[table]

Parameter,Value

Full Name,James David Wolfensohn

Born,1 December 1933 in Sydney; New South Wales

[/table]

James Wolfensohn competed for Australia in fencing at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics but his business career has far outshone his sporting one. He received a degree in law from the University of Sydney and worked briefly as a lawyer in Australia before attending Harvard Business School. After receiving his MBA he worked in Switzerland, Australia, and London before settling in the United States as a senior executive with Salomon Brothers. In 1980 he became a US citizen, and began his own investment firm, James D. Wolfensohn, Inc., which included among its partners Paul Volcker, former chairman of the US Federal Reserve Bank.

In 1995, President Bill Clinton nominated Wolfensohn to become President of the World Bank, and he assumed that post on 1 July 1995. The bank’s board of executive directors unanimously supported him for a second five-year term in 2000, and he became only the third person to serve two terms in that position.

After leaving the World Bank he formed Wolfensohn & Company, LLC, a private investment firm and advisory group that provided consulting advice to governments and large corporations. He also became chairman of the International Advisory Board of Citigroup. He also served one year as special envoy for Gaza Disengagement for the Quartet in the Middle East, a post to which he was named by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In 2005, James Wolfensohn also founded the Wolfensohn Center for Development at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank.

He has received numerous honors. He was an honorary trustee of the Brookings Institution, trustee and former chairman of the board for the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, chairman emeritus of the Carnegie Hall, and of the John F. Kennedy for the Performing Arts in Washington, and was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He was awarded the Order of Australia in 1987 and received an honorary knighthood and OBE in 1995.

[table]

Games/Sport,Event,Position

1956 Fencing,Men’s Team Épée,4 p1 r1/3

[/table]

OK, we know that Michael Phelps has won the most Olympic medals, with 22, and the most Olympic gold medals, with 18. But what about silver and bronze medals – who has the most of the other podium medals?

For silver medals the list of all those with 5 or more is as follows:

[table]

Silvers,Name,Gdr,Ssn,NOC,Sport

6,Aleksandr Dityatin,M,S,URS,GYM

6,Mikhail Voronin,M,S,URS,GYM

6,Shirley Babashoff,F,S,USA,SWI

5,Larysa Latynina,F,S,URS,GYM

5,Nikolay Andrianov,M,S,URS,GYM

5,Edoardo Mangiarotti,M,S,ITA,FEN

5,Raisa Smetanina,F,W,EUN/URS,CCS

5,Aleksandr Popov,M,S,EUN/RUS,SWI

5,Raisa Smetanina,F,W,URS,CCS

5,Zoltán von Halmay,M,S,HUN,SWI

5,Leisel Jones,F,S,AUS,SWI

5,Anky van Grunsven,F,S,NED,EQU

5,Yury Titov,M,S,URS,GYM

5,Katalin Kovács,F,S,HUN,CAN

5,Mariya Horokhovska,F,S,URS,GYM

5,Gustavo Marzi,M,S,ITA,FEN

5,Andrea Ehrig-Schöne-Mitscherlich,F,W,GDR,SSK

5,Dagmar Hase,F,S,GER,SWI

5,Bogdan Musiol,M,W,GDR/GER,BOB

5,Viktor Lisitsky,M,S,URS,GYM

[/table]

How about individual silver medals? Who has the most of those? Here are all those who have won 4 or more individual silver medals?

[table]

IndSilvers,Name,Gdr,Ssn,NOC,Sport

5,Larysa Latynina,F,S,URS,GYM

5,Aleksandr Dityatin,M,S,URS,GYM

5,Shirley Babashoff,F,S,USA,SWI

5,Andrea Ehrig-Schöne-Mitscherlich,F,W,GDR,SSK

4,Raisa Smetanina,F,W,EUN/URS,CCS

4,Raisa Smetanina,F,W,URS,CCS

4,Zoltán von Halmay,M,S,HUN,SWI

4,Mikhail Voronin,M,S,URS,GYM

4,Karin Enke-Kania,F,W,GDR,SSK

4,Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann-Kleemann,F,W,GER,SSK

4,Mariya Horokhovska,F,S,URS,GYM

4,Kirsty Coventry,F,S,ZIM,SWI

4,Kateřina Neumannová,F,W,CZE,CCS

4,Hryhoriy Misiutin,M,S,EUN/UKR,GYM

4,David Cal,M,S,ESP,CAN

4,Hryhoriy Misiutin,M,S,EUN,GYM

4,Frankie Fredericks,M,S,NAM,ATH

4,Ivica Kostelić,M,W,CRO,ASK

[/table]

What about those who have won silver medals but no other Olympic medal? All they won were silver medals. Somewhat surprisingly, 10 Olympians have won 4 or more silvers, but no other Olympic medals. And here they are:

[table]

Silvers,Name,Gdr,Ssn,NOC,Sport

5,Viktor Lisitsky,M,S,URS,GYM

4,Frankie Fredericks,M,S,NAM,ATH

4,Ivica Kostelić,M,W,CRO,ASK

4,Tsuyoshi Yamanaka,M,S,JPN,SWI

4,Hilkka Riihivuori-Kuntola,F,W,FIN,CCS

4,Vincenzo Pinton,M,S,ITA,FEN

4,Ian Stark,M,S,GBR,EQU

4,Frank Wiegand,M,S,GDR/GER,SWI

4,Kara Lynn Joyce,F,S,USA,SWI

4,Renzo Nostini,M,S,ITA,FEN

[/table]

What about those athletes who only won individual silver medals – no team medals, no golds, no bronzes? We got that list too – here it is:

[table]

IndSilvers,Name,Gdr,Ssn,NOC,Sport

4,Frankie Fredericks,M,S,NAM,ATH

4,Ivica Kostelić,M,W,CRO,ASK

3,Viktor Lisitsky,M,S,URS,GYM

3,Tsuyoshi Yamanaka,M,S,JPN,SWI

3,Raelene Boyle,F,S,AUS,ATH

3,Thor Henning,M,S,SWE,SWI

3,Peter-Michael Kolbe,M,S,FRG,ROW

3,Tim McKee,M,S,USA,SWI

3,Leah Poulos-Mueller,F,W,USA,SSK

3,Robert Pražák,M,S,TCH,GYM

3,Tan Liangde,M,S,CHN,DIV

3,Aleksandar Tomov,M,S,BUL,WRE

3,Ernie Webb,M,S,GBR,ATH

[/table]

OK, that’s it for silver medal trivia. What about bronze medals? Who has the most of them? Here is that list:

[table]

Bronzes,Name,Gdr,Ssn,NOC,Sport

6,Aleksey Nemov,M,S,RUS,GYM

6,Franziska van Almsick,F,S,GER,SWI

6,Heikki Savolainen,M,S,FIN,GYM

6,Merlene Ottey-Page,F,S,JAM,ATH

6,Harri Kirvesniemi,M,W,FIN,CCS

5,Natalie Coughlin,F,S,USA,SWI

5,Stefania Belmondo,F,W,ITA,CCS

5,Daniel Revenu,M,S,FRA,FEN

5,Phil Edwards,M,S,CAN,ATH

5,Antje Buschschulte,F,S,GER,SWI

5,Arie de Jong,M,S,NED,FEN

[/table]

And here is the list of those winning the most individual bronze medals:

[table]

IndBronzes,Name,Gdr,Ssn,NOC,Sport

5,Aleksey Nemov,M,S,RUS,GYM

5,Merlene Ottey-Page,F,S,JAM,ATH

4,Takashi Ono,M,S,JPN,GYM

4,Vitaly Shcherbo,M,S,BLR/EUN,GYM

4,Dmitry Sautin,M,S,EUN/RUS,DIV

4,Yelena Välbe,F,W,EUN/RUS,CCS

4,Anja Pärson,F,W,SWE,ASK

4,Roald Larsen,M,W,NOR,SSK

4,Yelena Välbe,F,W,EUN,CCS

4,William Merz,M,S,USA,GYM

4,Vitaly Shcherbo,M,S,BLR,GYM

[/table]

Finally, who has won the most bronze medals, and the most individual bronze medals, while winning no other Olympic medals? Following are those two lists:

[table]

Bronzes,Name,Gdr,Ssn,NOC,Sport

6,Harri Kirvesniemi,M,W,FIN,CCS

5,Phil Edwards,M,S,CAN,ATH

5,Antje Buschschulte,F,S,GER,SWI

5,Arie de Jong,M,S,NED,FEN

4,Vitaly Shcherbo,M,S,BLR,GYM

4,Jetze Doorman,M,S,NED,FEN

4,Robert Dover,M,S,USA,EQU

[/table]

Now for the list of the most individual bronze medals, with no team medals, no gold medals, and no silver medals.

[table]

IndBronzes,Name,Gdr,Ssn,NOC,Sport

4,Yelena Välbe,F,W,EUN/RUS,CCS

3,Angel Martino,F,S,USA,SWI

3,Stan Rowley,M,S,AUS,ATH

3,George Breen,M,S,USA,SWI

4,Vitaly Shcherbo,M,S,BLR,GYM

3,Hugues Duboscq,M,S,FRA,SWI

3,Curtis Myden,M,S,CAN,SWI

3,Amarilys Savón,F,S,CUB,JUD

3,Sheng Zetian,M,S,CHN,WRE

3,Hans van Helden,M,W,NED,SSK

3,Arnold Vanderlijde,M,S,NED,BOX

3,Gabi Zange-Schönbrunn,F,W,GDR,SSK

3,Marian Zieliński,M,S,POL,WLT

[/table]

So with these lists, and probably about $4.50, you can get a nice coffee at Starbucks.

Nick Zaccardi, NBC Olympics maven, posited that if Fiji gets 50+ athletes qualified for the 2016 Olympics, that it might be the most ever for a nation with less than 1,000,000 population. I tweeted recently that it would be and that no such current nation had had more than 40 competitors at a single Olympics. Unfortunately, I did not go back far enough checking those stats, and it has happened before.

Luxembourg is the only nation with < 10⁶ population (as of 2015) that has had 40 or more competitors at a single Olympics, and they have done it several times, with a high of 52 in 1960. They also had 47 in 1928, 45 in 1948, and 44 three times – 1936, 1948, and 1952.

The first such nation to compete at the Olympics was again Luxembourg, in 1900, although this was not known for over 80 years. Michel Théato, winner of the 1900 marathon, was always considered French until French athletics historian Alain Bouillé discovered in the early 1980s that he was actually a Luxembourgeois national. In 1908 and 1912 Iceland competed, although it was a Danish territory in both those years. From 1920-28 Luxembourg and Monaco competed, along with Malta in 1928. It was not until 1936 that six such small nations competed – Bermuda, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, and Monaco. In 2012, fully 43 such small nations competed at London.

Through 2012, such small nations have competed 398 times at the Summer Olympics – we did not check Winter Olympics for this stat. This has been done in all by 43 nations, although Guyana (British Guiana), Belize (British Honduras), and Samoa (Western Samoa), competed under two different names in various years.

The following list is inclusive of all nations who have competed at the Olympics, with 10 or more competitors, both men and women, at a single Summer Olympics, and currently have a population under a million. I did not try to go back and check populations at the time of their Olympic participation – sorry, but that would be a huge effort. This also eliminates a few small nations that no longer exist as nations, notably Netherlands Antilles and Newfoundland, both of which have competed at the Olympics, but never with very many athletes.

[table]

Nation,3LA,Year,###

Luxembourg,LUX,1960,52

Luxembourg,LUX,1928,47

Luxembourg,LUX,1948,45

Luxembourg,LUX,1924,44

Luxembourg,LUX,1936,44

Luxembourg,LUX,1952,44

Montenegro,MNE,2012,33

Iceland,ISL,1988,32

Iceland,ISL,1984,30

U.S. Virgin Islands,ISV,1984,29

Iceland,ISL,1992,27

Iceland,ISL,2008,27

Iceland,ISL,2012,27

Iceland,ISL,2004,26

The Bahamas,BAH,1996,26

Iceland,ISL,1972,25

Luxembourg,LUX,1920,25

The Bahamas,BAH,2000,25

The Bahamas,BAH,2008,25

U.S. Virgin Islands,ISV,1992,25

Fiji,FIJ,1988,23

Cyprus,CYP,2000,22

Guam,GUM,1992,22

The Bahamas,BAH,1984,22

The Bahamas,BAH,2004,22

U.S. Virgin Islands,ISV,1988,22

Luxembourg,LUX,1912,21

The Bahamas,BAH,2012,21

U.S. Virgin Islands,ISV,1976,21

Bermuda,BER,1992,20

Cyprus,CYP,2004,20

The Bahamas,BAH,1972,20

Guam,GUM,1988,19

Iceland,ISL,1948,19

Montenegro,MNE,2008,19

San Marino,SMR,1984,19

Barbados,BAR,2000,18

Fiji,FIJ,1992,18

Iceland,ISL,2000,18

Barbados,BAR,1988,17

Barbados,BAR,1992,17

Cyprus,CYP,1992,17

Cyprus,CYP,1996,17

Cyprus,CYP,2008,17

Fiji,FIJ,1996,17

San Marino,SMR,1992,17

Barbados,BAR,1984,16

Bermuda,BER,1976,16

San Marino,SMR,1980,16

The Bahamas,BAH,1968,16

The Bahamas,BAH,1988,16

U.S. Virgin Islands,ISV,1972,16

Antigua and Barbuda,ANT,1988,15

Antigua and Barbuda,ANT,1984,14

Cyprus,CYP,1980,14

Fiji,FIJ,1984,14

The Bahamas,BAH,1992,14

Antigua and Barbuda,ANT,1992,13

Antigua and Barbuda,ANT,1996,13

Barbados,BAR,1972,13

Barbados,BAR,1996,13

Cyprus,CYP,2012,13

Iceland,ISL,1976,13

Luxembourg,LUX,2008,13

The Bahamas,BAH,1960,13

Bermuda,BER,1948,12

Bermuda,BER,1984,12

Bermuda,BER,1988,12

Iceland,ISL,1936,12

Liechtenstein,LIE,1988,12

Luxembourg,LUX,1964,12

U.S. Virgin Islands,ISV,1996,12

Barbados,BAR,1976,11

Belize,BIZ,1984,11

Luxembourg,LUX,1956,11

Luxembourg,LUX,1972,11

Malta,MLT,1936,11

Monaco,MON,1960,11

Samoa,SAM,1988,11

San Marino,SMR,1988,11

Seychelles,SEY,1980,11

Seychelles,SEY,1992,11

The Bahamas,BAH,1964,11

The Bahamas,BAH,1976,11

Antigua and Barbuda,ANT,1976,10

Barbados,BAR,2004,10

Belize,BIZ,1988,10

Belize,BIZ,1992,10

Bermuda,BER,2004,10

Cayman Islands,CAY,1992,10

Cyprus,CYP,1984,10

Guyana,GUY,1984,10

Luxembourg,LUX,2004,10

Malta,MLT,1960,10

San Marino,SMR,1976,10

St. Kitts & Nevis,SKN,1996,10

[/table]