THE 2018 WINTER
OPLYMPICS; RANKINGS
93 countries participated in the recent Winter Games in Pyongchang. 30 of them won 1 or more medals. 63 did not.
I gave each country 3 points for
a gold medal, 2 for silver and 1 for bronze.
I then ranked all the countries by total points. For example, Norway had
13 gold medals, 14 silver and 11 bronze, for a total of 82 points. The US had
(9 x 3) + (8 x 2) + (6 x 1) = 49, and so forth.
I then calculated each country’s
PER CAPITA score. The table below ranks the 30 medal-winning countries by per
capita points earned:
Country
|
points
|
medals per population
|
1. Liechtenstein
|
1
|
1 per 38,000
|
2. Norway
|
82
|
1 per 64,000
|
3. Switzerland
|
31
|
1 per 270,000
|
4. Sweden
|
34
|
1 per 291,000
|
5. Austria
|
27
|
1 per 324,000
|
6. Netherlands
|
42
|
1 per 405,000
|
7. Finland
|
9
|
1 per 611,000
|
8. Canada
|
59
|
1 per 615,000
|
9. Slovenia
|
3
|
1 per 689,000
|
10. Slovakia
|
7
|
1 per 776,000
|
11. Czech Republic
|
13
|
1 per
812,000
|
12. Germany
|
69
|
1 per
1.2 million
|
13. Belarus
|
7
|
1 per 1.4 million
|
14. South Korea
|
35
|
1 per
1 per 1.5 million
|
15. Latvia
|
1
|
1 per 2 million
|
16. France
|
29
|
1 per 2.31 million
|
17. New Zealand
|
2
|
1 per 2.35 million
|
18. Hungary
|
3
|
1 per 3.3 million
|
19. Italy
|
18
|
1 per 3.4 million
|
20. Australia
|
5
|
1 per 4.8 million
|
21. Japan
|
26
|
1 per4.9 million
|
22. Russia
|
27
|
1 per 5.4 million
|
23. Belgium
|
2
|
1 per 5.7 million
|
24. USA
|
49
|
1 per6.6 million
|
25. Great Britain
|
7
|
1 per 9.4 million
|
26. Poland
|
4
|
1 per9.5 million
|
27. Ukraine
|
3
|
1 per 15 million
|
28. Kazakhstan
|
1
|
1 per 17. 8 million
|
29. Spain
|
2
|
1 per 23.3 million
|
30. China
|
17
|
1 per 81 million
|
I predicted which 18
countries would win medals and which 48
would not (leaving aside the remaining 27). I was correct in 58 cases and wrong
in 8, for an error rate of 12%.
Analysis:
Regarding the countries which
won medals: My ranked list is a healthy
antidote to chauvinism. For example, the USA is the 24th best
country, and Norway isn’t number one.
Russia is a bit better than America (as is Belgium). Poor China is dead
last, but at least it did win some medals.
What about the 63 countries that
won nothing? I have grouped them by region (and by some other factors). I
offer some obvious and tentative REASONS
for these countries’ failure to win any medals.
1. Latin America.: 7
countries
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil,
Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico
Reasons: $, climate/geography
and culture.
2. Africa: 9 countries
Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, South
Africa, Togo
Reasons: $, climate/geography
and culture
3. Eastern Europe/Western
Asia, formerly under Soviet or Yugoslav Communism; 18 countries
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Lithuania,
Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Turkey
Reasons: $, and for some
countries, climate/geography
4. Tiny European city-states
and principalities: 5 countries
Andorra, Luxembourg, Malta,
Monaco, San Marino
Reason: small size
5. South(central) Asian
world: 5 countries
India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan,
Pakistan, Uzbekistan
Reasons: $, climate/geography
and culture
6. (Small and/or poor) island nations: 6 countries
Bermuda, East Timor, Jamaica,
Puerto Rico, Singapore, Tonga
Reasons: $, climate/geography
and small size
7. Rest of Western Europe: 4
countries
Denmark, Iceland, Ireland,
Portugal
Reasons: No good excuses.
However, according to some
surveys, the Danes are the happiest people in the world, so maybe they feel so
content that they have no urge to prove anything. This explanation may also
apply to some other countries...(Smile; I am writing in a spirit of levity...)
8. Rest of Asia: 7 countries
Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong,
Malaysia, Mongolia, North Korea, Philippines, Thailand
Reasons: No good excuses (see
Group #7, above)
9. Rest of Middle East: 2
countries
Israel, Lebanon
Reasons: No good excuses
Singled out for special
attention:
The 5 least “winter-sport
minded” countries that participated in
the winter Olympics. The larger their population, the lower I ranked them:
Mexico (population 128 million),
ranked #89 out of 93; Nigeria (186 million people), ranked #90; Pakistan (193
million), ranked #91, Brazil (208 million), ranked #92; India (1.3 billion)
ranked dead last.
I focus on these five countries not for opprobrium, but
because of their huge size. It would be
wrong to suggest any “shame” here. For one thing, these five countries are all
still developing, and they are all tropical.
Furthermore, they each excel in other sports - India in cricket and
field hockey, Brazil in soccer, etc. I am only stating an empirical
observation, namely the minimal importance of winter sports in some very large
countries.
And of course, there are another
110 countries which didn’t even show up in Pyongchang.
© Tom Kando 2018;All Rights Reserved
