Which Countries Were Really the Most Successful in London 2012?

WHICH COUNTRIES WERE REALLY THE MOST SUCCESSFUL IN LONDON 2012? The official standings are reached by counting the number of gold medals obtained by each country, using silver and bronze medals to break ties. By this method, the USA was the most successful country, followed by China in second and Great Britain in third. London 2012 Official top 10 GREAT BRITAIN USA CHINA RUSSIA SOUTH KOREA 46 GOLDS 38 GOLDS 24 GOLDS 29 GOLDS 13 GOLDS 10 ITALY 8 GOLDS GERMANY HUNGARY AUSTRALIA 7 GOLDS FRANCE 11 GOLDS 11 GOLDS 8 GOLDS However, most of these countries have many millions of people to pick from, which naturally generates a large number of quality athletes making it to the Olympics. What happens when we take population numbers into account? Which are really the most successfull countries in getting the most gold medals out of the fewest people? London 2012 Top 10 with population as a factor 1 GOLD PER 3 MILLION 3 1 GOLD PER 2 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 1 MILLION GRENADA 1 GOLD PER 110 THOUSAND BAHAMAS 1 GOLD PER 354 THOUSAND JAMAICA 1 GOLD PER 676 THOUSAND NEW ZEALAND 1 GOLD PER 739 THOUSAND 4. HUNGARY 1 GOLD PER 1.2 MILLION TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 1 GOLD PER 1.3 MILLION Б CROATIA 1 GOLD PER 14 MILLION LITHUANIA 1 GOLD PER 1.6 MILLION SLOVENIA 1 GOLD PER 2.1 MILLION LATVIA 1 GOLD PER 2.1 MILLION |10 By this count, Grenada is the biggest winner of these Olympics, achieving its first ever gold medal with a population of only 110 thousand. Hungary is the only country in the official top ten to remain, climbing from ninth to fifth. Both the Caribbean and Eastern Europe are the most successful world regions. How do the remaining official top ten countries (in white below) fare against all other countries which have obtained gold in these Games? London 2012 11th-54th with population as a factor 1 GOLD PER 125 MILLION 100 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 75 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 50 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 25 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 11 GREAT BRITAIN 1 GOLD PER 2.1 MILLION 12 CUBA 1 GOLD PER 2.2 MILLION 13 KAZAKHSTAN 1 GOLD PER 2.4 MILLION 14 NORWAY 1 GOLD PER 2.5 MILLION 15 CZECH REPUBLIC 16 NETHERLANDS 1 GOLD PER 2.6 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 2.8 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 2.8 MILLION 17 DENMARK 18 AUSTRALIA 1 GOLD PER 3.2 MILLION 19 SOUTH KOREA 1 GOLD PER 3.8 MILLION 20 SWITZERLAND 1 GOLD PER 4 MILLION 21 GEORGIA 1 GOLD PER 4.5 MILLION 22 IRELAND 1 GOLD PER 4.6 MILLION 23 AZERBAIJAN 24 BELARUS 1 GOLD PER 4.6 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 4.7 MILLION 25 FRANCE 1 GOLD PER 5.9 MILLION 26 RUSSIA 1 GOLD PER 6 MILLION 27 NORTH KOREA 1 GOLD PER 6.1 MILLION 28 USA 1 GOLD PER 6.8 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 7.1 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 74 MILLION 29 SERBIA 30 GERMANY 31 UKRAINE 1 GOLD PER 7.6 MILLION 32 ITALY 1 GOLD PER 7.6 MILLION 33 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 1 GOLD PER 9.4 MILLION 34 SWEDEN 35 ROMANIA 36 TUNISIA 1 GOLD PER 9.5 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 9.5 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 10.7 MILLION 37 SPAIN 1 GOLD PER 15.4 MILLION 38 SOUTH AFRICA 1 GOLD PER 16.9 MILLION 39 JAPAN 1 GOLD PER 18.2 MILLION 40 IRAN 1 GOLD PER 18.8 MILLION 41 POLAND 1 GOLD PER 19.3 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 21.4 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 27.2 MILLION 42 KENYA 43 VENEZUELA 44 ETHIOPIA 1 GOLD PER 28.1 MILLION 45 UZBEKISTAN 1 GOLD PER 29.1 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 32.9 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 34.7 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 34.9 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 37.1 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 37.4 MILLION 1 GOLD PER 40.1 MILLION 46 UGANDA 47 CHI 48 CANADA 49 ALGERIA 50 TURKEY 51 ARGENTINA 52 COLOMBIA 1 GOLD PER 46.6 MILLION 53 BRAZIL 1 GOLD PER 64.1 MILLION 54 MEXICO 1 GOLD PER 112.3 MILLION Great Britain falls from third to eleventh but is the second best of the official top ten countries, China being by far the least successful of those. The USA falls below Hungary, Great Britain, Australia, South Korea, France, Russia and 21 more. Mexico is the least successful of all gold-winning countries with only one gold for a population of 112.3 million. As a curiosity, the overall least successful country of London 2012 was Pakistan: no medals of any kind with a population of over 180 million. Research and design Paulo Estriga http://cargocollective.com/pauloestriga Sources www.london2012.com en.wikipedia.org © Paulo Estriga 2012 DO