Can you think of a better way of calculating the Olympic medal tables?

Question

Most of the world allocates places based on Golds won, which seems unfair because it ignores all other medals. Plus a country can leap up the medal table with just one gold ahead of countries that have had a more successful games but only took home numerous Silvers and Bronze.

The US seems to calculate it on total medals won, which again seems unfair because it presumes a Bronze is equivalent to a Gold which of course its not.

So would some sort of points based system be better, allocating points per type of medal eg Gold =1.0 Silver =0.50 Bronze= 0.25

How would you do it ?

Answer 1

Not even 10 bronzes or 10 silvers can equal the pride of one gold.

Answer 2

I don't know if it's still the case, but the original Olympic charter SPECIFICALLY says there is to be no ranking of countries.

Of course, it also said no athlete was to be paid for their athletic activities and had to hold down an actual job, too, but we all know the multi-millionaire athletes of today don't subscribe to that theory...

Answer 3

i think there should only be 1 medal -gold, then they'd try harder because there's nothing for coming second except "thanks for coming out"  

Answer 4

Assign each letter of a the alphabet a number -- for example, A would be 1, B would be 2, and so on until Z is 26.

Now, take the name of the country and add all the letters together. This number should be divided by the number of golds, multiplied by the sum of the number of bronze and silvers, and be made into a fraction based on the population of the country.

Not only would this way be more fair, I think it is easier for us all to understand.

Answer 5

Only the "Olympic Champion" receives gold. The other medal are referred to as minor medals and there is no additional title.

As far as I am concerned the minor medalists are fine people who did well but the number of Olympic Champions is what people are mainly interested in.  

Answer 6

yes Enoch.P, they should split the olmpics into two , one held for third world countires who cannot afford to buy equipment to train in specilaised sports,and those who hve to go to work to support the family without getting paid to train, and another only for capitalist countires where thier sports men can afford to buy and train in sprots where a lot of money is required,also they get paid full time when they are training

Answer 7

This is not a direct answer to your question but a comment.  To viewers of the Olympics, we see Phelps winning gold, Bolt and his WRs and the USA softball 'win' a silver.  What the viewing audience missing is the Olympic experience and spirit - the undefinable quality that affects the athletes that are in Beijing right now.  For many athletes, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet other people of different ethnicities, races and countries and eat breakfast, lunch, dinners with them, go to movies, sightseeing and explore an entirely new culture.  While we base our Olympic viewing experience as gold, silver and bronze and those NBC tearjerker stories, those in Beijing probably cherish being there competing with the best in the world just as much as trying to win a medal.

We should not try to quantify a victor in the Olympics.  It's pointless and only adds to the mentality of "U.S. beats everyone" or "China beats everyone." That's not the point of the Olympics.  

Answer 8

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magaz...

oswald mosley, founder of the british union of fascists?  okaaaaay

Answer 9

calculate it anyway you want to. every country has a right to be proud of their efforts.

Answer 10

I would do it like this:

Gold = 3

Silver = 2

Bronze = 1

Answer 11

It should be tallied by athlete, not country.

Answer 12

3 Gold

2 Silver

1 Bronze

I hate the way it is done at the moment. Everyone says China is ahead because they have the most gold which is bad because it pays no attention to silver and bronze.

America says they are ahead because they have the most medals which is equally bad because it does not take into account that gold is a lot better than silver and bronze.

xX

Answer 13

Gold=3

Silver=2

Bronze=1

That's how I do it.

As of now

  

China   47 Gold 17 Silver 25 Bronze

United States  31 Gold 36 Silver 35 Bronze

They are tied at 200 points!