How is it that the larger, richest countries win more medals?

Question

Are they able to afford drugs that poorer countries can't get and are undetectable? Something seems fishy.

Answer 1

well of course larger wealthier countries have the upper hand

and that's not because of drugs

larger country usually means more people and more people means the more chance they're gonna find talent and potential

money - wealthier countries incorporate more sporting competitions (opportunities) into their society therefore it's more likely to find emerging talent and it's easier for a passion to be born

plus more money equal higher quality coaching, higher quality facilities, higher quality uniforms. Every little bit counts, we can afford the little things that make up for those tenths and hundreths of a second

and we can afford to send more athletes to beijing

it's not all drugs

like in australia like if you have a passion for let's say swimming then you can train for example 9 times a week because here everyone has the opportunity to.

and seriously it's not drugs....some countries are just sh*t

i was watching the 100m womens heats and seriously like a quarter of all fifteen year old girls in australia can run faster than atleast one person in those races and i and all the other girls who do a little school athletics can beat a third of the girls racing. Like there are a heap of wildcard entrances that are just c**p

for example there was a guy at the sydney olympics who had never seen a 50m pool before sydney, looked like he was drowning and 7yr olds could swim faster than him yet he won his heat cos the two other competitors false startered lol

but i do get what you're saying

like all those romanian and russians who got busted for drugs recently had to be from those countries and not countries like Togo cos togo woulnt be able to afford drugs

like what you're saying would make a difference but i think there are greater ones

Answer 2

generally they win more medals because they are either entered in more events (strength in numbers.  u.s. and china have the largest olympic teams) or they have better training methods. the larger countries also youth programs where the athletes start learning the sport at a younger age.  china picks out who does what by the age of 5 and trains them until the time of the olympics to be the best (or close to it) at what they do

Answer 3

they are able to afford to invest more time and money into training programmes and facilities for developing elite athletes, tend to have a greater pool of people to choose from as many kids are able to afford to start playing sport from an early age therefore its easier to find and nurture athletes.

Answer 4

Larger countries not only have better training facilities and coaches, but also have much more resources in R&D for equipment, and most importantly, the "supplements" they take everyday.

Answer 5

no, they can afford fancy equipment to train their athletes

but a lot of other poorer countries have AMAZING athletes who win gold medals, just not as many as china and the usa

Answer 6

More people = more qualifiers

More money = better training facilities

Just a guess :D

Answer 7

rich countries care for olympics more, poorer countries care about more important things

Answer 8

Larger selection of people to choice from, better food and health care, more money focused on training and winning.

They have a lot of advantages cheating is not needed.

Answer 9

You know USA is only the 6th richest country

1 Luxembourg

2 Equatorial Guinea

3 United Arab Emirates

4 Norway

5 Ireland

6 United States

7 Andorra

8 Iceland

9 Denmark

10 Austria