Who really won the Olympics?

Who really won the Olympics?

Posted on August 30th, 2024 by Scott Warnock

First off, the easy answer is me. My wife and I watched a ton of the Olympics this year, and I tried, with great success, to stay in a news cocoon each day so I could watch the prime time coverage all fresh-faced.

I was interested in so many aspects of the Games. In fact, as I continue through withdrawal a couple weeks later–although of course we can all still get some buzz from the underpromoted Paralympics–I figured I’ll write something about a question I’ve seen posed in various places: What nation really won?

It may seem crass to talk about winning in such stark terms for an event like the Olympics, but, wait a second, they do give out medals. People do care about winning. (I sure do-ask my friends, and, alas, my children!).

I was especially invested in the U.S. coming out on top in both overall medal count and the gold medal haul this year. The U.S. eked it out over China, tying for golds but then cleaning up in overall medals. I was clannishly, atavistically, jingoistically ecstatic. It was a little embarrassing.

But as this provocative SB Nation article suggests, “What if instead of weighting golds, or evaluating total medals, we determined standings based on how many medals a country wins per-capita?”

The winner in that scenario?… New Zealand, with a medal for every 256,200 people! The U.S.–sorry, folks!–plummets to 12th place: It takes us over 2.6 million people for each medal. China drops all the way to 21st. Australia remains strong, moving from 4th overall to 2nd place per capita.

There are other ways. You could measure by the amount of money a nation spends per athlete, or even ratio of medals to size of Olympic contingent. Or you could generate a metric against one particular performer who rakes in many medals or a nation that is strong at a sport with many medals (like gymnastics or track).

The point is there are other ways of assessing success and effectiveness–and maybe winning.

As we cruise into a new school year, I admit this ties into my ongoing interest in measuring and counting everything, especially how flawed overall school rating systems are: Let’s look at what goes in or what comprises the count before measuring output

Anyway, I was on board–opening ceremonies pun intended–feeling crazy good about the U.S., and I still am, but there might be other ways to feel proud about accomplishments. A gold medal is still a gold medal for someone, but, overall, maybe what went into that medal is not always equal.

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Scott Warnock

Scott Warnock is a writer and teacher who lives in South Jersey. He is a professor of English at Drexel University, where he is also the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education in the College of Arts and Sciences. Father of three and husband of one, Scott is president of a local high school education foundation and spent many years coaching youth sports.