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Athens 2004 Medal Distribution

The other day I was looking at the medals table for the 2004 Olympic Games. Countries like China tend to do very well at the Olympics and it struck me that this is mainly on account of their large population. So I decided to do my own medals table, factoring in population.

Countries that won a total of less than five medals are not included because they introduce too much randomness. All medals weighted equally.

Medals Won in the Athens 2004 Olympics, Weighted by Population
Country Gold Silver Bronze Total Population
(July 2002)
Medals per
Million
* I couldn't find the 2002 population, so used 2004.
Australia 17 16 16 49 19,546,792 2.51
Cuba 9 7 11 27 11,224,321 2.41
Jamaica 2 1 2 5 2,680,029 1.87
Hungary 8 6 3 17 10,075,034 1.69
Bulgaria 2 1 9 12 7,621,337 1.57
Greece 6 6 4 16 10,645,343 1.50
Denmark 2 0 6 8 5,368,854 1.49
Belarus 2 6 7 15 10,335,382 1.45
Netherlands * 4 9 9 22 16,318,199 1.35
Norway 5 0 1 6 4,525,116 1.33
New Zealand 3 2 0 5 3,908,037 1.28
Croatia 1 2 2 5 4,390,751 1.14
Slovakia 2 2 2 6 5,422,366 1.11
Austria 2 4 1 7 8,169,929 0.86
Romania 8 5 6 19 22,317,730 0.85
Sweden 4 1 2 7 8,876,744 0.79
Czech Republic 1 3 4 8 10,256,760 0.78
Switzerland 1 1 3 5 7,301,994 0.68
Azerbaijan 1 0 4 5 7,798,497 0.64
Russia 27 27 38 92 144,978,573 0.63
South Korea 9 12 9 30 48,324,000 0.62
Germany 14 16 18 48 83,251,851 0.58
Italy 10 11 11 32 57,715,625 0.55
France 11 9 13 33 59,765,983 0.55
Great Britain 9 9 12 30 59,778,002 0.50
Kazakhstan 1 4 3 8 16,741,519 0.48
Ukraine 9 5 9 23 48,396,470 0.48
Spain 3 11 5 19 40,077,100 0.47
Canada 3 6 3 12 31,902,268 0.38
United States 35 39 29 103 280,562,489 0.37
Japan 16 9 12 37 126,974,628 0.29
Poland 3 2 5 10 38,625,478 0.26
North Korea 0 4 1 5 22,224,195 0.22
Kenya 1 4 2 7 31,138,735 0.22
Taiwan 2 2 1 5 22,548,009 0.22
Uzbekistan 2 1 2 5 25,563,441 0.20
Argentina 2 0 4 6 37,812,817 0.16
Turkey 3 3 4 10 67,308,928 0.15
South Africa 1 3 2 6 43,647,658 0.14
Thailand 3 1 4 8 62,354,402 0.13
Ethiopia 2 3 2 7 67,673,031 0.10
Iran 2 2 2 6 66,622,704 0.09
Egypt 1 1 3 5 70,712,345 0.07
Brazil 4 3 3 10 176,029,560 0.06
China 32 17 14 63 1,284,303,705 0.05

Update: The above table rates gold, silver and bronze medals equally. I decided to put together another table awarding 1 point for bronze medals, 2 for silver and 4 for gold. Results below.

Medals Won in the Athens 2004 Olympics, Weighted by Population and Placing.
Country Gold Silver Bronze Total Population
(July 2002)
Weighted
Medals
* I couldn't find the 2002 population, so used 2004.
Australia1716164919,546,7925.93
Cuba97112711,224,3215.43
Hungary8631710,075,0344.66
Norway50164,525,1164.64
Jamaica21252,680,0294.48
New Zealand32053,908,0374.09
Greece6641610,645,3433.76
Netherlands4992216,318,1992.64
Belarus2671510,335,3822.61
Denmark20685,368,8542.61
Slovakia22265,422,3662.58
Bulgaria219127,621,3372.49
Croatia12254,390,7512.28
Sweden41278,876,7442.25
Romania8561922,317,7302.15
Austria24178,169,9292.08
South Korea91293048,324,0001.43
Russia27273892144,978,5731.38
Czech Republic134810,256,7601.36
Germany1416184883,251,8511.27
Italy1011113257,715,6251.26
France119133359,765,9831.25
Switzerland11357,301,9941.23
Ukraine9592348,396,4701.14
Great Britain99123059,778,0021.10
Azerbaijan10457,798,4971.03
Spain31151940,077,1000.97
Kazakhstan143816,741,5190.90
United States353929103280,562,4890.88
Canada3631231,902,2680.85
Japan1691237126,974,6280.74
Taiwan221522,548,0090.58
Poland3251038,625,4780.54
Uzbekistan212525,563,4410.47
Kenya142731,138,7350.45
North Korea041522,224,1950.40
Turkey3341067,308,9280.33
Argentina204637,812,8170.32
Thailand314862,354,4020.29
South Africa132643,647,6580.27
Ethiopia232767,673,0310.24
Iran222666,622,7040.21
Brazil43310176,029,5600.14
China321714631,284,303,7050.14
Egypt113570,712,3450.13

You may download the Gnumeric spreadsheet of my calculations. To open the file you need Gnumeric, part of the GNOME Office suite.

Another Update: The Paralympics have been played now, so let's add them into the cooking pot. Korea in the following table is a bit screwy as the BBC seems to lump North and South together for the Paralympics, but not for the Olympics. Ho hum.

Medals Won in the Athens 2004 Olympics and Paralympics, Weighted by Population
Country Olympics Paralympics Total Population Medals per
Million
G S B T G S B T
Australia 17 16 16 49 26 38 36 100 149 19,546,792 7.62
Denmark 2 0 6 8 5 3 7 15 23 5,368,854 4.28
Belarus 2 6 7 15 10 12 7 29 44 10,335,382 4.26
Slovenia 0 1 3 4 1 2 1 4 8 1,932,917 4.14
New Zealand 3 2 0 5 6 1 3 10 15 3,908,037 3.84
Czech Republic 1 3 4 8 16 8 7 31 39 10,256,760 3.80
Austria 2 4 1 7 8 11 4 23 30 8,169,929 3.67
Hungary 8 6 3 17 1 8 9 18 35 10,075,034 3.47
Cuba 9 7 11 27 2 2 7 11 38 11,224,321 3.39
Greece 6 6 4 16 3 13 4 20 36 10,645,343 3.38
Slovakia 2 2 2 6 5 3 4 12 18 5,422,366 3.32
Sweden 4 1 2 7 8 7 6 21 28 8,876,744 3.15
Netherlands 4 9 9 22 5 11 12 28 50 16,318,199 3.06
Latvia 0 4 0 4 1 1 1 3 7 2,366,515 2.96
Switzerland 1 1 3 5 2 6 8 16 21 7,301,994 2.88
Kuwait 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 6 6 2,111,561 2.84
Lithuania 1 2 0 3 1 1 5 7 10 3,601,138 2.78
Hong Kong 0 1 0 1 11 7 1 19 20 7,303,334 2.74
Canada 3 6 3 12 28 19 25 72 84 31,902,268 2.63
Jamaica 2 1 2 5 1 0 1 2 7 2,680,029 2.61
Israel 1 0 1 2 4 4 5 13 15 6,029,529 2.49
Norway 5 0 1 6 3 1 1 5 11 4,525,116 2.43
Spain 3 11 5 19 20 27 24 71 90 40,077,100 2.25
Great Britain 9 9 12 30 35 30 29 94 124 59,778,002 2.07
Croatia 1 2 2 5 0 0 4 4 9 4,390,751 2.05
United Arab Emirates 1 0 0 1 1 1 2 4 5 2,445,989 2.04
Finland 0 2 0 2 4 1 3 8 10 5,183,545 1.93
Tunisia 0 0 0 0 8 7 3 18 18 9,815,644 1.83
France 11 9 13 33 18 26 30 74 107 59,765,983 1.79
Poland 3 2 5 10 10 25 19 54 64 38,625,478 1.66
Ukraine 9 5 9 23 24 12 19 55 78 48,396,470 1.61
Bulgaria 2 1 9 12 0 0 0 0 12 7,621,337 1.57
Germany 14 16 18 48 19 28 32 79 127 83,251,851 1.53
Portugal 0 2 1 3 2 5 5 12 15 10,084,245 1.49
Ireland 1 0 0 1 0 3 1 4 5 3,883,159 1.29
Azerbaijan 1 0 4 5 2 1 1 4 9 7,798,497 1.15
Belgium 1 0 2 3 3 2 2 7 10 10,274,595 0.97
South Africa 1 3 2 6 15 13 7 35 41 43,647,658 0.94
Russia 27 27 38 92 16 8 17 41 133 144,978,573 0.92
Italy 10 11 11 32 4 8 7 19 51 57,715,625 0.88
Romania 8 5 6 19 0 0 0 0 19 22,317,730 0.85
Japan 16 9 12 37 17 15 20 52 89 126,974,628 0.70
United States 35 39 29 103 27 22 39 88 191 280,562,489 0.68
South Korea 9 12 9 30 0 0 0 0 30 48,324,000 0.62
Taiwan 2 2 1 5 2 2 2 6 11 22,548,009 0.49
Kazakhstan 1 4 3 8 0 0 0 0 8 16,741,519 0.48
Kenya 1 4 2 7 3 1 3 7 14 31,138,735 0.45
Iran 2 2 2 6 7 3 13 23 29 66,622,704 0.44
Algeria 0 0 0 0 6 2 5 13 13 32,277,942 0.40
Egypt 1 1 3 5 6 9 8 23 28 70,712,345 0.40
Thailand 3 1 4 8 3 6 6 15 23 62,354,402 0.37
Mexico 0 3 1 4 14 10 10 34 38 103,400,165 0.37
Morocco 2 1 0 3 2 4 0 6 9 31,167,783 0.29
Argentina 2 0 4 6 0 2 2 4 10 37,812,817 0.26
Brazil 4 3 3 10 14 12 7 33 43 176,029,560 0.24
North Korea 0 4 1 5 0 0 0 0 5 22,224,195 0.22
Venezuela 0 0 2 2 0 1 2 3 5 24,287,670 0.21
Uzbekistan 2 1 2 5 0 0 0 0 5 25,563,441 0.20
Turkey 3 3 4 10 1 0 1 2 12 67,308,928 0.18
China 32 17 14 63 63 46 32 141 204 1,284,303,705 0.16
Ethiopia 2 3 2 7 0 0 0 0 7 67,673,031 0.10
Nigeria 0 0 2 2 5 4 3 12 14 137,253,133 0.10

And let's look at what proportions of each country's medal haul that was won by paralympians. The formula is PARALYMPICS_MEDALS / TOTAL_MEDALS.

Percentage of Total Medals that were Won by Paralympians
Country Olympics Paralympics Percentage
G S B T G S B T
Algeria 0 0 0 0 6 2 5 13 100.00%
Angola 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 100.00%
Bahrain 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 100.00%
Bosnia/Herzegov 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 100.00%
Botswana 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 100.00%
Cyprus 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 100.00%
Faroe Islands 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 100.00%
Iceland 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 4 100.00%
Iraq 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 100.00%
Jordan 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 100.00%
Kuwait 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 6 100.00%
Macedonia 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 100.00%
Palestine 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 100.00%
Panama 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 100.00%
Peru 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 100.00%
Puerto Rico 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 100.00%
Rwanda 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 100.00%
Tunisia 0 0 0 0 8 7 3 18 100.00%
Hong Kong 0 1 0 1 11 7 1 19 95.00%
Mexico 0 3 1 4 14 10 10 34 89.47%
Israel 1 0 1 2 4 4 5 13 86.67%
Canada 3 6 3 12 28 19 25 72 85.71%
Nigeria 0 0 2 2 5 4 3 12 85.71%
South Africa 1 3 2 6 15 13 7 35 85.37%
Poland 3 2 5 10 10 25 19 54 84.38%
Egypt 1 1 3 5 6 9 8 23 82.14%
Finland 0 2 0 2 4 1 3 8 80.00%
Ireland 1 0 0 1 0 3 1 4 80.00%
Portugal 0 2 1 3 2 5 5 12 80.00%
United Arab Emirates 1 0 0 1 1 1 2 4 80.00%
Czech Republic 1 3 4 8 16 8 7 31 79.49%
Iran 2 2 2 6 7 3 13 23 79.31%
Spain 3 11 5 19 20 27 24 71 78.89%
Brazil 4 3 3 10 14 12 7 33 76.74%
Austria 2 4 1 7 8 11 4 23 76.67%
Switzerland 1 1 3 5 2 6 8 16 76.19%
Great Britain 9 9 12 30 35 30 29 94 75.81%
Sweden 4 1 2 7 8 7 6 21 75.00%
Ukraine 9 5 9 23 24 12 19 55 70.51%
Belgium 1 0 2 3 3 2 2 7 70.00%
Lithuania 1 2 0 3 1 1 5 7 70.00%
France 11 9 13 33 18 26 30 74 69.16%
China 32 17 14 63 63 46 32 141 69.12%
Australia 17 16 16 49 26 38 36 100 67.11%
India 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 2 66.67%
Morocco 2 1 0 3 2 4 0 6 66.67%
New Zealand 3 2 0 5 6 1 3 10 66.67%
Slovakia 2 2 2 6 5 3 4 12 66.67%
Belarus 2 6 7 15 10 12 7 29 65.91%
Denmark 2 0 6 8 5 3 7 15 65.22%
Thailand 3 1 4 8 3 6 6 15 65.22%
Germany 14 16 18 48 19 28 32 79 62.20%
Venezuela 0 0 2 2 0 1 2 3 60.00%
Japan 16 9 12 37 17 15 20 52 58.43%
Netherlands 4 9 9 22 5 11 12 28 56.00%
Greece 6 6 4 16 3 13 4 20 55.56%
Taiwan 2 2 1 5 2 2 2 6 54.55%
Hungary 8 6 3 17 1 8 9 18 51.43%
Kenya 1 4 2 7 3 1 3 7 50.00%
Serbia and Montenegro 0 2 0 2 0 0 2 2 50.00%
Slovenia 0 1 3 4 1 2 1 4 50.00%
United States 35 39 29 103 27 22 39 88 46.07%
Norway 5 0 1 6 3 1 1 5 45.45%
Azerbaijan 1 0 4 5 2 1 1 4 44.44%
Croatia 1 2 2 5 0 0 4 4 44.44%
Latvia 0 4 0 4 1 1 1 3 42.86%
Argentina 2 0 4 6 0 2 2 4 40.00%
Italy 10 11 11 32 4 8 7 19 37.25%
Russia 27 27 38 92 16 8 17 41 30.83%
Cuba 9 7 11 27 2 2 7 11 28.95%
Jamaica 2 1 2 5 1 0 1 2 28.57%
Estonia 0 1 2 3 0 1 0 1 25.00%
Zimbabwe 1 1 1 3 1 0 0 1 25.00%
Turkey 3 3 4 10 1 0 1 2 16.67%
Bahamas 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0.00%
Bulgaria 2 1 9 12 0 0 0 0 0.00%
Cameroon 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.00%
Chile 2 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0.00%
Colombia 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.00%
Dominican Republic 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.00%
Eritrea 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.00%
Ethiopia 2 3 2 7 0 0 0 0 0.00%
Georgia 2 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 0.00%
Indonesia 1 1 2 4 0 0 0 0 0.00%
Kazakhstan 1 4 3 8 0 0 0 0 0.00%
Mongolia 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.00%
North Korea 0 4 1 5 0 0 0 0 0.00%
Paraguay 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.00%
Romania 8 5 6 19 0 0 0 0 0.00%
South Korea 9 12 9 30 0 0 0 0 0.00%
Syria 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.00%
Trinidad and Tobago 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.00%
Uzbekistan 2 1 2 5 0 0 0 0 0.00%

Sources

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Article Details

Author:Toby Inkster
Licence:All rights reserved
Created:Fri, 8 Oct 2004
Status:Archived
Permalink:Permalink

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