By now, I suspect you all know where Timetric is coming from: when in doubt, we follow the money. Or, at least, follow the data — economics, healthcare, education and demographics. We’ve pulled together economic and demographic background data on all of the 32 teams at the World Cup, integrating data from the World Bank and the Penn World Tables.

So, for today’s Italy-Paraguay match, you can start comparing a number of key indicators, including health expenditures and urban populations, across the two countries.

For instance, you’ve got to imagine a healthier population leads to better footballers. Incidentally, speaking as a Scotsman, that might explain why we haven’t made it to the World Cup in twelve years. In that spirit, the sheer difference in health spending between Italy and Paraguay is striking;

We’ll be adding more data as the tournament wears on. Let us know what you need and share with us what you find!

World Cup 2010: Economics and Demographics on Timetric.

Now we’ve had a day to digest what Usain Bolt did last night, I think this is the single most impressive statistic; since we had digital timing, this is the first ever 100m world record which is flat-out faster than the 200m record. That’s just astonishing. Have a look at the last 100m of this 150m; with a rolling start, he covers it in 8.72s:

So this never, ever, ever happens. If Usain Bolt can take his 100m speed and even just match it over 200m, he’s going to run under 19.2. If he does what’s happened before and runs the 200m about a quarter of a kilometre per hour faster than the hundred record, he’s going to go nineteen flat.

The last sprinter to blow people away like this was Michael Johnson, with his 37kph-plus 200m at Atlanta in 1996. Even he was left speechless by Usain Bolt, and the data says he’s not done yet.

When you look at the numbers, though, what he’s doing becomes even more staggering. Really. Check this out:

(data from Wikipedia). That bit at the end? That’s what Usain Bolt’s doing to the record book. Here’s the best way to put it into perspective: to go from 9.86 to 9.72 (Usain Bolt’s first world record) took just under seventeen years. Taking roughly the same amount again off the record — 9.72 to 9.58 — has taken Usain Bolt fifteen months.

He’s going at upwards of 37.5 kilometres per hour:

I’m not an athlete by any measure, but I cycle to work every day, and I’m lucky if I hit that speed going full-out downhill. What he’s doing is beyond words.