Game Theory: Would Super Mario Win the Olympics?

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During the Rio to Tokyo Olympics transition, Japan's Prime Minister appeared as Mario, raising the question of how Mario would perform in Olympic jumping events.

With Mario being known for jumping, how would he compete in Olympic events like long jump, high jump, and triple jump?

Analysis covers major Mario platformers: Super Mario Bros 2, Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario World, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario 3D World, using Mario's official height of 5 foot 1 inch.

While Mario would seemingly dominate jumping events, the answer depends on which game's physics are used and what gravity applies.

• Super Mario Galaxy: 9 feet 6 inches (2.9 meters) - lowest • Super Mario 64: 10 feet 3 inches (3.1 meters) • Super Mario Bros 3 & 3D World: 13 feet 3 inches to 13 feet 11 inches (4-4.24 meters) • Super Mario World: 15 feet 9 inches (4.8 meters) - highest with running start

Super Mario Bros 2 (Doki-Doki Panic reskin) introduced knee-bending charge mechanic, allowing Mario's absolute highest jump at 16 feet 6 inches (5 meters).

World record vertical jump is 5 feet 3 inches. Javier Satomayor's Olympic high jump record is 8 feet 1/4 inch. Mario's lowest jump of 9 feet 6 inches already exceeds both records.

• 9 feet equals height of small school bus • 14-15 feet tall (double decker buses) are cleared by 1 foot at Mario's best • Mario jumps multiple times his own body height

Mario and Sonic Olympic games show Mario with human-like performance on Earth, but his Mushroom Kingdom jumps are superhuman, suggesting different gravity.

By analyzing jump footage and measuring time from apex to ground using kinematic equations, the gravity in the Mushroom Kingdom was calculated.

• Earth gravity: 9.81 meters per second squared • Super Mario Bros 3: 22.9 meters per second squared • 3D Mario games: up to 38.6 meters per second squared - nearly 4 times Earth's gravity • Jupiter's gravity is only 25.95 meters per second squared

At Mushroom Kingdom gravity, Mario would weigh nearly 400 pounds (181 kilograms). On Earth's normal gravity, he could double his jump heights and distances.

Mario's Super Mario 64 long jump measures 43 feet 8 inches (13.5 meters), compared to world record of 29 feet 3 inches by Mike Powell.

• Mario's jump is approximately the length of the Hollywood sign • Could clear two giraffes laid end-to-end • Nearly twice the world record distance

Three consecutive long jumps total 131 feet (40 meters), compared to Jonathan Edwards' world record of 60 feet (18.29 meters) - not even half of Mario's distance.

• Distance equals 1.5 baseball diamonds • Equals 1.5 NBA courts • Equivalent to 9 full-sized cars parked end-to-end

Luigi dominates with a vertical jump of 18 feet 9 inches (5.7 meters) from Super Mario Bros 2, beating Mario's 16 feet 6 inch super jump.

His triple jump with flutter ability reaches 134 feet 2 inches (40.9 meters), exceeding Mario's 131 feet and knocking Mario to bronze medal.

Peach's hover ability from Super Mario Bros 2 gives her single long jump of 45 feet 3 inches (13.8 meters) and triple jump of 136 feet (41.4 meters), winning gold in distance events.

• Gold: Princess Peach (high jump and distance events) • Silver: Luigi (high jump) • Bronze: Mario (at best in distance events) • Mario is actually average among Mushroom Kingdom jumpers

Despite the Mushroom Kingdom's perception of Mario as a great jumper, he is outperformed by Luigi and Peach, earning at best 3 bronze medals in Olympic jumping.

Mario would not dominate Olympic jumping events when competing against other Mushroom Kingdom characters with specialized abilities.

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