backIf every nation on earth had the same, standard of living, and conditions of health and nourishment, then sure, the world would be a much better place and all that . . .
. . . but who would win the Olympics?
Sick and tired of those chants of U-S-A! U-S-A! every time some hyper-steroided farmboy (who just wants to thank ‘Gawd and Jesus’) or some multi-agented Nike representative (who just wants to thank ‘my manager and my dealer and my marketing consultant and Gawd and Jesus’) wins another gold medal?
Had it with the xenophobic, anglo-centric, Nike-centric media which seems to really believe that by virtue of a medal tally the good ole U-S-A is the preeminent athletic nation [read preeminent nation] on the face of the planet?
Well, so have we.
No one would presume a competition between a team of twenty and a team of two would be fair. Or a competition between a team fully equipped with the latest air-impregnated marketing sensations and one clad in skins and callouses. Or how about a bracing match featuring the latest dream team of seven foot tall engineered athletic gods versus a tubercular and syphilitic gang of malnourished street kids from the slums of Rio?
Not really sporting is it, or at least not really a reason to pound your chest, wave your flag and thank Gawd and Jesus that you live in the best, fastest strongest nation on earth, Gawd bless it, love it or leave it, pass me the shotgun, Bubba. What if every nation on earth had the same population, standard of living, and conditions of health and nourishment? Who would win the Olympics then?
The following charts aim to reveal the true comparative performances of medal winning countries in the Atlanta Olympics.
| - Given the variation in value accorded different
types of medals, 3 points are given for a gold medal, 2
for silver, one for bronze, to arrive at a medal tally
figure. -This figure is multiplied by an equity factor which aims to level population, standard of living and health. -As the overall 'winner' in the weighted table, the USA is the benchmark society that all other nations are tallied against. -The equity factor is derived from the ratios of populations, ratios of PPP/per head (price purchasing parity which reflects local standards of living both in wages and expenses, which is generally considered a more accurate reflector of comparative wealth than GDP), and inverse ranking on the UNŐs Human Development Index, (HDI) an evaluation of 191 countries which takes into account such factors as nutrition, medical facilities, disease and education. |
| Take a country like Kazakhstan, whose medal tally of
21 (3 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze) versus the USA’s
tally 221 (44 gold, 22 silver, 25 bronze) leaves it well
down the winners list, at 24th in the world. However, Kazakhstan’s population is 17 million, compared to the USA’s 255.2 million, generating a population multiplier of 15.01. Kazakhstan’s PPP/head is $4929 vs. the USA’s $22,220, giving a multiplier of 4.51. Finally Kazakhstan’s ranking on the HDI chart is 125 against the US’s 184, giving a multiplier of 1.47. The overall factor for Kazakhstan is 104.09, which gives a real tally of 2186. In other words, if Kazakhstan had the same population, PPP and HDI as the USA, they would have a tally equivalent to winning something like 364 gold medals, 364 silver medals and 364 bronze medals; which makes the awe-inspiring performance by those flag-waving gawd-fearing nike-wearing heroes seem suddenly somewhat less than awe inspiring, doesn’t it? |
to see just how feeble and inefficient the USA’s performance really is, and keep in mind what the Olympic catchcry should really be:
TON-GA TON-GA TON-GA TON-GA
This chart is sorted by the original ranking of medal scores, (column 2) the second chart orders nations according to their new, more equitable scores (column 7).
(take me to the real results)
| COUNTRY | Total (3xG + 2xS + 1xB) |
Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| USA | 221 | 44 | 32 | 25 |
| RUSSIA | 136 | 26 | 21 | 16 |
| GERMANY | 123 | 20 | 18 | 27 |
| FRANCE | 74 | 15 | 7 | 15 |
| CHINA | 104 | 16 | 22 | 12 |
| ITALY | 71 | 13 | 10 | 12 |
| AUSTRALIA | 68 | 9 | 9 | 23 |
| CUBA | 51 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| UKRAINE | 43 | 9 | 2 | 12 |
| SOUTH KOREA | 56 | 7 | 15 | 5 |
| POLAND | 36 | 7 | 5 | 5 |
| HUNGARY | 39 | 7 | 4 | 10 |
| SPAIN | 33 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| ROMANIA | 35 | 4 | 7 | 9 |
| NETHERLANDS | 32 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| GREECE | 20 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| CZECH REPUBLIC | 22 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| SWITZERLAND | 18 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| DENMARK | 15 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| TURKEY | 15 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| CANADA | 39 | 3 | 11 | 8 |
| BULGARIA | 28 | 3 | 7 | 5 |
| JAPAN | 26 | 3 | 6 | 5 |
| KAZAKHSTAN | 21 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| BRAZIL | 24 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| NEW ZEALAND | 14 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| SOUTH AFRICA | 12 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| IRELAND | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| SWEDEN | 16 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| NORWAY | 13 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| BELGIUM | 12 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| NIGERIA | 11 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| NORTH KOREA | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| ALGERIA | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| ETHIOPIA | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| BRITAIN | 25 | 1 | 8 | 6 |
| BELARUS | 23 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| KENYA | 14 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| JAMAICA | 11 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| FINLAND | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| INDONESIA | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| YUGOSLAVIA | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| IRAN | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| SLOVAKIA | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| ARMENIA | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| CROATIA | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| PORTUGAL | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| THAILAND | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| BURUNDI | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| COSTA RICA | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| ECUADOR | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| HONG KONG | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| SYRIA | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| ARGENTINA | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| NAMIBIA | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| SLOVENIA | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| AUSTRIA | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| MALAYSIA | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| MOLDOVA | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| UZBEKISTAN | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| AZERBAIJAN | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| BAHAMAS | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| LATVIA | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| PHILIPPINES | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| TAIWAN | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| TONGA | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| ZAMBIA | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| GEORGIA | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| TRINIDAD-TOBAGO | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| INDIA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| ISRAEL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| LITHUANIA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MEXICO | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MONGOLIA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MOZAMBQUE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TUNISIA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| UGANDA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
(take me back to the official results)
Abbreviations are explained above
| RANK | COUNTRY | TALLY | POP. | PPP/HEAD | HDI RANK | FACTOR | SCORE |
| 1 | TONGA | 2(1S) | .094M | $2300 | 80 | 63039.82 | 126079 |
| 2 | BURUNDI | 3(1G) | 5.8M | $710 | 19 | 13935.44 | 41806 |
| 3 | NAMIBIA | 4(2S) | 1.5M | $3231 | 39 | 5768.56 | 23074 |
| 4 | ETHIOPIA | 7(2G1B) | 55M | $405 | 23 | 2128.21 | 14897 |
| 5 | JAMAICA | 11(1G3S2B) | 2.5M | $3053 | 110 | 1298.67 | 14285 |
| 6 | CUBA | 51(9G8S8B) | 10.8M | $4266 | 104 | 227.55 | 11605 |
| 7 | KENYA | 14(1G4S3B) | 25.2M | $1176 | 47 | 782.81 | 10959 |
| 8 | ROMANIA | 35(4G7S9B) | 23.3M | $2130 | 102 | 215.38 | 7538 |
| 9 | ZAMBIA | 2(1S) | 8.6M | $877 | 44 | 3285.56 | 6571 |
| 10 | BAHAMAS | 2(1S) | .3M | $10,000 | 149 | 2360.97 | 4722 |
| 11 | MOZAMBIQUE | 1(1B) | 16.1M | $898 | 16 | 4713.44 | 4713 |
| 12 | HUNGARY | 39(7G4S10B) | 10.5M | $5780 | 159 | 112.99 | 4406 |
| 13 | NIGERIA | 11(2G1S3B) | 90M | $1132 | 32 | 334.44 | 3679 |
| 14 | BULGARIA | 28(3G7S5B) | 9M | $6774 | 140 | 127.74 | 3676 |
| 15 | UGANDA | 1(1B) | 18.7M | $654 | 28 | 3184.07 | 3184 |
| 16 | TRINIDAD-TOBA GO | 2(2B) | 1.3M | $10,145 | 151 | 547.50 | 3098 |
| 17 | MONGOLIA | 1(1B) | 2.2M | $2443 | 72 | 2817.61 | 2818 |
| 18 | BELARUS | 23(1G6S8B) | 10.3M | $6130 | 143 | 120.76 | 2777 |
| 19 | SLOVAKIA | 6(1G1S1B) | 5.3M | $2915 | 161 | 438.35 | 2630 |
| 20 | CROATIA | 5(1G1S) | 4.8M | $2789 | 157 | 518.76 | 2594 |
| 21 | ARMENIA | 5(1G1S) | 3.5M | $4750 | 132 | 496.84 | 2484 |
| 22 | SLOVENIA | 4(2S) | 1.9M | $6300 | 157 | 561.57 | 2246 |
| 23 | KAZAKHSTAN | 21(3G4S4B) | 17M | $4929 | 125 | 104.09 | 2186 |
| 24 | CZECH REP. | 22(4G3S4B) | 10.3M | $6959 | 161 | 94.47 | 2078 |
| 25 | NORTH KOREA | 10(2G1S2B) | 22.6M | $3067 | 88 | 178.75 | 1787 |
| 26 | COSTA RICA | 3(1G) | 3.2M | $4522 | 138 | 546.01 | 1638 |
| 27 | NEW ZEALAND | 14(3G2S1B) | 3.5M | $15,502 | 172 | 116.83 | 1636 |
| 28 | POLAND | 36(7G5S5B) | 38.4M | $4907 | 131 | 44.17 | 1590 |
| 29 | MOLDOVA | 3(1S1B) | 4.4M | $4085 | 115 | 527.49 | 1582 |
| 30 | IRELAND | 10(3G1S) | 3.5M | $12,259 | 168 | 151.26 | 1512 |
| 31 | YUGOSLAVIA | 7(1G1S2B) | 10.4M | $3096 | 157 | 215.69 | 1509 |
| 32 | GREECE | 20(4G4S) | 10.2M | $8877 | 171 | 70.42 | 1408 |
| 33 | ALGERIA | 7(2G1B) | 26.4M | $3076 | 71 | 189.11 | 1323 |
| 34 | AUSTRALIA | 68(9G9S23B) | 17.6M | $18,500 | 183 | 18.29 | 1244 |
| 35 | UKRAINE | 43(9G2S12B) | 51.9M | $5768 | 134 | 27.18 | 1168 |
| 36 | NORWAY | 13(2G2S3B) | 4.5M | $17,094 | 188 | 75.39 | 980 |
| 37 | SOUTH KOREA | 56(7G15S5B) | 44.2M | $9565 | 148 | 17.42 | 975 |
| 38 | SOUTH AFRICA | 12(3G1S1B) | 37.4M | $3885 | 94 | 79.83 | 958 |
| 39 | ECUADOR | 3(1G) | 11.1M | $3420 | 90 | 319.13 | 957 |
| 40 | DENMARK | 15(4G1S1B) | 5.2M | $18,730 | 176 | 63.61 | 954 |
| 41 | RUSSIA | 136(26G21S16B) | 148.7M | $8320 | 143 | 6.16 | 838 |
| 42 | LATVIA | 2(1S) | 2.7M | $6891 | 145 | 404.15 | 808 |
| 43 | NETHERLANDS | 32(4G5S10B) | 15.2M | $17,373 | 180 | 22.94 | 734 |
| 44 | SWITZERLAND | 18(4G3S) | 6.8M | $21,631 | 187 | 39.64 | 713 |
| 45 | GEORGIA | 2(2B) | 5.5M | $4495 | 130 | 339.25 | 678 |
| 46 | CHINA | 104(16G22S12B) | 1200M | $1838 | 77 | 6.42 | 668 |
| 47 | LITHUANIA | 1(1B) | 3.8M | $5025 | 157 | 363.69 | 658 |
| 48 | FINLAND | 8(1G2S1B) | 5M | $15,619 | 175 | 79.78 | 638 |
| 49 | AZERBAIJAN | 2(1S) | 7.3M | $4257 | 117 | 299.88 | 600 |
| 50 | TURKEY | 15(4G1S1B) | 58.4M | $4893 | 106 | 35.99 | 539 |
| 51 | MOROCCO | 2(2B) | 26.5M | $2777 | 55 | 269.38 | 539 |
| 52 | SYRIA | 3(1G) | 13.3M | $4955 | 98 | 168.82 | 506 |
| 53 | ITALY | 71(13G10S12B) | 57.8M | $16.724 | 167 | 6.75 | 479 |
| 54 | UZBEKISTAN | 3(1S1B) | 21M | $3334 | 99 | 157.30 | 472 |
| 55 | GERMANY | 123(20G18S27B) | 80.3M | $20,197 | 177 | 3.79 | 467 |
| 56 | SPAIN | 33(5G6S6B) | 39.1M | $12,986 | 165 | 13.01 | 429 |
| 57 | FRANCE | 74(15G7S15B) | 57.2M | $18,232 | 182 | 5.74 | 425 |
| 58 | SWEDEN | 16(2G4S2B) | 8.6M | $18,387 | 185 | 37.27 | 422 |
| 59 | BELGIUM | 12(2G2S2B) | 10M | $18,091 | 173 | 34.84 | 418 |
| 60 | TUNISIA | 1(1B) | 8.4M | $3807 | 86 | 396.46 | 396 |
| 61 | CANADA | 39(3G11S8B) | 28.2M | $20,970 | 189 | 9.75 | 380 |
| 62 | IRAN | 6(1G1S1B) | 61.6M | $4161 | 75 | 56.71 | 340 |
| 63 | PORTUGAL | 4(1G1B) | 9.9M | $9638 | 139 | 82.21 | 329 |
| 64 | HONG KONG | 3(1G) | 5.9M | $10,320 | 163 | 106.33 | 319 |
| 65 | BRAZIL | 24(3G3S9B) | 153.2M | $4912 | 110 | 13.17 | 316 |
| 66 | USA | 221(44G32S25B) | 255.2M | $23,220 | 184 | 1 | 221 |
| 67 | INDONESIA | 7(1G1S2B) | 191.2M | $2601 | 70 | 31.32 | 219 |
| 68 | ARGENTINA | 5(2S1B) | 33.1M | $5921 | 134 | 41.52 | 207 |
| 69 | MALAYSIA | 3(1S1B) | 18.8M | $7191 | 122 | 66.11 | 198 |
| 70 | AUSTRIA | 4(1S2B) | 7.8M | $16,989 | 174 | 47.29 | 189 |
| 71 | PHILIPPINES | 2(1S) | 65.2M | $2172 | 87 | 88.49 | 177 |
| 72 | BRITAIN | 25(1G8S6B) | 57.7M | $16,302 | 179 | 6.49 | 162 |
| 73 | THAILAND | 4(1G1B) | 56.1M | $5018 | 105 | 36.89 | 147 |
| 74 | ISRAEL | 1(1B) | 5.3M | $12,783 | 170 | 94.66 | 95 |
| 75 | TAIWAN | 2(1S) | 20.8M | $7990 | 147 | 43.19 | 86 |
| 76 | JAPAN | 26(3G6S5B) | 124M | $19,920 | 191 | 2.31 | 60 |
| 77 | INDIA | 1(1B) | 879.5M | $1633 | 40 | 18.97 | 19 |
| 78 | MEXICO | 1(1B) | 88.2M | $7867 | 126 | 12.47 | 12 |
Copyright 1996 - Tom Rivard, Robert Stevenson