If you become involved in the political process,
you can help to determine the shape of the world you live in,
both locally and globally.
If you don’t, someone else will do it – and
you may not like the result.
Atlanta
1996
Something
to think about !
This
chart shows each country's 1996 medal achievements in relation
to national GDP, as a measure both of population and of available
wealth for training and sponsorship. As you'll see, it has some
very interesting features !
COUNTRY
GDP
($million)
MEDALS
SCORE
SCORE
in TONGAS
POSITION
Tonga
214
1
214
1
1
Cuba
14,000
25
560
3
2
Jamaica
7,800
6
1,300
6
3
Bulgaria
33,700
15
2,247
10
4
Yugoslavia
10,000
4
2,500
12
5
Armenia
8,100
3
2,700
13
6
Hungary
58,800
21
2,800
13
7
Namibia
5,800
2
2,900
13
8
Georgia
6,000
2
3,000
14
9
Romania
64,700
20
3,235
15
10
Belarus
53,400
15
3,560
17
11
Burundi
3,700
1
3,700
17
12
Croatia
12,400
3
4,133
19
13
Kenya
33,100
8
4,137
19
14
Korea,
North
21,300
5
4,260
20
15
The
Bahamas
4,400
1
4,400
20
16
Mongolia
4,400
1
4,400
20
17
Kazakhstan
55,200
11
5,018
23
18
Brazil
88,630
15
5,909
28
19
Moldova
11,900
2
5,950
28
20
Ethiopia
20,300
3
6,767
32
21
Czech
Republic
76,500
11
6,955
32
22
Trinidad
and Tobago
15,000
2
7,500
35
23
Zambia
7,900
1
7,900
37
24
Slovenia
16,000
2
8,000
37
25
Ukraine
189,200
23
8,226
38
26
Australia
374,600
41
9,137
43
27
New
Zealand
56,400
6
9,400
44
28
Mozambique
10,600
1
10,600
49
29
Slovakia
32,800
3
10,933
51
30
Poland
191,100
17
11,241
52
31
Russia
721,200
63
11,448
53
32
Greece
93,700
8
11,712
55
33
Latvia
12,300
1
12,300
57
34
Ireland
49,800
4
12,450
58
35
Lithuania
13,500
1
13,500
63
36
Norway
95,700
7
13,671
64
37
Azerbaijan
13,800
1
13,800
64
38
Netherlands
275,800
19
14,516
68
39
Uganda
16,200
1
16,200
76
40
Costa
Rica
16,900
1
16,900
79
41
Denmark
103,000
6
17,167
80
42
Korea,
South
508,300
27
18,826
88
43
Sweden
163,100
8
20,387
95
44
Nigeria
122,600
6
20,433
95
45
Finland
81,800
4
20,450
96
46
Germany
1,344,600
65
20,686
97
47
Switzerland
148,400
7
21,200
99
48
Puerto
Rico
26,800
1
26,800
125
49
Uzbekistan
54,500
2
27,250
127
50
Italy
998,900
35
28,540
133
51
Canada
639,800
22
29,082
136
52
France
1,080,100
37
29,192
136
53
Belgium
181,500
6
30,250
141
54
Spain
515,800
17
30,341
142
55
Algeria
97,100
3
32,367
151
56
Tunisia
37,100
1
37,100
173
57
South
Africa
194,300
5
38,860
182
58
Ecuador
41,100
1
41,100
192
59
Morocco
87,500
2
43,750
204
60
China
2,234,100
50
44,682
209
61
Austria
139,300
3
46,433
217
62
Turkey
305,200
6
50,867
238
63
Portugal
107,300
2
53,650
251
64
United
States
6,738,400
101
66,717
312
65
UK
1,045,200
15
69,680
326
66
Israel
70,100
1
70,100
328
67
Syria
74,400
1
74,400
348
68
Malaysia
166,800
2
83,400
390
69
Argentina
270,800
3
90,267
422
70
Iran
310,000
3
103,333
483
71
Hong
Kong
136,100
1
136,000
635
72
Indonesia
619,400
4
154,850
724
73
Philippines
161,400
1
161,400
754
74
Thailand
355,200
2
177,600
830
75
Japan
2,527,400
14
180,529
844
76
Taiwan
257,000
1
257,000
1200
77
Mexico
728,700
1
728,700
3405
78
India
1,253,900
1
1,253,900
5859
79
COUNTRY
GDP
($million)
MEDALS
SCORE
SCORE
in TONGAS
POSITION
Notes
The figures
for GDP are expressed in millions of dollars, and are calculated
to reflect purchasing power parity. They have been taken from
the CIA's World FactBook 1995, and are based on statistics gathered
from national government sources for 1992 - 1993, estimated up
for 1994. The GDP for China has been reduced by 25% as suggested
in the country profile, due to likely data collection errors.
(www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html)
The 'Score'
in the fourth column shows GDP divided by the medal total, and
reflects medal achievement per country per GDP. The score in 'Tongas'
shows the relation of each country's GDP/medal score to Tonga's
score.
This system
of comparing Olympic medal achievements offers some fascinating
insights, very different from the simple "who got most" approach.
It is interesting to see how closely Bulgaria, Yugoslavia,
Armenia,
Hungary, Georgia, Romania and Belarus score; and how Australia
and New Zealand are so closely paired. There are other interesting
groupings, too - the USA and the United Kingdom; Mongolia and
Kazakstan; Slovakia, Poland and Russia; Italy, France, Belgium
and Spain; Israel and Syria; and Indonesia, the Philippines,
Taiwan
and Japan. As to what it all means, the interpretation is up
to you !! Don't blame me - I just collated the statistics.
If you
don't like the GDP figures, blame the CIA.
If you want
to repost The Other Olympic Medal Table on the Internet, feel
free to do so, but please do so in its entirety, including these
notes and the signature trailer, so that people know the full
source of the information.
If you want
to print this in a newspaper or magazine, please contact me directly.
The Other Olympic Medal Table is copyrighted.
