Bill's Alternative Olympic Games Medal Tally


The tables below are my own version of the Olympic Games Medal Tally at the end of the medal competition (18.32 Sunday, October 1, 2000.

The following versions are available:

I am working on a range of models at present using World Development Indicator Data to test a range of hypotheses about the medal performance at the Olympics. There are many ways to express the Medal Tally and you can become as complicated as you wish, subject to the rather severe data limitations. For example, you have to use both UN and IMF data in the first table because neither database covers all the relevant countries. Then assumptions have to be made to stitch it all together. Anyway, the results are interesting and probably more meaningful that the official rankings. I hope you also find them interesting.

Any comments to Bill.

GDP per Weighted Medal

This table shows the Gross Domestic Product for the medal winning countries expressed in millions of 1998 US dollars for comparative purposes. The next columns are the actual Gold, Silver, Bronze and Total medals won by the respective nations. The Weighted Medal Total is formulated by treating a Gold medal as a complete medal, Silver as 0.666 of a medal, and Bronze as 0.3333 of a medal. So the formula for column (8) = (4) + 0.66(5) + 0.33(6).

Various weightings could be applied but I chose this presumably defensible weighting. After all: "you don't win a silver, you lose gold!".

Column (9) is gained by dividing (3) by (8). It can be expressed in words as the amount in millions of GDP (USD) per weighted medal. So Cuba produced 1153 millions of USD in 1998 per medal weighted medal won in Sydney. The data is then ranked according to Column (9).

(1) (2)                        (3)     (4)       (5)       (6)      (7)       (8)          (9)

Rank                           GDP    Gold     Silver    Bronze    Total   Weighted   Millions $USD
                            Millions                                         Medal     per Weighted
                               USD                                           Total        Medal

 1  Cuba                      23715    11         11         7        29      20.6        1153
 2  Bulgaria                  12255     5          6         2        13       9.6        1274
 3  Ethiopia                   6564     3          1         2         6       4.3        1519
 4  Belarus                   14279     3          3        11        17       8.6        1658
 5  Azerbaijan                 4095     2          0         1         3       2.3        1758
 6  Georgia                    3592     0          0         6         6       2.0        1814
 7  Moldova                    1885     0          1         1         2       1.0        1904
 8  Jamaica                    6986     0          4         3         7       3.6        1925
 9  Romania                   41468    11          6         9        26      17.9        2313
 10 Bahamas                    4190     1          1         0         2       1.7        2524
 11 Kenya                     11310     2          2         2         6       4.0        2842
 12 Estonia                    5113     1          0         2         3       1.7        3080
 13 Latvia                     6344     1          1         1         3       2.0        3188
 14 Ukraine                   42349     3         10        10        23      12.9        3283
 15 North Korea                5439     0          1         3         4       1.7        3296
 16 Lithuania                 10736     2          0         3         5       3.0        3591
 17 Hungary                   47050     8          6         3        17      13.0        3633
 18 Kazakhstan                21812     3          4         0         7       5.6        3867
 19 Mozambique                 3893     1          0         0         1       1.0        3893
 20 Russia                   276612    32         28        28        88      59.7        4632
 21 Armenia                    1899     0          0         1         1       0.3        5754
 22 Slovakia                  20362     1          3         1         5       3.3        6152
 23 Trinidad and Tobago        6102     0          1         1         2       1.0        6163
 24 Uzbekistan                14343     1          1         2         4       2.3        6182
 25 Barbados                   2375     0          0         1         1       0.3        7197
 26 Cameroon                   8703     1          0         0         1       1.0        8703
 27 Yugoslavia                17340     1          1         1         3       2.0        8714
 28 Australia                364695    16         25        17        58      38.1        9570
 29 Slovenia                  19848     2          0         0         2       2.0        9924
 30 Macedonia                  3469     0          0         1         1       0.3       10512
 31 Czech Republic            56424     2          3         3         8       5.0       11353
 32 Greece                   121513     4          6         3        13       9.0       13577
 33 Poland                   157215     6          5         3        14      10.3       15278
 34 Costa Rica                10479     0          0         2         2       0.7       15877
 35 Croatia                   21752     1          0         1         2       1.3       16355
 36 Nigeria                   32999     0          3         0         3       2.0       16666
 37 Algeria                   47355     1          1         3         5       2.7       17870
 38 South Korea              316937     8          9        11        28      17.6       18039
 39 Morocco                   36126     0          1         4         5       2.0       18245
 40 Netherlands              391263    12          9         4        25      19.3       20315
 41 Norway                   146729     4          3         3        10       7.0       21051
 42 China                    958885    28         16        15        59      43.5       22038
 43 Iceland                    8303     0          0         1         1       0.3       25159
 44 Indonesia                 94156     1          3         2         6       3.6       25867
 45 New Zealand               52794     1          0         3         4       2.0       26530
 46 Sweden                   237765     4          5         3        12       8.3       28681
 47 Qatar                     10897     0          0         1         1       0.3       33022
 48 Uruguay                   22405     0          1         0         1       0.7       33948
 49 Iran                     116707     3          0         1         4       3.3       35047
 50 Denmark                  174353     2          3         1         6       4.3       40453
 51 Vietnam                   27118     0          1         0         1       0.7       41087
 52 Finland                  128506     2          1         1         4       3.0       42978
 53 Switzerland              262110     1          6         2         9       5.6       46639
 54 Sri Lanka                 15706     0          0         1         1       0.3       47594
 55 Italy                   1190931    13          8        13        34      22.6       52766
 56 France                  1451760    13         14        11        38      25.9       56117
 57 South Africa             133882     0          2         3         5       2.3       57958
 58 Turkey                   200804     3          0         1         4       3.3       60301
 59 Germany                 2150520    14         17        26        57      33.8       63625
 60 Thailand                 112239     1          0         2         3       1.7       67614
 61 Great Britain           1403676    11         10         7        28      19.9       70501
 62 Kyrghyzstan               25438     0          0         1         1       0.3       77084
 63 Kuwait                    25438     0          0         1         1       0.3       77084
 64 Canada                   603793     3          3         8        14       7.6       79238
 65 Austria                  210914     2          1         0         3       2.7       79291
 66 Spain                    582137     3          3         5        11       6.6       87803
 67 Colombia                  99925     1          0         0         1       1.0       99925
 68 Belgium                  250368     0          2         3         5       2.3      108384
 69 Mexico                   421069     1          2         3         6       3.3      127211
 70 Ireland                   85027     0          1         0         1       0.7      128829
 71 Saudi Arabia             128385     0          1         1         2       1.0      129681
 72 Brazil                   775501     0          6         6        12       5.9      130556
 73 Taiwan                   260675     0          1         4         5       2.0      131654
 74 United States           8759950    39         25        33        97      66.4      131947
 75 Argentina                298119     0          2         2         4       2.0      150565
 76 Portugal                 108282     0          0         2         2       0.7      164064
 77 Chile                     72890     0          0         1         1       0.3      220880
 78 Israel                    97903     0          0         1         1       0.3      296677
 79 Japan                   3808092     5          8         5        18      11.9      319203
 80 India                    416450     0          0         1         1       0.3     1261970

Data Source: UN and IMF Economic Statistics.

Weighted Per Capita Rankings

This measure shows the medals by million people and also a weighted medal tally per million people. The rankings are sorted on this latter measure. It takes the official medal tally and expresses the Gold, Silver and Bronze in per capita terms. In this case, I have chosen to use Medals per Million People as the per capita measure even though some countries have less than a million citizens. The measure just means that they would achieve this is scaled up proportionately. The weighted per capita total differs from the actual per capita total in that I have weighted a Gold medal as a complete medal, Silver as 0.666 of a medal, and Bronze as 0.3333 of a medal.

The Gold column is the actual Gold medals per million people in that country, the Silver column is the actual Silver medals per million people in that country, and the Bronze is the actual Bronze medals per million people in that country. The Unweighted total is the Total medals without the weighting applied. The final column is the Total medals per capita weighted as described above.

Rank                               Population   Gold    Silver     Bronze  Unweighted  Weighted
                                                    per million people        Total      Total

 1  Bahamas                           0.307     3.2573   3.2573    0.0000    6.5147     5.4267
 2  Australia                        18.886     0.8472   1.3237    0.9001    3.0711     2.0288
 3  Cuba                             11.201     0.9821   0.9821    0.6249    2.5891     1.8444
 4  Norway                            4.465     0.8959   0.6719    0.6719    2.2396     1.5673
 5  Jamaica                           2.583     0.0000   1.5486    1.1614    2.7100     1.4185
 6  Hungary                          10.036     0.7971   0.5978    0.2989    1.6939     1.2949
 7  Barbados                          0.27      0.0000   0.0000    3.7037    3.7037     1.2344
 8  Netherlands                      15.786     0.7602   0.5701    0.2534    1.5837     1.2243
 9  Estonia                           1.396     0.7163   0.0000    1.4327    2.1490     1.1938
 10 Iceland                           0.281     0.0000   0.0000    3.5587    3.5587     1.1861
 11 Bulgaria                          8.225     0.6079   0.7295    0.2432    1.5805     1.1748
 12 Slovenia                          1.989     1.0055   0.0000    0.0000    1.0055     1.0055
 13 Sweden                            8.91      0.4489   0.5612    0.3367    1.3468     0.9349
 14 Latvia                            2.357     0.4243   0.4243    0.4243    1.2728     0.8482
 15 Belarus                          10.236     0.2931   0.2931    1.0746    1.6608     0.8465
 16 Greece                           10.645     0.3758   0.5636    0.2818    1.2212     0.8451
 17 Denmark                           5.293     0.3779   0.5668    0.1889    1.1336     0.8183
 18 Lithuania                         3.67      0.5450   0.0000    0.8174    1.3624     0.8174
 19 Romania                          22.327     0.4927   0.2687    0.4031    1.1645     0.8060
 20 Trinidad and Tobago               1.295     0.0000   0.7722    0.7722    1.5444     0.7717
 21 Switzerland                       7.386     0.1354   0.8123    0.2708    1.2185     0.7667
 22 Slovakia                          5.387     0.1856   0.5569    0.1856    0.9282     0.6184
 23 Finland                           5.176     0.3864   0.1932    0.1932    0.7728     0.5795
 24 Qatar                             0.599     0.0000   0.0000    1.6694    1.6694     0.5564
 25 New Zealand                       3.862     0.2589   0.0000    0.7768    1.0357     0.5178
 26 Czech Republic                   10.244     0.1952   0.2929    0.2929    0.7809     0.4879
 27 France                            59.08     0.2200   0.2370    0.1862    0.6432     0.4399
 28 Germany                           82.22     0.1703   0.2068    0.3162    0.6933     0.4134
 29 Russia                           146.934    0.2178   0.1906    0.1906    0.5989     0.4082
 30 Georgia                           4.968     0.0000   0.0000    1.2077    1.2077     0.4025
 31 Italy                            57.298     0.2269   0.1396    0.2269    0.5934     0.3955
 32 South Korea                      46.844     0.1708   0.1921    0.2348    0.5977     0.3770
 33 Kazakhstan                       16.223     0.1849   0.2466    0.0000    0.4315     0.3491
 34 Great Britain                     58.83     0.1870   0.1700    0.1190    0.4759     0.3398
 35 Austria                           8.211     0.2436   0.1218    0.0000    0.3654     0.3247
 36 Azerbaijan                        7.734     0.2586   0.0000    0.1293    0.3879     0.3017
 37 Croatia                           4.473     0.2236   0.0000    0.2236    0.4471     0.2981
 38 Poland                           38.765     0.1548   0.1290    0.0774    0.3612     0.2665
 39 Ukraine                          50.546     0.0594   0.1978    0.1978    0.4550     0.2571
 40 Canada                           31.147     0.0963   0.0963    0.2568    0.4495     0.2461
 41 United States                    278.357    0.1401   0.0898    0.1186    0.3485     0.2394
 42 Belgium                          10.161     0.0000   0.1968    0.2952    0.4921     0.2295
 43 Moldova                           4.38      0.0000   0.2283    0.2283    0.4566     0.2282
 44 Uruguay                           3.337     0.0000   0.2997    0.0000    0.2997     0.1996
 45 Yugoslavia                        10.64     0.0940   0.0940    0.0940    0.2820     0.1879
 46 Ireland                           3.73      0.0000   0.2681    0.0000    0.2681     0.1786
 47 Kyrghyzstan                       1.972     0.0000   0.0000    0.5071    0.5071     0.1690
 48 Kuwait                            1.972     0.0000   0.0000    0.5071    0.5071     0.1690
 49 Spain                             39.63     0.0757   0.0757    0.1262    0.2776     0.1682
 50 Costa Rica                        4.023     0.0000   0.0000    0.4971    0.4971     0.1657
 51 Macedonia                         2.033     0.0000   0.0000    0.4919    0.4919     0.1639
 52 Kenya                             30.08     0.0665   0.0665    0.0665    0.1995     0.1329
 53 Armenia                           3.52      0.0000   0.0000    0.2841    0.2841     0.0947
 54 Japan                            126.714    0.0395   0.0631    0.0395    0.1421     0.0947
 55 Uzbekistan                        24.76     0.0404   0.0404    0.0808    0.1616     0.0942
 56 Taiwan                           22.113     0.0000   0.0452    0.1809    0.2261     0.0904
 57 Algeria                          31.471     0.0318   0.0318    0.0953    0.1589     0.0847
 58 Morocco                          28.351     0.0000   0.0353    0.1411    0.1764     0.0705
 59 North Korea                      24.039     0.0000   0.0416    0.1248    0.1664     0.0693
 60 Ethiopia                         62.565     0.0480   0.0160    0.0320    0.0959     0.0692
 61 Portugal                          9.873     0.0000   0.0000    0.2026    0.2026     0.0675
 62 Cameroon                         15.422     0.0648   0.0000    0.0000    0.0648     0.0648
 63 South Africa                     40.377     0.0000   0.0495    0.0743    0.1238     0.0578
 64 Argentina                        37.032     0.0000   0.0540    0.0540    0.1080     0.0540
 65 Israel                            6.227     0.0000   0.0000    0.1606    0.1606     0.0535
 66 Mozambique                        19.68     0.0508   0.0000    0.0000    0.0508     0.0508
 67 Turkey                           66.591     0.0451   0.0000    0.0150    0.0601     0.0501
 68 Iran                             67.702     0.0443   0.0000    0.0148    0.0591     0.0492
 69 Saudi Arabia                     21.607     0.0000   0.0463    0.0463    0.0926     0.0462
 70 Brazil                           170.115    0.0000   0.0353    0.0353    0.0705     0.0352
 71 China                           1255.445    0.0223   0.0127    0.0119    0.0470     0.0348
 72 Mexico                           98.881     0.0101   0.0202    0.0303    0.0607     0.0337
 73 Thailand                         61.399     0.0163   0.0000    0.0326    0.0489     0.0271
 74 Colombia                         42.321     0.0236   0.0000    0.0000    0.0236     0.0236
 75 Chile                            15.211     0.0000   0.0000    0.0657    0.0657     0.0219
 76 Nigeria                          111.506    0.0000   0.0269    0.0000    0.0269     0.0179
 77 Sri Lanka                        18.827     0.0000   0.0000    0.0531    0.0531     0.0177
 78 Indonesia                        212.107    0.0047   0.0141    0.0094    0.0283     0.0173
 79 Vietnam                          79.832     0.0000   0.0125    0.0000    0.0125     0.0083
 80 India                           1013.662    0.0000   0.0000    0.0010    0.0010     0.0003

Contact address:

Professor and Head of Economics
Director of Centre of Full Employment and Equity
University of Newcastle
Callaghan NSW 2308, Australia

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