Friday, March 2, 2018

The 2018 Winter Olympics: Rankings


                                

THE 2018 WINTER OPLYMPICS; RANKINGS
                                                                             
93 countries participated in the  recent Winter Games in Pyongchang. 30 of them won 1 or more medals. 63 did not.

I gave each country 3 points for a gold medal, 2 for silver and 1 for bronze.  I then ranked all the countries by total points. For example, Norway had 13 gold medals, 14 silver and 11 bronze, for a total of 82 points. The US had (9 x 3) + (8 x 2) + (6 x 1) = 49, and so forth.

I then calculated each country’s PER CAPITA score. The table below ranks the 30 medal-winning countries by per capita points earned:

Country
points
medals per population
1. Liechtenstein
1
1 per 38,000
2. Norway
82
1 per 64,000
3. Switzerland
31
1 per 270,000
4. Sweden
34
1 per 291,000
5. Austria
27
1 per 324,000
6. Netherlands
42
1 per 405,000
7. Finland
9
1 per 611,000
8. Canada
59
1 per 615,000
9. Slovenia
3
1 per 689,000
10. Slovakia
7
1 per 776,000             
11. Czech Republic
13
1 per 812,000 
12. Germany
69
1 per 1.2 million                      
13. Belarus
7
1 per 1.4 million
14. South Korea
35
1 per 1 per 1.5 million             
15. Latvia
1
1 per 2 million  
16. France
29
1 per 2.31 million
17. New Zealand
2
1 per 2.35 million         
18. Hungary
3
1 per 3.3 million           
19. Italy
18
1 per 3.4 million
20. Australia
5
1 per 4.8 million
21. Japan
26
1 per4.9 million
22. Russia
27
1 per 5.4 million
23. Belgium
2
1 per 5.7 million           
24. USA
49
1 per6.6 million
25. Great Britain
7
1 per 9.4 million           
26. Poland
4
1 per9.5 million
27. Ukraine
3
1 per 15 million
28. Kazakhstan
1
1 per 17. 8 million
29. Spain
2
1 per 23.3 million
30. China
17
1 per 81 million

I predicted which 18 countries  would win medals and which 48 would not (leaving aside the remaining 27). I was correct in 58 cases and wrong in 8, for an error rate of 12%.

Analysis:
Regarding the countries which won medals: My ranked  list is a healthy antidote to chauvinism. For example, the USA is the 24th best country, and Norway isn’t number one.  Russia is a bit better than America (as is Belgium). Poor China is dead last, but at least it did win some medals.

What about the 63 countries that won nothing? I have grouped them by region (and by some other factors). I offer  some obvious and tentative REASONS for these countries’ failure to win any medals.
                       
1. Latin America.: 7 countries
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico
Reasons: $, climate/geography and culture.
           
2. Africa: 9 countries
Eritrea, Ghana,  Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Togo
Reasons: $, climate/geography and culture

3. Eastern Europe/Western Asia, formerly under Soviet or Yugoslav Communism; 18 countries
Albania,  Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Turkey
Reasons: $, and for some countries, climate/geography 

4. Tiny European city-states and principalities: 5 countries
Andorra, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, San Marino
Reason: small size

5. South(central) Asian world: 5 countries
India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan
Reasons: $, climate/geography and culture

6. (Small and/or poor)  island nations: 6 countries
Bermuda, East Timor, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Tonga
Reasons: $, climate/geography and small size

7. Rest of Western Europe: 4 countries
Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Portugal
Reasons: No good excuses.
However, according to some surveys, the Danes are the happiest people in the world, so maybe they feel so content that they have no urge to prove anything. This explanation may also apply to some other countries...(Smile; I am writing in a spirit of levity...)
                       
8. Rest of Asia: 7 countries
Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mongolia, North Korea, Philippines, Thailand
Reasons: No good excuses (see Group #7, above)

9. Rest of Middle East: 2 countries
Israel, Lebanon
Reasons: No good excuses

Singled out for special attention:
The 5 least “winter-sport minded”  countries that participated in the winter Olympics. The larger their population, the lower I ranked them:
Mexico (population 128 million), ranked #89 out of 93; Nigeria (186 million people), ranked #90; Pakistan (193 million), ranked #91, Brazil (208 million), ranked #92; India (1.3 billion) ranked dead last.
                                                                                                                       
I focus on  these five countries not for opprobrium, but because of  their huge size. It would be wrong to suggest  any “shame” here.  For one thing, these five countries are all still developing, and they are all tropical.  Furthermore, they each excel in other sports - India in cricket and field hockey, Brazil in soccer, etc. I am only stating an empirical observation, namely the minimal importance of winter sports in some very large countries.

And of course, there are another 110 countries which didn’t even show up in Pyongchang.

© Tom Kando 2018;All Rights Reserved

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