As a teenager Nadia Boudesoque became a model for a fashion house in Paris. She later met Mexican colonel Antonio Haro (Oliva), who was stationed in Paris, and they married, with Boudesoque returning to Mexico. She continued to fence for sport, but after the 1948 London Olympics, where she represented Mexico, Boudesoque became an actress. She acted under the name Nadia Haro Oliva, appearing in multiple films in Mexico in the 1950s and 60s, notably “Misterios de la magia negra” (1957) and “El ángel exterminador” (1962). In the 1970s and 80s she turned more to acting on stage and television. She and her husband also owned and operated the Teatro Arlequín. Nadia Haro Oliva retired from acting after suffering a fall in 2004.
Olympians are people who have achieved success in their sports at the highest level. Such success often translates to other fields, and it is no surprise that numerous Olympians have succeeded outside of sports. With the name recognition that comes from their sports prowess, it is also no surprise that many Olympians have moved into politics. Many of them have served in their national legislatures.
This is a fairly difficult list to track but following is what we consider a fairly complete list. But we’ll accept additions to this list from anybody who has further information.
Athlete
Nation(s)
Sport(s)
Era
Notes
David Anderson
CAN
ROW
1960
Member of the Canadian Parliament from 1968 through 1972 and again from 1993 through 2006 (Liberal)
Wendell Anderson
USA
ICH
1956
Member of US Senate; Minnesota 1976-78 (Democrat)
Nancy Arendt-Kemp
LUX
SWI/TRI
1988-00
Member of Luxembourgish D'Chamber from 23 January 1996 through 8 June 1999 and 3 June 2003 through 5 June 2004 and since 3 August 2004 (CSV)
Taro Aso
JPN
SHO
1976
Shugiin (House of Representatives) 1979-83; since 1986 Liberal Democratic Party
John Jacob Astor
GBR
RAQ
1908
Member of the UK House of Commons 1922-45. Member of the UK House of Lords 1956-71 (Conservative)
Mehmet Ali Aybar
TUR
ATH
1928
Member of Turkish Meclis from 1965 through 1973 (TİP)
Badmaanyambuugiin Bat-Erdene
Mgl MGL
JUD
1988-00
Member of Mongolian Ulsyn Ikh Khural since 2004 (MAN)
Philip Baker
GBR
ATH
1912-
Member of the UK House of Commons 1929-31 and 1936-70 (Labour)
Richard Barnett
GBR
SHO
1908
Member of the UK House of Commons 1916-29 (Conservative)
John Pius Boland
GBR
TEN
1896
Member of the UK House of Commons 1900-18 (Irish Parliamentary Party)
Valeriy Borzov
URS
ATH
1972-76
Member of Ukrainian Rada from 1998 through 2006 (Rukh; SDPU(o))
Robert Bourne
GBR
ROW
1912
Member of the UK House of Commons 1924-38 (Conservative)
James Bowman
CAN
CUR
1932
Member of Canadian House of Commons 1930 through 1935 (Conservative)
Svetlana Boyarkina-Zhurova
RUS
SSK
1994-06
Member of Russian Duma since 2007 (Edinaya Rossiya)
József Bozsik
HUN
FTB
1952
Member of Hungarian Országgyűlés from 1950 through 1953 (MDP)
Bill Bradley
USA
BAS
1964
Member of US Senate; New Jersey; 1979-97 (Democrat)
Adam Brodecki
POL
FSK
1972
Member of Polish Sejm from 1989 through 1991 (PZPR)
Sergey Bubka
URS/UKR/EUN
ATH
1988-00
Member of Ukrainian Rada from 2002 through 2006 (PR)
David; Lord Burghley
GBR
ATH
1924-32
Member of the UK House of Commons 1931–1943. Member of the UK House of Lords 1956-81 (Conservative)
William Burns
CAN
CUR
1932
Member of Canadian House of Commons 1930 through 1935 (Conservative)
David Butler
ZIM
SAI
1960-64
Member of Rhodesian Legislative Assembly from 1962 through 11 November 1965 (UFP and RP)
Ben Campbell
USA
JUD
1964
Member of US Senate; Colorado; 1993-05 (Democrat/Republican)
Menzies Campbell
GBR
ATH
1964
Member of the UK House of Commons 1983- (Liberal 1983-88; Liberal Democrat 1988- )
Chris Chataway
GBR
ATH
1952-56
Member of the UK House of Commons 1959-66 and 1969-74 (Conservative)
Seb Coe
GBR
ATH
1980-84
Member of the UK House of Commons 1992-97; Member of the UK House of Lords 2000- (Conservative)
Eamonn Coghlan
IRL
ATH
1976-88
Member of the Irish Senate since 2011 (Fine Gael)
Amedeo D'Albora
ITA
ART
1936
Member of Italian Senato from 25 May 1958 through 15 May 1963 (Gruppo Misto; MSI; PDI)
William; Lord Desborough
GBR
FEN
1906
Member of the UK House of Commons 1880-1882; 1885-1886; 1892-1893 and 1900-05 (Liberal 1880-1893 Conservative 1900-05). Member of the UK House of Lords 1905-45.
Heike Drechsler
GDR/GER
ATH
1988-00
Member of East-German Volkskammer from 1986 through 1990 (FDJ)
Guy Drut
FRA
ATH/IOC
1972-76 / 1996 – Present
Member of French Assemblée nationale; Seine-et-Marne; 16 March 1986 through 25 June 2007 (RPR; UMP)
Arsen Fadzayev
URS/EUNUZB
WRE
1988-96
Member of Russian Duma from 2003 through 2011 (SPS; Edinaya Rossiya)
Pedro Figari
URU
ART
1932
Member of Uruguayan Cámara de Representantes from 1897 through 1905 (?) (Partido Colorado)
Anatoly Firsov
URS
ICH
1964-72
Member of USSR Syezd narodnykh deputatov SSSR from 1989 through 1991
Robert Fournier-Sarlovèze
FRA
POL
1900
Member of French Assemblée nationale; Oise; from 24 April 1910 through 31 May 1914 (Républicain Progressiste); 16 November 1919 through 31 May 1932 (ERD/URD)
Ruth Fuchs
GDR
ATH
1972-80
Member of East-German Volkskammer from 18 March 1990 through 2 October 1990 (PDS). Member of German Bundestag from 3 October 1990 through 20 December 1990 and from 11 March 1992 through 2002 (PDS)
Eberhard Gienger
FRG
GYM
1972-76
Member of German Bundestag since 22 September 2002 (CDU)
Oliver St. John Gogarty
IRL
ART
1924
Member of Irish Seanad Éireann from 1922 through 1936 (Cumann na nGaedheal)
Nancy Greene
CAN
ASK
1960-68
Member of Canadian Senate; British Columbia; since 2 January 2009 (Conservative)
John Gretton Jr.
GBR
SAI
1900
Member of the UK House of Commons 1895-06; 1907-43. Member of the UK House of Lords 1944-47 (Conservative)
Kelpo Gröndahl
FIN
WRE
1948-52
Member of Finnish Eduskunta from 20 February 1962 through 22 March 1970 (SKDL)
Gunnar Gundersen
Nor NOR
SWI
1976
Member of Norwegian Storting since 2005 (Høyre)
Dezső Gyarmati
HUN
WAP
1948-64
Member of Hungarian Országgyűlés from 1990 through 1994 (MDF)
Han Pil-Hwa
PRK
SSK
1964-72
Member of North-Korean Choego Inmin Hoe-ui from 1998 through ?
John Harun
KEN
SHO
1968-72
Member of Kenyan National Assembly; Kilome; from 2007 through 4 March 2013 (PICK)
Hiroshi Hase
JPN
WRE
1984
Shugiin (House of Representatives) since 2000 Liberal Democratic Party
Seiko Hashimoto
JPN
CYC/SSK
1984-96
Member of Japanese Sangiin since 26 July 1995 (LDP)
Heikki Hasu
FIN
CCS/NCO
1948-52
Member of Finnish Eduskunta from 20 February 1962 through 4 April 1966 and 25 April 1967 through 22 March 1970 (Suomen Keskusta)
Terry Higgins
GBR
ATH
1952
Member of the UK House of Commons 1964-97 (Conservative)
Manabu Horii
JPN
SSK
1994-02
Member of Japanese Shugiin since 17 December 2012 (LDP)
Robert Jaworski
PHI
BAS
1968
Member of 11th and 12th Congress of the Philippines from 1998 through 2004 (Independent)
Alina Kabayeva
RUS
RGY
2000-04
Member of Russian Duma since 2007 (Edinaya Rossiya)
Kunishige Kamamoto
JPN
FTB
1964-68
Shugiin (House of Councillors) 1995-98 Liberal Democratic Party
Pantelis Karasevdas
GRE
SHO
1896
Member of Greek Vouli ton Ellinon from 1910 through ? (Komma Fileleutheron)
Aleksandr Karelin
RUS/URS/EUN
WRE
1988-00
Member of Russian Duma since 1999 (Edinaya Rossiya)
Wilfred Kent-Hughes
Aus AUS
ATH
1920
Member of Australian House of Representatives; Chisholm; from 10 December 1949 through 31 July 1970 (Liberal)
Leri Khabelovi
RUS/URS/EUN
WRE
1988-96
Member of Georgian Sakartvelos parlament'i since 2012 (K’art’uli ots’neba – demokratiuli Sak’art’velo)
Makharbek Khadartsev
RUS/URS/EUN/UZB
WRE
1988-00
Member of Russian Duma since 21 December 2011 (Edinaya Rossiya)
Svetlana Khorkina
RUS
GYM
1996-04
Member of Russian Duma from 2007 through 2011 (Edinaya Rossiya)
Serik Konakbayev
URS
BOX
1980
Member of Kazakh Majilis from 1999 through 2012
Grigorios Lambrakis
GRE
ATH
1936
Member of the Greek Vouli ton Ellinon 1961 through 27 May 1963 (EDA)
Victor de Laveleye
BEL
HOK/TEN
1920-28
Member of Belgian Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers from 1939 through 14 December 1945 (Liberale Partij)
Bob Mathias
USA
ATH
1948-52
Member of US House of Representatives; California; 1967-75 (Republican)
Marjo Matikainen
FIN
CCS
1984-88
Member of Finnish Eduskunta from 19 March 2003 through 27 March 2003 and since 21 July 2004 (Kansallinen Kokoomus). Member of European Parliament from 11 November 1996 through 19 July 2004 (Kansallinen Kokoomus / ED)
Tom McMillen
USA
BAS
1972
Member of US House of Representatives; Maryland; 1987-93 (Democrat)
Pietro Mennea
ITA
ATH
1972-88
Member of European Parliament from 1999 through 2004 (I Democratic / ELDR)
Daniel Mérillon
FRA
GYM/SHO
1900-12
Member of French Assemblée nationale; Gironde; from 18 October 1885 through 11 November 1889 (Union républicaine)
Ralph Metcalfe
USA
ATH
1932-36
Member of US House of Representatives; Illinois; 1971-78 (Democrat)
Juha Mieto
FIN
CCS
1972-84
Member of Finnish Eduskunta from 21 March 2007 through 19 April 2011 (Suomen Keskusta)
Colin Lord Moynihan
GBR
ROW
1980-84
Member of the UK House of Commons 1983-92; Member of the UK House of Lords 1997- (Conservative)
Kenji Ogiwara
JPN
NCO
1992-02
Member of Japanese Sangiin from 26 July 2004 through 25 July 2010 (LDP)
Katsuo Okazaki
JPN
ATH
1924
Shugiin (House of Representatives) 1949-58 Liberal Democratic Party
Kiyoko Ono
JPN
GYM
1960-64
Shugiin (House of Councillors) 1986-98; 2001-07 Liberal Democratic Party
Rudolph Baron van Pallandt
Ned NED
SHO
1908
Member of Dutch Eerste Kamer from 20 September 1910 through 15 March 1913 (death) (CHU)
Vladimir Parfenovich
URS
CAN
1980
Member of Belarussian Palata Pradstawnikow from 2000 through ?
Zbigniew Pietrzykowski
POL
BOX
1956-64
Member of Polish Sejm from 14 October 1993 through 10 October 1997 (BdP)
Hugh Plaxton
CAN
ICH
1928
Member of Canadian House of Commons 14 October 1935 through 1940 (Liberal)
Pavel Ploc
TCH
SKJ
1984-88
Member of Czech Poslanecká sněmovna since 3 June 2006 (CSSD)
Payao Poontarat
THA
BOX
1976
Member of Thai from 2001 through his death (?) (Phak Prachathipat)
Rolf Rämgård
SWE
CCS
1960
Member of the Swedish Riksdag 1974 through 1985 (Centerpartiet)
Jozef Regec
TCH
CYC
1988
Member of Czech Senát since 23 October 2010 (CSSD; SPOZ)
Philip Richardson
GBR
SHO
1908-12
Member of the UK House of Commons 1922–1931 (Conservative)
Roman Rurua
URS
WRE
1964-68
Member of Georgian Sakartvelos parlament'i from 1999 though 2003 (Sportuli Sakartvelo)
Jim Ryun
USA
ATH
1964-72
Member of US House of Representatives; Kansas; 1996-07 (Republican)
Yasutaro Sakagami
JPN
WAP
1932-36
Shugiin (House of Representatives) 1958-76 Socialist Party
Viktor Savchenko
URS
BOX
1976-80
Member of Ukrainian Rada from 7 August 1994 through 12 May 1998 (Independent)
Friedel Schirmer
GER
ATH
1952
Member of German Bundestag from 28 September 1969 through 5 March 1983 (SPD)
Ilona Schoknecht-Slupianek
GDR
ATH
1976-80
Member of East German Volkskammer from 1976 through 1986 (FDJ)
Gustav-Adolf Schur
GER
CYC
1956-60
Member of East German Volkskammer 1958 through 1990 (FDJ; SED; PDS). Member of German Bundestag from 1998 through 2002 (PDS).
James Sharpe
AHO
ATH
1992
Member of Dutch Tweede Kamer 17 June 2010 through 19 November 2010 (PVV)
Jyotirmoyee Sikdar
IND
ATH
1996
Member of Indian Lok Sabha; Krishnanagar; from 2003 through 2009 (CPI(M))
Karni Singh
IND
SHO
1960-80
Member of Indian Lok Sabha; Bikaner; from 1952 through 1977 (Independent)
Jiří Šlégr
CZE/TCH
ICH
1992-98
Member of Czech Poslanecká sněmovna since 29 May 2010 through 14 June 2013 (CSSD; LEV 21)
Peter Šťastný
TCH/SVK
ICH
1980-94
Member of European Parliament since 2004 (SDKÚ-DS / EPP)
Marcus Stephen
NRU/SAM
WLT
1992-00
Member of Parliament of Nauru since 3 May 2003 (Independent)
Mieke Sterk
NED
ATH
1968
Member of Dutch Tweede Kamer 30 August 1994 through 19 May 1998 (PvdA)
Joe Sullivan
CAN
ICH
1928
Member of Canadian Senate; Ontario; from 12 October 1957 through 18 February 1985 (Progressive Conservative)
Jaan Talts
URS
WLT
1968-72
Member of Estonian Riigikogu from 11 March 1995 through 17 April 1995 and 6 November 1995 through 1 December 1996 (Eesti Reformierakond)
Jüri Tamm
EST/URS
ATH
1980-96
Member of Estonian Riigikogu 1999 through 2003 (Mõõdukad)
Harald Tammer
EST
ATH/WLT
1920-24
Member of the Estonian Rahvuskogu from 1937 through 1940
Ryoko Tamura-Tani
JPN
JUD
1992-08
Shugiin (House of Councillors) since 2013 Liberal Democratic Party
Masami Tanabu
JPN
ICH
1960-64
Shugiin (House of Representatives) 1979-96 various parties
Erica Terpstra
NED
SWI
1960-64
Member of Dutch Tweede Kamer 8 June 1977 through 22 August 1994 and 19 May 1998 through 15 December 2003 (both VVD)
Arto Tiainen
FIN
CCS
1956-68
Member of Finnish Eduskunta from 22 January 1970 through 22 March 1970 (SDP)
Daulet Turlykhanov
KAZ/URS/EUN
WRE
1988-96
Member of Kazakh Majilis from 1995 through 2004
Cenaida Uribe
Per PER
VOL
1988
Member of Peruvian Congreso de la República since 2006 (Partido Nacionalista Peruano)
Lasse Virén
FIN
ATH
1972-80
Member of Finnish Eduskunta from 24 March 1993 through 20 March 2007 and 19 October 2010 through 19 April 2011 (Kansallinen Kokoomus)
Ingrid Wendl
AUT
FSK
1956
Member of Austrian Nationalrat from 20 December 2002 through 29 October 2006 (ÖVP)
Ulla Werbrouck
BEL
JUD
1992-00
Member of Belgian Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers from 2007 through 2 July 2009 (LDD)
Jack Lord Wodehouse
GBR
POL
1908-
Member of the UK House of Commons 1906-10. Member of the UK House of Lords 1932-41 (Liberal)
James Snook, twice a shooting gold medalist at the 1920 Olympics, made national headlines in 1929 and 1930, but not for anything to do with his shooting ability. Snook was a 1908 graduate of the Ohio State Veterinary School and in 1920 was a professor of veterinary medicine at Ohio State. In June 1929 he was practicing at the Ohio State rifle range when he was arrested and accused of the murder of Theora K. Hix, a medical student at Ohio State.
It turned out that Snook and Hix had posed as man and wife for three years, sharing an apartment near the school’s campus. On 13 June 1929, Snook claimed that Hix asked him to divorce his wife and marry her, threatening to kill his wife and child if she was refused. Snook confessed to then beating Hix several times with a hammer before severing her jugular vein with a pocket-knife to “relieve her suffering.” On 14 August 1929 a jury deliberated only 28 minutes before finding Snook guilty of first degree murder. A week later he was sentenced to be put to death, and at 7:10 p.m. on 28 February 1930, he died in the electric chair at the Ohio State Penitentiary.
Recently I posted about the United States’ dominance of the all-time Olympic medal lists (hey, I’m a Merkan – give me a break). But there are some things that can be analyzed a bit more closely.
Firstly, the United States is the world’s 3rd most populous country, after China and India. It would stand to reason that a country with more people would have a larger pool from which to draw great athletes. The US is also the world’s 3rd (or possibly 4th) largest country, after Russia and Canada, although not certain if that has any effect. (China and the United States are almost the exact same size and sometimes China is listed the 3rd largest nation.)
Secondly, the United States is a wealthy country, with the world’s largest gross domestic product (GDP). Again, a country with great wealth has several advantages in terms of producing great athletes and Olympic medalists. Not only is there more money to support the athletes, theoretically, but people from wealthy nations typically have more leisure time allowing them to train more for sports.
So let’s look at the Olympic medal lists in a couple different ways. Remember that North America and Europe/International analyze medal lists differently – in North America the nations are ranked by 1) medals, 2) gold, 3) silver, and 4) bronze; while in Europe they are ranked by 1) gold, 2) silver, and 3) bronze. So we’ll compare lists both by total medals won and gold medals won (we can’t use silver and bronze well in the analysis that will follow).
Second, a caveat is in order. We are going to eliminate any nations that no longer exists – you’ll see why soon.
We will then look at medals won in terms of 1) medals won per capita, or divided by the nation’s population, to eliminate the advantage gained by larger nations; 2) medals won per GDP, to eliminate the advantage gained by wealthier nations; and 3) medals won per GDP per capita, which is probably a better way to measure a nation’s wealth.
Here is the basic top 25 medal list, uncorrected, with ranks on the left both in US system and the European system:
RankUS
RankEur
NOC
G
S
B
Meds
1
1
United States
1083
863
760
2706
2
2
Soviet Union
473
376
355
1204
3
3
Germany
292
326
312
930
4
4
Great Britain
254
288
287
829
5
6
France
250
265
314
829
6
5
Italy
243
206
231
680
7
8
Sweden
194
210
236
640
8
10
Russia
183
166
179
528
9
7
China
213
166
147
526
10
9
German Demo. Rep.
192
165
162
519
11
13
Australia
144
159
185
488
12
12
Hungary
169
151
170
490
13
11
Norway
174
162
142
478
14
14
Finland
145
147
175
467
15
15
Japan
140
143
160
443
16
16
Canada
122
156
167
445
17
17
The Netherlands
115
125
140
380
18
19
Switzerland
101
116
114
331
19
21
Austria
82
115
119
316
20
20
Romania
88
94
120
302
21
18
Korea (South)
107
99
90
296
22
23
Poland
70
89
132
291
23
24
Fed. Rep. of Germany
67
82
94
243
24
26
Bulgaria
52
87
81
220
25
22
Cuba
71
65
66
202
This is as we noted, with the USA on top, in both systems. We will eliminate the Soviet Union, Federal Republic of Germany (West), German Democratic Republic (East), and other non-extant nations, such as Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. The reason now becomes more obvious – we are using current figures for population (2014) and gross domestic product (2013), and those figures don’t exist any more for those nations, and there is no good way to extrapolate to them. Here are the population, GDP, and GDP per capita figures (Source: US CIA Factbook) for the top 25 nations on the “raw” medal list:
NOC
Population
GDP
GDP PC
Status
United States
318892103
$16720000
$52800
Soviet Union
NLE
Germany
80996685
$3593000
$39500
Great Britain
63742977
$2490000
$37300
France
66259012
$2739000
$35700
Italy
61680122
$2068000
$29600
Sweden
9723809
$552000
$40900
Russia
142470272
$2113000
$18100
China
1355692576
$9330000
$9800
German Democratic Republic
NLE
Australia
22507617
$1488000
$43000
Hungary
9919128
$130600
$19800
Norway
5147792
$515800
$55400
Finland
5268799
$259600
$35900
Japan
127103388
$5007000
$37100
Canada
34834841
$1825000
$43100
The Netherlands
16877351
$800500
$41400
Switzerland
8061516
$646200
$46000
Austria
8223062
$417900
$42600
Romania
21729871
$188900
$13200
Korea (South)
49039986
$1198000
$33200
Poland
38346279
$513900
$21100
Federal Republic of Germany
NLE
Bulgaria
6924716
$53700
$14400
Cuba
11047251
$72300
$10200
NLE=No Longer Exists
Here is what happens if we look at medals and gold medals per million population:
Rank
NOC
Meds
Meds/Pop
1
Liechtenstein
9
241.203
2
Norway
478
92.855
3
Finland
467
88.635
4
Sweden
640
65.818
5
Hungary
490
49.400
6
Switzerland
331
41.059
7
Austria
316
38.429
8
The Bahamas
12
37.286
9
Denmark
185
33.219
10
Estonia
40
31.798
11
Bulgaria
220
31.770
12
New Zealand
101
22.945
13
Jamaica
67
22.867
14
The Netherlands
380
22.515
15
Australia
488
21.682
16
Cuba
202
18.285
17
Slovenia
34
17.100
18
Belgium
155
14.833
19
Trinidad & Tobago
18
14.707
20
Bermuda
1
14.319
21
Romania
302
13.898
22
Greece
144
13.364
23
Great Britain
829
13.005
24
Canada
445
12.775
25
Iceland
4
12.604
Rank
NOC
Gold
Gold/Pop
1
Liechtenstein
2
53.601
2
Norway
174
33.801
3
Finland
145
27.521
4
Sweden
194
19.951
5
Hungary
169
17.038
6
The Bahamas
5
15.536
7
Switzerland
101
12.529
8
Estonia
13
10.335
9
Austria
82
9.972
10
New Zealand
42
9.541
11
Grenada
1
9.078
12
Denmark
46
8.260
13
Bulgaria
52
7.509
14
The Netherlands
115
6.814
15
Cuba
71
6.427
16
Australia
144
6.398
17
Jamaica
17
5.802
18
Romania
88
4.050
19
Great Britain
254
3.985
20
Italy
243
3.940
21
Belgium
41
3.924
22
Luxembourg
2
3.841
23
France
250
3.773
24
Germany
292
3.605
25
Greece
38
3.526
One thing of note above – the top nations are predominately winter sports nations. Liechtenstein, in particular, owes all of its medals to two winter sports families – the Wenzels and the Frommelts. Also, if you look at the two lists above, they are quite similar when using both ranking systems.
Now let’s look at how the nations do if we compare medals won per GDP, in million $:
Rank
NOC
Meds
Meds/GDP
1
Jamaica
67
4656.011
2
Bulgaria
220
4096.834
3
Hungary
490
3751.914
4
Cuba
202
2793.914
5
Mongolia
24
2154.399
6
Tonga
1
2096.436
7
Kenya
86
1898.036
8
Finland
467
1798.921
9
Liechtenstein
9
1760.219
10
Korea DPR (North)
49
1750.000
11
Estonia
40
1647.446
12
Romania
302
1598.729
13
Georgia
25
1567.398
14
The Bahamas
12
1433.178
15
Belarus
91
1314.269
16
Grenada
1
1233.046
17
Sweden
640
1159.420
18
Armenia
12
1153.846
19
Ethiopia
45
950.570
20
Norway
478
926.716
21
Moldova
7
882.501
22
Latvia
26
855.826
23
Zimbabwe
8
763.359
24
Austria
316
756.162
25
Slovenia
34
726.185
Rank
NOC
Gold
Gold/GDP
1
Hungary
169
1294.028
2
Grenada
1
1233.046
3
Jamaica
17
1181.376
4
Cuba
71
982.019
5
Bulgaria
52
968.343
6
The Bahamas
5
597.158
7
Finland
145
558.552
8
Kenya
25
551.755
9
Estonia
13
535.420
10
Korea DPR (North)
14
500.000
11
Romania
88
465.855
12
Ethiopia
21
443.599
13
Liechtenstein
2
391.160
14
Georgia
6
376.176
15
Burundi
1
373.692
16
Sweden
194
351.449
17
Norway
174
337.340
18
Zimbabwe
3
286.260
19
Belarus
18
259.965
20
New Zealand
42
231.916
21
Surinam
1
199.641
22
The Ukraine
35
199.430
23
Austria
82
196.219
24
Mongolia
2
179.533
25
Croatia
10
169.090
Again, the lists are similar, although Jamaica leads in terms of medals won per capita while Hungary leads in terms of gold medals won per capita. But Jamaica, Bulgaria, Cuba, and Hungary are in the top 5 on both systems.
Finally, looking at the medal lists in terms of GDP per $1,000 per capita:
Rank
NOC
Meds
Meds/GDPPC
1
China
526
53.673
2
United States
2706
51.250
3
Kenya
86
47.778
4
Ethiopia
45
37.500
5
Russia
528
29.171
6
Korea DPR (North)
49
27.222
7
Hungary
490
24.747
8
Germany
930
23.544
9
France
829
23.221
10
Italy
680
22.973
11
Romania
302
22.879
12
Great Britain
829
22.225
13
Cuba
202
19.804
14
The Ukraine
122
16.486
15
Sweden
640
15.648
16
Bulgaria
220
15.278
17
Poland
291
13.791
18
Zimbabwe
8
13.333
19
Finland
467
13.008
20
Japan
443
11.941
21
Australia
488
11.349
22
Canada
445
10.325
23
The Netherlands
380
9.179
24
Brazil
108
8.926
25
Korea (South)
296
8.916
Rank
NOC
Gold
Gold/GDPPC
1
China
213
21.735
2
United States
1083
20.511
3
Ethiopia
21
17.500
4
Kenya
25
13.889
5
Russia
183
10.110
6
Hungary
169
8.535
7
Italy
243
8.209
8
Korea DPR (North)
14
7.778
9
Germany
292
7.392
10
France
250
7.003
11
Cuba
71
6.961
12
Great Britain
254
6.810
13
Romania
88
6.667
14
Zimbabwe
3
5.000
15
Sweden
194
4.743
16
The Ukraine
35
4.730
17
Finland
145
4.039
18
Japan
140
3.774
19
Bulgaria
52
3.611
20
Australia
144
3.349
21
Poland
70
3.318
22
Korea (South)
107
3.223
23
Norway
174
3.141
24
Canada
122
2.831
25
The Netherlands
115
2.778
Again, many of the “standard” powerful Olympic nations come out on top by this analysis – with China 1st and the United States 2nd. The main reason for this is that while population and GDP differ by several magnitudes among nations, there is not the same magnitude of difference in terms of GDP per capita, which varies from $102,100 per person for Qatar, down to about $1,000 for the very poor nations. But many of those nations have never won an Olympic medal.
(Note: The below is from Paul Tchir, aka Canadian Paul, one of our group of OlyMADMen. Paul’s specialty is looking at the oldest Olympians, by sport, by medals, by nation, and almost every permutation thereof, and he is absolutely the world’s expert on this topic. You can find his specific page related to this at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Canadian_Paul/Olympics.)
The recent death of American sport shooter Walter Walsh, the longest-lived Olympian, meant that the mantle of “oldest living Olympian” passed to a new title-holder. This distinction went, almost certainly, to Swiss artist Hans Erni, who competed in the art competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics. Born on 21 February 1909 in Lucrene, Erni achieved international fame as a painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and ceramist and is, as of 9 July 2014, the third longest-lived Olympian of all time, behind Walsh (who was less than a week shy of his 107th birthday at his death) and American gymnast Rudolf Schrader, the latter of whom competed at the 1904 Summer Olympics and died in January 1981 at the age of 105 years, 307 days. Although there are a handful of Olympians older than Erni whose death has not been confirmed, it seems unlikely that someone would have reached 105 years of age in the era of the internet and escaped any notice whatsoever.
As art competitions were removed from the program after 1948, however, this answer may not satisfy everyone. The oldest Olympian from an athletic competition known to be living is Guo Jie of China, who took part in the men’s discus throw at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Guo, born 16 January 1912 in Dalian, is his nation’s longest-lived competitor, the last member of its delegation to the 1936 Games, and was still physically active at his 102nd birthday. He is one of seven Olympic centenarians known to be living, a list that includes:
Swedish diver Ingeborg Sjöqvist, born 19 April 1912, who took part in the 1932 and 1936 Summer Olympics and was runner-up in platform diving at the 1931 and 1934 European Championships.
American athlete Simone Schaller, born 22 August 1912, who participated in the 80 m hurdles tournament in 1932 and 1936 and is the longest-lived American female Olympian.
Baron Eduard von Falz-Fein, born 14 September 1912, who represented Liechtenstein in bobsled at the 1936 Winter Olympics and is second behind Norway’s Hans Kleppen, who died in April 2009 at the age of 102 years, 27 days, among the longest-lived Winter Olympians.
Sándor Tarics, born 23 September 1913, who was a member of Hungary’s gold medal-winning water polo team in 1936 and is confirmed as the oldest living Olympic champion (the longest-lived Olympic champion is James Stillman Rockefeller, who died in August 2004 at the age of 102 years, 63 days).
Evelyn Furtsch, born 17 April 1914, who earned a gold medal with the United States’ 4x100m relay team in 1932 and, earlier this year, surpassed Britain’s Godfrey Rampling as the longest-lived Olympic track and field gold medalist.
Three more Olympians will hopefully join them by the end of 2014: Olga Tőrös (born 4 August 1914), who won a bronze medal for Hungary in women’s team gymnastics in 1936, American John Lysak (born 16 August 1914), who competed in canoeing that same year, and Helen Johns (born 25 September 1914), who won a gold medal with the American team in the 4×100 m freestyle swimming event in 1932. Also worthy of mention is athlete Mien Klaver, born 26 February 1911, who was an alternate for the Dutch team in Furtsch’s event.
Outside of centenarians, Carla Marangoni (born 13 November 1915) is notable as the last known survivor of the 1928 Summer Olympics: she won a silver medal for Italy in the team gymnastics competition that year. Moreover, due to the increased attention that they receive, it is also possible to produce a definitive list of the seven oldest Olympic champions:
Durward Knowles also won bronze in 1956 and competed in 1948, 1952, 1960, 1968, 1972, and 1988. He originally competed for GBR in 1948.
Martin Lundström won two golds in 1948 and also bronze in 1952.
Jack Günthard also won a silver in 1952.
(Note: This is a difficult topic because it is always hard to know if somebody is definitely alive. If any astute readers have information on Olympians over 90 years old, or older Olympians who have recently died, please contact us via this blog.)
Olympic cycling is popular but the greatest race in cycling is considered to be the Tour de France, held every July over 3 weeks, and being held at the moment. A number of top cyclists competed in both the Olympics and Tour de France in the amateur era (1896-1992), and now that professional cyclists are allowed in the Olympics, many of them also compete in the Tour.
Until 1996, among the top professional cyclists who have starred in the Tour de France, only a few had Olympic experience. Three-time winner Philippe Thys (BEL-1913/14/20) never competed in the Olympics, nor did Fausto Coppi (ITA-1949/52), Louison Bobet (FRA-1953/54/55), nor Bernard Hinault (FRA-1978/79/81/82/85).
The first Olympic medalist to win the Tour was Octave Lapize, who won a bronze medal in the 1908 Olympics 100 km race, and then won the 1910 Tour. Lapize is best known from comments he made in the 1910 Tour. While ascending the Col du Tourmalet, one of the first epic climbs included in the race, he shouted at race organizers, “Vous êtes des assassins! Oui, des assassins!” That stage was over 300 km with 7 difficult climbs, all raced in a single fixed-gear. Lapize was later killed in World War I.
Eddy Merckx (BEL-1969/70/71/72/74), usually considered the greatest cyclist ever, did compete in the 1964 Olympics in the individual road race, finishing 12th, which was won by Italian Mario Zanin. His son, Axel, later competed in the 2000 and 2004 road race, winning an Olympic bronze medal in 2004, but he never featured at the Tour.
Jacques Anquetil (FRA-1957/61/62/63/64), whose record of five wins was later equalled by Merckx, Hinault, and Miguel Induráin (and initially bettered by Lance Armstrong), competed in the 1952 Olympic individual road race, oddly also finishing 12th. But Anquetil did win an Olympic medal, having been a member of the French team in the road race, which finished third in the overall team event.
The first Olympic gold medalist to have also won the Tour de France is Joop Zoetemelk (NED). Zoetemelk won his gold medal in the 1968 104 kilometre team time trial as a member of the Dutch team. At 34 years of age, he won his Tour de France in 1980 and, amazingly, in 1985, aged 39 years, he won the world professional road race championship, the oldest ever to achieve that feat.
The feat of winning the Olympic individual road race and the world professional road race was first achieved by Hennie Kuiper (NED), who won his Olympic gold in 1972 and took the world professional title in 1975. Kuiper also finished second in the Tour de France twice. This was later done by Italian Paolo Bettini, who won gold in the 2004 Olympic road race and won the World Road Race Championship in 2006-07.
Greg LeMond (USA-1986/89/90), the first American to win the Tour de France and the world professional road race championship (1983/89), qualified for the United States Olympic team in 1980, but as a member of that ill-fated 1980 team, did not compete in the Olympics. Based on his performance at the 1979 World Amateur Championships, winning 3 medals, including the U23 road race gold medal, he was expected to be co-favorite in the road race with Soviet rider Sergey Sukhoruchenkov, but in LeMond’s absence, Sukhoruchenkov won the gold medal.
The following Olympic cycling medalists also won the Tour de France:
The United States’ first government came into being 240 years ago – in September 1774, with the formation of the 1st Continental Congress. But Americans celebrate the nations’ birthday on July 4th, the day chosen to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, although it is well known that the signing actually occurred on July 2, 1776. Nonetheless this is what we consider the United States’ birthday – so Happy Birthday, USA. (Yes, I am a USA-ian, and I approved this post)
The United States has also competed at every Olympic Games except for, sadly, the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. During that time, the USA has dominated the medal lists and the medal standings more than any other nation, mainly at the Summer Olympics. There have been pretenders to attempt to usurp that dominance – the USSR from 1952-88, the GDR from 1972-88, and now China threatens to lead the medal standings. But overall, from 1896-2014, Summer alone, Summer and Winter, men, women, it matters not. The USA has been the dominant nation at the Olympic Games in terms of medals won.
Here are the top 5 nations in terms of all medals won, actually listing 6 nations, because North American and Europe tend to count the medal lists differently, and there is a discrepancy, even at the top of the lists (USA uses totals, gold, silver, bronze for the rankings; Europe / International uses gold, silver, bronze for the rankings) (Note: these numbers are all per the IOC standards, meaning they do not include the 1906 Olympics):
RkUS
RkEU
NOC
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
1
1
United States
1071
857
754
2682
2
2
Soviet Union
473
376
355
1204
3
3
Germany
288
320
307
915
4
4
Great Britain
246
277
282
805
5
6
France
235
256
298
789
6
5
Italy
236
200
228
664
So skipping the Soviet Union, which no longer exists, the USA has won more gold medals than the next 4 best nations that are still extant, and more medals than the next 3 best nations, however you rank them.
Just looking at the Summer Olympics, that dominance becomes even more impressive.
RkUS
RkEU
NOC
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Totals
1
1
United States
975
754
669
2398
2
2
Soviet Union
395
319
296
1010
3
3
Great Britain
235
271
266
772
4
5
Germany
201
235
249
685
5
4
France
204
225
251
680
6
7
Italy
199
166
185
550
Again, skipping the USSR, the United States has won more gold medals than the next best 4 nations, and more medals than the next best 3 nations. Including the Soviet Union, the USA has won more gold medals and medals than the next best 3 nations at the Summer Olympics.
If we try to split this up by gender, the dominance remains. Here are the lists for men, women, and mixed medals:
Men
RkUS
RkEU
NOC
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
1
1
United States
761
591
520
1872
2
2
Soviet Union
323
259
228
810
3
5
France
171
195
217
583
4
4
Great Britain
172
193
194
559
5
6
Germany
171
190
190
551
6
3
Italy
188
157
168
513
Women
RkUS
RkEU
NOC
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
1
1
United States
277
222
202
701
2
2
Soviet Union
122
96
113
331
3
3
China
120
100
83
303
4
5
Germany
88
115
97
300
5
4
German DR
94
84
63
241
6
6
Russia
72
83
63
218
Mixed
RkUS
RkEU
NOC
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
1
1
United States
33
44
32
109
2
2
Great Britain
31
27
24
82
3
5
France
27
20
27
74
4
3
Germany
29
15
20
64
5
4
Soviet Union
28
21
14
63
The male dominance for the USA is as complete, with more gold medals than the next 4 remaining nations, and more medals than the 3 next nations still extant. The female dominance is less so, as the Soviet Union and German Democratic Republic (GDR – East Germany) emphasized women’s medals during their existence. And it is even less dramatic for mixed events, where it is approached by several other nations, but the USA still leads the mixed medal lists, both in terms of medals won and gold medals won.
Now at the Winter Olympics, the USA is not #1, that honor still going to Norway, with the United States 2nd, Germany 3rd, and Austria 4th. But if we look only at the Summer Olympics, here is how the medal standings have ended up at each Games:
Year
NOC
G
S
B
Tot
RkUS
RkEU
1896
Greece
10
16
19
45
1
2
1896
United States
11
7
2
20
2
1
1900
France
28
41
38
107
1
1
1904
United States
78
79
82
239
1
1
1906
France
15
9
16
40
1
1
1908
Great Britain
55
49
34
138
1
1
1912
Sweden
23
24
17
64
1
2
1912
United States
25
18
20
63
2
1
1920
United States
41
26
26
93
1
1
1924
United States
45
27
27
99
1
1
1928
United States
22
18
16
56
1
1
1932
United States
40
33
30
103
1
1
1936
Germany
33
26
30
89
1
1
1948
United States
38
27
19
84
1
1
1952
United States
40
19
17
76
1
1
1956
Soviet Union
37
29
32
98
1
1
1960
Soviet Union
43
29
31
103
1
1
1964
Soviet Union
30
31
35
96
1
2
1964
United States
36
26
28
90
2
1
1968
United States
45
28
34
107
1
1
1972
Soviet Union
50
27
22
99
1
1
1976
Soviet Union
49
41
35
125
1
1
1980
Soviet Union
80
69
46
195
1
1
1984
United States
83
61
30
174
1
1
1988
Soviet Union
55
31
46
132
1
1
1992
Unified Team
45
38
29
112
1
1
1996
United States
44
32
25
101
1
1
2000
United States
37
24
32
93
1
1
2004
United States
36
41
26
101
1
1
2008
United States
36
38
36
110
1
2
2008
China
51
21
28
100
2
1
2012
United States
46
29
29
104
1
1
So of the above 32 leaders (by either system), the USA has been the leading nation at the Summer Olympics 17 times, or more than all other nations combined. However, if one looks at 1956-88, you can see that the Soviet Union was quite dominant in that era. What if they had competed before 1952 or since 1988?
One can argue that Russia, China, and Germany have not existed for as long as the United States, in Olympic terms. So let’s compare numbers against Pan-Soviet (USSR 1952-88 and all former Soviet republics prior to 1952 and since 1992) and Pan-Germania (Germany, East and West Germany) (Note: The Saar also competed in 1952 but did not win any medals.). We really can’t do the same for China. And this tabulation will give an advantage to Pan-Soviet counts, because since 1992 they can have far more than 3 competitors, or 1 team, in an event. The same was true for East and West Germany from 1968-88.
Here are the numbers for all Olympic medals:
NOC
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
United States
1071
857
754
2682
Soviet Union
473
376
355
1204
Russia
183
166
179
528
Unified Team
54
44
37
135
Ukraine
35
28
59
122
Belarus
18
28
45
91
Kazakhstan
17
20
22
59
Estonia
13
11
16
40
Azerbaijan
6
5
15
26
Latvia
3
15
8
26
Georgia
6
5
14
25
Uzbekistan
6
5
11
22
Lithuania
6
5
10
21
Armenia
1
2
9
12
Moldova
0
2
5
7
Kyrgyzstan
0
1
2
3
Tajikistan
0
1
2
3
Pan-Soviet
821
714
789
2324
Germany
288
320
307
915
German Demo. Rep.
192
165
162
519
Fed. Rep. Germany
67
82
94
243
Pan-Germania
547
567
563
1677
So even with the advantage Pan-Soviet and Pan-Germania get from extra competitors and teams, the USA still leads the medal lists comfortably. Of course, Pan-Soviet had only a few competitors from 1912-36 – Russia in 1912 and the Baltics from 1924-36 – but given how much fewer events there were in that era, the USA would still lead the lists.
Happy Birthday, America. We have a national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, which I’ve considered like our alma mater, but I much prefer what could be considered similar to our college fight song – The Stars and Stripes Forever (officially the USA National March since 1987). Here’s one of my favorite versions of it:
Lou Zamperini was a high school star distance runner in Southern California in the 1930s, and competed in the 1936 Olympics shortly after graduating from high school. He was a solid distance runner, winning a state high school championship and attending Southern Cal on a track scholarship, but his life after athletics is far more interesting.
Zamperini enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps in 1941, and was deployed to Hawaii as a bombardier. On 27 May 1943, his aircraft went down due to mechanical problems. Only Zamperini and the pilot, Russ Philips, survived. At home, all crew members were presumed dead, and Zamperini’s obituary appeared in US newspapers. However, Zamperini and his two crewmen managed to get out of the wreck of their B-24 and climbed into lifeboats. After 47 days, eating sharks and albatrosses, they were rescued by a Japanese fisherman near the Marshall Islands. By that time, one of them had died.
They were arrested when brought to shore, and were moved from island to island, eventually landing in a prisoner-of-war camp in Japan in September 1943. For two years, Zamperini barely survived the reign of terror of Matsuhiro “The Bird” Watanabe, one of the most notorious Japanese guards during World War II. When released in 1945, he met a New York Times reporter. Telling him his name, the reporter failed to believe Zamperini, as he had read about his death. Zamperini managed to convince him with a university card, one of the few possessions he had after two years of imprisonment. The remarkable story made headlines at home, where he received a hero’s welcome.
After the war, Zamperini began a new career as a Christian motivational speaker. One of his favorite themes is “forgiveness”, and he has spoken several times in Japan to former war criminals, several of whom had tortured him as a prisoner-of-war. Zamperini was given the honour of carrying the Olympic Flame three times: in 1984, 1996 and 1998. At the latter occasion, the Nagano Winter Olympics, he returned to Japan for the first time since 1945. Briefly before the Olympics, it was discovered that Watanabe was still alive as well, but a meeting with him was blocked by the Watanabe family. Zamperini wrote (with David Rensin) a book about his life and experiences, entitled Devil at My Heels. In 2010, well-known author Laura Hillebrand wrote his biography, Unbroken, in far more detail. A movie based on the Hillebrand book is in the works, being directed by Angelina Jolie.
3 May 1942; Sachsenhausen; Oranienburg; Brandenburg (GER)
Year-Season
Sport
Event
Finish
1908 Summer
Fencing
Individual Sabre
=3 Pool 1 Round 2/4
Richard Schoemaker studied at the Royal Netherlands Military Academy, beginning there as a cadet in 1905. In the year he graduated he competed at the Olympic Games in London. Schoemaker then left for the Dutch East Indies as a second lieutenant, being promoted to captain 1915. He left the Army just after World War I, and became a professor of constructional engineering at the Technical Academy in Bandoeng, before returning to the Netherlands where he served as a professor of architecture on the faculty of bouwkunde (architecture/structural engineering) at the Technical University in Delft. He continued as a reserve major in the Army and over the next 20 years helped design and construct several Army barracks. Schoemaker’s brother, Wolff, was a noted Dutch architect often called the Frank Lloyd Wright of Indonesia.
At the start of World War II Schoemaker was called to serve with the Technical Corps of Engineering but was not involved in combat. After the Dutch Army surrendered to the Germans he joined the Dutch Underground, later becoming part of the Ordedienst (OD), a fusion of several underground groups. On 2 May 1941 Schoemaker was arrested after being found to be a member of the OD. He and several other OD members were kept in the state prison in Scheveningen, later called the Oranjehotel. In March-April 1942 Schoemaker and many of his compatriots were tried in Amersfoort, and all were found guilty, with the sentence being death.
On 1 May 1942 the convicted OD members, among whom was included Pierre Versteegh, a Dutch equestrian Olympian, were taken by train to Oranienburg, near Berlin, and then transported by truck to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. On 3 May 1942 all of the convicts were executed by firing squad, in groups of 12 each. Richard Schoemaker was among them. On 3 May 1946 a monument was erected in the Netherlands in the group’s honor. Schoemaker posthumously was given the Resistance Cross for his efforts.