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Problem of the Week
Problem B and Solution
The First Five Modern Olympics

Problem

In August \(2024\), Paris, France will host the Summer Olympic Games. The table below contains information about the sports that were at some of the first five modern Olympic Games.

Year Location Sports
\(1896\) Athens, Greece athletics, road cycling, track cycling, fencing, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, tennis, weightlifting, wrestling
\(1900\) Paris, France archery, athletics, Basque pelota, cricket, croquet, track cycling, equestrian, fencing, football, golf, gymnastics, polo, rowing, rugby, sailing, shooting, swimming, tennis, tug-of-war, water polo
\(1904\) St. Louis, USA archery, athletics, boxing, track cycling, diving, fencing, football, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, roque, rowing, swimming, tennis, tug-of-war, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling
\(1908\) London, England archery, athletics, boxing, track cycling, diving, fencing, figure skating, football, field hockey, gymnastics, jeu de paume, lacrosse, polo, rackets, rowing, rugby, sailing, shooting, swimming, tennis, tug-of-war, water motorsports, water polo, wrestling
\(1912\) Stockholm, Sweden athletics, road cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, tennis, tug-of-war, water polo, wrestling
  1. Create a graph that displays the number of sports in each of the first five modern Olympic Games.

  2. State five observations/conclusions from your graph.

Solution

  1. Answers may vary. A bar graph displaying this information is shown below.

    A bar graph titled Number of Sports in First Five Modern
Olympic Games. The vertical axis ranges from 0 to 30. The number of
sports in 1896 was 10, in 1900 was 20, in 1904 was 18, in 1908 was 24,
and in 1912 was 16.

  2. Observations gleaned from the graphs will vary. Here are some possible observations.