XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010 - XXI Jeux Olympiques d'hiver 2010
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
12-28 February 2010

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 28.2.2010

Country Inhabitants Gold Silver Bronze Total Medals Inhabitants per Mededal Rank
Norway 5'000'000 9 8 6 23 220'000 1
Austria 8'200'000 4 6 6 16 510'000 2
Slovenia 2'100'000 0 2 1 3 700'000 3
Sweden 9'300'000 5 2 4 11 850'000 4
Switzerland 7'800'000 6 0 3 9 870'000 5
Finland 5'400'000 0 1 4 5 1'080'000 6
Latvia 2'300'000 0 2 0 2 1'150'000 7
Canada 34'000'000 14 7 5 26 1'310'000 8
Estonia 1'400'000 0 1 0 1 1'400'000 9
Croatia 4'500'000 0 2 1 3 1'500'000 10
Czech Republic 10'300'000 2 0 4 6 1'720'000 11
Slovakia 5'500'000 1 1 1 3 1'830'000 12
Netherlands 17'000'000 4 1 3 8 2'130'000 13
Germany 83'000'000 10 13 7 30 2'770'000 14
Belarus 9'500'000 1 1 1 3 3'170'000 15
Korea (N+S) 73'500'000 6 6 2 14 5'250'000 16
France 63'000'000 2 3 6 11 5'730'000 17
Poland 38'500'000 1 3 2 6 6'420'000 18
Australia 22'000'000 2 1 0 3 7'330'000 19
USA 310'000'000 9 15 13 37 8'380'000 20
Russian Federation 142'000'000 3 5 7 15 9'470'000 21
Italy 60'000'000 1 1 3 5 12'000'000 22
Kazakhstan 15'500'000 0 1 0 1 15'500'000 23
Japan 128'000'000 0 3 2 5 25'600'000 24
Great Britain 62'000'000 1 0 0 1 62'000'000 25
China 1'340'000'000 5 2 4 11 121'820'000 26

 

(1) Example (21.02.2006):
When Norway has 23 medals per 5'000'000 inhabitants, it means they have 1 medal per 220'000 inhabitants.
When the USA has 37 medals per 310'000'000 inhabitants, it means they only have 1 medal per 8'380'000 inhabitants (nearly like Russia or Australia).

(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 492'000'000 inhabitants 40 46 48 134 3'670'000
United States 310'000'000 inhabitants 9 15 13 37 8'380'000

There is no guarantee on the above numbers; you should:
- see results in your favourite newspaper or official results here: http://www.vancouver2010.com
- 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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