Talk a Good Game at Your Olympics Party

Tear-jerking videos. World records. Ryan Lochte. There are so many reasons we're excited about the Olympics in London. That's why we dug through the Internet to find you these inspiring/weird/random facts to share with your viewing party during commercials.

By the Numbers

Here's a quick rundown of the stats: 26 Olympic sports; 20 Paralympic sports; 10,490 Olympic athletes; 4,200 Paralympic athletes; 200,000 staffers; and an estimated 500,000 spectators per day.

Olympic MascotsThe London Games mascots are giant one-eyed creatures named Wenlock and Mandeville. According to event organizers, they're meant to resemble drops of steel used to build Olympic Stadium.

Olympic gold medals are 1.34 percent gold, 92.5 percent silver, and the rest copper filling. Each medallion takes ten hours to make; it gets pressed fifteen times by a nearly 2 million-pound weight.

Hiroshi Hoketsu

The oldest Olympian competing this year is 71-year-old Japanese equestrian Hiroshi Hoketsu (he first took part in the 1964 Olympic Games).

All five members of the U.S. gymnastics team are first-time Olympians. The oldest is 18; the youngest is 15. Famed coach of yore Bela Karolyi called them the best team since 1996 (hello, Magnificent Seven).

Im Dong-Hyun

South Korean archer Im Dong-Hyun is legally blind, but he doesn't wear glasses or contacts during competitions. He attributes his success to muscle memory.