Aug 20, 2012

London 2012 Olympics Medals - Countries Ranking

The question is always how to rank the countries according to their achievements in sports. The following table includes 84 countries which gained at least one medal in London 2012 Olympics. The first column shows the number of gold medals (G), the second column shows the number of all medals (M), the third column shows the sum (S) of [gold + silver/2 + bronze/3] medal points, the fourth column shows the country population (P) in millions, and the fifth column shows the medal points per capita expressed as the sum S per 10 million people (10S/P). The ranking according to each parameter is in the brackets after the parameter. The countries are arranged in the table according to their per capita medal gain, 10S/P. Fifteen small Carribean countries, each having less than half million population, including Bahamas and Grenada, are combined under one geographical block Carrib. About 120 participants in the London Olympics, who did not gain medals, are not included, except for the five most populated countries added in the end of the table. The obtained ranking mainly results from the following trends:
(i) The underdeveloped countries, whether small or big, gain less medals both per capita and in total;
(ii) Nearly all developed countries rank in the highest quarter (first 50 countries) in all medal counts;
(iii) Smaller countries gain more medals per capita than more populated countries;
(iv) Communist or former communist countries gain more than expected from their wealth.
All the above four trends may seem inherent, obvious and predictable. Poor countries do not abound in swimming pools and expensive equipment, rich Western countries have thousand years tradition in doing sports, smaller countries are relatively better represented in the Olympics, and communist countries always loved to compete in sports as in other fields they could not. Exceptions from the above trends would be interesting to discuss. Poor Ethiopia gained medals, while rich Israel or communist Vietnam did not. The success of small Carribean countries is beyond any discussion; even if combining Jamaica with all Carribean countries having populations of less than 3 million, they would rank the second, with 10S/P of 17.3, after New Zealand and before Hungary. As for history, both Jamaica and New Zealand were always quite successful in the Olympic Games, but Hungary remains one of the most successful countries in Olympic medals per capita through all the Games.


                            G                 M                    S                        P                        10S/P                
1JAMAICA4 (18)12 (22)7.3 (21)2.7 (73)27 (1)
2NEW ZEA6 (15)13 (19)8.7 (16)4.4 (64)19.8 (2)
3TRINIDA1 (46)4 (49)2 (46)1.35 (80)14.8 (3)
4HUNGA8 (9)17 (16)12 (12)10 (47)12 (4)
5SLOVEN1 (43)4 (48)2.2 (43)2 (76)11 (5)
6LITHUA2 (33)5 (40)3.2 (38)3.2 (70)10 (6)
7CROAT3 (25)6 (37)4.2 (32)4.3 (65)9.76 (7)
8DENMAR2 (29)9 (28)5 (26)5.6 (57)8.93 (8)
9AUSTRA7 (11)35 (7)19 (9)23 (35)8.26 (9)
10MONTEN0 (72)1 (84)0.5 (72)0.62 (84)8.06 (10)
11CARRIB2 (36)2 (65)2 (47)2.5 (74)8 (11)
12GEORG1 (40)7 (33)3.5 (35)4.5 (63)7.78 (12)
13CUBA5 (16)14 (17)8.5 (17)11 (41)7.73 (13)
14MONGOL0 (55)5 (41)2 (48)2.8 (72)7.14 (14)
15GBR29 (3)65 (4)44 (4)62 (16)7.1 (15)
16NETHER6 (14) 20 (12)12 (13)17 (39)7.06 (16)
17UZBEKI1 (47)4 (47)2 (49)2.9 (71)6.9 (17)
18BELARUS2 (26)12 (21)6.5 (22)9.5 (48)6.5 (18)
19CZECH4 (19)10 (25)6.5 (23)10.5 (46)6.2 (19)
20LATVI1 (50)2 (66)1.3 (53)2.1 (75)6.19 (20)
21ESTONI0 (62)2 (68)0.8 (62)1.3 (81)6.15 (21)
22CYPRUS0 (73)1 (83)0.5 (73)0.84 (83)5.95 (22)
23NORWE2 (35)4 (46)2.8 (40)5 (61)5.6 (23)
24AZERBA2 (30)10 (26)5 (27)9.2 (51)5.43 (24)
25KAZACH7 (12)13 (18)9.2 (15)17 (38)5.4 (25)
26IRELAND1 (42)5 (39)2.5 (41)4.6 (62)4.78 (26)
27SWEDEN1 (38)8 (30)4 (33)9.5 (49)4.21 (27)
28QATAR0 (68)2 (67)0.7 (68)1.7 (78)4.1 (28)
29KOREA13 (5)28 (10)19.3 (8)50 (19)3.9 (29)
30SWITZ2 (34)4 (43)3 (39)8 (52)3.75 (30)
31ARMEN0 (58)3 (54)1.2 (55)3.3 (69)3.6 (31)
32RUSSIA24 (4)85 (3)48 (3)143 (6)3.36 (32)
33UKRAIN6 (13)20 (11)15 (11)46 (21)3.26 (33)
34FRANCE11 (7)34 (8)21 (6)65 (14)3.23 (34)
35GABON0 (74)1 (81)0.5 (74)1.6 (79)3.13 (35)
36SERBIA1 (44)4 (44)2.2 (44)7.1 (55)3.1 (36)
37GER11 (6)44 (5)25 (5)82 (11)3.05 (37)
38SLOVAK0 (56)4 (45)1.5 (51)5.4 (58)2.78 (38)
39ROMAN2 (28)9 (27)5.2 (25)19 (37)2.74 (39)
40ITALIA8 (8)28 (9)16 (10)61 (17)2.62 (40)
41BOTSW0 (75)1 (80)0.5 (75)2 (77)2.5 (41)
42BAHRA0 (78)1 (82)0.3 (78)1.2 (82)2.5 (42)
43CANADA1 (37)18 (13)8 (19)35 (27)2.29 (43)
44US46 (1)104 (1)70 (1)314 (3)2.23 (44)
45FINLAN0 (59)3 (53)1.2 (56)5.4 (59)2.22 (45)
46PUERTO0 (63)2 (63)0.8 (63)3.7 (66)2.16 (46)
47SPAIN3 (21)17 (15)9.3 (14)46 (22)2.02 (47)
48MOLDO0 (69)2 (64)0.7 (69)3.6 (67)1.94 (48)
49N. KORE4 (20)6 (36)4.7 (29)25 (34)1.88 (49)
50TUNIS1 (48)3 (52)1.8 (50)10.7 (44)1.68 (50)
51DOMIN.R1 (49)2 (60)1.5 (52)9.4 (50)1.6 (51)
52JAPAN7 (10)38 (6)20 (7)128 (7)1.56 (52)
53SINGAP0 (70)2 (62)0.7 (70)5.2 (60)1.35 (53)
54KENYA2 (27)11 (23)5.7 (24)43 (23)1.33 (54)
55POLAN2 (31)10 (24)5 (28)39 (25)1.28 (55)
56BULG0 (64)2 (61)0.8 (64)7.4 (54)1.08 (56)
57BELGI0 (60)3 (51)1.2 (57)11 (42)1.06 (57)
58IRAN4 (17)12 (20)7.5 (20)75 (12)1.0 (58)
59S. AFRIC3 (24)6 (35)4.3 (31)54 (18)0.84 (59)
60KUWAI0 (79)1 (79)0.3 (79)3.6 (68)0.83 (60)
61COLOMB1 (39)8 (29)3.8 (34)47 (20)0.81 (61)
62GREECE0 (71)2 (59)0.7 (71)10.8 (43)0.65 (62)
63ARGEN1 (45)4 (42)2.2 (45)40 (24)0.55 (63)
64ETHIOP3 (23)7 (32)4.5 (30)84 (9)0.54 (64)
65PORTUG0 (76)1 (76)0.5 (76)10.6 (45)0.47 (65)
66CHINA38 (2)88 (2)59 (2)1350 (1)0.44 (66)
67BRAZIL3 (22)17 (14)8.5 (18)192 (5)0.44 (67)
68TURKEY2 (32)5 (38)3.3 (37)75 (13)0.44 (68)
69HON KON0 (80)1 (78)0.3 (80)7.1 (56)0.42 (69)
70TAJIKIS0 (81)1 (77)0.3 (81)7.8 (53)0.38 (70)
71VENEZ1 (51)1 (72)1 (58)27 (31)0.37 (71)
72TAIWAN0 (65)2 (58)0.8 (65)23 (36)0.35 (72)
73GUATE0 (77)1 (75)0.5 (77)14.7 (40)0.34 (73)
74MEXICO1 (41)7 (31)3.5 (36)112 (8)0.31 (74)
75UGAND1 (52)1 (70)1 (59)33 (28)0.3 (75)
76MALAYS0 (66)2 (57)0.8 (66)28 (30)0.29 (76)
77ALGER1 (53)1 (69)1 (60)37 (26)0.27 (77)
78THAILA0 (57)3 (50)1.3 (54)65 (15)0.2 (78)
79EGYPT0 (61)2 (56)1 (61)83 (10)0.12 (79)
80AFGANI0 (82)1 (74)0.3 (82)26 (33)0.12 (80)
81SAUDI0 (83)1 (73)0.3 (83)27 (32)0.11 (81)
82MAROC0 (84)1 (71)0.3 (84)33 (29)0.09 (82)
83INDONES0 (67)2 (55)0.8 (67)238 (4)0.03 (83)
84INDIA0 (54)6 (34)2.3 (42)1210 (2)0.02 (84)
Pakistan0001800
Banglad0001500
Phillipin000920
Vietnam000870
Congo000700