OLYMPIC GAMES
Is Team USA top of the Olympics medal table? New analysis puts Finland as No. 1
The United States has a proud Olympic history but one study suggests that Team USA actually underachieved.
Team USA is tipped to enjoy another summer of success at the Olympic Games in Paris.
In the 128-year history of the modern Olympics the United States has picked up more medals than any other nation, racking up an incredible 2,522 podium finishes. That is more than twice as many as nearest rival, the Soviet Union (1,010 medals).
However the United States is also one of the biggest nations on the planet, behind only China and India in terms of total population. So where does Team USA’s achievements rank when the comparative size of countries is considered?
Analysis from MedalsPerCapita.com found that the United States is actually down in 38th. Historically the US has picked up one medal at the summer Olympics for every 124,712 Americans, a slightly worse rate than neighbouring Canada.
Finland boasts incredible Olympic record
This summer we will likely see the United States battling it out with Russia, France, Australia and the United Kingdom at the top of the medal table. But in terms of achievement per capita, none of those more storied national teams breaks into the top ten.
Most Olympic medals per capita
- Finland (303 medals) - 17,845, population per medal
- Sweden (494 medals) - 19,211, population per medal
- Hungary (491 medals) - 20,289, population per medal
- Bahamas (13 medals) - 27,204, population per medal
- Denmark (194 medals) - 28,765, population per medal
- Norway (153 medals) - 32,716, population per medal
- Bulgaria (217 medals) - 33,938, population per medal
- Jamaica (78 medals) - 34,690, population per medal
- New Zealand (117 medals) - 37,885, population per medal
- Estonia (34 medals) - 38,764, population per medal
Finland come out on top in this study with one medal for every 17,845 people. If Americans had the same rate of medal-winning, Team USA would have racked up more than 17,000 medals over the years.
The greatest Olympic Finn is middle-distance and long-distance runner Paavo Nurmi, who picked up nine gold and three silver medals across the 1920, 1924 and 1928 Games. At the peak of his powers he became the first, and remains the only, athlete to hold world records in the mile, the 5,000m and the 10,000m races.
Another interested case study in the per capita medal table is Jamaica, who sit in eighth with 78 Olympic medals. Legendary sprinter Usain Bolt picked up eight gold medals during his stellar career, meaning that he has contributed more than 10% of Jamaica’s all-time medal haul. Incredibly he did all that in just five and a half minutes on the track during his entire Olympic career.