature of the competition pool is 27 degrees Celsius. After the Games, the Center will be transformed into a community hub with a facility for elite swimmers.

14 million meals – to be served during the Olympics at the Main Dining Hall in the Athletes Village. The breakdown is 45,000 meals a day for athletes with provisions for 100 tons of meat, 25,000 loaves, 21 tons of cheese, 82 tons of seafood, 75,000 liters of milk and 330 tons of food and vegetables. The Main Dining Hall has a seating capacity of 5,500 and is open 24 hours a day with food stalls serving a diverse menu of international cuisine. There’s a McDonald’s store, too.

70,000 – volunteers mobilized for the Olympics. Each volunteer was given two sets of Olympic uniforms, a pair of Adidas sneakers, a cap, a bag and an Oyster travel card that allows free access to the underground and bus systems. 

20 million spectator journeys – involving two million people moving in and out of 34 Olympic venues through London’s transport system. It is estimated that on the busiest days, there will be three million spectator trips. Nine of the venues are inside the Olympic Park at Stratford in east London. The 80,000-seat, 108,500-square meter Olympic Stadium is at the heart of the Park and took three years to build with 10,000 tons of steel. The Stadium was where the opening ceremony was held and is the venue for the athletics events. It will also be the venue of the closing ceremony on Sunday. A total of 120,000 people will pass through the Stratford regional train station every morning of the Olympics.                                                          

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46,000 construction workers – employed to build the Olympic Park and Athletes Village. A workforce of 200,000 was enlisted for the Games, including 100,000 contractors and 70,000 volunteers. A feature of the Olympic Park is 10,000 temporary toilets.

P6 trillion – the equivalent in Philippine currency spent in staging the Games. The budget for security is the equivalent of P358 billion and the allocation for the opening and closing ceremonies is P5.3 billion. When London was awarded the rights to host seven years ago, the estimated cost of staging the Games was almost four times less than what eventually was the budget. To defray part of the costs, 11 million tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics were sold with about 75 percent to spectators in the UK. Sponsors, officials and broadcasters were allocated 13 percent of the tickets for purchase. The balance was apportioned to the various National Olympic Committees.

10,490 – athletes listed in 26 Olympic sports with 302 medal events. About 5,000 anti-doping tests will be administered. Some 4,200 Paralympic athletes will compete in 503 medal events in 20 different sports, meaning more chances for the differently abled to step on the podium. The athletes are from 204 countries. There were only 14 countries represented at the 1896 Games. Over a million pieces of sports equipment were bought for the Games, including 26,400 tennis balls, 600 basketballs, 6,000 archery targets, towels, trampolines, hurdles and shuttlecocks.

4.7 billion – viewers of the last Olympics on television. Three of four people in the world watched at least a segment of the Beijing Games in media. When Usain Bolt set a new Olympic record in the 100-meter finals at the Olympic Stadium last Sunday, BBC revealed that 20 million viewers tuned in to watch the feat. It was the largest TV audience of the Games so far in the UK. That same weekend, the viewership reached a total of 36 million. BBC Olympic head Roger Mosey said the figures were “sensational” as at least 19.4 million were locked in to BBC1 for Bolt’s race with another 600,000 watching via the red button.

 40 – countries with at least one Olympic medal but no gold. The list includes the Philippines, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Tajikistan. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iraq, Paraguay, Senegal, Sri Lanka and Tonga. There are 77 countries with no Olympic medal ever, including Bahrain, Bolivia, Brunei, Cambodia, Guam, Jordan, Monaco, Nicaragua and Turkmenistan. The Philippines is No. 1 in the list of countries with the most Olympic medals in the most Olympic appearances without a gold medal. So far, the Philippines has collected nine medals, including two silvers, in 19 Olympics.