America are speaking an enormous recreation and ESPN has been claiming they lead the medal desk even once they haven’t however they’re a good distance behind Australia and a few tiny Caribbean nations within the Per Capita Olympic Medal Desk.
After the People pipped Australia on the ultimate evening of the swimming competitors to win their head-to-head battle 8-7, they’ve been beating their chest about reclaiming supremacy within the pool.
We’re simply over the midway level heading into the ultimate week of the Video games and USA’s whole of 19 golds nonetheless put them behind China on the medal tally by one.
In the event you consider US retailers like ESPN who’ve intentionally been rating nations based mostly on their total medals, as an alternative of the standard method of rating them by the variety of golds, then silver and bronze medals, the People have been by no means something however No.1.
USA, USA, and all that malarkey.
However if you happen to base the medal tally on a per capita foundation utilizing every nation’s inhabitants, then the US are ranked eighth among the many prime 10 international locations from the Paris Video games.
They’ve gained a medal for each 4.7 million People with solely Japan (1 per 5.6 million) and China (1 per 29 million) worse off.
Little previous Australia, not surprisingly with our inhabitants barely above 26 million, are one in every of solely six nations who’ve gained gold which have extra medals than thousands and thousands of individuals.
The Per Capita Olympics – How the highest 10 actually form up
| Golds | Medals | Medals Per Capita | |
| China | 20 | 48 | 1 per 29 million |
| USA | 19 | 72 | 1 per 4.7 million |
| France | 12 | 44 | 1 per 1.5 million |
| Australia | 12 | 31 | 1 per 852,871 |
| South Korea | 11 | 26 | 1 per 1.96 million |
| Nice Britain | 10 | 38 | 1 per 1.79 million |
| Japan | 9 | 24 | 1 per 5.16 million |
| Italy | 7 | 22 | 1 per 2.68 million |
| Netherlands | 6 | 15 | 1 per 1.17 million |
Main the best way are Caribbean islands Dominica and Saint Lucia with a gold medal every regardless of populations of 73,000 and 180,000 respectively.
Dominica celebrated its first ever medal when Thea LaFond gained the ladies’s triple bounce on the identical day that Julien Alfred did likewise for Saint Lucia with victory within the girls’s 100m dash ultimate.
Matt Ebden and John Friends have fun their gold medal win within the Paris Olympics males’s doubles ultimate. (Picture by Matthew Stockman/Getty Pictures)
As they often do, New Zealand are punching above their weight on the world stage to win seven medals, together with two gold within the girls’s rowing and rugby sevens, regardless of a inhabitants just a little north of 5 million.
Eire, with three golds, and Georgia for his or her victory within the judo, are additionally on the record of over-achievers.
The Per Capita Olympics – The true winners
| Golds | Medals | Medals Per Capita | |
| Dominica | 1 | 1 | 1 per 73,000 |
| Saint Lucia | 1 | 1 | 1 per 180,000 |
| New Zealand | 2 | 7 | 1 per 746,000 |
| Eire | 3 | 6 | 1 per 833,333 |
| Australia | 12 | 31 | 1 per 852,871 |
| Georgia | 1 | 4 | 1 per 932,000 |
On the different finish of the size, India have collected a paltry three bronze medals.
That from a rustic with a inhabitants of 1.4 billion.
No marvel they need cricket within the Olympics.
