Olympic medals comparison by population

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Jaguar
Swimming should dwarf things like BMX racing or Beach Volleyball. The problem is that it also dwarfs things like soccer.

Bah! Team sports shouldn't be part of the Olympics. Each team sport should have its World Cup, World Series or whatever. [IMHO]

[Jaguar]

What happens to relay races?

[Kontiki]

Originally posted by Zkribbler



Each team sport should have its World Cup, World Series or whatever. [IMHO]

You mean like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FINA_World_Aquatics_Championships

or this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAAF_World_Championships_in_Athletics

or this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Gymnastics_Championships

[Deity Dude]

One problem with your table is that it is subjective. You refer to an IOC ranking but the IOC does not recognize any method of ranking. Some ranking are put in gold medal order first and others are in total medal order. You seem to have used a ranking that no one recognizes. Not that it doesn't have equal merit to all of the other unofficial rankings but to label it "IOC ranking" is incorrect.

[Asher]

The IOC ranking is by gold medals.

http://features.csmonitor.com/olympics08/2008/08/24/solving-the-medal-muddle/

Solving the medal muddle

I have solved the medal-table controversy irrefutably.

China won.

Is that total medals or gold medals, you ask. Popular vote or electoral college? Is this the 2000 presidential election all over again? Will there will need to be an emergency session of the Supreme Court to decide who the “winner” of the Olympics is.

Of course, there is no official winner. But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ranks its medal table by gold medals. That means if someone had happened to win 300 silver and bronze medals and no golds here, it would have ended up being ranked 56th – behind Cameroon, which won a single gold in the women’s triple jump.

What, then, is the point of handing out three medals?

Then again, winning the actual event must count for something.

So here I give you the correct medal table:

1. China – 223

2. United States – 220

3. Russia – 139

4. Great Britain – 98

5. Australia – 89

6. Germany – 83

7. France – 70

8. Korea – 67

9. Italy – 54

10. Japan – 49

The secret math? Three points for a gold, 2 for a silver, 1 for a bronze.

Other crumbs of medal-table trivia:

* By the IOC’s ranking system, Michael Phelps would have finished 10th, one place ahead of France, had he been entered as a country.

* This is only the second time since World War I that two nations have split the gold medal and total medal lead. The other instance was in the 1964 Tokyo Games, when the US won 36 gold medals and 90 overall medals, while the Soviet Union won 30 gold medals and 96 overall medals.

* Compared with its results from Athens, China improved by 19 gold medals and 37 total medals. By far, the greatest increase came in gymnastics, going from one gold, zero silvers, and three bronzes (1-0-3) to 11-1-6 – a gain of 10 gold medals and 14 total medals. No other Chinese sport saw a gain of more than three total medals.

* China maintained or increased its medal totals from Athens in every sport but three. In each of these three, the decrease was only one. Fencing (from 0-3-0 in Athens to 1-1-0 in Beijing), judo (1-1-3 to 3-0-1), and shooting (4-2-3 to 5-2-1). In each, it increased its gold-medal total despite the decline in total medals.

* Fifty-one percent of China’s medals were gold. That is only the third time that more than half of overall leaders’ medals were gold. The others instances were the Soviets in 1972 and the Americans in 1952.

* Fifty-eight percent of American medals came from swimming (31), gymnastics (10), and track and field (23). After those three, America’s best sports by total medals were shooting and fencing, with six apiece.

* In no sport but swimming and track and field did the US win more than two gold medals. China won more than two gold medals in seven sports: badminton (3), diving (7), gymnastics (11), judo (3), shooting (5), table tennis (4), and weightlifting (8).

* There were six medal sweeps: three for the US (men’s 400 meter dash, men’s 400 meter hurdles, and women’s saber), two for China (men’s and women’s singles table tennis), and one for Jamaica (women’s 100 meter dash).

* Of the countries that won more than 10 medals, two won all their medals in one sport. Kenya’s 14 medals and Jamaica’s 11 medals all came in track and field.

* Of the countries that won more than 20 medals, none is more dependent on one sport than Australia: 20 of its 46 medals (43 percent) came from swimming.

* Eighty-seven countries won a medal, surpassing the record of 80, set in 2000.

* Five countries won their first medal: Togo, Mauritius, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Bahrain.

* Three countries won their first gold medal: Panama, Mongolia, and Bahrain.

* Armenia won six medals, all of them bronze. Cuba won 24 medals but only two golds.

* The last medals of Beijing: France (gold), Iceland (silver), Spain (bronze) for men’s handball.

[Winston]

Originally posted by Deity Dude
One problem with your table is that it is subjective. You refer to an IOC ranking but the IOC does not recognize any method of ranking. Some ranking are put in gold medal order first and others are in total medal order. You seem to have used a ranking that no one recognizes. Not that it doesn't have equal merit to all of the other unofficial rankings but to label it "IOC ranking" is incorrect.

The IOC ranks countries by number of Golds, then Silvers, then Bronzes. That is what I added in brackets at the end of each row, to enable a comparison with the ranking once population figures entered the picture.

[Deity Dude]

Originally posted by Winston


The IOC ranks countries by number of Golds, then Silvers, then Bronzes. That is what I added in brackets at the end of each row, to enable a comparison with the ranking once population figures entered the picture.

Sorry but you are wrong. To quote the IOC:

“ The International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not recognise global ranking per country; the medal tables are displayed for information only. Furthermore, the results that we publish are official and are taken from the "Official Report" - a document published for each Olympic Games by the Organising Committee. However, for the first Olympic Games (until Antwerp in 1920), it is difficult to give the exact number of medals awarded to some countries, due to the fact that teams were composed of athletes from different countries. The medal tables by country are based on the number of medals won, with gold medals taking priority over silver and bronze. A team victory counts as one medal. ”

—International Olympic Committee

Futhermore, even if it wanted to the IOC is not allowed to produce an official ranking by the terms of the Olympic charter.

[Winston]

You're creating confusion where none needs to be. Strike the "IOC" and replace it with "regular", then.

[Deity Dude]

No...

Replace "Total Medal Value" with "Winston's Medal Value" and replace "IOC Ranking" with "Winston's Medal Value Ranking"

"Regular" impies there is a uniform agreement on your Gold = 3, Silver = 2, Bronze = 1 system. In actuality I have only seen 2 published methods, one that ranks by type of medal and one that ranks by total medals. Like I said earlier, your hybrid system has just as much merit as any other. Just don't claim it to be an official or recognized system.

[Hercules]

Population is a factor of course but there are just to many other variables.

Every country does not field a full team covering all sports. Some countries specialise in one or two or more disciplines.

Some countries focus on the winter olympics more.

Every so often, a country produces a really exceptional talent.

I agree that team sports such as hockey, basketball, baseball, beach volley ball, and others should be excluded and run their championship.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

* Compared with its results from Athens, China improved by 19 gold medals and 37 total medals. By far, the greatest increase came in gymnastics, going from one gold, zero silvers, and three bronzes (1-0-3) to 11-1-6 – a gain of 10 gold medals and 14 total medals. No other Chinese sport saw a gain of more than three total medals.

How many is this once you take out the illegal gymnasts?

[Winston]

"Regular" impies there is a uniform agreement on your Gold = 3, Silver = 2, Bronze = 1 system.

No, not at all. "Regular" ("IOC" as it is now) refers to the regularly accepted way of ranking Golds first, then Silvers and Bronzes.

I am aware that most U.S. outlets rank by total number of medals, but the traditional way of doing it is by Golds first.

Not by assigning the values of 3, 2 and 1 to Golds, Silvers and Bronzes. I don't know where you got that - or that I had ever implied such a thing. I explicitly stated in the OP that the values system was something I had employed for the table I posted. The comparison number in brackets is that country's regular ranking, i.e. by Golds, then Silvers, then Bronzes.

You're good at this confusion creating business though.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

It's a furlongs per fortnight issue. The IOC says there's no such thing as a medal list (despite their own), so there is no 'regular'.

[Winston]

If it's so confusing, just diregard the numbers in brackets. I only included it as an extra service for people to see which countries had benefited from my ranking system and which had not.

I lifted the regular rankings from Wikipedia: 2008 Summer Olympics medal table, by the way. It says that "The ranking in this table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)."

Yes, you can sort that table to rank countries by total number of medals too, but I included the rankings from how the page presents them by default. (For Deity Dude: That's by number of Golds, then Silvers, then Bronzes!)

[Deity Dude]

Originally posted by Winston
If it's so confusing, just diregard the numbers in brackets. I only included it as an extra service for people to see which countries had benefited from my ranking system and which had not.

I lifted the regular rankings from Wikipedia: 2008 Summer Olympics medal table, by the way. It says that "The ranking in this table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)."

Yes, you can sort that table to rank countries by total number of medals too, but I included the rankings from how the page presents them by default. (For Deity Dude: That's by number of Golds, then Silvers, then Bronzes!)

I understand your ranking. I just disagree with your term "IOC ranking" (which is simply a misstatement) or "regular ranking" (which implies there is an accepted system). And just because the data comes from the IOC doesn't mean they endorse the way it was sorted or listed. Afterall I could sort it alphabetically, rank Afghanistan 1st and say it was provided by the IOC.

BTW I am not trying to confuse anything. On the contrary, I am trying to eliminate confusion by pointing out the facts. I find facts less confusing than misstatements.