Olympic medal count = how do you calculate between gold/silver/bronze?

[Zeze]

It always irked me that media ranks countries based on sheer total medal count, regardless of type.

If country A has 10 gold, 5 silver, 5 bronze, why is it ranked same as country B with 5 gold, 5 silver, 10 bronze?

And they're both listed higher than country C with 19 gold, 0 silver, 0 bronze?

If one must pick out the #1 Olympic winner, how is that determined among same counts?

 

[slayer202]

don't forget a gold medal in archery = a gold medal in cycling or basketball

not very balanced to begin with. basically, the olympics are bullshit

 

[Red Squirrel]

I would think they would have a point system. Gold is worth 3 points, silver is worth 2 and bronze is worth 1. At least that would make more sense... but yeah think they just go by total number of medals.

 

[Slew Foot]

Its also retarded that a guy can swim 10 laps in a pool and get 5 medals, while a team of 12 guys can play for two weeks and it counts as one basketball/volleyball/soccer medal.

 

[corwin]

don't forget a gold medal in archery = a gold medal in cycling or basketball

not very balanced to begin with. basically, the olympics are bullshit

WTF is wrong with that? Archery is more bad ass than either cycling or shitty basketball, those should be worth less actually

 

[Lonyo]

It's in the US that they do pure numbers.
In pretty much the rest of the world (I think) they base it on golds first, then silvers, then bronzes, so Japan, with 1 gold but 13 medals total, is behind South African with 2 golds and no other medals.

 

[waggy]

well duh.

the medel count is itself not a contest here. its to see who is the best at each sport.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Its also retarded that a guy can swim 10 laps in a pool and get 5 medals, while a team of 12 guys can play for two weeks and it counts as one basketball/volleyball/soccer medal.

I did not know it worked that way, I thought it was always 1 medal per sport. So some sports actually give more medals? Though I do agree some of the sports are way simpler/faster than others, but that's not really that much of an issue since every country goes through all the same sports. (I think?)

 

[corwin]

I did not know it worked that way, I thought it was always 1 medal per sport. So some sports actually give more medals? Though I do agree some of the sports are way simpler/faster than others, but that's not really that much of an issue since every country goes through all the same sports. (I think?)

It is only 1 medal per sport, some people get butt hurt that some events are shorter, like some swimming events are 2 laps in a pool (hence the 10 laps for 5 medals schtick)

 

[waggy]

I did not know it worked that way, I thought it was always 1 medal per sport. So some sports actually give more medals? Though I do agree some of the sports are way simpler/faster than others, but that's not really that much of an issue since every country goes through all the same sports. (I think?)

he means. there is the 100 meter race, 200, 400. backstroke, freestyle etc. each is a different "race" so a medal i possible in each.

 

[Zeze]

he means. there is the 100 meter race, 200, 400. backstroke, freestyle etc. each is a different "race" so a medal i possible in each.

YES THIS. This HAS to be politics. You got 1 swimming super star and he can just do what he does best (swimming) and win 7 medals of different yet essentially same type of race in 1 sport?

Compare that to soccer, volleyball, shooting, archery, etc.

 

[Corporate Thug]

3 points for Gold.
2 for silver
1 for bronze.

 

[waggy]

YES THIS. This HAS to be politics. You got 1 swimming super star and he can just do what he does best (swimming) and win 7 medals of different yet essentially same type of race in 1 sport?

Compare that to soccer, volleyball, shooting, archery, etc.

yeah.. you would win gold if there was a event for being a idiot.

 

[corwin]

YES THIS. This HAS to be politics. You got 1 swimming super star and he can just do what he does best (swimming) and win 7 medals of different yet essentially same type of race in 1 sport?

Compare that to soccer, volleyball, shooting, archery, etc.

Anyone who cares this much about sports, and the olympics in particular, needs to get out of the house more often

 

[corwin]

yeah.. you would win gold if there was a event for being a idiot.

Too much competition for that medal to be sure he'd win, I'm not even sure he could pull a bronze:hmm:

 

[Red Squirrel]

he means. there is the 100 meter race, 200, 400. backstroke, freestyle etc. each is a different "race" so a medal i possible in each.

Ahhh I see, and guess it's possible for an athlete to compete in all of these right? Or can a single athlete only compete in one? I honestly don't know much about how this works, so always nice to be more informed.

 

[waggy]

Ahhh I see, and guess it's possible for an athlete to compete in all of these right? Or can a single athlete only compete in one? I honestly don't know much about how this works, so always nice to be more informed.

they can IF they qualify for them. Same with Track and field

 

[AstroManLuca]

YES THIS. This HAS to be politics. You got 1 swimming super star and he can just do what he does best (swimming) and win 7 medals of different yet essentially same type of race in 1 sport?

Compare that to soccer, volleyball, shooting, archery, etc.

I don't think you understand how swimming works. Unless maybe you're trolling.

It's not easy to be the best in the world at any one event. Much less multiple events. You might think it's easy for one guy to win multiple medals in "similar" events like 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle, 200m butterfly, and so on, but it's not. Swimming 100m vs. 200m vs. 400m are all very different and lend themselves to different types of conditioning and swimming styles. Same with sprinting. It's not easy for a 100m sprinter to also succeed in the 400m because they're such different events. Or consider hurdles; you can't just stick a sprinter into the hurdles and expect him to just automatically win or vice versa.

If you CAN compete at a high level in multiple events, and do so effectively enough to win more than one medal, then you deserve those medals. Michael Phelps winning all those medals in Athens and Beijing was a once-in-a-generation talent; it's NOT something you see every time.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

However we weight it, it's obvious that America is winning. Because America.

 

[ElFenix]

I don't think you understand how swimming works. Unless maybe you're trolling.

It's not easy to be the best in the world at any one event. Much less multiple events. You might think it's easy for one guy to win multiple medals in "similar" events like 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle, 200m butterfly, and so on, but it's not. Swimming 100m vs. 200m vs. 400m are all very different and lend themselves to different types of conditioning and swimming styles. Same with sprinting. It's not easy for a 100m sprinter to also succeed in the 400m because they're such different events. Or consider hurdles; you can't just stick a sprinter into the hurdles and expect him to just automatically win or vice versa.

If you CAN compete at a high level in multiple events, and do so effectively enough to win more than one medal, then you deserve those medals. Michael Phelps winning all those medals in Athens and Beijing was a once-in-a-generation talent; it's NOT something you see every time.

while this is all true it's still hard to compare a gold medal of someone who swam a heat and then a final in an event that lasts a minute or two to a team that plays a round robin and then a bracket tournament over the span of a month and each game takes nearly an hour.

 

[manimal]

maybe its about the actual sports and competition and not medal boners

 

[bfdd]

I don't think you understand how swimming works. Unless maybe you're trolling.

It's not easy to be the best in the world at any one event. Much less multiple events. You might think it's easy for one guy to win multiple medals in "similar" events like 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle, 200m butterfly, and so on, but it's not. Swimming 100m vs. 200m vs. 400m are all very different and lend themselves to different types of conditioning and swimming styles. Same with sprinting. It's not easy for a 100m sprinter to also succeed in the 400m because they're such different events. Or consider hurdles; you can't just stick a sprinter into the hurdles and expect him to just automatically win or vice versa.

If you CAN compete at a high level in multiple events, and do so effectively enough to win more than one medal, then you deserve those medals. Michael Phelps winning all those medals in Athens and Beijing was a once-in-a-generation talent; it's NOT something you see every time.

Which is why Usain Bolt took the world by storm when he shat all over the 100m WR in sprinting. The dude ran the 200m and is built for longer races, he isn't physically built like the ideal 100m sprinter.

 

[Binarycow]

It's gold or nothing. I don't even know why people would really want to receive a silver or a bronze since basically you didn't win. There's someone right then right there that's better than you. How many other sports hand out a silver or bronze cup/trophy? It shouldn't be like Mario Kart. Either win gold or try harder/better luck next time.

 

[waggy]

It's gold or nothing. I don't even know why people would really want to receive a silver or a bronze since basically you didn't win. There's someone right then right there that's better than you. How many other sports hand out a silver or bronze cup/trophy? It shouldn't be like Mario Kart. Either win gold or try harder/better luck next time.

While yes you should try for the gold. Winning a silver or bronze is not something to be ashamed of.

This is not the school tournament where everyone wins. this is top 3 in the world. It's saying you beat the BEST the world has to offer*


*except for gymnastics. only 2 per country in the all-around.

 

[Binarycow]

While yes you should try for the gold. Winning a silver or bronze is not something to be ashamed of.

This is not the school tournament where everyone wins. this is top 3 in the world. It's saying you beat the BEST the world has to offer*


*except for gymnastics. only 2 per country in the all-around.

right but I mean to me it's more like a consolation prize than anything else. I'm suspecting most people would think "oh someone else was better than you at that" if a silver or bronze medalist told of his/her medal.