The Olympics are over, and amid the many tales of individual or team joy and despair was a hot contest in the overall medal table. The US pipped China to the top spot after being tied on gold medals, while the UK came a respectable seven in terms of golds, and a remarkable third in terms of total medals.
But medal tables are crude and, much like real household disposable incomes, benefit from being equivalised (I can't believe I just made an HBAI joke). COTW does that by dividing a country's medals by the size of their economy. The table looks very different now… The US falls off the podium and is replaced by the tiny island of Dominica (similar in population size alone to Salford…), thanks to Thea LaFond's gold in the Triple Jump. Note, too, the mix of high, middle and low income countries at the top of the leaderboard. And well done to New Zealand for its GDP-adjusted medal achievements, despite neither of its main sports actually featuring in the Olympics (and lets hope the people of LA take to cricket as well as the Parisians took to the breakdancing)….
Source: Fewer days vs fewer hours, the importance of watercoolers, and the true Olympic Champions • Resolution Foundation
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