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The Olympic numbers game

How many rolls of toilet paper do you need daily to host an Olympics? Athens, the host of the 2004 Summer Games, is predicting the bottom line on toilet paper will be 16,000 a day.

How many rolls of toilet paper do you need daily to host an Olympics?

Athens, the host of the 2004 Summer Games, is predicting the bottom line on toilet paper will be 16,000 a day.

As the original host of the Games moves into its final stages of preparation for the Summer Games it’s becoming clear what a mammoth task hosting a hallmark event can be.

Currently 58 Venue Teams have completed operational venue drawings and an operational manual for every venue.

"Essentially we have the Games before the Games, recorded in every detail in the pages of this detailed manual…," said Athens spokesman Marton Simitsek on the 2004 Web site.

Some of the numbers the Venue Teams are dealing with offer insight as Whistler and Vancouver continue with their bid to host the 2010 Winter Games.

• The 8,814-room Olympic Village will host 10,500 athletes and 5,500 team officials.

• There will be 912 ATHENS 2004 personnel, 4,375 volunteers and 5,727 subcontractors operating in the village daily.

• To outfit the village officials will need 17,628 beds, pillows, mattresses and bedside tables. A further 3,525 bed extensions will be needed for very tall athletes.

• 2,262 curtain rails, 4,532 curtains, 6,270 closets, and 176,280 hangers will also be needed in the village.

• It’s estimated the National Olympic Committees will need 994 offices, 582 cupboards, 1,123 wastebaskets and 3,787 chairs.

• In the Olympic Village laundry will be done daily. Its estimated that 16,000-kg will be done every 24 hours.

• Two restaurants will operate offering 6,000 meals per hour with 60,000 meals being eaten daily.