The crazy medal table reform that would have shaken up Olympic standings

USA and China
A big picture idea
Team sports take center stage
37 medals in swimming, only one in football
France would be favored
France, a country of team sport
The team above all
A mocked initiative
Australia and China dropping
Should anything change?
USA and China

The Paris Olympics saw the USA and China top the medal table, but a crazy reform would have shaken everything up.

A big picture idea

Thomas Pesquet is a big picture guy, and the French astronaut showed us that once again with his proposed new Olympic medal table set up. The aerospace engineer proposed the revolutionary idea on his social media pages during the Olympics.

"A very serious reform of the Olympic Games"

In it, Pesquet presented "a very serious reform of the Olympic Games", which he has been thinking about for "a very long time".

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"The number of medals is proportional to the number of people on the ground"

His theory was simple: "I propose that the number of medals be proportional to the number of people on the field. For individual sports, we count one gold medal, but if we win in basketball, we count five gold medals, in rugby, there are seven gold medals and in football, eleven gold medals."

Team sports take center stage

Why should it be weighted in this way? "In this way, team sports, which are very important on a global scale, particularly football which is the world sport, would be a little more recognized for their true value," the astronaut believes.

37 medals in swimming, only one in football

Thomas Pesquet argued using the example of swimming: "That there are 37 gold medals for swimming is very good, we love swimming, but 37 for swimming and only one in football, That doesn’t seem right to me."

France would be favored

This measure, if applied, would have greatly benefited team sports nations, including his home country.

France, a country of team sport

Les Blues were usually outsiders or favourites in many team sports including football, volleyball, handball, basketball, 3x3 basketball and rugby 7s.

The team above all

This "revolution" would also highlight relays and team events in individual sports, such as team triathlon, team table tennis, relays in athletics or swimming, etc.

A mocked initiative

Obviously, this initiative was not to everyone's taste and social media users mocked Pesquet in the comments: "They are going to send you back into space for six months", one X user stated.

Australia and China dropping

With the USA – also a strong team sports country at the Olympics – in top place already, Pesquet's proposal would probably not have changed the overall winner, but the likes of Australia and China, in third and second place respectively, might be a lot further down in the rankings under this system.

 

 

Should anything change?

What do you think? Should anything change in the way medals are counted?

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