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年冬奥会2月7日于俄罗斯索契拉开帷幕。在经历了激动人心的“颁奖季”、“超级碗”及恼人的“极地涡旋”后，我们似乎失了对奥运会那份迫切期盼的心。所以我们来帮你了解一些有关本届冬奥会的有趣信息。
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.
你难以想象到的是：冬奥会规模并不像夏奥会那么大。只有15项赛事，而夏奥会则有41项。
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.
本届奥运会是有史以来费用最高的一届，约510亿美元——比预算高了120亿。而上届温哥华冬奥会只花费了80亿美元。还有其它很多地方可以吐槽，例如在最近恐怖威胁上升的情况下，安保费亦大大升高。
3. There have never been more countries involved. A total of 88 countries will be represented. Welcome to your first Olympics, Paraguay and Zimbabwe!
本届冬奥会是有史以来参与国家最多的一届。共有88个国家参与。欢迎首次加入奥运会的巴拉圭和津巴布韦。
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.
阵容问题。大国们此次派出最多运动员参赛。美国会派出230名前往索契，而俄罗斯则为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.
本届奥运会有3种吉祥物，由俄罗斯民众投票选出：一只北极熊、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•琼斯回归。还记得洛洛•琼斯吗，那个由于“社交绯闻”上头条的跨栏女选手，她曾参加过2008年和2012年奥运会。她在北京和伦敦并未斩获奖牌很是遗憾，这次决定试一下滑雪，而且她已经加入了今年的战队。
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•怀特仍是全世界最优秀的单板滑板选手。你难道不觉得他一直都在吗？他只有27岁，而且仍会参与本届奥运会！他在2010年和2006年奥运会中都获得了半管赛的奖牌，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.
三名来自美国的花滑女选手都是美女的金发少女。她们分别为18岁、22岁和15岁，将会征战索契。
9. There are twelve new events, including a mixed figure-skating team event and women’s ski-jumping.
新添两项赛事：双人混合花滑赛和急速高台滑雪。
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日赢得奖牌的人将会得到嵌有陨石的特殊金牌。陨石是于2013年2月15日落入俄罗斯境内的，很有纪念意义。
11. Sochi is killing all the stray dogs that have been hanging around town before the tourists and athletes arrive.
索契在游客和参赛选手抵达前解决掉所有城市附近游荡的流浪狗。