The_Torch Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 I know this is a discussion that has been had many times over. However, I was wondering how your nation ranks the Olympic Medal table. In UK and Australia we rank them by greatest number of Golds, as opposed to quantity of medals overall. Yet in the United States, they rank their medal tables the opposite way. Is America the only country to rank medals like this. How does your country rank the medal table? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 As far as I am aware it's only the US that counts the total medals won for the positions on the table. It seems strange to me that Phelps wouldn't have been judged any different if he'd been awarded three silvers and five bronzes - Golds should be worth more than other medals. It should be called the jack of all trades master of none medals table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA84 Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 As far as I am aware it's only the US that counts the total medals won for the positions on the table. As does the IOC on their web page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nykfan845 Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 As far as I am aware it's only the US that counts the total medals won for the positions on the table.It seems strange to me that Phelps wouldn't have been judged any different if he'd been awarded three silvers and five bronzes - Golds should be worth more than other medals. It should be called the jack of all trades master of none medals table. Yeah, but should 5 silvers be considered less of an achievement than 1 gold? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympian2004 Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 As does the IOC on their web page. Really? So far, I've only found medal tables sorted by the number of gold medals on the IOC website. Such as this one: http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/table...1&OLGY=2004 It also has the explanation beneath: The medal tables by country are based on the number of medals won, with gold medals taking priority over silver and bronze. A team victory counts as one medal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faster Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 The IOC doesn't officially rank countries. Both have merits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nykfan845 Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 The IOC doesn't officially rank countries.Both have merits. Yeah, I agree, they both have their pros and cons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA84 Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 Really? So far, I've only found medal tables sorted by the number of gold medals on the IOC website. Such as this one: My bad - your right. I only looked about partway down which is how the total medal count actually came out. Should have looked further. Anyway, both methods have their merits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 (edited) Just a suggestion: If you want to get an overview about the sport situation in the different countries a medal table with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th places will be more detailed and therewith more significant due you are able to see if the medals are based on a "larger basis"... Edited August 19, 2008 by Citius Altius Fortius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faster Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 The problem is countries like Jamaica, Kenya, Ethiopia that specialize in 1 sport being high up on the medal table compared to countries like Canada, Spain where they do well in a variety of sports. Which is better Jamaica's 3 gold and 3 silver performance (assuming Bolt wins gold in the 200m) or Canada's 2G, 6S, 5B performance? How shows the more sporting accomplishment. Also look at Norway, they won 6 medals in Athens, 5 gold and 1 bronze while in Sydney Norway won 4,3,3. Which do you think Norwegians would have been more happy with, 1 more gold and 4 less medals or 1 less gold and 4 more medals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceNarcissus Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 The US agencies do that just because that's how they always do it. Not really out of any particular disregard. It certainly makes it easier for news agencies, not having to sit down with a big honking list and sort them out gold/silver/bronze. Of course with programs like Excel its much easier nowadays, but the running totals of medals collectively has always stuck. I have never seen a medal table ranking otherwise until Athens when I started to be more familiar with the Canadian and IOC media itself. My reaction was pretty confusing in contrast to those who see the US medals table. "Gee. What a way to make the people who come in second and third feel even CRAPPIER. Shiny is shiny!" Also, 74 countries in Athens won at least one medal, and Beijing is already up to 79 and guaranteed to go to 80 because Nigeria is in the soccer final! Not only that but the gold medals are more spread out this time around too. I think that's great how the growth of medal winning nations is steadily higher than the growth of new NOCs in general. A lot of hope for the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micheal_warren Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 new zealand is in terms of golds! I can see good and bad for both methods Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 As does the IOC on their web page. Not on the IOC medals table I see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 Yeah, but should 5 silvers be considered less of an achievement than 1 gold? Yes - because one athlete who is better than everyone else should be considered more of an achiever than people who were second best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nykfan845 Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 Yes - because one athlete who is better than everyone else should be considered more of an achiever than people who were second best. I'm talking individually, but rather for a country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 (edited) The problem is countries like Jamaica, Kenya, Ethiopia that specialize in 1 sport being high up on the medal table compared to countries like Canada, Spain where they do well in a variety of sports. Which is better Jamaica's 3 gold and 3 silver performance (assuming Bolt wins gold in the 200m) or Canada's 2G, 6S, 5B performance? How shows the more sporting accomplishment. Also look at Norway, they won 6 medals in Athens, 5 gold and 1 bronze while in Sydney Norway won 4,3,3. Which do you think Norwegians would have been more happy with, 1 more gold and 4 less medals or 1 less gold and 4 more medals? The medals table today... CHN 44 14 19 USA 26 26 27 .... which is the greater achievement? In my opinion it's China's - at the moment they have 18 more athletes who were better than anyone else - The US only has more athletes who were second or third best. China may well have beaten many of these American athletes in second or third place but because of the same weight of each of the medals the US is placed ahead of China. It is surely better to be the best than second best. Perhaps the medals should equal different points G=3, S=2 and B=1 - if one country has one gold and another has a bronze and a silver it is the country with one gold that is placed ahead in the medals table. If this was the case today China would finish top of the table with 179 points and the US would have achieved 157 points. Russia would be in third with 85 ahead of Britain with 78 points. Edited August 20, 2008 by Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nykfan845 Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 The medals table today...CHN 44 14 19 USA 26 26 27 .... which is the greater achievement? In my opinion it's China's - at the moment they have 18 more athletes who were better than anyone else - The US only has more athletes who were second or third best. China may well have beaten many of these American athletes in second or third place but because of the same weight of each of the medals the US is placed ahead of China. It is surely better to be the best than second best. Perhaps the medals should equal different points G=3, S=2 and B=1 - if one country has one gold and another has a bronze and a silver it is the country with one gold that is placed ahead in the medals table. If this was the case today China would finish top of the table with 179 points and the US would have achieved 157 points. Russia would be in third with 85 ahead of Britain with 78 points. Sure, that may make sense with the top countries, but like what Faster said, it doesn't quite make sense with countries with fewer medals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 Perhaps not - but then I'm happy with a gold being considered more valuable than either a silver or a bronze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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