Significance Unveils Stats Behind Stars
of 2024 Paris Olympics

What makes a sports star the greatest of all time? In the July issue of Significance magazine, authors try to answer that question—at least partially. They bring you the statistics behind some of the most exciting sports at the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer—gymnastics, basketball, endurance sports, and swimming—and some of the biggest names, including Steph Curry, Simone Biles, and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

The issue also explores the data on baby names, considers how the media presented the R number during COVID, and brings readers part one of a data visualization guide, which will create a series over the next few issues. This comprehensive handbook, commissioned last year with sister website Real World Data Science, is part of the magazine’s efforts to present data in its best form and as consistently and accessibly as possible.

July Highlights

Athletes’ peaks and primes 
How performance data can reveal when a track and field star is most likely to grab gold

What makes a winning gymnastics team?
Statistical advice for Team USA on picking the perfect team for Paris

Swimming for victory 
Top-level science and coaching combine to reduce random error for Dutch swimmers

Women and endurance sports 
The issues helping and hindering women in sports such as marathon running

Basketball 
Unveiling NBA eras with clustering

The R number and the media 
The third in a six-part series by Gavin Freeguard on the evolution and usefulness of the pandemic’s famous epidemiological tool

Baby names 
How pop music, movie stars, and presidents influence American parents

Data Visualization Guide: Part 1
An introduction and overview

Access Significance through the ASA’s membership portal.