First off, the cost of the whole shebang comes with a staggering $16 billion price tag.
While the cost might seem outrageous on the face of it, there’s a lot that goes behind the scenes to get a city ready to host an event of such magnitude.
Wallethub and Captivate Office Pulse have broken the numbers, giving us all an idea of what all that money was actually spent on.
Getting the city Olympics-ready
The city has had major infrastructure problems to contend with. Close to $10 billion was spent on getting this sorted, to make sure competitors and fans alike could make their way to the 37 venues throughout Rio and its co-host cities.
Going for gold
There’s a huge number of athletes attending the event, 10,500 to be precise. They will be competing among the world’s best for 4,924 medals. 500,000 travellers will arrive in Brazil’s capital city to watch them, with some 7.5 million tickets on sale for the different sporting events.
Beefed up security presence
Rio officials have made safety a priority for visiting athletes and tourists alike. 85,000 security personnel (twice as many as there were in London) have been deployed in the city. 200 kilometres of security fencing will also be used at the games – all funded by an incredible $1.2 billion budget.
Zika virus concerns
There have been ongoing worries about the Zika virus in Rio, and with good reason. 26,000 new cases of Zika were reported in the first three months of 2016. But, since then, officials report a 90 percent decrease in new cases in Brazil, and $8 million has been invested by Brazil’s Ministry of Health, to ensure the well-being of those attending.
Rio Olympics fast facts:
$2000: The cost of the most expensive opening ceremony ticket. The least expensive costs around $90 and is only sold in Brazil.
42 sporting disciplines will be represented
206: The number of countries sending athletes to compete in Rio.
Rio’s opening ceremony budget is 10 times less than the total spent on the London 2012 opening ceremony.
2 new Olympic sports will be introduced to the games . Golf will return, after a 112-year hiatus, and rugby sevens will be introduced for the first time.
And here’s one you didn’t expect. 450, 000 condoms will be distributed to athletes. That’s equivalent to 42 per person.
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