XX Olympic Winter Games 2006 - XX Jeux Olympiques d'hiver 2006
Torino, Piemonte, Italia
10-26 .02. 2006

It is a nonsense to say that a country with more than 100'000'000 inhabitants gloriously obtains more medals than a country with 5'00'000 inhabitants! Here is a more rational ranking: inhabitants per medal. (1)

An even better classification should also take in consideration parameters such as the per capita income or the snow coverage rate. (2)

Il n'est pas raisonnable de proclamer qu'un pays de plus de 100'000'000 d'habitants obtient glorieusement plus de médailles qu'un pays de 5'000'000 d'habitants! Voici un classement plus rationnel: nombre d'habitants par médaille. (1)

Une classification encore meilleure devrait aussi prendre en considération des paramètres tels que le revenu par habitant ou le taux d'enneigement. (2)

Final results on 26.02.2006

Country
Pays		 Inhabitants
Population		 Gold
Or		 Silver
Argent		 Bronze
Bronze		 Total
Medals
Total des
médailles 		Inhabitants per
Medal
Nombre d'habitants
par médaille 		Rank
Rang
Norway 5'000'000 2 8 9 19 260'000 1
Austria 8'200'000 9 7 7 23 360'000 2
Estonia 1'400'000 3 0 0 3 470'000 3
Switzerland 7'500'000 5 4 5 14 540'000 4
Finland 5'300'000 0 6 3 9 590'000 5
Sweden 9'000'000 7 2 5 14 640'000 6
Canada 33'000'000 7 10 7 24 1'380'000 7
Croatia 4'500'000 1 2 0 3 1'500'000 8
Netherlands 17'000'000 3 2 4 9 1'890'000 9
Latvia 2'300'000 0 0 1 1 2'300'000 10
Czech Republic 10'300'000 1 2 1 4 2'580'000 11
Germany 83'000'000 11 12 6 29 2'860'000 12
Korea 49'000'000 6 3 2 11 4'450'000 13
Italy 59'000'000 5 0 6 11 5'360'000 15
Slovakia 5'500'000 0 1 0 1 5'500'000 14
Russian Federation 144'000'000 8 6 8 22 6'550'000 17
France 61'000'000 3 2 4 9 6'780'000 16
Bulgaria 7'500'000 0 1 0 1 7'500'000 18
Belarus 10'300'000 0 1 0 1 10'300'000 19
Australia 21'000'000 1 0 1 2 10'500'000 20
USA 300'000'000 9 9 7 25 12'000'000 21
Poland 38'700'000 0 1 1 2 19'350'000 22
Ukraine 48'000'000 0 0 2 2 24'000'000 23
Great Britain 61'000'000 0 1 0 1 61'000'000 24
China 1'300'000'000 2 4 5 11 118'180'000 25
Japan 127'500'000 1 0 0 1 127'500'000 26

(1) Example (21.02.2006):
When Norway has 18 medals per 5'000'000 inhabitants, it means they have 1 medal per 280'000 inhabitants.
When the USA has 18 medals per 300'000'000 inhabitants, it means they have 1 medal per 16'670'000 inhabitants.
If the USA wished to reach the same level as Norway, they should obtain 1080 medals.

(2) On this point of view there is a good comparison between European Union and United States: both in Northern Hemisphere, large area, large population, reasonably comparable incomes, reasonably comparable weather (from Texas to Alaska or from Greece to Norway):

Country
Pays		 Inhabitants
Population		 Gold
Or		 Silver
Argent		 Bronze
Bronze		 Total
Medals
Total des
médailles 		Inhabitants per
Medal
Nombre d'habitants
par médaille
European Union 455'000'000 inhabitants 74 73 78 225 2'020'000
United States 300'000'000 inhabitants 9 9 7 25 12'000'000

There is no guarantee on the above numbers; you should:
- see results in your favourite newspaper or official results here: http://www.torino2006.org/
- see official Web site of the International Olympic committee here: http://www.olympic.org/
- see data on countries in your own atlas: they could be a little different for several reasons (date of census; including or not other territories; etc.).

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