Do you feel that your Asian ancestors compel you to stand up for them and insult the benign, true to history, proclamation of a nationalist? Or are you so reactionary to any prideful statement about the country in which you reside and prosper to realize that you embarrass yourself as a good writer who should know that research is the foundation from which you strayed? A quick, cursory, moments checking will show in table format that even in the most recent Olympic history, the city of the country you misquote couldn't even crest the medal count of the US with home field advantage. Beijing 2008, China total medal count, 100, the US, 110. True they won 15 more gold medals than us but I will upset you once again with surely a fact that anyone should assume living in 'Merica that the nearest competitor in lifetime medal count has approximately half of ours. In fact you could add 2nd and 3rd place together, the Soviet Union and Germany respectively, and the total, 2303, still falls 246 medals short of the leader, the United States of America. China ranks an abysmal 13th, right below Australia.
China is no doubt a rising star of the Olympics, in my lifetime, excelling in gymnastics most memorably, but it still is the broken product of a tyrannical homeland that has seen the collapse of Communism on its borders, appalling environmental and human rights abuse, collusion with enemies of freedom and liberty, and continually finds itself on the wrong side of history with major military defeats and a slow call to modernization, but there is always hope it will turn around. Other single party regimes in it's alumni call to mind the Bolsheviks, the Nazis, and the Ba'ath parties. But it can boast to be the world's largest country in terms of population which also causes it to have the largest reach of native language. Ironically China manufactures the medals that will hang on the necks of more Olympians from the red, white, and blue than from athletes who's country's sweat shops produce them. (I just made that up, I have no idea where Olympic medals are made, but I and presumably any reader would not be surprised if that was the case.) Over the years, Oliver, I've noticed a dark subtext to some of your writings that no doubt spring from your minority status in a country that educated you and gave you opportunities that few other countries could have. Hate America first, reason later.
Some will cower and have cheap laughs about America's problems and errors. Some like me will not. With facts and history on our side we can state that while we haven't always got it right (slavery, civil rights, class warfare, economic inequality), we will never stop until it is right. The struggle will be long and the fight will be hard but progress has been made and will continue to strive forward until every one of our citizens is treated equally and fairly by the law and the people in power. Instead of mocking, I wish more Americans will stand up with the experiment of freedom whose sphere of influence is unbounded in the domains of freedom and equality. Nothing in our DNA makes us better than any other inhabitant of any country on Earth. It's our ideas and system of government (elucidated in the Constitution) that sets us apart. Nationalistic pride is silly on its face (who among us chose where they were born?) but when the contrast is between moral ideas and tyrannical governments, then I will defend what's right and I will state without abandon, "America, Fuck Yeah!" Those of you who claim victimhood as minorities or sons and daughters of the formerly oppressed ONLY perpetuate those ideas by denying and mocking America, who's progress over the last century has been both breathtaking and influential for all of the world. In the end you just sound not unlike conspiracy theorists and delusional crackpots who impede your own cause rather than unleashing your own potential. But of course it was all about Imperialism and Oil. Safe bets, right? Vegas odds are better. The house, in this case, morality will always win.
Oliver clearly got sonned so hard, his brain refuses to acknowledge it even happened. So glad I have that dude on my side. Don't tread on my medal count, batches!
Oliver prolly has about three undergrad classes working round the clock on a carefully worded and idealogically watertight refutation of zilla's central stat-based argument.
But colour me impressed at the flow and improvised nature of his rant/tract, and the acute paranoia contained therein.
Oliver prolly has about three undergrad classes working round the clock on a carefully worded and idealogically watertight refutation of zilla's central stat-based argument.
But colour me impressed at the flow and improvised nature of his rant/tract, and the acute paranoia contained therein.
Even if it was a cavalcade of bullshite.
I actually read the whole thing, then realized I had barely registered any of it because I was thinking about paragraph breaks the whole time.
Cycling: so GB women get disqualified after setting WR, China women then set a WR and go into the final to race for gold. In the final they commit the same change-over infringement as team GB, and get their gold turned into silver.
The three tables below show the ranking based on (1) gold medals won, (2) total medals won and also (3) using a weighted medal score.
Table: Top ranked teams based on GOLD MEDALS per million population
rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total Medals total gold
/million pop
1 Finland 101 83 115 299 19.22
2 Hungary 159 141 159
459 15.91
3 Sweden 142 160 173 475 15.65
4 Bahamas 4 2 4 10 12.89
5 Norway 54 48 42 144 11.55
6 New Zealand 36 15 35 86 8.47
7 Denmark 41 63 66 170 7.43
8 Bulgaria 51 84 77 212 7.13
9 Estonia 9 8 14 31 6.97
10 Australia 131 137 164 432 6.09
Table: Top ranked teams based on TOTAL MEDALS per million population
rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total Medals total medals
/million pop
1 Finland 101 83 115 299 56.90
2 Sweden 142 160 173 475 52.35
3 Hungary 159 141 159
459 45.94
4 Bahamas 4 2 4 10 32.21
5 Denmark 41 63 66 170 30.82
6 Norway 54 48 42 144 30.79
7 Bulgaria 51 84 77 212 29.66
8 Estonia 9 8 14 31 24.01
9 Switzerland 45 70 66 181 23.74
10 New Zealand 36 15 35 86 20.22
Table: Top ranked teams based on the WEIGHTED MEDAL SCORE per million population
The data includes all medals won at the summer Olympic Games (not including 2012). The original medal list source: wikipedia.
The population data is sourced from the CIA World Book for 2011. There are quite a few countries/teams that no longer exist that have won medals in the past.
The following teams have not been included in this analysis due to no current population data; Soviet Union, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Unified Team, Yugoslavia, Mixed team, Australasia, Russian Empire, Serbia and Montenegro, Bohemia, Independent Olympic Participants, British West Indies.
Cycling: so GB women get disqualified after setting WR, China women then set a WR and go into the final to race for gold. In the final they commit the same change-over infringement as team GB, and get their gold turned into silver.
The three tables below show the ranking based on (1) gold medals won, (2) total medals won and also (3) using a weighted medal score.
Table: Top ranked teams based on GOLD MEDALS per million population
rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total Medals total gold
/million pop
1 Finland 101 83 115 299 19.22
2 Hungary 159 141 159
459 15.91
3 Sweden 142 160 173 475 15.65
4 Bahamas 4 2 4 10 12.89
5 Norway 54 48 42 144 11.55
6 New Zealand 36 15 35 86 8.47
7 Denmark 41 63 66 170 7.43
8 Bulgaria 51 84 77 212 7.13
9 Estonia 9 8 14 31 6.97
10 Australia 131 137 164 432 6.09
Table: Top ranked teams based on TOTAL MEDALS per million population
rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total Medals total medals
/million pop
1 Finland 101 83 115 299 56.90
2 Sweden 142 160 173 475 52.35
3 Hungary 159 141 159
459 45.94
4 Bahamas 4 2 4 10 32.21
5 Denmark 41 63 66 170 30.82
6 Norway 54 48 42 144 30.79
7 Bulgaria 51 84 77 212 29.66
8 Estonia 9 8 14 31 24.01
9 Switzerland 45 70 66 181 23.74
10 New Zealand 36 15 35 86 20.22
Table: Top ranked teams based on the WEIGHTED MEDAL SCORE per million population
The data includes all medals won at the summer Olympic Games (not including 2012). The original medal list source: wikipedia.
The population data is sourced from the CIA World Book for 2011. There are quite a few countries/teams that no longer exist that have won medals in the past.
The following teams have not been included in this analysis due to no current population data; Soviet Union, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Unified Team, Yugoslavia, Mixed team, Australasia, Russian Empire, Serbia and Montenegro, Bohemia, Independent Olympic Participants, British West Indies.
Who would have guessed the Finnish to be the true Olympic Powerhouses? If only they had a larger population to pool from, their national anthem would be a popular ringtone on Itunes. The pretzel shapes that you must contort to downplay the USA Olympic history is rather amusing. So, if I got this right, the total medal count from (1896 to 2011) divided by (the population in 2011) gives Finland as the most successful nation ever in the Olympics? Burn. Oh man you got me! What a fantastically strange argument. Totals medals in history divided by the current population. Hmmm. Population changes over time. Before I go on, to any reader, please ask 3 of your coworkers tomorrow to name 1 Finnish Olympic athlete and the most memorable Finnish Olympic moment, then do the same once again this time with an American Olympic athlete and the most memorable American Olympic moment.
I will humor you with the following small peek at some data. Let's do a snapshot from an old Olympic meet and a more current Olympic Meet. Say 1908 Summer Olympics, the first year that Finland competed, by this time the USA already had 3 Olympics events under it's belt. Finland, 5 total medals (1 Gold). USA, 47 total medals (23 Gold). 1908 Finland Population, 2.7 million. 1908 USA Population, 76 million. So with, roughly, 28 times more people the USA produced 9 times more medals. Now 1996 Summer Olympics, Finland, 4 total medals (1 Gold). 1996 USA Olympics team, 101 total medals (44 Gold). 1996 Finland Population, 5 million. 1996 USA Population, 265 million. So the USA with roughly 53 times more people produced 25 times more medals. According to the data, between 1908 and 1996 the Finnish population almost doubled and they produced 1 less medal than they did in 1908. On the other hand, the US population roughly tripled and it produced double the medals it had in 1908.
The Bahamas being the 4th most successful country in terms of medals per capita is the first clue that something is amiss here. There are only so many medals to be awarded and only so many events to take place in. The better, more sound argument would be the total medals available to win divided by the athletic pool per country. That ratio is more telling. For example with data easily available, the total medals awarded in the 1996 Summer Olympics: 842. USA's share of that is roughly 12 percent. Finland's share 0.5 percent. USA had 646 competitors out of a total of 10,318 athletes. A ratio of 6.2 percent. Finland had 76 competitors out of 10,318. A ratio of 0.74 percent. USA had 8.5 times more athletes than Finland and won 8.5 times more medals. NO, WAIT. That's NOT what happened. The USA had 8.5 times more athletes than Finland but won 25 times more medals. Rinse and repeat among any given Olympic event at any point in history and the numbers will agree.
Cycling: so GB women get disqualified after setting WR, China women then set a WR and go into the final to race for gold. In the final they commit the same change-over infringement as team GB, and get their gold turned into silver.
It's, like, SO not fair!
::wink::
"We were saying if we have a bad start we need to crash to get a restart. I just crashed, I did it on purpose to get a restart, just to have the fastest ride. "I did it. So it was all planned, really."
Team GB nailing their Olympian values to the team sprint mast.
So can a cyclist crash at any point of a race for a restart? Seems a bit mad that they get a restart at all. Not like you can stop atheletics because your shoe lace was untied.
Blas Jr is more than 10 stone heavier than any other athlete in the Olympics - and 6st 10lbs heavier than the entire Japan women's gymnastics team. WTF.
Zilla dude- are you going to factor in the disparity between events with multiple medal opportunities ( swimming, gym, sprints) versus the events I remember Finland for - javelin, 10k etc?
Just watching the Keirin, where Durney dude looks like something from the og Prisoner. Half expect him to say "Be seeing you" as he peels off with 2.5 to go.
Oliver prolly has about three undergrad classes working round the clock on a carefully worded and idealogically watertight refutation of zilla's central stat-based argument.
But colour me impressed at the flow and improvised nature of his rant/tract, and the acute paranoia contained therein.
Even if it was a cavalcade of bullshite.
I stopped reading his post after the first sentence.
Oliver prolly has about three undergrad classes working round the clock on a carefully worded and idealogically watertight refutation of zilla's central stat-based argument.
But colour me impressed at the flow and improvised nature of his rant/tract, and the acute paranoia contained therein.
Even if it was a cavalcade of bullshite.
I stopped reading his post after the first sentence.
Comments
Oliver clearly got sonned so hard, his brain refuses to acknowledge it even happened. So glad I have that dude on my side. Don't tread on my medal count, batches!
But colour me impressed at the flow and improvised nature of his rant/tract, and the acute paranoia contained therein.
Even if it was a cavalcade of bullshite.
I actually read the whole thing, then realized I had barely registered any of it because I was thinking about paragraph breaks the whole time.
Whatevs. 'MERICA!
Obama style rather than Mitt, full infrastructure costs to be included.
Trick question.
Cost of 'MERICAN medals: a whole lot of blood, sweat, tears, and dedication. Dollar value: priceless. In a good way. In the 'MERICAN way.
Cost of Chinese medals: sacrificing freedom, justice, dignity and the 'MERCIAN way. Dollar value: priceless. In a bad way.
And large truck ownership.
Table: Top ranked teams based on GOLD MEDALS per million population
rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total Medals total gold
/million pop
1 Finland 101 83 115 299 19.22
2 Hungary 159 141 159
459 15.91
3 Sweden 142 160 173 475 15.65
4 Bahamas 4 2 4 10 12.89
5 Norway 54 48 42 144 11.55
6 New Zealand 36 15 35 86 8.47
7 Denmark 41 63 66 170 7.43
8 Bulgaria 51 84 77 212 7.13
9 Estonia 9 8 14 31 6.97
10 Australia 131 137 164 432 6.09
Table: Top ranked teams based on TOTAL MEDALS per million population
rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total Medals total medals
/million pop
1 Finland 101 83 115 299 56.90
2 Sweden 142 160 173 475 52.35
3 Hungary 159 141 159
459 45.94
4 Bahamas 4 2 4 10 32.21
5 Denmark 41 63 66 170 30.82
6 Norway 54 48 42 144 30.79
7 Bulgaria 51 84 77 212 29.66
8 Estonia 9 8 14 31 24.01
9 Switzerland 45 70 66 181 23.74
10 New Zealand 36 15 35 86 20.22
Table: Top ranked teams based on the WEIGHTED MEDAL SCORE per million population
(using the Topend Sports weighted ranking system: Gold=6 Silver=2 Bronze=1 points)
rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total weighted Medal Count weighted
/million pop
1 Finland 101 83 115 299 887 168.79
2 Sweden 142 160 173 475 1345 148.22
3 Hungary 159 141 159
459 1236 139.61
4 Bahamas 4 2 4 10 32 103.08
5 Norway 54 48 42 144 462 98.80
6 Denmark 41 63 66 170 438 79.41
7 Bulgaria 51 84 77 212 551 77.08
8 New Zealand 36 15 35 86 281 66.08
9 Estonia 9 8 14 31 84 65.06
10 Switzerland 45 70 66 181 476 62.44
Notes:
The data includes all medals won at the summer Olympic Games (not including 2012). The original medal list source: wikipedia.
The population data is sourced from the CIA World Book for 2011. There are quite a few countries/teams that no longer exist that have won medals in the past.
The following teams have not been included in this analysis due to no current population data; Soviet Union, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Unified Team, Yugoslavia, Mixed team, Australasia, Russian Empire, Serbia and Montenegro, Bohemia, Independent Olympic Participants, British West Indies.
http://www.topendsports.com/events/summer/medal-tally/all-time-comparison-pop.htm
More on total counts here:
http://www.topendsports.com/events/summer/medal-tally/all-time-comparison-pop-all.htm
http://www.billmitchell.org/sport/medal_tally_2012.html
It's, like, SO not fair!
::wink::
Who would have guessed the Finnish to be the true Olympic Powerhouses? If only they had a larger population to pool from, their national anthem would be a popular ringtone on Itunes. The pretzel shapes that you must contort to downplay the USA Olympic history is rather amusing. So, if I got this right, the total medal count from (1896 to 2011) divided by (the population in 2011) gives Finland as the most successful nation ever in the Olympics? Burn. Oh man you got me! What a fantastically strange argument. Totals medals in history divided by the current population. Hmmm. Population changes over time. Before I go on, to any reader, please ask 3 of your coworkers tomorrow to name 1 Finnish Olympic athlete and the most memorable Finnish Olympic moment, then do the same once again this time with an American Olympic athlete and the most memorable American Olympic moment.
I will humor you with the following small peek at some data. Let's do a snapshot from an old Olympic meet and a more current Olympic Meet. Say 1908 Summer Olympics, the first year that Finland competed, by this time the USA already had 3 Olympics events under it's belt. Finland, 5 total medals (1 Gold). USA, 47 total medals (23 Gold). 1908 Finland Population, 2.7 million. 1908 USA Population, 76 million. So with, roughly, 28 times more people the USA produced 9 times more medals. Now 1996 Summer Olympics, Finland, 4 total medals (1 Gold). 1996 USA Olympics team, 101 total medals (44 Gold). 1996 Finland Population, 5 million. 1996 USA Population, 265 million. So the USA with roughly 53 times more people produced 25 times more medals. According to the data, between 1908 and 1996 the Finnish population almost doubled and they produced 1 less medal than they did in 1908. On the other hand, the US population roughly tripled and it produced double the medals it had in 1908.
The Bahamas being the 4th most successful country in terms of medals per capita is the first clue that something is amiss here. There are only so many medals to be awarded and only so many events to take place in. The better, more sound argument would be the total medals available to win divided by the athletic pool per country. That ratio is more telling. For example with data easily available, the total medals awarded in the 1996 Summer Olympics: 842. USA's share of that is roughly 12 percent. Finland's share 0.5 percent. USA had 646 competitors out of a total of 10,318 athletes. A ratio of 6.2 percent. Finland had 76 competitors out of 10,318. A ratio of 0.74 percent. USA had 8.5 times more athletes than Finland and won 8.5 times more medals. NO, WAIT. That's NOT what happened. The USA had 8.5 times more athletes than Finland but won 25 times more medals. Rinse and repeat among any given Olympic event at any point in history and the numbers will agree.
And your point was....
"We were saying if we have a bad start we need to crash to get a restart. I just crashed, I did it on purpose to get a restart, just to have the fastest ride. "I did it. So it was all planned, really."
Team GB nailing their Olympian values to the team sprint mast.
Blas Jr is more than 10 stone heavier than any other athlete in the Olympics - and 6st 10lbs heavier than the entire Japan women's gymnastics team. WTF.
I have no idea what the deal is with the Bahamas though.
Just watching the Keirin, where Durney dude looks like something from the og Prisoner. Half expect him to say "Be seeing you" as he peels off with 2.5 to go.
Digging it.
What's that in real money?
About 30 odd mph.
It's neither fish nor fowl doe.
No good for exercise, no good for travel, certainly not uphill.
Good look though, cream white bike and the black outfit with strange Pontypine headgear (in The Night Garden-R)
That America leads the world self loathing.
I stopped reading his post after the first sentence.
Dolo?
God damn.
I think I've met Mo Farrah's Mrs before too.
Small world.