Olympic Rings

Olympic Projects and Investigations for the Keen Mathematical Athlete.

Optimal Running Strategy

Investigate different running strategies for a 400m race. Compare the times if an athlete starts fast and slows down, starts slow and speeds up, or maintains a constant speed. Use data from past Olympic races to support your analysis.

Cumulative Medals

For each day of the Olympics, record the total number of medals earned by your country. For each day work out the cumulative frequency and use these numbers to draw a cumulative frequency chart. Describe the features of your chart.

Impact of Altitude on Performance

Investigate how altitude affects athletic performance. Compare performances of athletes in high-altitude venues versus sea-level venues. Analyse data from events held in cities like Mexico City and compare it to events held in London.

Historical Performance Trends

Investigate the trends in world records over the past century in events like the 100m sprint and the long jump. Analyse how the records have improved and predict future records based on historical data.

Economics of Hosting the Olympics

Investigate the costs and benefits of hosting the Olympic Games. Compare the economic impact on cities that have hosted the games in the past 30 years. Analyse data on infrastructure spending, tourism revenue, and long-term benefits to the local economy.

Gender and Performance

Investigate the performance gap between male and female athletes in various Olympic events. Analyse data to see if the gap has been closing over the years and explore potential reasons for these trends.

Predicting Medal Counts

Use statistical models to predict the medal counts for different countries in the upcoming Olympics. Analyse factors such as past performance, current world rankings, and investment in sports programs.

Medals Pie Charts

Choose five countries that have had a wide range of success in the last Olympics. For each country manually draw a pie chart showing the proportion of gold, silver and bronze medals they won. Comment on what can be seen when comparing the pie charts.


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Mathematicians are not the people who find Maths easy; they are the people who enjoy how mystifying, puzzling and hard it is. Are you a mathematician? Comment recorded on the 26 March 'Starter of the Day' page by Julie Reakes, The English College, Dubai: "It's great to have a starter that's timed and focuses the attention of everyone fully. I told them in advance I would do 10 then record their percentages." Comment recorded on the 10 April 'Starter of the Day' page by Mike Sendrove, Salt Grammar School, UK.: "A really useful set of resources - thanks. Is the collection available on CD? Are solutions available?"		Each month a newsletter is published containing details of the new additions to the Transum website and a new puzzle of the month. The newsletter is then duplicated as a podcast which is available on the major delivery networks. You can listen to the podcast while you are commuting, exercising or relaxing. Transum breaking news is available on Twitter @Transum and if that's not enough there is also a Transum Facebook page.
Featured Activity ChristMaths Christmas activities make those December Maths lessons interesting, exciting and relevant. If students have access to computers there are some online activities to keep them engaged such as Christmas Ornaments and Christmas Light Up.	Numeracy "Numeracy is a proficiency which is developed mainly in Mathematics but also in other subjects. It is more than an ability to do basic arithmetic. It involves developing confidence and competence with numbers and measures. It requires understanding of the number system, a repertoire of mathematical techniques, and an inclination and ability to solve quantitative or spatial problems in a range of contexts. Numeracy also demands understanding of the ways in which data are gathered by counting and measuring, and presented in graphs, diagrams, charts and tables." Secondary National Strategy, Mathematics at key stage 3
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Transum, Saturday, February 17, 2018 "One method of finding a solution to a puzzle in which the digits one to nine have to be arranged in a particular formation is by trying every different permutation. This strategy however is very time consuming. Even if it only took one second to arrange the numbers and check whether a solution has been found, you would need to allow over one hundred hours to complete the task! Developing a strategy with some insight or consideration of the number patterns might be a better course of action. Good Luck! " Deirdre Whittington, Alice Smith School Friday, March 23, 2018 "The olympic ring problem, level 3, my class found 3 different answers - one that summed to 14, 13 and 11." Deirdre Whittington, Alice Smith School Friday, March 23, 2018 "Oops - just realised that the Level 1 and 2 ones were for 11 and 13! We did try to get one that added to 12 but were unsuccessful......is there one and if not, why not?" Transum, Monday, January 16, 2023 "I loved Miss Efford's introduction to this activity which I stumbled across on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXmO4peXqQk" Do you have any comments? It is always useful to receive feedback and helps make this free resource even more useful for those learning Mathematics anywhere in the world. Click here to enter your comments.