Who is the greatest sporting country?
Roar Guru If we are to base the analysis on the London Olympics we then must define ‘greatest’. Should it be the country that wins the most gold medals or the most medals overall?
Or, perhaps the fairest way is to base the “greatest sporting country” on population or, given the huge cost involved in developing a world class athlete, perhaps the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the most accurate guide.
If we are mindful that cricket is not an Olympic sport, then the world’s second most populated country India, with 1.2 billion citizens, is clearly the worst performed nation finishing, 36th with only six medals.
There was no surprise that the big wealthy countries the USA, China and Russia won the most medals.
Host nation Great Britain (29) did well to win more gold medals than Russia (24), behind the USA (46), and China (38).
If you watch the USA cable channels, the Americans are very conceited as to how good they are but given their wealth and population, like China, they have been disappointing.
The USA is the third most populated country in the world with 313 million and China are number one with 1.3billion. Both countries enjoy a strong GDP.
So to really define the ‘greatest’ or the ‘best’ we should look at medals per capita and take into account the country’s GDP.
The media have blasted Australia for their measly 35 Medal and only seven gold medals, so let us see if the criticism is justified.
Australia finished seventh for total medals (35) and 11th for gold (seven), but based on our tiny population of 22.8million, we finished only 13th for total medals and 19th for gold medals.
It gets worse. Australia is a wealthy country and based on our GDP, we finished the London Olympics in 4second place, just behind Great Britain and just in front of South Korea.
So who is the winner? Where do you find the best sporting blood in the world?
The answer is clear cut if you want to follow the cricket world and include all the islands in the Caribbean as one nation based on population, especially the West Indies countries who were dominant in athletics.
Jamaica (12), Grenada (one), Trinidad and Tobago (four) and the Bahamas (one) occupy four of the top five positions with our neighbour New Zealand (fourth on 13 medals) splitting them, thanks to their five gold medals all won from boating.
- Explore:
- 2012 London Olympics
August 15th 2012 @ 2:37am
peeeko said | August 15th 2012 @ 2:37am | Report comment
a very hard answer, complicated further by the fact that in my opinion that all medals are not equal. more weighting would be given to highly competitive medals such as track events and to team events in major sports eg basketball. Mybe you could ask who is the worlds worst sporting nation? Many people would argue India
August 15th 2012 @ 12:19pm
ScottWoodward.me said | August 15th 2012 @ 12:19pm | Report comment
peeeko
India is the worst per capita, followed by Indonesia then Egypt, but if you wanna base it on GDP then Saudi Arabia is number 1 as the the worst, then Indonesia, Venezuela, India then Hong Hong.
August 15th 2012 @ 4:23am
John said | August 15th 2012 @ 4:23am | Report comment
Greatest sporting nation=a nation that performs well in a WIDE range of sports…..as stated on the link below
http://www.greatestsportingnation.com/home
IMO there are
1. Great sporting nations or sporting powerhouse (great in a wide range of sports)
2. goods sporting nations (good at a wide range of sports)
3. Sporting nation (competitive in a wide range of sports)
4. Crap at sport
Being dominant in 1-2 sports is not considered a ‘great sporting’ nation as some suggest but rather a ‘sporting nation or a’ good sporting nation’. This includes smaller nations that punch above their weight.
Its shouldn’t be difficult to define. The Olympic medal table is the best indication of who the great sporting nations are. If you look at the past couple of Olympic medal tables you would notice the same countries making up the top 10 although this can differ as 2-3 countries that are normally in the top 10 would drop out.
Also great sporting nations vary from time to time. Example the USSR and Yugoslavia which were great sporting nations before their demise.However you get former colonies of these once super powers that are still very competitive in a number of sports. Examples-the Ukraine and Hungary.
The top 10 that IMO would be considered sporting powerhouses would be:
1.USA
2. China (The sporting powerhouse of Asia)
3. Russia
4. Germany (The sporting powerhouse of Europe)
5. Japan
6. Australia (a difficult one between 5 and 6)
7. France
8. Italy
9. South Korea
10. Great Britain ( mainly due to their recent success in the past 4 years)
Your good sporting nations
11. The Netherlands ( they do relatively well in both summer and winter Olympics)
12. Spain
13. Brazil (power house of South America)
14. Hungary
15. Argentina (do well in team sports)
Your sporting nations
16. NZ (in terms of punching above their weight in a number of sports and rugby)
17.Serbia (punches above its weight)
18. Cuba
19.Ukraine
20. Canada (great record in Winter Olympics)
21.Sweden (winter Olympics record)
August 15th 2012 @ 5:47am
peeeko said | August 15th 2012 @ 5:47am | Report comment
you havent even considered population in your analysis?
August 15th 2012 @ 6:33am
AndyMack said | August 15th 2012 @ 6:33am | Report comment
Dont think Hungary was ever a part of the USSR or Yugoslavia…
think they are def in the category of punching above their weight.
August 15th 2012 @ 7:00am
Matty said | August 15th 2012 @ 7:00am | Report comment
Hungary def do punch above their weight. They only have a population of 9-10 million but managed to get 8-9th on the medal table. They are dominant in waterpolo and canoeing
August 15th 2012 @ 12:50pm
ScottWoodward.me said | August 15th 2012 @ 12:50pm | Report comment
Andy
No doubt about that, great effort.
August 15th 2012 @ 12:25pm
ScottWoodward.me said | August 15th 2012 @ 12:25pm | Report comment
John,
interesting and it brings us back to the true definition of “greatest”.
I agree with Peeeko that per capita must be key and in that regard the West Indies countries are hard to beat and Hungry got 17 medals from a population of under 10million.
August 15th 2012 @ 11:07pm
Tom said | August 15th 2012 @ 11:07pm | Report comment
if it was based on per capita then I would rank 1. Hungary (10 mill) 2. NZ (4.5mill ) 3. Jamaica (3mil-only because NZ compete in a variety of sports than the 2-3 sports in Jamaica) 4. Australia (although 22 million bigger than most countries that are perceived to be over achieving ) 5. The Netherlands (17 million) .
August 16th 2012 @ 4:00am
Nickyc said | August 16th 2012 @ 4:00am | Report comment
Endorse your top ten. The last few olympics have clearly established the five most populous European countries and the five Pacific Rim countries as the summer games powerhouses.
A little quibble re GB who you say are there “mainly due to their recent success in the past four years”. Just wanted to point out:-
1/ Only country to win a gold medal at every games.
2/ More olympic medals than any country apart from the USA, former USSR and Germany/W Germany.
3/ Finished in the top ten of the medal table 17 times in 27 games including the last four games.
4/ Only finished lower than 13 in the medal table twice.
August 15th 2012 @ 4:43am
AndyMack said | August 15th 2012 @ 4:43am | Report comment
i think these “medals by GDP” or “medals by population” are a way to skew the results in your favour.
you could have “medals by people with blond(e) hair” or “medals by people with one foot slightly bigger than the other” or any number of options and most countries would find an opportunity to show themselves in the top 10.
August 15th 2012 @ 12:26pm
ScottWoodward.me said | August 15th 2012 @ 12:26pm | Report comment
Andy
Instead of being negative why dont you give your opinion on the best solution?
August 15th 2012 @ 10:11pm
AndyMack said | August 15th 2012 @ 10:11pm | Report comment
Surely the best solution is the one we have, a simple medal tally.
We all know that China has a large population base and the USA sink a lot of money into sport, so its understandable they do well. We dont really need to quantify it.
Thats my opinion.
August 15th 2012 @ 4:53am
James said | August 15th 2012 @ 4:53am | Report comment
Its obvious who the great sporting nations are. Australia is one of them.
Being good at 1 sport does not make you a great sporting nation. India are good a cricket, poor at hockey despite thier good record in the sport in past years. They have the worlds 2nd highest population and their GDP must be in the top 10. So they under perform. Same would include South Africa but you could say politics have stopped them from reaching their potential as most saffas would say.
Jamaica are dominant in sprinting and if you include Cricket by which the majority players come from you would say they are good at cricket too. Thats just 2 sports they are good at. So I wouldnt consider them a great sporting nation.
If you look at Serbia, 7million people-they are decent at football, volleyball, waterpolo, handball, basketball and good at tennis.They do well. This would include Lithuania and Croatia who do well in team sports for their population size but for some reason suck at Olympics.
NZ is the same-competitive in hockey, league, cricket, netball, basketball and very good at water sports such as Sailing and rowing, This on top of their dominance on all levels and formats of rugby plus they had a pretty good Olympics. Try comparing that to another country of a similar size such as Ireland who are relatively poor at sports.They celebrated their only gold medal like as if the world was going to end 2moro.
August 15th 2012 @ 12:31pm
ScottWoodward.me said | August 15th 2012 @ 12:31pm | Report comment
James
Its fascinating. Next Olympics we have Rugby 7s which will help NZ and also golf which should help the USA.
If Hiltler was trying to breed an Olympian, I wonder what blood he would seek? Think he would have to go outside his own country.
August 15th 2012 @ 6:59pm
Nev said | August 15th 2012 @ 6:59pm | Report comment
Just on your Irish point, a large chunk of their best athletes play the GAA sports, and this has a hold over the nation for cultural and historical reasons. Rubgy is viewed as an English sport in many parts of Ireland, and even football (soccer) has a relatively recent successful history
August 15th 2012 @ 4:59am
Steve said | August 15th 2012 @ 4:59am | Report comment
The problem comes with basing it on the Olympics. Don’t get me wrong, I like the Olympics as much as the next man, but it stands slightly apart from sport in general, and can’t really be taken as the sole barometer of sporting excellence: would you really hold South Korea as a superior sporting nation to Brazil, for example? ‘Woeful’ India has at least produced Sachin Tendulkar- who has China produced to equal him? Spain only managed 3 gold medals, but would you swap their sporting output for that of Kazakhstan?
I think the Olympics should be thought of as one single event, equal to but not greater than, dominance in another major sport: the West Indies deserves a shout for Olympics and Cricket, and a reasonable presence in soccer: Australia and South Africa are both competitive in a number of sports as well. I dare say a lot of people aren’t going to like this, but I’d put Britain as number one- yes they are often disappointing (woeful even), but they are still a serious name in Rugby, League, Olympics (broad range of disciplines), Cycling, Cricket, Snooker, Formula 1, Soccer, Boxing, Horse Racing, Golf, Tennis. Yes, I can see holes in those examples, but I can’t see many countries with such a broad sporting portfolio, at least in ‘major’ sports with world wide popularity.
August 15th 2012 @ 5:51am
peeeko said | August 15th 2012 @ 5:51am | Report comment
agree, you cant base it on the olympics, still India should have produced a lot more tendulkars than they have given their interest in cricket and the huge population
August 15th 2012 @ 12:33pm
ScottWoodward.me said | August 15th 2012 @ 12:33pm | Report comment
Steve
GB? You cant be series! They are one of the fattest unhealthiest nations in the world. We leave them for dead.
August 15th 2012 @ 2:04pm
DanMan said | August 15th 2012 @ 2:04pm | Report comment
Pretty sure Aus is the fattest country in the world . .
August 15th 2012 @ 2:13pm
Steve said | August 15th 2012 @ 2:13pm | Report comment
Where does Aus leave GB for dead? Not in the Olympics, that’s for sure. I suppose your logic also applies to the U.S?
August 15th 2012 @ 11:54pm
Colin N said | August 15th 2012 @ 11:54pm | Report comment
Not a great argument that. He’s given you a list of sports in which GB excel at, or at least have top international teams/individuals, yet that was a bit of a petty response.
The whole argument of great sporting nations is a bit flawed really. Yes, we consider the likes of rugby union, league, cricket as major sports, but people from South Korea – for example – probably don’t even know what they are.
Their national sport is archery, but that’s a minority sport in most countries.
August 21st 2012 @ 12:52pm
falcore said | August 21st 2012 @ 12:52pm | Report comment
Agree, the olympic medal tally is a nice easy barometre to use but subsequently this won’t include large number of elite athletes from non-oly sports. The US is a good example, where NFL, MLB and NBA attract the overwhelming majority of young potential athletes. Similar situations apply all around the globe. Scandanavian nations pump out professional drivers like a factory, how do we factor that sort of thing in?
Professional athletes per capita maybe?
Or is it more valid to count overall club-sport participation per capita?
August 15th 2012 @ 5:43am
AIS said | August 15th 2012 @ 5:43am | Report comment
I’d say that the Olympics are a definitive standard for sports performance. It’s also pretty ignorant to consider it as one sport.
See, the thing with Tendulkar is that in hundreds of countries, including China, he and his sport aren’t relevant at all. He wouldn’t command a stare in Brazil, Mexico, USA, Canada, France, Germany, Turkey, Nigeria, Russia, Japan or China.
You must also be crazy to include “league” or “snooker” as a criteria.
August 15th 2012 @ 11:59am
Steve said | August 15th 2012 @ 11:59am | Report comment
My point was mainly that I wouldn’t necessarily say two gold medals in Air-Pistol are worth two World Cups. I suppose if you want to put the Olympics down as the definitive standard for sports and hold North Korea, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Iran and the Czech Republic as vastly superior sporting nations to Spain and Brazil, then have it your way. We’ll just have to agree to disagree on that one.
August 15th 2012 @ 12:33pm
ScottWoodward.me said | August 15th 2012 @ 12:33pm | Report comment
AIS
Agreed.
August 15th 2012 @ 2:25pm
Steve said | August 15th 2012 @ 2:25pm | Report comment
If you agree with AIS, how can you hold NZ as the number one country for sport?
August 15th 2012 @ 5:43am
Evan said | August 15th 2012 @ 5:43am | Report comment
Olympics is the best indication if who are the great sporting nations are
August 15th 2012 @ 5:56am
Viscount Crouchback said | August 15th 2012 @ 5:56am | Report comment
There is only one country that is globally competitive in every widely played major sport (by which I mean, inter alia: soccer, rugby union, cricket (ish), cycling, tennis, golf, the various Olympic disciplines of rowing etc).
That country, my friends, is England.
Honourable mentions also for France (let down by their cricket), Spain (let down by their terrible Olympics performances) and Australia (let down by their soccer).
August 15th 2012 @ 6:02am
Jerry said | August 15th 2012 @ 6:02am | Report comment
England is only an honourable mention what with it not being a real country and all.
August 15th 2012 @ 6:03am
Jerry said | August 15th 2012 @ 6:03am | Report comment
But while I’m on the subject – England is competitive at Tennis? Seeing as Henman’s retired, I’d say that’s not really accurate.
August 15th 2012 @ 6:14am
Punter said | August 15th 2012 @ 6:14am | Report comment
Murray is English when he wins & Scottish when he loses.
August 15th 2012 @ 6:32am
Jerry said | August 15th 2012 @ 6:32am | Report comment
I don’t think they can be that cheeky – it’s “British” when he wins, surely.
August 15th 2012 @ 12:51pm
ScottWoodward.me said | August 15th 2012 @ 12:51pm | Report comment
Punter
lol
August 15th 2012 @ 11:46am
Football United said | August 15th 2012 @ 11:46am | Report comment
not a real country? ask people who live between newcastle and the south coast what nationality they are, they are not going to say British, same goes for the other 3 nations that make up the uk.
August 15th 2012 @ 11:51am
Jerry said | August 15th 2012 @ 11:51am | Report comment
I didn’t see “Team England” anytime in London recently….
(I’m simply taking the p*ss out of Viscount by the way)
On a more serious note, I don’t think “Ask the locals” is necessarily an accurate way to go about that discussion. Ask a Cornishman if he’s English and you might not get a positive answer. Ask a Basque if he’s Spanish etc…
August 15th 2012 @ 12:36pm
ScottWoodward.me said | August 15th 2012 @ 12:36pm | Report comment
Viscount
I cant it GB sorry.
I think they under achieve.
They did well in the recent Olympics but that was because it was in London. They participate in most things but dont win often as they should.
August 15th 2012 @ 6:04am
Football United said | August 15th 2012 @ 6:04am | Report comment
England have achieved excellence or at least respectability in Football, Rugby, Athletics, Cycling, Cricket, Motor Sport, Rowing, Boxing, Golf and Rugby League. The only big thing that is missing there is Basketball, even though there is a respectable participation scene in England, it has never reached any heights at the top level due to their inability to compete in europe as well as the fact that they decided internationally to compete as a british team.
August 15th 2012 @ 12:38pm
ScottWoodward.me said | August 15th 2012 @ 12:38pm | Report comment
Football
We are not talking about ” respectability”, we are talking about the “greatest” and that is not GB.
August 16th 2012 @ 12:01am
Colin N said | August 16th 2012 @ 12:01am | Report comment
Rules out every other country apart from China and US then.
August 15th 2012 @ 6:06am
peeeko said | August 15th 2012 @ 6:06am | Report comment
im sure you could come up with some complicated weighting system using the number of people playing/interested in certain sports and using a per capita basis as well. the olympics are a poor proxy. Spain did poorly at the olympics but have the greatest football team and great tennis players which are far bigger than most olympic sports (and an economy thats down the drain as well)
August 15th 2012 @ 6:57am
Punter said | August 15th 2012 @ 6:57am | Report comment
I would have to say Spain right up there, they miss out in some events but they are riding a wave of sporting success at present. Spain have greatest football team, some say the best ever & other forms of football like Futsal, tennis, Nadal of course, plus many others in the top 10 & Davis cup owners, Formula one with Fernando Alonso, Motorcycling with Lorenzo & Pedrosa, Cycling with Pereiro Conatdor & Sastre all winners TDF this century, Golf with Garcia & Olazabal, team sports like Basketball, silver to US only, both Hockey & Handball they are very competitive.
August 15th 2012 @ 12:39pm
ScottWoodward.me said | August 15th 2012 @ 12:39pm | Report comment
peeeko
Good point but both soccer and tennis were in the Olympics.