The Best Olympic Statistics
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Olympic Medals Statistics: Vancouver Winter Olympic Games 2010
After looking at the numbers, we've realized that we can't use the same prediction factors for the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games as we did with Beijing's Summer Games. This month, you'll see other factors come into play such as the following: population, GDP, ski resorts per country, and latitude lines.
2010 Winter Olympic Stats
See our predictions and factors
We've made our stat predictions for the 2010 winter olympics by looking at a few factors:
- Medals by Athlete: How many athletes each country will sends to the 2010 Winter Olympic games in Vancouver.
- Population: Does the population affect how many medals a country will receive? Generally, speaking, yes. However, there are exceptions like India.
- GDP: In essence, how much money a country makes may have an affect.
- GDP per Capita: If there's more money to go around, will they get more medals?
- Number of Ski Resorts: We think that a country with more ski resorts will have a better chance at more medals.
- Medals won during the 2006 Winter Games: A good track record can also make a difference.

We've found that it's very difficult to carry predictions from the summer games to the winter games. The two types of games are like night and day. Some countries fare well during the summer games but do poorly in the winter games and vice versa.
Who will win the most medals?
Before the olympics come to the end, make your predictions on which country will receive the most medals.
My prediction
Canada
Reader predictions:
Fetching
predictions now... please stand by
US, at 8pm on February 13, 2012 predicts:
US yessss
UR MOM, at 11am on April 9, 2011 predicts:
UR FUNNY LOL CANADA LOLOLOLoLOLOLOLOLOOLOLOLOLOLOL
HAHAHAHA
UR MOM, at 11am on April 9, 2011 predicts:
ITALY OR AMERICA
BITCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Heather, at 9am on April 6, 2011 predicts:
china
2006 Winter Olympic Games
Will we see the same trends in the final medal count for Vancouver 2010 as we saw for 2006
Rank
Nation
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
1
Germany (GER)
11
12
6
29
2
United States (USA)
9
9
7
25
3
Austria (AUT)
9
7
7
23
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Winter_Olympics_medal_table
Beijing Summer Olympic Games 2008: Olympic Medals by Population

In the 2008 Beijing Olympics there are 302 events and about 906 medals that were awarded. Out of curiosity, we wanted to predict how many medals each country should receive based on their population and the number of athletes they send.
We hypothesized that countries with higher populations, such as China, should have a larger pool of talent and thus receive more medals.
Country
Current Medals
# Medals by population
USA
110
42.02
China
100
182.70
Russia
72
19.56
Australia
46
2.95
France
40
8.89
Great Britain
47
8.35
Germany
41
11.33
Scroll down for the complete list and other statistics.
However, the numbers don't coincide with that hypothesis well. For example, India, with a population of almost 1 billion should receive 156 medals. When compared with the current medal count, this hypothesis is wrong.
The chart that most coincides with the current medal count is the number of medals received per number of athletes (2nd table). This chart is a statistical hypothesis that those countries who send more athletes should receive more medals. This trend is fairly accurate (compare this table to the final medal count).
The numbers should interest you. It turns out that some smaller, lower populated countries do very well, such as Jamaica. On the flip side, some highly populated countries really do horribly, such as India.
Olympic Medals per Population
This table gives number of medals each country should receive based on their population. Notice the bad correlation of India -- currently only 2 medals! Stay updated. Complete statistics here: http://thirstywebsites.com/OlympicStats.pdf
Country
Current Medals
# Medals by population
USA
110
42.02
China
100
182.70
Russia
72
19.56
Australia
46
2.95
France
40
8.89
Great Britain
47
8.35
Germany
41
11.33
South Korea
31
6.65
Japan
25
17.60
Italy
28
8.22
Ukraine
27
6.35
Netherlands
16
2.27
Cuba
24
1.55
Belarus
19
1.34
Canada
18
4.60
Romania
8
2.95
Spain
18
6.35
Kazakhstan
13
2.13
Poland
10
5.25
Kenya
14
5.17
New Zealand
9
0.59
North Korea
6
3.28
Denmark
7
0.76
Brazil
15
25.84
Czech Rebpublic
6
1.43
Switzerland
6
1.05
Azerbaijan
7
1.17
Norway
10
0.66
Indonesia
5
31.92
Hungary
10
1.38
Armenia
6
0.41
Slovakia
6
0.74
Jamaica
11
0.37
Zimbabwe
4
1.84
Slovenia
5
0.28
India
3
156.68
Ethiopia
7
10.92
Georgia
6
0.61
Finland
4
0.73
“According to population, China should receive 182 Olympic medals and USA should only receive 42!”
Olympic Medals per Number of Athletes
This table shows the number medals each country should receive based on the number of athletes they sent
Country
Athletes
Medals per # Athletes
China
639
53.02
U.S.A.
595
49.37
Russia
467
38.75
Germany
439
36.42
Australia
433
35.92
Japan
351
29.12
Italy
344
28.54
Canada
332
27.55
France
323
26.8
Great Britain
312
25.89
Spain
287
23.81
Brazil
277
22.98
Poland
268
22.24
South Korea
267
22.15
Ukraine
254
21.07
Netherlands
245
20.33
New Zealand
182
15.1
Belarus
181
15.02
Hungary
171
14.19
Greece
159
13.19
Cuba
149
12.36
Argentina
137
11.37
South Africa
136
11.28
Czech Republic
134
11.12
Kazakhstan
132
10.95
Venezuela
109
9.04
Croatia
105
8.71
Arab Rep. of Egypt
103
8.55
Romania
102
8.46
Sweden
97
8.05
Belgium
96
7.96
Serbia
92
7.63
Norway
85
7.05
Mexico
85
7.05
Denmark
84
6.97
Switzerland
84
6.97
Chinese Taipei
80
6.64
Portugal
77
6.39
Bulgaria
72
5.97
Austria
72
5.97
Lithuania
“The table above is the most inline with current medal count... more athletes means more medals”
Olympic Medals per Population per Number of Athletes
This table shows number of medals each country should receive based on their population and the number of athletes they sent.
Country
Medals per Population per # Athletes
China
117.86
India
80.7
U.S.A.
45.69
Russia
29.15
Brazil
24.41
Germany
23.88
Japan
23.36
Australia
19.44
Italy
18.38
France
17.84
Great Britain
17.12
Indonesia
16.96
Canada
16.07
Spain
15.08
South Korea
14.4
Poland
13.74
Ukraine
13.71
Pakistan
12.18
Nigeria
11.57
Netherlands
11.3
Bangladesh
11.14
Mexico
10.88
Arab Rep. of Egypt
9.46
South Africa
8.94
Argentina
8.46
Belarus
8.18
New Zealand
7.84
Hungary
7.79
Turkey
7.69
Greece
7.36
Iran
7.14
Cuba
6.96
Vietnam
6.89
Philippines
6.86
Kazakhstan
6.54
Venezuela
6.45
Ethiopia
6.37
Czech Republic
6.28
Colombia
5.72
Romania
5.71
Thailand
5.38
Kenya
4.91
Algeria
4.91
Chinese Taipei
4.9
Belgium
4.71
Croatia
4.67
Sweden
4.66
Serbia
4.5
North Korea
4.25
Morocco
4.18
Switzerland
4.01
Portugal
3.93
Denmark
3.86
Norway
3.86
Austria
3.56
Bulgaria
3.51
Myanmar
3.49
Malaysia
3.24
Lithuania
3.11
Great links on Olympic Stats
Olympic Medal Count Map - 2008 Beijing Olympics - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com
A breakdown of medals that countries have won in B more...1 point
http://www.databaseolympics.com/
0 points
Olympic Athletes Sent from each Country
The "Athletes" columns shows how many athletes were sent by each country. The last column shows how many athletes should have been sent from each country.
Country
Athletes
# Athletes country should send
U.S.A.
595
506.47
New Zealand
182
7.1
Great Britain
312
100.65
Canada
332
55.4
Australia
433
35.54
Germany
439
136.58
India
57
1888.44
China
639
2202.03
Indonesia
24
384.78
Bangladesh
5
263.57
Pakistan
21
272.58
Nigeria
33
246.01
Philippines
15
150.27
Vietnam
21
145.15
Ethiopia
22
131.6
Mexico
85
177.22
Thailand
25
104.72
Myanmar
6
78.08
Tanzania
0
67.2
Iran
55
117.11
Sudan
9
64.06
Turkey
68
117.26
Iraq
4
48.16
Afghanistan
4
45.09
Uganda
11
51.3
Nepal
7
46.84
Peru
12
47.76
Brazil
277
311.44
Uzbekistan
12
45.47
Yemen
5
37.19
Ghana
9
39
Mozambique
6
35.54
Madagascar
4
32.7
Syria
7
33.11
Saudi Arabia
16
41.09
Sri Lanka
8
32.06
Niger
0
23.63
Burkina Faso
2
24.56
Arab Rep. of Egypt
103
124.93
Malawi
4
23.13
Complete Olympics Statistics
Final Medal Count
USA or China at the Final Medal Count?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byChina
gary Li says:
i agree iwth buffalo, china win gold, but usa win total count
Posted August 19, 2008
rod says:
China...no way USA can reach them
Posted August 18, 2008
James says:
China by a land slide
Posted August 18, 2008
Peter says:
Try statistics of already received medals per country inhabitans.
You will see that USA is somewhere in the middle...
China is going up... There is a corelation between economics and olympic success.
Posted August 18, 2008
USA
peeps says:
GO USA WE FREAKIN ROCK
Posted January 23, 2010
dude in underpants says:
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllloooooooo
Posted October 29, 2008
bob the builder says:
U.S.A! U.S.A!
Posted October 29, 2008
liahona says:
Great information. Interesting to look at the medals counts by population and athletes. Nice job.
Posted August 21, 2008
Greg says:
If China doesn't come out on top, I am sure some heads will roll. Literally!
Posted August 19, 2008
Olympic Medals by GDP
What if GDP was the only factor? This data was calculated to determine how many medals each country should receive based on their Gross Domestic Product. (The data is fairly skewed, because this table doesn't account population)
Country
Medals per GDP
U.S.A.
230.63
China
73.03
India
55.34
Japan
54.16
Germany
46.19
Great Britain
42.65
Russia
35.06
France
23.97
Italy
23.86
Brazil
21.88
Canada
21.48
Spain
18.31
Australia
15.94
South Korea
15.14
Indonesia
14.88
Mexico
12.81
Netherlands
11.05
Poland
7.59
Ukraine
7.56
Pakistan
7.21
Turkey
7.06
Nigeria
7.00
Bangladesh
6.52
South Africa
6.39
Argentina
6.26
Arab Rep. of Egypt
6.23
Greece
5.24
Iran
5.20
Hungary
4.90
New Zealand
4.71
Sweden
4.33
Venezuela
4.31
Belarus
4.09
Chinese Taipei
4.08
Philippines
3.94
Czech Republic
3.72
Switzerland
3.44
Vietnam
3.21
Thailand
3.11
Kazakhstan
2.92
Colombia
2.86
Norway
2.78
Romania
2.77
Cuba
2.73
Austria
2.70
Ethiopia
2.69
Denmark
2.40
Algeria
2.40
Portugal
2.34
Saudi Arabia
2.31
Kenya
2.19
Croatia
2.13
Belgium
2.13
Serbia
1.85
Finland
1.82
Morocco
1.73
Malaysia
1.25
Ireland
1.22
North Korea
1.21
Medal count a product of many factors
Olympic Medals by Population, Athletes and GDP
This table shows how many medals each country should receive based on 3 factors: the country's population, their GDP and the number of athletes they sent to the Beijing Games. Notice how this table is most accurate when shown against the current medal cou
Country
AVG per GDP/Athletes, population
U.S.A.
107.34
China
96.62
India
59.91
Japan
39.92
Germany
34.37
Great Britain
26.81
Russia
26.6
France
26.11
Italy
23.94
Brazil
23.57
Canada
18.67
Spain
18.04
Australia
18
South Korea
14.91
Indonesia
13.71
Mexico
12.21
Netherlands
11.8
Poland
11.5
Ukraine
9.92
Pakistan
8.92
Turkey
8.81
Nigeria
8.64
Bangladesh
7.83
South Africa
7.53
Argentina
7.08
Arab Rep. of Egypt
7.01
Greece
6.66
Iran
6.39
Hungary
5.96
New Zealand
5.94
Sweden
5.63
Venezuela
5.61
Belarus
5.45
Chinese Taipei
5.4
Philippines
5.37
Czech Republic
5.16
Switzerland
5.03
Vietnam
4.98
Thailand
4.95
Kazakhstan
4.94
Colombia
4.77
Norway
4.74
Romania
4.73
Cuba
4.64
Austria
4.45
Ethiopia
4.36
Denmark
4.31
Algeria
4
Portugal
3.86
Saudi Arabia
3.67
Kenya
3.44
Croatia
3.4
Belgium
3.39
Serbia
3.23
Finland
3.21
Morocco
3.2
Malaysia
3.2
Ireland
3.13
North Korea
2.84

China and USA were close in the final medal count. China received the most Golds, but USA received the most medals.
Olympic Memorabilia
Latest Olympic News
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byWho really has the most medals?
Many have spoken that economics plays a huge role in Olympic medals. I tend to agree. Check out this graph. It shows which country made the most medals per their Gross Domestic Product during the 2004 Athens Games. As it stands, the small, poor country of Ethiopia dominates over the Olympics with an incredible medal count. Go Ethiopia!I have also been informed of a great widget that displays this same data for the current Beijing Games. Check it out. Currently Jamaica stands at the top. Usain Bolt, 'bolting' past his opponents, really made a difference here.
Athens 2004 Olympics - Medals per population
Tell me your thoughts...
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Reply
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txbrian
Sep 3, 2008 @ 8:43 am | delete
- YES!! The achievements. The results. The Gold!!!!
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Reply
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Aug 29, 2008 @ 2:31 pm | delete
- Please read, this is critical:
http://www.squidoo.com/propheciesforamerica
God Bless you!
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Reply
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miragana
Aug 28, 2008 @ 9:04 pm | delete
- Good day! I like your lens.
It is very informative and has a very good quality in it.
I have given it a 5 star rating.
www.Squidoo.com/MPI
mliragana.blogspot.com
Thank you very much for your time.
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Reply
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divo2000
Aug 28, 2008 @ 1:12 pm | delete
- Thanks COOLFLOWEU,
How is Germany treating you? I would have to agree with you (don't tell anyone but I'm a fan of the EU). The EU stomps everyone else--especially in economics. I know it doesn't sound realistic, but the EU as a united country would be the next world power--especially at the games. I've found that economics plays a huge role, if not the greatest role, when it comes to winning Olympic medals.
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Reply
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COOLFLOWEU
Aug 26, 2008 @ 9:52 am | delete
- I am a German from the European Union and set up a website with the intention to motivate my fellow Europeans to think more %u201EEuropean".
As you can see under www.EUCHAMPIONS.eu
the European Union comes out on top and way ahead of China and USA.
Of course you may argue this doesn't count, because European Union is no country or nation and if it was, could only have sent 3 athletes per event. Agreed as far as the official table of the International Olympic Committee is concerned, but to show the Europeans themselves - and while on the go also the rest of the world - how well the EU athletes have performed, why not ?!
Especially if you take into account the EU motto : UNITED IN DIVERSITY .
Or if you want to put it under an old competition (or war-) slogan :
%u201EMarch separately, but win together!"
The table also includes a column giving the population per country, allowing everybodyone's own MPC calculation.
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Chuck
Aug 22, 2008 @ 10:45 pm | delete
- Your medals per GDP table must be incorrect because Ireland has a greater GDP than New Zealand but is below us in numbers of medals they should win based on GDP. I'm pretty sure Sweden would also have a higher GDP than us too, but not shown in your table.
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divo2000
Aug 22, 2008 @ 8:31 pm | delete
- Thanks Mitch. Australia has always done well in the summer games. I would assume many countries reward their athletics programs well (such as USA and European countries). I also think that culture may play a huge role. Does anyone know about the athletic culture in India? Maybe athletics is not a huge emphasis in India? (They sure have the population to win a lot of medals).
James, thanks for the widget. I added a link above. Usain Bolt is the real 'Flash.'
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Reply
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james
Aug 22, 2008 @ 4:58 am | delete
- @Divo2000
I have found a nice widget that displays the medal count per million dollar GDP.
I think you might like it:-)
http://www.clearspring.com/widgets/48abc6bc903b61d0
Go Jamaica
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Reply
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Mitch
Aug 21, 2008 @ 6:21 pm | delete
- Thanks for the update... we Aussies expect a good showing due to infrastructure that Australia has in its government funding of Institutes of Sport etc and it's medal tallies in Commonwealth Games. Hence my suggestion with Olympic budgets.
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Reply
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pitt
Aug 21, 2008 @ 3:33 pm | delete
- thanks so much - again great site, thanks for doing this.
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How to make tables in Squidoo
by divo2000
Show design is my thing. I have witnessed many types of events. I'm also a web developer. Find out great domain suggestions. more »
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