Behold - The only Olympics medal table that really counts: PER CAPITA

[Concrete Whale]

By the way here are the world's biggest sports
http://www.biggestglobalsports.com/

1 Football
2 Basketball
3 Tennis
4 Cricket
5 Baseball

6 Formula 1
7 American Football
8 Athletics
9 Golf
10 Ice Hockey

UK has the biggest football league but not the best teams and is very big in Formula 1 too. Basketball is actually popular in a lot of countries not just USA/Canada.

 

[Two Guns]

By the way here are the world's biggest sports
http://www.biggestglobalsports.com/
alternate list http://www.totalsportek.com/most-popular-sports/

1 Football
2 Basketball
3 Tennis
4 Cricket
5 Baseball

6 Formula 1
7 American Football
8 Athletics
9 Golf
10 Ice Hockey

UK has the biggest football league but not the best teams and is very big in Formula 1 too. Basketball is actually popular in a lot of countries not just USA/Canada.

That writer is off his head, he calls baseball, NBA and NFL minor and fringe sports...they're non existent over here. Darts and snooker are minor sports and they shit over them 3.

I wouldn't call Tennis a major sport here either, only rich kids play that and it's only on the telly 4 times a year

 

[Chinballs]

Oh jeez.

 

[Concrete Whale]

That writer is off his head, he calls baseball, NBA and NFL minor and fringe sports...they're non existent over here. Darts and snooker are minor sports and they shit over them 3.

I wouldn't call Tennis a major sport here either, only rich kids play that and it's only on the telly 4 times a year

I agree the list is far from perfect. In particular I would have thought rugby would make the top 10 and possibly boxing. Although the relative popularaity in each country data don't seem super reliable though I think it's probably not a bad list over all.

What would you say the top 10 UK sports are.

Football
Cricket
Rugby
Horse Racing
Formula 1

Boxing
Tennis
Gold
Darts
Snooker

 

[HunterSdVa29]

Yeah and soccer is played in the US with players from all around the world but it don't mean you guys take it any more seriously. Outside of the USA which countries would basketball be classed as a national sport? Or even a #2 sport? I'm sure there are players from all over the world who play it but exceptions don't make the rules

It can be argued its second in france, spain, brazil, china, phillpines (first probably there), argentina, germany, and italy.

And canada behind hockey

And serbia and other slav and Baltic countries

 

[Selukrid612]

I agree the list is far from perfect. In particular I would have thought rugby would make the top 10 and possibly boxing. Although the relative popularaity in each country data don't seem super reliable though I think it's probably not a bad list over all.

What would you say the top 10 UK sports are.

Football
Cricket
Rugby
Horse Racing
Formula 1

Boxing
Tennis
Gold
Darts
Snooker

Who plays rugby though? It's like a UK/Australia and a couple of tiny islands thing. Of course that can't hold up with the top sports worldwide.

 

[A Very Serious Cat]

Who plays rugby though? It's like a UK/Australia and a couple of tiny islands thing. Of course that can't hold up with the top sports worldwide.

France, south africa and argentina are countries that have good teams. Japan has a good following and theyre improving. To name some.

You can look up the world cup viewing stats and theyre fairly big.

 

[bmasters1993]

Spoiler

 

[jrams]

Based Kirani James

 

[CO68]

It's not so much about population, but also about spending $$$ and specializing in sports you are a contender in while cutting funding for sports you suck at. The UK raised their funding after their shit performance in the 1996 Olympics. Then, they raised the funding a shit ton for 2008 and beyond since they'd be the host country in 2012.

 

[Selukrid612]

It's not so much about population, but also about spending $$$ and specializing in sports you are a contender in while cutting funding for sports you suck at. The UK raised their funding after their shit performance in the 1996 Olympics. Then, they raised the funding a shit ton for 2008 and beyond since they'd be the host country in 2012.

The US spends relatively little (less than half of what the UK spends) and still wins easily most of the time. China on the other hand goes to extreme lengths just to be competitive. Considering their population size and resources put towards winning medals the Chinese are an absolute embarrassment at the Olympics. They would probably be India 2.0 at the Olympics if it wasn't for Nazi style intervention from the state. Other countries should start throwing money at the few sports the Chinese excel at just to torment them, lmao.

 

[CO68]

The UK, with 60 million people, has won 26 gold medals.

The US, with 300 million people, has won 40 gold medals.

Prorated for population the UK has won 3.25 gold medals for every gold medal the US has won.

The UK, with 64.1 million people, has won 27 gold medals
Maryland, with 5.976 million people, has won 14 gold medals
5.56 gold medals for every UK gold
The UK has over 10x the pop, but less than 2x the golds. Maryland outperformed the UK by a huge margin...

 

[CO68]

I've read that the UK spent about $7m per medal in Rio. Don't know what the numbers for the US are, though. Think I read it was something like $2m per medal back in '08.

 

[Rum]

Congratulations to The Mightiest Nations from the spectacular games of Rio 2016.

For those who didn't make the cut, better luck for Tokyo 2020.

 

[SportsBarGod]

121

 

[SportsBarGod]

121

 

[Selukrid612]

121 with less than half the UK's Olympic budget. Winning just comes easier for Americans I guess. You guys better cut the shit or we'll have to double our budget and really take all the fun out of the games for the rest of the world.

 

[Concrete Whale]

Who plays rugby though? It's like a UK/Australia and a couple of tiny islands thing. Of course that can't hold up with the top sports worldwide.

UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Fiji, Tonga etc.
France, Italy
Argentina, Japan, Canada

Those are the big countries and second rank but rugby is a fast growing sport and is pretty popular in many countries. USA has a pro league.

The 2007 World Cup was contested by 94 countries with ticket sales of 3,850,000 over the pool and final stage. The accumulated television audience for the event, then broadcast to 200 countries, was 4.2 billion

 

[Kyryllo]

Per Capita has always been and will always be bullshit. Yes, it does put a few things into perspective, but this perspective is often read incorrectly. E.g. the USA or China simply cannot compete with smaller countries in this tally because the number of medals is limited. Let's say China wins all the Gold Medals in the Olympics but one, the last Gold will be won by New Zealand. Per Capita it would still mean New Zealand has won about 100x more Gold Medals. Does this make sense? Is New Zealand now a better overall sporting nation? Nope...

 

[jeremyemilio]

The UK, with 64.1 million people, has won 27 gold medals
Maryland, with 5.976 million people, has won 14 gold medals
5.56 gold medals for every UK gold
The UK has over 10x the pop, but less than 2x the golds. Maryland outperformed the UK by a huge margin...

Agreed.