How does your country rank the Olympic medal tally?

Question

In most (?) parts of the world it's by no. of gold medals, but in the US it's by total medals. I'm wondering if USA is the only country in the world that ranks the Olympic medal tally by total medals.

Answer 1

I think in Uruguay we do it by total medals.

I guess it doesn't really matter because we don't win medals very often :S

Answer 2

China should be first because they have more gold medals.

Answer 3

"If you aint first, you're last!"

Answer 4

Total medals.  

Answer 5

Hahaha...the only time the ranking has been sorted by total medals in the USA is this time, only because they are not winning by golds.

I think it's laughable how American media makes people think they are winning, when in fact they aren't - just for the sake of keeping their viewers interested in the Olympics.

The official medal tally by the IOC is sorted by golds, and has always been, which means China is winning.

Answer 6

Wait did the U.S. rank the Olympic medal tally by total medals in 2004 Olympics?

Answer 7

My country ranks it by Gold Medals, along with every other country who has the ability to be gracious in defeat.

Answer 8

In all parts of the world its ranked by gold. US is the only country to have publicized a rank by total, because that is in its favor.

http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/IN...

Pls see the above official ranking. The rank by total is on the far right column and is for information only. It could have said Rank by Total Olympians Participating and the US would be #1. It could have said Rank by Most Black Athletes and the US would also be #1. But those are all arbitrary. The true rank is indicated by the first column called "Rank"

Answer 9

All US media ranks countries by total medals while media in almost every other country in the World as well as the IOC rank countries by number of Gold medals. It is not because it gives US a higher ranking (If you look at the medal tallies from the last few Olympics – Athens (2004), Sydney (2000), Atlanta (1996), Barcelona (1992), Seoul (1988), the ranking of the top 4-5 countries would be the same if done based on Golds or Total).

It is just at this point in the Beijing Olympics that China is ranked 1 based on Golds while US is ranked 1 based on Total medals. This will most likely change to a consistent ranking towards the end of the games.

The reason is that the US media started ranking by Total medals a long time ago and it may be too late to change – just like how we like do things differently from the rest of the World like sticking to miles, gallons, pounds and Fahrenheit. However, it is surprising the medal tally is not ranked by Golds particularly because winning means everything in US culture.

In my opinion, in an increasingly globalized World, it is OK sometime to follow the norm and do things like everyone else does. It is not too late to switch to ranking countries based Gold medals (silvers and bronzes do matter if there is a tie in number of Golds). :)

Answer 10

The USA is the only country that does it by total medals, because they aren't winning.

According to the Australian medal tally, China is number 1 with 45 gold, 15 silver and 21 bronze and the USA is 2nd with 27 gold 28 silver and 28 bronze.

Aussie is coming 5th with 11 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze, which is incredible seeing as we only have 21 million people!

We don't do it by gold medals because we can handle defeat.

Answer 11

My country ranks it by gold medals, and it had always been that way.  So, even in newspapers reports, China has been listed as top of the table everyday.

Answer 12

Definitely by GOLD, not by Total.

Silver and Bronze medals are consolation prizes to keep you motivated the next time, and that's what the US media is doing by listing US first based on total medal count.. CONSOLE THEIR AMERICAN VIEWERS.

US media has always ranked based on Gold in the past and changed it now. If you look at how they rank other countries since Atlanta 96, you can tell it's based on Gold, not total medal count. If you just look at US, you can't tell, as US was winning most golds and most medals.

To me, it's HOW MANY TIMES YOUR NATIONAL ANTHEM IS FILLING UP THE AIR, AND A SENSE OF PRIDE AS YOU SEE YOUR FLAG RISE ABOVE ALL, AND THE ATHELETE STANDING TALLER ON THE PODIUM.

Now, tell me if total medal count is what you're after and not GOLD?

Perhaps, this question can best be answered by Michael Phelps. Ask him if he prefers 9 silvers or 10 bronzes over the 8 golds. Hmmmph.

I am sure if you ask the NBA players if they would want to be NBA runner-ups twice or win the NBA title once. It's obvious. Hmmmph.

If you were to rank by point system, you should ask the question of preference.  1 Gold or 2 Silvers? 1 Silver or 2 Bronzes? If you base on this, you can give Gold 4 points, Silver 2 points and Bronze 1 point.

Based on the above point system..

China Gold 47 Silver 17 Bronze 26 yields total points of 248

USA Gold 31 Silver 36 Bronze 36 yields total points of 232

American should be proud of what their atheletes have achieved, especially Michael Phelps, hailed as the greatest Olympian. They should acknowledge China's victory at the same time and not act like a sore loser, which is not accepting defeat gracefully in the spirits of Olympics.

Shame on the US media for misleading the American public!

Answer 13

Gold Medals here in my country!

Let me explain why is made by gold medal...

Usa delegation: 1500 athletes

Some small countries (Example:only 50 athletes in Beijing) can dispute the first place on Rank Medals if the 50 athletes win the gold medal!

After all, there isn't any athlete in Beijing, that go there wanting to win Silver or Bronze medal. Everyone wants the Gold because is for it that athletes train all their lifes. Gold medal is the final objective for all athletes... Gold medal that real counts!

Obviously, with 1500 athletes usa will have more medals at the final of Olympics, but remember: quantity is not QUALITY!

Answer 14

gold medals,so China is the first now.

Answer 15

Why do you care, do it whatever way you want and let us American do it our way Olympics is not just about gold!

The follow list of medal count can be seen at the link below

http://www.nbcolympics.com/medals/index....

http://content.usatoday.com/sports/olymp...

http://2008games.nytimes.com/olympics/me...

Good luck

1st USA

2nd China

3rd Russia

Answer 16

By Gold medals.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/olympics/meda...

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/bei...

http://www.smh.com.au/olympics/beijing-2...

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/be...

http://www.abc.net.au/olympics/2008/resu...

http://www.olympics.com.au/ScheduleAndRe...

http://www.foxsports.com.au/beijing_olym...

http://sportal.com.au/beijing-2008

Edit]

countries choose either by total or gold depending on which way makes the country appear higher on the tally.

another example:

http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/beij...

Answer 17

China first !!!

http://www.bild.de/BILD/sport/ergebnisse...

http://www.lemonde.fr/sport-jo-pekin/cac...

http://www.elpais.com/especial/juegos-ol...

http://www.lastampa.it/sport/pechino2008...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/o...

http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/IN...

http://jbonline.terra.com.br/hotsites/ol...

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/bei...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/event/index.cf...

http://content.usatoday.com/sports/olymp...

Answer 18

USA is the greatest country,why we need to be the same as other piteous countries?