2008 Olympic Medal Standings: Per Capita National Olympic Performance

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Per Capita National Olympic Performance

Olympic medal standings neglect obvious comparative inequities. Most glaring of these are vast differences in national populations. Per capita, the US ranks only #34 and China ranks only #53. Leading per-capita national showings: #1 Jamaica and #4 Australia. Strongest regions are Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.

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Olympic Medal Standings by country - Points system

News outlet around the world report Olympic medals by country. One might question the value of such "standings," but given that they are so widely reported and viewed, we might as we do it right.

These standings are invariably reported in one of two ways: (1) By total medals: NBC and most of the US press have been listing nations by order of medals won (perhaps not coincidentally, the US has won the most total medals). (2) By Gold medals: The Chinese and most of the rest of the world lists nations by order of gold medals won (again perhaps not coincidentally, the Chinese have won the most gold medals). But both methods of tabulation are unsatisfactory.

Given that three medals are given for each competition and that winning any Olympic medal is an extraordinary accomplishment, it’s unreasonable to not acknowledge Silver and Bronze performances at all in determining these national standings. On the other hand, Gold is clearly better than Silver, which in turn, is clearly better than Bronze. So how to value each?

Any comparative valuation is somewhat arbitrary, but better some such valuation than the two extant methods. I have chosen here a valuation of 4 points per Gold medal, 2 points per Silver medal and 1 point per Bronze medal. This system values 1st place (Gold) twice as highly as 2nd place (Silver), which in turn we value twice as highly as a 3rd place (Bronze). The primary alternative point evaluations that one might consider are a 5-3-1 valuation (which are common at dual track meets) or a 3-2-1 valuation. The problem with both of these systems is that they comparatively overstate the difference between Silver and Bronze and comparatively understate the difference between Gold and Silver. In a 5-3-1 system Silver would be worth three times Bronze, but Gold would not even be worth two times Silver. If anything the difference between Gold and Silver should be much more substantial than that between Silver and Bronze.So that’s the theory. See the standings at left to see how the nations of the world are faring at these Olympics.

2008 Olympic Medal Standings

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Per Capita National Olympic Performance

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Olympic Medal Standings by country - Points system

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