There are 11,656 athletes at the Olympics. Guy Fraser wanted them all on Wikipedia
Fans across the world enjoy complementing their Olympic viewing with some research. We meet the man who wants everyone's story told
In 1992, 11-year-old Guy Fraser spent his summer vacation fiddling with a radio. He was searching, sometimes in vain, for an English-language broadcast of the Olympics in Barcelona. He was trapped in France. Oblivious to the Olympics - and her son's devotion to them - Fraser's mother had booked a two-week break that coincided almost perfectly with the Games. Fraser was heartbroken, but he made the best of it. He found French broadcasts he could mostly understand as he sussed out how his favourite athletes were faring in Spain.
Nearly three decades later, the Englishman is just as enthusiastic about the Games, especially after more than a year of Covid-19 lockdowns. So in the leadup to Tokyo, he began to do some research. Fraser is an equalopportunity viewer - Once you properly understand the rules and tactics, any sport is inherently fascinating," he told the Guardian in an email - and he wanted to be as informed as he could be. So he scrolled his phone from his home in Bath perusing rosters, trying to learn a thing or two about the people who'd earned spots on teams across the world.
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