Data visualization of structural and temporal trends in national strategies for Olympic team and individual events

Understanding how countries allocate resources and formulate strategies between team and individual sports in the Olympic Games is crucial for uncovering broader institutional and cultural dynamics. This study, based on a visual analytics framework, explores the structural patterns of Olympic medal distribution over a century. Leveraging a large-scale athlete-event dataset, we construct three interrelated visualizations: 1) a symmetrical bar chart comparing national performance in team and individual sports; 2) a structural clustering model based on medal distribution, combining principal component analysis and K-means clustering to identify pattern types; and 3) a dynamic timeline visualization of the evolution of Australia's performance in team sports. The results reveal systematic differences in national strategic preferences, ranging from "team dominance" to "balanced" performance, and identify four structural archetypes of team sports success. Time series analysis further demonstrates how individual countries adjust their strategic priorities across Olympic cycles. The research suggests that medal structure is not simply a result of competitive performance but is also influenced by long-term strategic planning and institutional configurations. This study offers a new data-driven perspective for cross-national sports comparative analysis and demonstrates the unique value of visual analytics in revealing the underlying structure of global competitive systems.