Simulations involving extremes

In this section, we use simulations to ask questions about sports in which several individuals compete, with the winner completing the event in the shortest time or obtaining the highest score or distance.

In these events, the winner has the maximum or minimum of some quantity.

Olympic Gold Medal Runs

In the modern Olympic Games, there has been a steady improvement in performance in most events during the past century. For example, the diagram below shows the winning times (in seconds) for the 1500 metres run.

Click on any data point to display the name and country of the winner in that year. Note that there were no Olympic Games in the years 1916, 1940 or 1944 due to wars.