你所不知曉的索契冬奧會11大真實情況

The 2014 Winter Olympics start February 7, in Sochi, Russia. With the excitement of awards season, the Super Bowl, and that pesky polar vortex, we almost forgot to be crazy excited about the impending Olympics. So we are here to help with some helpful fun facts about the Winter Olympics.

2014年冬奧會2月7日於俄羅斯索契拉開帷幕。在經歷了激動人心的“頒獎季”、“超級碗”及惱人的“極地渦旋”後，我們似乎失了對奧運會那份迫切期盼的心。所以我們來幫你瞭解一些有關本屆冬奧會的有趣信息。

1. You’re not imagining it: The Winter Olympics aren’t as major as the Summer Olympics. There are only 15 sports in the winter games, as opposed to 41 in the summer.

你難以想象到的是：冬奧會規模並不像夏奧會那麼大。只有15項賽事，而夏奧會則有41項。

2. These are the most expensive Olympics in history, at around $51 billion—just a bit over Russia’s original $12 billion budget. By comparison, the last Winter Olympics, in Vancouver, cost around $8 billion. There are plenty of factors to blame, including a higher cost of security after recent terror threats.

本屆奧運會是有史以來費用最高的一屆，約510億美元——比預算高了120億。而上屆溫哥華冬奧會只花費了80億美元。還有其它很多地方可以吐槽，例如在最近恐怖威脅上升的情況下，安保費亦大大升高。

3. There have never been more countries involved. A total of 88 countries will be represented. Welcome to your first Olympics, Paraguay and Zimbabwe!

本屆冬奧會是有史以來參與國家最多的一屆。共有88個國家參與。歡迎首次加入奧運會的巴拉圭和津巴布韋。

4. Size matters. The biggest countries are sending the most Athletes this year. The United States will send 230 athletes to Sochi, while Russia will have 225, and Canada will have 220. The next closest is Switzerland, at a mere 168.

陣容問題。大國們此次派出最多運動員參賽。美國會派出230名前往索契，而俄羅斯則爲225，加拿大220，而其次就是瑞士，只有168名。

5. There are three mascots for these Olympics, as voted by the Russian people: a polar bear, hare, and leopard.

本屆奧運會有3種吉祥物，由俄羅斯民衆投票選出：一隻北極熊、野兔和豹子。

6. Lolo Jones is back. Remember Lolo Jones, the Olympic hurdler who caught headlines for being a social-media star at the 2008 and 2012 games? After she didn’t get medal in Beijing and London, she decided to simply… give bobsledding a try. And she made the Olympic team for 2014!

洛洛•瓊斯迴歸。還記得洛洛•瓊斯嗎，那個由於“社交緋聞”上頭條的跨欄女選手，她曾參加過2008年和2012年奧運會。她在北京和倫敦並未斬獲獎牌很是遺憾，這次決定試一下滑雪，而且她已經加入了今年的戰隊。

7. Shaun White is still the best snowboarder in the world. Doesn’t it feel like he’s been around forever?! He’s only 27. And he’s still in it! He won the gold medal for the halfpipe at the 2010 and 2006 Olympics, and put your money on him again in 2014.

肖恩•懷特仍是全世界最優秀的單板滑板選手。你難道不覺得他一直都在嗎？他只有27歲，而且仍會參與本屆奧運會！他在2010年和2006年奧運會中都獲得了半管賽的獎牌，今年也把注押在他身上吧。

8. All three female figure skaters from the United States are pretty blonde girls. Gracie Gold, 18 (pictured above), Ashley Wagner, 22, and Polina Edmunds, just 15, will compete in Sochi.

三名來自美國的花滑女選手都是美女的金髮少女。她們分別爲18歲、22歲和15歲，將會征戰索契。

9. There are twelve new events, including a mixed figure-skating team event and women’s ski-jumping.

新添兩項賽事：雙人混合花滑賽和急速高臺滑雪。

10. Athletes who win gold on February 15 will be given special gold medals with pieces of a recent meteorite in them. It crashed in Russia on February 15, 2013.

2月15日贏得獎牌的人將會得到嵌有隕石的特殊金牌。隕石是於2013年2月15日落入俄羅斯境內的，很有紀念意義。

11. Sochi is killing all the stray dogs that have been hanging around town before the tourists and athletes arrive.

索契在遊客和參賽選手抵達前解決掉所有城市附近遊蕩的流浪狗。