This article was accepted into the corpus but its outbound wikilinks were never NER-processed — typical at the deepest BFS hop or when the run's entity cap was reached. No expansion funnel to show.
| Olympedia | |
|---|---|
| Name | Olympedia |
| Type | Sports database |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Founders | Bill Mallon, Ian Buchanan, Olle Pihlak |
| Headquarters | London |
| Language | English |
| Website | Olympedia.org |
Olympedia Olympedia is a comprehensive online database documenting the history, results, participants, and statistics of the Olympic Games and related multi-sport events. It collates athlete biographies, event results, National Olympic Committee profiles and historical records for the Modern Olympic Games, Ancient Olympic Games scholarship references, and other movements surrounding Olympic competition. Olympedia is widely used by historians, journalists, researchers and institutions seeking authoritative granular data on Summer Olympic Games, Winter Olympic Games, and affiliated events such as the Youth Olympic Games and regional multisport competitions.
Olympedia provides structured entries for athletes, events, editions, venues, teams and officials across the spectrum of Olympic history. Its scope covers athlete biographies with birthplaces like London, Athens, Paris and Stockholm; event specifics from 100 metres finals to figure skating championships; and National Olympic Committee records for countries such as United States, China, Russia, Germany, and Japan. The site indexes medalists from iconic editions including 1908 Summer Olympics, 1936 Summer Olympics, 1968 Summer Olympics, and 2012 Summer Olympics as well as pioneers associated with names like Pierre de Coubertin, Jesse Owens, Nadia Comăneci, Usain Bolt and Larisa Latynina.
The project's genesis traces to the early 2000s with sports historians and statisticians aiming to centralize dispersed Olympic information. Key figures behind the effort include Bill Mallon and collaborators who previously published works on results for editions such as 1896 Summer Olympics and 1900 Summer Olympics. Over time the database integrated datasets referencing archival material from institutions like the International Olympic Committee and national archives in cities such as Rome and Amsterdam. Major milestones include expanded coverage of pre-1948 participation lists, incorporation of revised medal attribution decisions following rulings by bodies including the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and systematic inclusion of officials and demonstration sports from editions like 1920 Summer Olympics.
The database encompasses athlete profiles, competition brackets, heat times, final placements, team rosters, and disqualification notes across disciplines such as athletics, swimming, gymnastics, wrestling, boxing, rowing, cycling, fencing, weightlifting and equestrianism. Coverage extends to storied venues including Stade Olympique de Colombes, Wembley Stadium, Bird's Nest and Nagai Stadium. It documents national participation details for entities ranging from sovereign states like France and Italy to entities such as Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. The dataset tracks medal tables, record progressions (e.g., Olympic record breakthroughs), athlete career timelines including multi-Games competitors like Carl Lewis, Michael Phelps, Simone Biles and Ole Einar Bjørndalen, and event-specific historical notes such as boycotts affecting editions like 1980 Summer Olympics and 1984 Summer Olympics.
Entries are organized by unique identifiers for persons, events, editions and venues to support relational queries across entities such as athletes linked to editions like 2008 Summer Olympics and 1992 Summer Olympics. Data models capture attributes for birthplaces, national affiliation changes (e.g., athletes competing for Soviet Union then Russia), and competition metadata including heat times, wind readings and judging panels at events like figure skating competitions. The technical stack employs structured data principles, version control for edits, and export-friendly formats to interoperate with research tools used by institutions like the International Society of Olympic Historians. Cross-referencing supports linking to bibliographic sources such as official reports produced by organizing committees for editions like 1932 Summer Olympics and 1996 Summer Olympics.
Content creation and curation draw on a network of sports historians, statisticians and volunteers with expertise in Olympic studies including named contributors who have authored books or articles on editions like 1904 Summer Olympics and 1924 Summer Olympics. Governance is maintained through editorial policies, data validation workflows and collaborative review, with ethical standards informed by precedents set by bodies such as the International Olympic Committee and scholarly associations like the Olympic Studies Centre. Dispute resolution for contested athlete records often references rulings from adjudicating bodies including the Court of Arbitration for Sport and historical source verification from national archives like those of Sweden or Germany.
Researchers, journalists, broadcasters and national federations use the database for medal history queries, athlete background checks, broadcast graphics preparation and academic studies. Media coverage draws on entries for marquee competitors including Muhammad Ali (boxing context), Kenenisa Bekele (long-distance running), Katie Ledecky (swimming) and Yelena Isinbayeva (pole vault). Educational institutions consult the dataset for theses on topics such as politicization of the Games in editions like 1936 Summer Olympics and 1972 Summer Olympics. Access modalities include web search interfaces, structured exports for analysis, and collaborations with bodies like the International Olympic Committee for data sharing under agreed terms.
The database is cited in sports histories, biographies and statistical compendia and influences reporting around Olympic record claims, retroactive medal reallocations, and athlete credential verification. Its role complements archival collections in libraries and museums such as the Olympic Museum and academic repositories that host scholarship on figures like Pierre de Coubertin and events like the Ancient Olympic Games. The resource has informed timelines and exhibits for institutions including national Olympic committees of Canada, Australia and United Kingdom and has become a reference for fact-checking in coverage of contemporary stars such as Allyson Felix and Marit Bjørgen.
Category:Sports databases