A Contest from Laughton.org

Final Results

Updated February 19, 2018, 18:01 US Eastern Time

RankPlayerPoints: Gold, Silver, Bronze, TotalTiebreaker
1 421941 102 -5:17.6
2 42445 91 +4:12.0
3 342725 86 -9:58.4
4 283028 86 -10:01.2
5 273022 79 -5:11.3
6 93335 77 -3:50.4
7 341427 75 +1:28.0
8 30932 71 -7:17.6
9 212619 66 -9:14.6
10 141532 61 -12:23.3
11 272212 61 -15:32.1
12 3919 58 -5:42.6
13 171820 55 -4:29.3
14 4311 54 -8:11.2
15 192015 54 -13:23.3
16 271213 52 -12:55.5
17 31218 51 -2:02.9
18 101327 50 -2:12.6
19 241015 49 -6:44.2
20 161913 48 -14:02.9
21 3096 45 -1:06.2
22 201213 45 -14:00.4
23 31211 44 -2:38.0
24 20911 40 -2:12.6
25 9159 33 -7:02.1
26 102 12 -11:08.6

Medals Awarded in PyeongChang

Norway141411   Germany14107 Canada11810
United States986   Netherlands866 Sweden761
South Korea584   Switzerland564 France546
Austria536   Japan454 Italy325
Olympic Athletes from Russia269   Czech Republic223 Belarus210
China162   Slovakia120 Finland114
Great Britain104   Poland101 Hungary100
Ukraine100   Australia021 Slovenia011
Belgium010   New Zealand002 Spain002
Kazakhstan001   Latvia001 Liechtenstein001

Marit Bjoegen of Norway won the Women's 30km Mass Start Cross-Country ski race in 1:22:17.6.

The Contestants

86
Norway14
United States9
Canada11
  34
Germany10
United States8
Norway14
South Korea8
Austria3
  27
United States6
Norway11
Canada10
Austria6
Switzerland4
  25
Tiebreaker:   01:12:19.2Received:   Jan 23, 09:40

61
United States9
Germany14
Norway14
Canada11
Sweden7
Finland1
Netherlands8
Italy3
France5
South Korea5
  27
United States8
Germany10
Norway14
Canada8
Austria3
Finland1
Netherlands6
Italy2
France4
South Korea8
  22
United States6
Germany7
Norway11
Austria6
Sweden1
Finland4
Netherlands6
Italy5
France6
South Korea4
  12
Tiebreaker:   01:06:45.5Received:   Jan 23, 10:08

86
Norway14
Netherlands8
Canada11
United States9
Germany14
  28
Norway14
Netherlands6
Canada8
United States8
Germany10
  30
Netherlands6
Norway11
Canada10
United States6
Germany7
  28
Tiebreaker:   01:12:16.4Received:   Jan 23, 10:37

45
United States9
Japan4
Spain0
Germany14
Canada11
Norway14
  20
Canada8
China6
France4
Netherlands6
Sweden6
  12
Austria6
New Zealand2
Italy5
Great Britain4
Jamaica0
South Korea4
Serbia0
  13
It just doesn't add up!
Tiebreaker:   01:08:17.2Received:   Jan 23, 11:11

52
United States9
Canada11
Olympic Athletes from Russia2
Germany14
Austria5
Norway14
Iceland0
  27
Canada8
China6
France4
Denmark0
Sweden6
Croatia0
Portugal0
Brazil0
  12
Austria6
New Zealand2
Italy5
Great Britain4
Finland4
South Korea4
Poland1
Australia1
  13
Fewer countries fewer duplicates?
Tiebreaker:   01:09:22.1Received:   Jan 23, 11:16

44
Thailand0
United States9
Olympic Athletes from Russia2
Philippines0
France5
Great Britain1
Germany14
Spain0
  31
China6
Brazil0
Italy2
Nigeria0
Iran0
Turkey0
Olympic Athletes from Russia6
Ukraine0
  2
India0
Pakistan0
Mexico0
Japan4
Kenya0
Germany7
South Africa0
Colombia0
  11
It's an honor just to be chosen to participate.
Tiebreaker:   01:19:39.6Received:   Jan 23, 11:21

75
Canada11
Norway14
United States9
  34
Canada8
Norway14
United States8
  14
Canada10
Norway11
United States6
  27
Tiebreaker:   01:23:45.6Received:   Jan 23, 12:27

54
United States9
Germany14
Canada11
Olympic Athletes from Russia2
Sweden7
  43
United States8
Olympic Athletes from Russia6
Netherlands6
Switzerland6
Canada8
  0
United States6
France6
Belarus0
Austria6
Norway11
  11
Tiebreaker:   01:14:06.4Received:   Jan 24, 18:06

55
Austria5
Norway14
Switzerland5
Canada11
United States9
Finland1
Germany14
Slovenia0
Netherlands8
Poland1
  17
Sweden6
China6
South Korea8
Finland1
Italy2
Canada8
Norway14
Austria3
Czech Republic2
Kazakhstan0
  18
Finland4
Canada10
Austria6
Norway11
North Korea0
Great Britain4
Ukraine0
Slovakia0
Olympic Athletes from Russia9
France6
  20
Tiebreaker:   01:17:48.3Received:   Jan 24, 21:23

77
United States9
Canada11
Germany14
Norway14
Great Britain1
China1
Switzerland5
South Korea5
  9
United States8
Canada8
Germany10
Norway14
China6
Austria3
South Korea8
  33
United States6
Canada10
Germany7
Norway11
Austria6
Switzerland4
Czech Republic3
  35
Tiebreaker:   01:18:27.2Received:   Jan 26, 22:37

33
Canada11
Switzerland5
China1
Austria5
United States9
Norway14
Jamaica0
Japan4
Kenya0
Nigeria0
  9
Czech Republic2
Finland1
Olympic Athletes from Russia6
United States8
Canada8
Switzerland6
China6
Slovakia2
Norway14
Sweden6
  15
United States6
Italy5
Croatia0
Kosovo0
Belarus0
Azerbaijan0
France6
Great Britain4
Greece0
Romania0
  9
Tiebreaker:   01:15:15.5Received:   Jan 31, 10:31

40
Austria5
Canada11
Switzerland5
United States9
  20
Canada8
United States8
Netherlands6
Austria3
  9
Austria6
United States6
Netherlands6
Norway11
  11
Tiebreaker:   01:20:05.0Received:   Feb 03, 18:02

50
Germany14
Poland1
Norway14
United States9
  10
Austria3
France4
Sweden6
Canada8
United States8
  13
Austria6
Germany7
France6
Norway11
United States6
Olympic Athletes from Russia9
  27
Tiebreaker:   01:20:05.0Received:   Feb 03, 18:08

54
Netherlands8
Norway14
Canada11
United States9
Germany14
Switzerland5
Belarus2
Austria5
South Korea5
China1
  19
United States8
South Korea8
France4
Italy2
Canada8
Czech Republic2
Sweden6
Germany10
  20
China2
Canada10
United States6
Finland4
France6
Estonia0
Sweden1
Czech Republic3
Ukraine0
Italy5
  15
Tiebreaker:   01:08:54.3Received:   Feb 04, 23:16

102
France5
Austria5
Switzerland5
Germany14
Netherlands8
United States9
Canada11
  42
Austria3
Canada8
Olympic Athletes from Russia6
Norway14
United States8
Germany10
France4
  19
France6
Canada10
Olympic Athletes from Russia9
Switzerland4
Norway11
United States6
Germany7
  41
The contest designer seems to have cracked every possible model for choosing the optimum country picks. Congratulations on messing up every probability scheme that originally seemed crystal clear.
Tiebreaker:   01:17:00.0Received:   Feb 05, 23:50

71
Norway14
Canada11
United States9
Netherlands8
Germany14
Olympic Athletes from Russia2
  30
Norway14
Canada8
United States8
Austria3
France4
Netherlands6
  9
Norway11
Canada10
United States6
Netherlands6
Germany7
Switzerland4
  32
If only there were as many digits as snowflake forms.
Tiebreaker:   01:15:00.0Received:   Feb 06, 00:20

45
United States9
China1
Sweden7
Canada11
Germany14
Great Britain1
  30
Australia2
Finland1
Switzerland6
North Korea0
Lithuania0
  9
Thailand0
Azerbaijan0
France6
Puerto Rico0
South Africa0
  6
Tiebreaker:   01:21:11.4Received:   Feb 06, 08:53

48
Canada11
Great Britain1
Iceland0
Norway14
United States9
China1
Japan4
Sweden7
  16
Canada8
Great Britain0
Iceland0
United States8
Norway14
China6
Sweden6
Japan5
  19
Australia1
Canada10
Great Britain4
United States6
Iceland0
Norway11
Sweden1
China2
Italy5
Japan4
  13
Tiebreaker:   01:08:14.7Received:   Feb 06, 12:08

49
United States9
Germany14
South Korea5
Switzerland5
China1
  24
United States8
Germany10
South Korea8
Switzerland6
China6
  10
United States6
Germany7
South Korea4
Switzerland4
China2
  15
Tiebreaker:   01:15:33.4Received:   Feb 06, 17:45

12
Germany14
Austria5
United States9
Norway14
France5
China1
  10
China6
United States8
Canada8
South Korea8
North Korea0
Switzerland6
Sweden6
  0
Sweden1
Switzerland4
Argentina0
Canada10
Norway11
North Korea0
South Korea4
China2
  2
Tiebreaker:   01:11:09.0Received:   Feb 06, 19:56

51
Canada11
Germany14
France5
Italy3
Japan4
Netherlands8
Norway14
South Korea5
Switzerland5
United States9
  31
Belarus1
Canada8
Czech Republic2
Finland1
Germany10
Netherlands6
United States8
Olympic Athletes from Russia6
Poland0
South Korea8
  2
Australia1
China2
Germany7
France6
Japan4
Norway11
South Korea4
Ukraine0
United States6
Olympic Athletes from Russia9
  18
Tiebreaker:   01:20:14.7Received:   Feb 06, 20:21

66
Austria5
United States9
Germany14
Italy3
Slovenia0
Poland1
Norway14
Netherlands8
Australia0
South Korea5
  21
Canada8
United States8
Slovakia2
Norway14
Germany10
South Korea8
Austria3
Belarus1
Switzerland6
Estonia0
  26
Canada10
France6
Netherlands6
Slovakia0
Italy5
China2
Germany7
Great Britain4
United States6
Sweden1
  19
Tiebreaker:   01:13:03.0Received:   Feb 06, 20:52

58
United States9
Canada11
Netherlands8
Norway14
Austria5
China1
Slovakia1
Italy3
Portugal0
  39
United States8
Germany10
South Korea8
Slovenia1
China6
Denmark0
Switzerland6
France4
Belarus1
Norway14
  0
Germany7
Finland4
Sweden1
United States6
Georgia0
Great Britain4
Canada10
Switzerland4
Italy5
  19
Tiebreaker:   01:16:35.0Received:   Feb 06, 21:08

79
United States9
Italy3
Finland1
Sweden7
Switzerland5
Canada11
Norway14
Netherlands8
Germany14
Austria5
  27
United States8
Italy2
Finland1
Sweden6
Switzerland6
Canada8
Norway14
Netherlands6
Germany10
Austria3
  30
United States6
Italy5
Finland4
Sweden1
Switzerland4
Canada10
Norway11
Netherlands6
Germany7
Austria6
  22
Tiebreaker:   01:17:06.3Received:   Feb 06, 21:20

61
United States9
Norway14
Germany14
Austria5
  14
Great Britain0
Germany10
United States8
Norway14
Finland1
Canada8
  15
United States6
Germany7
Canada10
Japan4
Olympic Athletes from Russia9
South Korea4
  32
Tiebreaker:   01:09:54.3Received:   Feb 07, 12:54

91
Norway14
Canada11
United States9
Netherlands8
Switzerland5
Austria5
  42
Canada8
Sweden6
Germany10
Norway14
Japan5
Finland1
  44
United States6
Norway11
Netherlands6
France6
Sweden1
Italy5
  5
Who but the Contest Manager would submit such an entry?
As a minion of Laughton.org he is ineligible to receive a prize, but he can still try to outscore you.
Tiebreaker:   01:26:29.6Received:   Feb 07, 23:59

 

The Contest

Bitcoin, Bytecoin, Lifecoin, ZCash, Etherium… where will the cryptocurrency craze end?The crack contest staff at Laughton.org can't answer this question,but they can tell you that the next step in cryptoeconomics is the CryptOlympiCoin,the valueless currency you can generate with your own Olympic-medal-driven device.While it may be valueless, the CryptOlympiCoin is not pointless:whoever generates the greatest number of them will win this contest!

How to Play

This is a fantasy sports competition, but with a twist. As in all contests at Laughton.org,instead of simply predicting winners, participants engage in a little mental prestidigitationby constructing an otherwise meaningless list to utilize an arbitrary and capricious scoringformula devised by the contest staff. Who wins any Olympic event is almost irrelevant;it's the distribution of medals that counts here.What, you know nothing about the likely winners in PyeongChang? No problem!Unlike other fantasy sports leagues in which familiarity with the athletes and events involvedis an advantage, expertise in Olympic Games is of little use in this contest. As always,a little knowledge of mathematics and statistics can be a boon. The most important skill,of course, is an ability to predict the future. We hope you've been practicing!

Coins (as they will be called from now on to stop our spell-checker's screaming)are generated from Olympic medals. You will choose a group of as many as ten countriesfrom which to collect gold medals, another group from which to collect silver, and a thirdfor bronze. The same country may appear in more than one group. As the Olympic Games progress,you'll generate one Coin for each medal earned by any of your countries. Whoever generatesthe most Coins wins!

What's the catch?

Ah, if you're asking this question, you must have entered one of our contests before!Yes, there's a catch, and it's in the last digit of each country's medal count.Your tally of Coins will grow relentlessly as if there's no limit, one for each medal,until the wrong number turns up in your account.Within a group - gold, silver, or bronze - if the last digit of a country's count matchesthe last digit of another country's, your Coin bubble bursts!You get no Coins at all for country counts whose last digits match.The following example illustrates the scoring formula:

Player Name:   Gene Eric
GoldSilverBronze
Norway
USA
Great Britain
Austria
Switzerland
Germany
France
China
Japan
Canada
9
11
14
6
7
12
3
5
8
10
USA
Great Britain
Austria
Switzerland
Sweden
Finland
15
2
5
11
6
4
USA
France
Italy
Finland
Czech Republic
Australia
19
16
16
9
5
6
Total:85Total:23Total:5
CryptOlympiCoins generated:   113

The columns above show which countries Gene Eric chose for his gold, silver,and bronze groups and the number of these medals each country earned.Miraculously, all of the tallies in the gold column end in different digits,so all of the gold medals generate Coins. In the silver column, however,the final digits matched for USA and Austria; for both of these countries no Coins were generated.The bronze column shows many matches, cancelling any Coin output for all countries involved.Numbers that have been cancelled are shown in red; they count as zeroes toward the Coin total.Note that counts in one column have no effect on the counts in another.Selecting the same country more than once in a single column guarantees a match,so while the Official Entry Form allows it, we don't recommend making such selections.

There's no requirement to fill each group with ten countries. On the contrary(and at Laughton.org we love being contrary), you may choose only one country in each groupand guarantee that you will generate Coins for each medal earned. Of course, you could increaseyour potential Coin total by adding another country or two, but you risk losing them with amatching digit. But adding just one more country... surely that won't hurt, will it? How muchrisk will you take in pursuit of greater gains?

Use the Official Entry Form to construct your CryptOlympiCoin generator.Once you've submitted your entry, the Laughton.org contest staff will do the rest:they'll update this page regularly with the latest scores and standings during the Olympic Games,and at the end they'll declare the winner and award a prize.

Ties

In addition to selecting countries and medals, each player will provide a prediction for thewinning time of the Women's 30 km Mass Start Classic Cross-Country Ski event. In the event of atie in Coin totals, the winner will be the player whose prediction is closest to the winning timeof this event, regardless of whether the prediction is higher or lower than the official result.In the highly improbable event that a tie remains after the tiebreaker is considered, the playerwhose entry was received earlier by Laughton.org will be the winner.The Official Entry Form provides fields for specifying hours, minutes, seconds, and tenths of seconds.To assist you in making your prediction, here are the winning times of recent Olympic Women's 30km Mass Start races:

  • 2014   1:11:05.2
  • 2010   1:30:33.7
  • 2006   1:22:25.4

Prizes

First prize is an artificial snow making kit from Amazing Toys.We've all heard the admonition not to eat yellow snow; don't eat the blue or pink stuff either, or you'll find out firsthand why they call it Sick Science.
Second prize is a robotic battery-operated reading light. "Robotic" means that it looks cool when the internal spring makes it unfold. Folding it up again is a manual operation that isn't nearly as cool or robotic. But then you get to open it again.Third prize is an LED flyer, a combination of battery-powered light and helicopter blades that goes up when you spin it and down when gravity decides that you've had quite enough fun. And then the battery eventually dies. Life is not fair.

Entry Details

Use the Official Entry Form below to submit your entry no later than midnight (US Eastern Time)on February 7, 2018. No late entries will be accepted.Your e-mail address will be the unique identifier for your entry. It will only be used tocontact you to confirm acceptance of your entry, to notify you if your entry is rejected,or to contact you regarding prize delivery should you be so luckyskillful. It willnot appear anywhere on this website or be used for any other purpose. If you want to changeyour entry after submitting it, simply submit another using the same address; the new entrywill overwrite the previous one as long as it is submitted before the deadline.

Only one entry per e-mail address will be accepted. If you have more than one address,you may submit an entry from each.

The Official Entry Form provides fields for 10 country names in each of the gold, silver,and bronze groups. Each field contains a menu with all countries known to be participatingin the PyeongChang Winter Olympics as of January 22, 2018. The menus will not be updated evenif a country should join or leave the competition late. Seriously, this contest has been delayedenough while various committees debated who would be competing and who wouldn't.

It's still unclear how the medals will be tallied if a joint team from North and South Koreawins one: will each country get a half-medal? Such an award is unlikely, but if it happens,the scoring formula will be strictly applied: in a medal count of 1.5 (or any other includinga half-medal), the final digit is 5 and will match a count of 5, 15, 25, etc.

Only an address, player name, country selections, and a tiebreaker prediction are requiredto enter. However, the contest staff encourages contestants to provide some comments. Perhapsyou'd like to describe the construction or history of your Coin generator. Do you view it as aninfernal machine or an instrument of joy? Perhaps you'd like to share your views oncryptocurrencies, the Olympics, or any other relevant topic. But don't ramble endlessly;at about the 200-word mark the contest staff tends to start cutting. Furthermore, racist, sexist,or otherwise scurrilous comments are prohibited.Laughton.org is a family-friendly site, so we cannot go into detail here about what happens whensomeone submits offensive comments, but we can assure you that such players do not win contests atLaughton.org.

A roster of players and their entry details will be posted on this page before the openingceremonies begin in PyeongChang February 9, 2018 (some competition begins on February 8,which is the reason for the February 7 entry deadline). Scores and standings will be postedon this page and updated frequently during the Olympic competition. Only the final tally will countfor winning prizes and acquiring the eternal bragging rights associated with victory in a contest at Laughton.org, but intermediate results may confer some fleeting opportunities for one-upmanship at your local watering hole or handheld-device charging station.

Official Entry Form

Your e-mail address:  

Your name as you want it to appear on the player roster (max 32 characters):  

 

Your country picks (you may leave as many fields blank as you want):

 

Tiebreaker:  hours   minutes  . seconds

 

Comments (optional):

The entry deadline was February 7, 2018.