Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 595 Olympic Closing Ceremony (Happy New Year!)
Time flies by very quickly; almost in the blink of an eye, a month and a half has passed.

Time has moved from the opening ceremony to the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, which means that the highly anticipated 1916 Madrid Olympics is about to come to an end.

Carlo watched many sporting events during the Olympics and personally presented gold medals to the winners of key events.

Tickets for most events were almost sold out, and the Lelta bullring, which can accommodate 4.5 spectators, was packed almost every day during the Olympics.

According to statistics on ticket sales and attendance, more than 186 million tickets were sold during the entire Madrid Olympics, generating a total ticket revenue of 443 million pesetas.

The total number of people who entered the Lelta bullring to watch the Olympic Games reached 74, setting a new record in both ticket sales and attendance.

The benefits of the Olympics go far beyond that. Although detailed statistics are unavailable, according to summaries from Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, their sales increased by 35.7% and 29.1% respectively during the Olympics. The crowds watching the Olympic games inside and outside the Lelta bullring alone brought in millions of dollars in sales for the two cola companies.

During the later stages of the Madrid Olympics, the renovation of the Iberian Luxury Street was officially completed.

The so-called renovation was really just a matter of repainting the streets and then arranging for luxury stores of all sizes to move in.

With the help of media hype and the influx of numerous luxury brands, the Iberian Luxury Street quickly gained fame throughout Spain and its influence extended to the rest of Europe.

These tourists who came to Spain, knowing the fame of Iberia Boulevard, also chose to visit it in person.

Although only a portion of the people who shop on the luxury shopping street are wealthy, their combined spending is considerable.

Overall, Spain's hosting of this Olympics was absolutely worthwhile. The royal family and government invested approximately 500 million pesetas in the Games, and the ticket revenue directly covered those costs.

The subsequent profits were pure profit, and with the huge boost to Spain's fame brought by the Olympics, this deal was a sure thing.

If hosting two consecutive Olympic Games hadn't significantly boosted Spain's reputation, Carlo would have even considered having Barcelona, ​​another twin city in Spain, host the next Olympic Games.

Considering the possibility of a major flu outbreak next year, the damage it could cause to Europe and the world could be no less than that of a world war.

This also means that the next Summer Olympic Games, to be held three years from now, will be far less successful than the Madrid Olympics.

With that in mind, Carlo stopped insisting. After all, there was still plenty of time ahead; during this long period of peace, Spain had ample time to host the next Olympic Games.

It is worth mentioning that, in order to increase the importance that countries attach to the Olympic Games, Spain specifically published the medal standings daily for this Madrid Olympics.

Just as Carlo had predicted, the daily medal count announcements attracted a large number of newspapers, media outlets, and members of the public.

Once the news reached European countries, the medal standings sparked discussions among the public, resulting in a significant public relations effect.

It's worth mentioning that in this era of the Olympics, there's no rule that prevents a single country from winning three medals simultaneously.

This also means that, given Spain's natural advantage as the host country, it is fully capable of winning all three medals in a single event: gold, silver, and bronze.

While most countries only learn about the specific events of the Olympics a few months before the Games begin, Spanish athletes learn about the events a year in advance, allowing them to train specifically for each event. This is one of the advantages that Spanish athletes possess.

Spain has already swept the three major awards in several events, which has put them far ahead of the daily medal standings, making them no match for the second and third place teams.

On the last day of the Olympic Games, the medal table for the Madrid Olympics was updated for the final time.

Spain topped the medal table with a total of 78 medals, including 31 gold, 26 silver and 21 bronze. It far surpassed other countries in both the number of gold medals and the total number of medals.

It's worth noting that the country ranked second is not a European country, but the United States, located across the ocean.

The United States has won a total of 54 medals, including 19 gold, 21 silver and 14 bronze.

The United States still has a large population, which allows for the selection of athletes with better physical conditions, giving it a certain advantage in sports.

In addition, most Americans are descendants of immigrants, and immigrants are generally in better physical condition than ordinary people. After all, the conditions for immigrants at that time were extremely harsh. A single ocean voyage could take a normal person half their life, and those who were not in good health simply could not survive a transoceanic journey of more than a month.

The UK ranks third. As a representative of European countries, it's difficult for the British to fall out of the top three.

Ultimately, sports are something that can only be done when you have money. Poor people don't have the time to pay attention to sports, let alone let their children risk their future by learning sports.

With its highly urbanized population, Britain boasts one of the highest per capita incomes in Europe. This gives the British ample time to engage with sports, making Britain a leader in the field in Europe.

Great Britain has won a total of 44 medals, including 13 gold, 21 silver and 10 bronze.

Whether in the medal or gold medal standings, Great Britain ranks among the top three in the world, which is quite a source of pride for European countries.

The fourth and fifth places were all won by European countries. France ranked fourth with a total of 9 gold, 14 silver and 19 bronze medals, for a total of 42 medals.

Finland ranks fifth in the medal standings, with a total of 7 gold medals, 9 silver medals and 6 bronze medals, for a total of 22 medals.

It is worth mentioning that a total of 32 countries and 3257 athletes participated in this Olympic Games.

A total of 23 countries won medals, while only 9 countries' sports delegations went home empty-handed, making the medal-winning rate relatively high.

Of the 12 countries that won gold medals, 9 were European, a source of great pride for Europeans. Statistics show that 74% of the gold medals, 62% of the silver medals, and 54% of the bronze medals awarded at the Madrid Olympics were won in Europe.

With the participation of all five continents in this sporting event, the achievements of the European sports delegation have brought great joy to people across Europe.

In addition, all the major powers, to varying degrees, also won medals. Compared to non-major powers, these major powers have natural advantages in terms of population and economy, making it easier for them to cultivate athletes with stronger physical abilities.

In addition, out of consideration for the face of the major powers, the event arrangements should still try to ensure that all major powers receive medals.

Of course, these are just medals. To win a gold medal, athletes must rely on their own hard work.

When ranking the medals won by countries around the world, although it is a total medal list, the ranking rules still prioritize the number of gold medals won by each country.

If the number of gold medals won is the same, then the number of silver medals won by each country is compared. If the number of silver medals is the same, then the number of bronze medals is compared. If all are the same, then they are arranged alphabetically.

Overall, the Madrid Olympics were relatively fair and just. No news reports during the Games questioned the impartiality of the competition.

The Royal Security Intelligence Service's surveys of people across Europe found that the public generally approved of the fairness of the Olympics.

Although Spain holds the top spot on both the medal and gold medal counts with an absolute advantage, no one would question Spain's lead, as it is an advantage brought by the host country, not by the referees.

Even the relatively fair rulings by Spanish referees in various sporting events have drawn praise from many newspapers and media outlets.

After all, sports events need fairness and impartiality to ensure their value. If sports events lose their fairness and impartiality, naturally no one will pay attention to such competitions anymore.

Because of the fairness and impartiality of the competition, the world records broken by athletes during the Olympic Games are also recorded in Olympic history by the International Olympic Committee.

If no one breaks their records in the future, they will remain world record holders, forever remembered and admired, and people will yearn to surpass them.

This serves as an inspiration for these athletes. During the Madrid Olympics, more than ten records were successfully broken, demonstrating the continuous improvement in the physical fitness of people in Europe and around the world.

Overall, people's living standards are generally improving. Only a few countries experience a reverse trend due to various reasons, but for most countries and people, both physical fitness and life expectancy are generally improving year by year.

Spain has made great efforts to ensure the fairness of the Olympic Games, especially in determining the rankings of two athletes with similar performances in track and field.

This Olympics used a lot of electronic equipment, including finish line cameras, which made the results of Olympic competitions, especially track and field events, more standardized, and in some cases even accurate to 0.1 seconds.

Compared to later generations, there was clearly still much room for improvement in this level of precision. But in this era, being able to measure seconds to 0.1 seconds was already a remarkable achievement.

This is why the International Olympic Committee is willing to recognize the world records broken during the Madrid Olympics and record them in the history of the Olympic Games.

With the support of advanced equipment, it can be ensured to the greatest extent possible that the results achieved by athletes during the Olympic Games are authentic and valid, and will not be affected by equipment errors.

On July 29, 1917, amidst great anticipation, the closing ceremony of the Madrid Olympics officially began.

Just like the opening ceremony of the Olympics a month and a half ago, the closing ceremony of the Olympics was still addressed by Carlo and the President of the International Olympic Committee, who expressed their gratitude to all domestic and foreign audiences.

The athletes, having already received all their awards, were extremely grateful for the soon-to-end Olympics. The Games not only gave them an opportunity to prove the fruits of their years of hard work, but also allowed them to earn substantial income through their efforts.

Especially for athletes who win gold medals, the rewards they receive at the Olympics are equivalent to several years' worth of income for an average person.

If you're lucky enough to win several medals, your income will far surpass that of ordinary people and be comparable to that of the middle class.

Improving the treatment of medal-winning athletes at the Olympics was also something Carlo intentionally did. Firstly, promoting sports is not a bad thing for a country; when people actively participate in sports, it not only improves their physical health but also cultivates qualities of unity and mutual assistance.

It's much better to like sports stars than movie stars. After all, sports stars are judged by their achievements, while movie stars are completely different.

Carlo also hopes that through the Madrid Olympics, more Spanish teenagers will fall in love with sports, more sports stars will emerge in the future, more gold medals will be won for Spain, and Spain will remain at the top of the Olympic medal table for a long time.

Whether such a reward would cause problems for the next country to host the Olympics is not something Carlo should worry about.

After all, the rewards given to athletes are not actually that much; it's an expense that any country can afford.

If they're not even willing to spend this much money, they might as well just give up on hosting the Olympics altogether. After all, the other expenses involved in organizing the Olympics far exceed the prize money for the athletes.

If the next Olympic Games are not well-organized, athletes, the public, and the International Olympic Committee will remember the Madrid Olympics, which will also be an opportunity for Spain to host the next Olympic Games in the future.

If Spain does host the next Olympics, there will only be one venue left: Barcelona.

The good news is that Barcelona is closer to other European countries and is much more convenient to get to than Madrid.

Foreign tourists wishing to reach Madrid, the capital of Spain, must take an ocean liner to a Spanish port and then take a train from there to Madrid.

This back-and-forth trip would waste a lot of time. If the Olympics could be held in a port city like Barcelona, ​​it would be much easier for foreign tourists to get to Barcelona, ​​and it would also help attract more foreign tourists to Spain.

　Third update of 4,000 words, please vote with monthly tickets!
　　On the fifth day of the daily 10,000, there are still five days of daily 10,000 owed.

　　Happy New Year's Eve everyone!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)