So which nation has the most important female athletes? No, we don’t mean which nation’s women have won the most medals, that would be the United States, as it is for the men. But which nations’ women have won the highest percentage of the medals for their country?
There are actually 5 countries where all of their medals have been won by women: Bahrain, Costa Rica, Montenegro, Mozambique, and Zimbabwer. Of those, Zimbabwe has won the most medals with only 8. This 100%-er list follows:
[table]
NOC,Gold,Medals,GW,MW,%G,%TM
Zimbabwe,3,8,3,8,100.0%,100.0%
Costa Rica,1,4,1,4,100.0%,100.0%
Mozambique,1,2,1,2,100.0%,100.0%
Bahrain,0,1,0,1,—–,100.0%
Montenegro,0,1,0,1,—–,100.0%
[/table]
But this seems a bit of a specious argument, with so few overall medals won. Let’s look only at the nations that won 100 or more medals overall (both men, women, and mixed), and see how their women did. Here is that list:
[table]
NOC,Gold,Medals,GW,MW,%G,%TM
China,213,526,120,303,56.3%,57.6%
Romania,88,302,58,153,65.9%,50.7%
The Ukraine,35,122,18,59,51.4%,48.4%
German Demo. Rep.,192,519,94,241,49.0%,46.4%
Russia,183,528,72,218,39.3%,41.3%
The Netherlands,115,377,52,151,45.2%,40.1%
Australia,144,485,58,189,40.3%,39.0%
Unified Team,54,135,16,52,29.6%,38.5%
Canada,121,443,46,166,38.0%,37.5%
Korea (South),107,296,45,103,42.1%,34.8%
Germany,288,915,88,300,30.6%,32.8%
Spain,38,133,9,38,23.7%,28.6%
Austria,79,307,21,87,26.6%,28.3%
Soviet Union,473,1204,122,331,25.8%,27.5%
Bulgaria,52,220,12,59,23.1%,26.8%
United States,1071,2682,277,701,25.9%,26.1%
Fed. Rep. Germany,67,243,18,63,26.9%,25.9%
Cuba,71,202,12,49,16.9%,24.3%
Japan,140,443,28,102,20.0%,23.0%
Poland,70,291,12,65,17.1%,22.3%
Hungary,167,480,37,102,22.2%,21.3%
Great Britain,246,805,43,164,17.5%,20.4%
Brazil,23,108,5,22,21.7%,20.4%
Czechoslovakia,51,168,13,33,25.5%,19.6%
New Zealand,42,101,9,19,21.4%,18.8%
Italy,236,664,37,115,15.7%,17.3%
Denmark,43,179,9,30,20.9%,16.8%
France,235,789,37,132,15.7%,16.7%
Greece,30,110,4,18,13.3%,16.4%
Norway,173,476,24,77,13.9%,16.2%
Switzerland,97,323,18,49,18.6%,15.2%
Sweden,192,626,22,77,11.5%,12.3%
Finland,143,463,12,50,8.4%,10.8%
Belgium,39,149,3,16,7.7%,10.7%
[/table]
China and Romania are the only two nations where their women have won more than 50% of their nations medals and gold medals. Romania is led by their female gymnasts and rowers, while China’s female divers, gymnasts, and weightlifters have won a large percentage of their medals. Romanian women have won an astounding 65.9% of their nations gold medals. And in the era of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), there were fewer women’s medals available, so their percentages in the high 40s are also impressive, although we do know there were, shall we say, some problems with a few of those.
At the other end of the spectrum, Belgium and Finland bring up the rear, with only about 11% of medals won by women, and about 8% of gold medals won, by far the worst numbers in this subset in both categories.
Overall, women have won about 27.5% of medals and gold medals awarded at the Olympics. So the former Soviet Union is the closest to the median nation, although when it existed, the percentage of women’s medals was likely slightly lower. The United States is also pretty close to the median.
If we look at the other end of the spectrum, we get the following list of nations whose women have never won a medal or gold medal at the Olympics, although their men have won both:
[table]
NOC,Gold,Medals
Iran,15,60
Egypt,7,25
Trinidad & Tobago,2,18
Mixed Team,6,17
Pakistan,3,10
Uruguay,2,10
Uganda,2,7
Dominican Republic,3,6
Luxembourg,2,5
Panama,1,3
Ecuador,1,2
Surinam,1,2
Burundi,1,1
Grenada,1,1
United Arab Emirates,1,1
[/table]
There are also 36 nations which won Olympic medals, but no golds, and none won by a woman. The two nations with the most medals in this category are The Philippines, with 9 medals, and Puerto Rico, with 8.
Judy Morstein graduated from Butte High School in Montana and later from Eastern Montana College. She competed for the US at the 1963 World Speedskating Championships, as well as the 1964 Winter Olympics. After marrying Harry Martz, she helped him run a commercial solid-waste business in Butte. Her small business experience led her to become involved in local politics. This led to statewide ambitions, and in 1997 she was elected Lieutenant-Governor of Montana. She then served as Montana’s first female governor from 2001-05, as a Republican. Morstein was also once voted Miss Rodeo Montana. After her career in politics, Morstein-Martz sat on the board of several large corporations, including Maternal Life International, University of Montana Western, Big Sky State Games, and TASER International. Personal Bests: 500 – 48.1 (1972); 1000 – 1:38.0 (1972); 1500 – 2:33.3 (1964); 3000 – 5:32.4 (1972).
Since the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was formed in 1894 at the Sorbonne Congress, there have been 536 IOC Members. How many of these have actually competed in the Olympics (and we’re not counting the Arts Competitions, which would add Pierre de Coubertin)?
IOC President Jacques Rogge (2001-2013) – Olympian 1968-76
Well, the direct answer to that question is 112 IOC Members have also been Olympic sports competitors. Of these 23 of the IOC Olympians have been women, which is a fairly high percentage since there have only been 39 female members of the IOC all-time – the first women were only elected to the IOC in 1981 with Finland’s Pirjo Häggmann and Venezuelan Flor Isava-Fonseca.
How many of the IOC Olympians were successful, i.e., actually won Olympic medals? It’s a large percentage, as of the 112 IOC Olympians, 65 have won medals, and 47 actually won gold medals. This group is led by Norway’s Ole Einar Bjørndalen with 13 medals and 8 gold medals, while among the female IOC Olympians, Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic’s Věra Čáslavská leads with 11 medals and 7 gold medals. In all, 14 of the IOC Olympians won 5 or more medals, and 12 of them won 3 or more gold medals.
IOC President Avery Brundage (1952-1972) – Olympian 1912
The first IOC Member to have competed in the Olympics was Greek Alexandros Merkati, who became an IOC Member in 1897, and competed in the Olympic golf event in 1900. He is one of only four IOC Individual Members (see next paragraph) who competed in sports at the Olympics while they served on the IOC, the others being William, Lord Desborough, who served on the IOC from 1905-13, and competed in fencing at the 1906 Intercalated Olympics; Peter Tallberg, elected to the IOC in 1976, but an Olympic sailor for Finland from 1960-80; and Prince Albert II of Monaco, who became an IOC Member in 1985, and then competed in bobsledding at the Olympics five times between 1988 and 2002. Counting Athlete Members, four have competed in the Olympics while on the IOC: Russia’s Aleksandr Popov in swimming, the Czech Republic’s Jan Železný in athletics (javelin), Ukrainian Sergey Bubka in athletics (pole vault), and Great Britain’s Matthew Pinsent in rowing.
In 1999, in response to he Olympic Bribery Scandal, the IOC instituted a new category of IOC Membership termed the Athlete Member. Has this increased the number of IOC Olympians significantly? Certainly has. Since 2000, 38 former Olympians have become IOC Members, 35 of them in the Athlete Member Category. So that is only 3 IOC Individual Member Olympians in the period 2000-14, while there were 74 IOC Individual Member Olympians from 1894-2000, so the rate of former Olympians becoming a full IOC Individual Member has actually decreased significantly.
What about the current IOC Membership? There are currently 111 IOC Members, of which 39 competed at the Olympics at one time. The longest standing of these is Tallberg, as noted above, an Olympic sailor from 1960-80, who became an IOC Member in 1976, and was a long-term chairman of the Athlete’s Commission. The only other IOC Olympian Member who joined the IOC in the 1970s and is still a member is Dick Pound, a 1960 Canadian swimmer who was co-opted onto the IOC in 1978.
Current IOC President Thomas Bach – Olympian 1976
Here is the entire list of IOC Olympians, listing their NOCs while on the IOC, their sports, their Olympic span, their IOC tenures, and their medals won:
Scotland is preparing to vote in a referendum about becoming an independent nation and leaving the United Kingdom. There has been some discussion about what this would mean for Scottish athletes, in particular concerning their Olympic status. IOC President Bach has already come out and said that Scotland would be welcomed into the Olympic Movement as an independent nation, if that occurs. But did you know that Scotland has already competed at the Olympics as an independent nation, even though they have been part of the United Kingdom since 1707?
In 1908, England, Ireland (then part of Great Britain), Scotland, and Wales entered separate national teams in the hockey (field) tournament, with Scotland sharing the bronze medal with Wales. In 1912, England, Ireland, and Scotland entered separate national teams in the cycling road race, with Scotland finishing fourth. All other Scottish appearances at the Olympic Games have come as part of Great Britain’s teams.
Of note, however, Scotland could form its own National Olympic Committee with no delay, as it has affiliations with more than the five requisite IOC-recognized International Federations. Scotland is an independent member of the following nine IFs: Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Curling, Football (Soccer), Hockey (Field), Table Tennis, Volleyball, and Weightlifting.
Will Scotland again be represented as their own nation at the Olympics? We shall see – its been over 100 years since it occurred, but it has happened.
Born,27 May 1942; Cowley; Hillingdon; Greater London; England
Measurements,178 cm / 80 kg
[/table]
[table]
Year-Season,Sport,Event,Finish
1964 Winter,Bobsleigh,Four-man,13
1968 Winter,Bobsleigh,Four-man,8
[/table]
Robin Widdows’ father, Commodore Charles Widdows, flew for the RAF during the war, and was a test pilot afterwards. Like Alfonso de Portago, Widdows also competed in bobsleigh, although the Spaniard had been the driver, while Widdows formed part of the crew.
Widdows was part of the second British four-man sled in 1964. Steered by Bill McCowen, they ended up in 13th place, just behind the first British sleigh. A week before, two of the crewman of Britain I – Tony Nash and Robin Dixon – had won the gold medal in the two-man bob. Widdows remained on the British team until 1968, taking part in his second Olympics in Grenoble. This time as a member of the first four-man sleigh, which was taken to 8th place by driver Tony Nash.
In the same year Widdows made his first appearance at the Olympics, he also made his racing début. He proved successful, and by 1966 he was racing in Formula 3, and winning races as well, although he was also active in sportscar racing. In 1967, he entered a Brabham in Formula 2 races, racing for his own team, Witley. A win at Hockenheim (Germany) was his best result that year.
More minor successes in Formula 2 the next year – now driving a McLaren – meant he was asked by the Cooper team to drive their second car at the British GP at Brands Hatch. Widdows qualified as 18th of the 20 cars for what would turn out to be his only Formula 1 GP. After 34 laps, his ignition failed, and he had to abandon the race.
His Formula 1 career was over after that race, but Widdows continued to race in other classes. In 1969, he achieved one of his biggest successes when he placed 7th in the 24 hours of Le Mans, with Nanni Galli (ITA). Halfway through the 1970 season however, while still racing Formula 2, Widdows quit racing.
What are the longest lived Olympic records? Well, Olympic records can only be set in certain sports. At the Summer Games, this includes athletics (track & field), swimming, shooting, weightlifting, archery, and Olympic bests are usually considered now in rowing and canoeing. At the Winter Games, the measured sports are speed skating and short-track speed skating, with the best jumps measured in ski jumping.
Let’s consider only athletics at the Summer Olympics for starters. And we have to make some assumptions, as we commonly do. We’re going to consider marks that have lasted the most Olympics, because the gap from 1936-48 and 1912-20 artificially made records last longer that were set in 1912 or 1932-36. So we’ll consider Olympics Between (OlyBT below) and Years Between (YrsBT below). Also, some marks were set a number of Olympics ago but are still the best on record. We’ll consider all of those to last until 2016 (at a minimum, that is true).
Given that, here are all the athletics Olympic records that have lasted 20+ years or 5 or more Olympics.
Now there are caveats, as there usually are. Beamon’s miracle long jump in Mexico City will last at least 48 years, through 2016, and likely longer, as there is nobody on the horizon about to better 8.90 metres. But the mark was altitude-aided, and the Association of Track & Field Statisticians (ATFS), of which I am a member, usually considers altitude-aided marks in the sprints and horizontal jumps differently. The next best among men, and the top two marks for women, were both set in the 1980s, and shall we say, there are a number of rumors about marks set in that era. If you look at the women’s marks, unfortunately, everything was set from 1980-88 until we get to Marie-José Péréc’s 400 metre mark of 48.25 set in Atlanta in 1996. Please also note Lina Radke-Batschauer’s 800 metre mark from Amsterdam. While it lasted until 1960, it only lasted 1 Olympics, because women did not run the 800 metres from 1932-56.
Of the remaining men’s marks, the one that looks to me to have the best chance to continue to rule is Kevin Young’s 400 hurdles mark of 46.78, set in Barcelona. He remains the only hurdler to better 47 seconds, and nobody is threatening that mark these days. Among the women, nobody is approaching all those Olympic records from the 1980s.
What about the best marks by event. Here they are, for men and women, with a few extras thrown in to cover the various “yeah, buts …”:
Men
[table]
OlyBT,YrBT,Event,Mark,Athlete(s),NOC,Year,City
5,20,100,9.95A,Jim Hines,USA,1968,Mexico City
5,20,200,21.6,Archie Hahn,USA,1904,St. Louis
6,24,400,43.86A,Lee Evans,USA,1968,Mexico City
5,20,400,43.49,Michael Johnson,USA,1996,Atlanta
4,16,800,1:42.58,Vebjørn Rodal,NOR,1996,Atlanta
3,16,800,1:51.9,Ted Meredith,USA,1912,Stockholm
2,16,800,1:49.7,Tommy Hampson,GBR,1932,Los Angeles
4,16,1500,3:34.91,Kip Keino,KEN,1968,Mexico City
4,16,1500,3:32.53,Sebastian Coe,GBR,1984,Los Angeles
4,16,1500,3:32.07,Noah Ngeny,KEN,2000,Sydney
2,16,1500,3:47.8,Jack Lovelock,NZL,1936,Berlin
6,24,5K,13:05.59,Saïd Aouita,MAR,1984,Los Angeles
4,16,10K,27:38.34,Lasse Virén,FIN,1972,Munich
2,16,10K,30:11.4,Janusz Kusociński,POL,1932,Los Angeles
6,24,Marathon,2-09:21.0,Carlos Lopes,POR,1984,Los Angeles
The FEI World Equestrian Games are currently being held in Normandy, France. The events are mixed but there are many women competing, especially in dressage.
Olympic equestrian was male-only until 1952, in fact, until that year, it was only open to military officers – non-coms need not apply (note: there were some women in 1900 but that Olympics was very odd in many respects). In 1952 women were allowed to compete in dressage, and Lis Hartel inspirationally won a silver medal in individual dressage, despite still not being able to walk normally from the effects of polio. In 1956 jumping was opened to women, but it was not until 1964 that women could compete in three-day eventing.
Since 1964, more and more women have competed in Olympic equestrian, especially in dressage, which is now dominated by women. Let’s look at how the proportion of female equestrian competitors has changed since 1964, and also what percentage of medals have been won by women.
Here are the overall percentages of competitors in the 6 equestrian events from 1964-2012.
As you can see, all three disciplines show increasing numbers of women, although strangely, it is relatively flat for show jumping, and the percentage of women in show jumping is oddly low at about 20% from 2000-12. Dressage is dominated by female competitors now, and females have made up more than 50% of dressage riders since 1972, save for the anomalous 1980 Olympics (there were very few women riders that year in any event). Eventing is intermediate between dressage and show jumping, but those curves show definite increasing slope, meaning more and more women competitors at each Olympics in each discipline.
How about medals and gold medals? First, we’ll show charts for dressage, but remember, in all of these, for individual gold medals, its all or nothing – 0% or 100%.
Once again, women are picking up more and more medals in dressage, in both events. There has not been a male medalist in individual dressage since 1996, and since 1988, men have won only 2 of 21 medals in that event. In team dressage, women have won over 50% of the medals at each Olympics since 1972, save for 1980, and also 2004. They have also won 50%+ gold medals since 1988, with all-female teams in 2000 and 2008.
Now on to eventing, with charts for both individual and team events.
A few things are noteworthy. A woman has not yet won an individual eventing gold medal, but they won 2 of 3 medals individually in 1984, 1996, and 2004-12. In team eventing, the medalists have been about 50% women since 1996. The gold medal stats for team eventing are all over the place.
And finally, the anomalous discipline of show jumping, with both individual and team event charts.
As in eventing, a woman has yet to win individual gold in show jumping. In fact, women have individually won only 1 medal in 1968-72, 1984, 1996, and 2008. In team jumping, its not much better with women winning only 50% of the team medals in 1984 and 2008, and 0 medals in 1964-76, 1988-2000, and 2012.
It is difficult for us to explain why women are so relatively under-represented in jumping, especially in comparison to eventing, which would seem to be the event which might have fewer women. We have no good explanation.
Roberto C. Mieres, colloquially known as “Bitito”, was born in Mar de Plata, on 3 December 1924. He belonged to a wealthy family, and was active in many sports, including tennis, rugby, rowing and yachting. In 1948, he drove his first racing car, a Mercedes.
In 1950, after having won the Argentine sportscar championship, he was invited to join his fellow countrymen, Juan Manuel Fangio and Froilán González, for some races in Europe. Driving a Ferrari, he placed fourth in the Geneva GP, a non-championship race. After that, Mieres was absent from the European circuits for several years, until Gordini offered him a ride for the 1953 season. Mieres drove three races, placing sixth in the Italian GP. For the next season, he entered the first five races of the season as a privateer, racing his own Maserati. Following the death of the Argentine Maserati driver Onofre Marimón at the German GP, Mieres was invited to join the Maserati factory team. This move immediately proved successful, with Mieres scoring fourth places in both Switzerland and Spain, and eventually sharing eighth place in the championship.
He stayed with the Maserati team for 1955. During the season opener, in front of his home crowd in Buenos Aires, Mieres briefly lead the race, but eventually finished fifth . But Maserati was no match to the strong Mercedes-Benz cars, and Mieres again placed eighth in the championship. The Dutch GP at Zandvoort was his best race, placing fourth, but recording the fastest lap. After the season, Mieres went back to Argentina, not to appear in the European racing scene again, although he would make appearances in the Buenos Aires 1000 km sportscar race in 1957 and 1958.
Mieres switched his focus from racing to sailing, and this resulted in qualification for the Olympic Games of Rome, 1960. Together with Víctor Fragola, he entered the Star class. His final classification was 17th, two spots before Prince Bira, who had also raced a Maserati in the 1954 season. Mieres later settled in the Uruguayan city of Punta del Este, where he lived until his death.
OK, we know, you read the title of the post and thought we had lost our minds. And “competing” in the Olympics is probably a bit of a misnomer. But the title is correct and there have been Olympians who were deceased at the time of their Olympic participation or when they were honored at the Olympics.
Not well known is that from 1912-48 there were Arts Competitions held at the Olympic Games. Artists, musicians, and writers entered their works into competitions and received medals for their work. In a number of cases the artists entered their works, but died before the Olympics and the Arts Competitions started. So effectively they competed posthumously.
Also in 1924 and 1936 the IOC awarded Alpinism Medals for the best feats of Alpinism since the previous Olympics. This is also not well-known but it is interesting that this concept was set forth by Pierre, Baron de Coubertin in his original list of events for the Olympics at the Sorbonne Congress in 1894. In several cases, some of the climbers were killed during their Olympian climbing feats, notably several members of George Mallory’s Everest expeditions in the early 1920s (see our previous post on Olympstats about Olympians Atop Everest).
So, yes, there have been posthumous Olympians. Here is the complete list:
So which nations have won the most Olympic medals but never managed a gold medal? For many years, the answer to this question was Mongolia, which had won 15 medals through the 2000 Olympics, before breaking thru with 2 gold medals at Athens in 2004.
But the answer is now The Philippines, which has won 9 medals – 2 silvers and 7 bronzes, but has never won a gold medal. Well, in a sense. If we include demonstration sports, in 1988, Arianne Cerdena won the women’s bowling demonstration event at Seoul. But in full medal events, no Filipino has ever mounted the top step of the podium.
Here are all the nations that have won 2 or more Olympic medals without winning a gold medal:
[table]
NOC,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Medals
The Philippines,-,2,7,9
Puerto Rico,-,2,6,8
Moldova,-,2,5,7
Malaysia,-,3,3,6
Namibia,-,4,-,4
Iceland,-,2,2,4
Lebanon,-,2,2,4
Singapore,-,2,2,4
Bohemia,-,1,3,4
Ghana,-,1,3,4
Qatar,-,-,4,4
Independent Olympic Athletes,-,1,2,3
Kyrgyzstan,-,1,2,3
Saudi Arabia,-,1,2,3
Tajikistan,-,1,2,3
Sri Lanka,-,2,-,2
Tanzania,-,2,-,2
Vietnam,-,2,-,2
Haiti,-,1,1,2
United Arab Republic,-,1,1,2
Zambia,-,1,1,2
Afghanistan,-,-,2,2
Kuwait,-,-,2,2
West Indies Federation,-,-,2,2
[/table]
Two “nations” above no longer exist and will not be moving off the list. The United Arab Republic was a team formed from Egypt and Syria in 1960. Syria left the alliance in 1961, but Egypt continued to use the name at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics. The West Indies Federation competed only in 1960, with athletes from Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, and Barbados.
If we limit ourselves only to the Summer Olympics, the above list still holds – none of those nations have won a Winter Olympic medal. If we look at only the Winter Olympics, the leader is Latvia, which has won 7 Winter Olympic medals – 4 silver and 3 bronze – without winning gold. The Winter list of those winning 2 or more medals without a gold is as follows:
[table]
NOC,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Medals
Latvia,-,4,3,7
Hungary,-,2,4,6
Yugoslavia,-,3,1,4
Luxembourg,-,2,-,2
Korea DPR (North),-,1,1,2
[/table]
Now breaking this down by gender, the following nations have won the most medals in men’s event without winning gold, which is again very similar to the overall and summer lists given above, although now Colombia is tied with The Philippines:
[table]
NOC,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Medals
Colombia,-,4,5,9
The Philippines,-,2,7,9
Puerto Rico,-,2,6,8
Moldova,-,2,4,6
Malaysia,-,3,2,5
Serbia,-,1,4,5
Namibia,-,4,-,4
Lebanon,-,2,2,4
Ghana,-,1,3,4
Liechtenstein,-,1,3,4
Qatar,-,-,4,4
Iceland,-,2,1,3
Bohemia,-,1,2,3
Kyrgyzstan,-,1,2,3
Tanzania,-,2,-,2
Haiti,-,1,1,2
Syria,-,1,1,2
Tajikistan,-,1,1,2
United Arab Republic,-,1,1,2
Zambia,-,1,1,2
Afghanistan,-,-,2,2
Kuwait,-,-,2,2
West Indies Federation,-,-,2,2
[/table]
Among women, Argentina is a big leader, with 11 female medals, but no golds. The full list is as follows:
[table]
NOC,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Medals
Argentina,-,5,6,11
Mongolia,-,1,2,3
Singapore,-,1,2,3
India,-,-,3,3
Independent Olympic Athletes,-,1,1,2
Venezuela,-,-,2,2
[/table]
And just to be fully anal about this, we’ll look at medals won in mixed events without a gold. Once again, Argentina leads this list with 5:
[table]
NOC,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Medals
Argentina,-,3,2,5
Portugal,-,3,1,4
Bulgaria,-,1,2,3
Mexico,-,-,3,3
Indonesia,-,2,-,2
Peru,-,2,-,2
Cuba,-,1,1,2
Ireland,-,1,1,2
The Ukraine,-,1,1,2
Saudi Arabia,-,-,2,2
[/table]
Will be fun to see which of these nations come off these lists in Rio and Pyeongchang.
