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.