Who really won the Olympic Games? The medal table per capita is very different

The Olympics are usually dominated by the USA and China, and Paris 2024 was no different. But these countries not only have the wealth to throw resources at the Games, but they both also have incredibly large populations to select athletes from.

With a population of over a billion people, it seems fairly logical you’re going to have some top athletes in the mix. Unfair even. Let’s even the playing field and look at the medal tally by per capita instead, and celebrate the countries that have punched well about their weight. 

To do this we’ll use a weighted system, which offers points based on the type of medal, to try and make it as fair and comprehensive as possible. We'll use the New York Times long proposed weighted medal system: gold amounts to 4 points, silver 2 points, and bronze 1 point. 

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Paris was Ireland’s best-ever Olympics, and the European country would have taken out 10th spot if the tally was decided by medal per capita. Their 4 gold and 3 bronze from their population of 5,281,600 equates to a medal per 277,978, factoring in the weight of the individual medals.

Rowing – and apparently hockey – specialists, The Netherlands are actually further down the table in the per capita version (they finished 6th). Their 15 gold, 7 silver, and 12 bronze from their 17,977,676 people amount to a medal in every 239,702.

While Hungary would have come in at number 8 under this system, with 6 gold, 7 silver and 6 bronze with a population of 9,584,627. This equates to a medal in every 239,615 people, as documented by the Medals Per Capita database.

Jamaica would have topped this list for virtually every Olympic since 2008, but this year wasn’t one of their best. With 1 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze, the island nation of 2,825,544 comes in at 7th with a medal per every 235,462.

Australia, who have been one of the biggest talking points of the Games as a side that’s punched above their weight (breaking aside) to come 4th overall, actually come in at 6th on a per capita table. At 18 gold, 19 silver and 16 bronze for their population of 27,364,621, we’re looking at a medal per 228,038 for the Aussies.

Slovenia enters at number 5 with 2 gold and 1 silver. With their population of 2,123,949 this equates to a medal per every 212,394 people in the beautiful central European country.

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New Zealand, a country with a population of 5,338,900 picked up an impressive 10 golds, 7 silvers and 3 bronze. A solid feat that saw them take 11th on the official tally but 4th here, equating to a medal per 121,338.

From here, the medals may be less impressive, but you can’t argue that these countries aren’t punching well above their weight. Grenada, who picked up 2 bronze, have a population of just 112,579, which means a medallist in every 56,289 for the Caribbean country.

Also in the Caribbean, St Lucia come in 2nd with 1 gold and 1 silver for the country of 184,100. That works out to one in 30,683.

And finally Dominica, with their 1 gold, would top the tally. With a population of 67,408, the weight of this medal equates to a medal per 16,852, as recorded by Medals Per Capita.

The flip side of this is the bottom of the table, which sees India, with a population of 1,404,910,000, picking up 1 silver and 4 bronze. That’s a medal per 234,151,666, so maybe population isn’t everything.

For those who say only the gold medal matters, here is the top 10 per capita by gold medals only: 1. Dominica, 2. Saint Lucia, 3. New Zealand, 4. Slovenia, 5. Ireland, 6. Netherlands, 7. Australia, 8. Bahrain, 9. Hungary, 10. Croatia.

Which country impressed you the most during these Games?

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