Ranking the medal tally

[Planey]

I found this a bit amusing.

When reporting on the Olympic medal tally, Ozzie media generally rank the countries on the number of gold medals they have won.

For example:

Quote:

Full Medal Tally

Country.........Gold medals....Silver medals....Bronze medals......Total

China.................36.................14 .................13.............63

United States........19.................21.................25.............65

Australia..............11.................10.................12.............33

Great Britain.........11..................7..................8..............26

Germany...............9..................6..................7..............22

On the other hand, media headquartered in the US of A tend torank the countries by the overall number of medals. The NBC table is a typical example:

Quote:

2008 Medals

Country...Gold......Silver....Bronze....Total

..USA......19.........21........25........65

..CHN......36.........14........13........63

..AUS......11.........10........12........33

..RUS.......7.........12........12........31

..GBR......11..........7.........8........26

Wonder why?

[olger]

Could it be that the spirit within us tends towards envy? (James 4:5)

oG

[cricket]

It could mean that the Americans value all medal winners and recognize that the differences between gold, silver and bronze are only miniscule and that everyone needs to be recognized; likewise, that Aussies value only the highest-ranking athletes as being the one's worthy enough to receive recognition. I, myself an American, think that the whole Olympic games are ridiculous and that we should be spending our time concentrating on more imporant issues that affect societies everywhere.

[Dr. Shane]

I don't know why they are listed differently. As long as each nation is consistently lists them the same I don't see any conspiracy. That is, if the US has always listed them the same going back through history, than it is consistent.

I think the Olympics is an awesome competition between nations. It is a great competition that fosters patriotism and international relations.

[Planey]

Totally agree, Shane.

I wonder if they could maybe order the table of medal totals (which are comparatively unimportant anyway) by scoring 3 points for gold, 2 for silver and 1 for bronze. I realise that any medal is meritorious but just ask the athlete if they would be just as happy with a silver or bronze compared to winning gold?

Graeme

PS

Using the 3 - 2 - 1 points system would result in the same table as the first table in my post shows.

[Bravus]

but if you rank it by medals per head of population Australia is miles ahead!

[Nan]

But the great moments come when competitors from very small countries do well. The white water paddler

from Togo was just ecstatic the other night when he won his country's first ever Olympic medal.

Australia does well in terms of medals per head (MPH!!) but look at all the money that is spent on developing

our athletes. As someone else said, many of the American athletes come up through the college programs. Great Britain has started to invest large sums in support of their athletes and it is obviously paying off - if the goal is Olympic medals.

[Dr. Shane]

In the US all students are required to take P.E. classes to graduate from college. The reason is because all that tuition is used to subsidize the athletic programs.

Panama won its first gold medal ever. Irving Saladino won it in the long jump. The last time they won a medal was bronze in 1948. So that is exciting.

[cricket]

Hehehe. Yeah. "P.E." My husband took one credit of billiards. This met the requirement.

[Nan]

And we are really proud of one of our female track cyclists who won a silver medal. 7 months ago she had a fall - I think it was in the US - and broke one of the vertebrae in her neck. She recovered and got fit enough to compete. That took courage.

But overall, I think it takes less and less of Olympic watching to produce a surfeit these days.

[Dr. Shane]

Currently the US is ahead. It is certainly a competitive race between China and the US. Overall Medal Standings

US #1 with 98 metals

China #2 with 83 metals

Russia #3 with 51 metals

Great Brittan #4 with 40 metals

Australia #5 wit 38 metals

France #6 with 32 metals

Germany #7 with 31 metals

Korea #8 with 26 metals

Japan #9 with 24 metals

Italy #10 with 21 metals

All subject to change

[Planey]

Looking at the table in your link I noticed that the first column says "Rank".

And in that column it has "1" next to China and "2" next to USA.

I observe that this the Official Olympics webpage, also.

Graeme