How many medals are too many medals?

The notion that the 'greater the population, the greater the medals' is a familiar and often-cited theory in sports discourse. However, the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris challenged this assumption, revealing a different perspective on success.

At the Paris Olympics, traditional powerhouses like the United States, China, and Japan dominated the overall medal tally, with the US and China each amassing 40 gold medals.

The US led with 126 medals in total, while China followed with 91. Yet, when assessing Olympic success through a new metric, medals per capita, these giants are nowhere near the top.

Instead, the spotlight shifted to smaller nations with striking achievements on a per capita basis.

Dominica, a tiny island nation in the eastern Caribbean with a population of just 67,408, exemplifies this shift.

Dominica’s sole representative, Thea LaFond, secured the country’s first-ever Olympic medal in track and field, winning gold in the women’s triple jump. This single victory elevated Dominica to the top of Olympic success per capita. However, it was not the first such instance.

Grenada stood out, earning two bronze medals, one of them being Anderson Peters, who competed with Neeraj Chopra in the Men's Javelin Throw final. Thus, he is leading the chart for medals per head of population.

This nation, with about 112,579 residents, showed that success can come from even the smallest pools of talent.

Among its Caribbean neighbours, St. Lucia, with a population of 184,100, also made headlines.

Julien Alfred secured gold in the women’s 100 metres and silver in the 200 meters, winning the first Olympic medals for her country.

Australia, with its well-regarded sporting pedigree, finished 10th in the per capita rankings, achieving a gold medal for every 1,520,256 individuals.

The country concluded the Games with 53 medals, including 18 golds, the most it has ever won in a single Olympics. Despite this impressive tally, Australia fell short in the per capita rankings compared to its trans-Tasman rivals, New Zealand.

New Zealand, with a population of 5,338,900, claimed 10 gold medals, placing it fourth in the per capita rankings.

The nation’s achievements are one for the history books considering they once struggled to exceed three gold medals mark in a single Games.

Other countries like Slovenia, Ireland, and the Netherlands also achieved notable success despite having smaller population sizes.

Slovenia won two golds and one silver with a population of 2.1 million, Ireland secured four gold medals and three bronze with a population of 5.28 million, and the Netherlands earned 15 golds, 7 silvers and 12 bronze with a population of 17.97 million.

In contrast, India, with a population of over 1.41 billion and a contingent of 117 athletes, managed only five bronze medals and one silver, ranking last out of 89 countries in the Total Medals per Capita ranking.

Despite sending a substantial team, India’s performance highlights the fact that success in the Olympics is not solely determined by the size of a nation’s population but also by individual achievements and smaller, dedicated sporting systems.