# Olympics - How is Your Country Faring? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 31, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957 "2012-07-31T15:28:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/161 "2012-08-09T16:03:34Z")
We’ve got a gold. Katie you’re a national hero now. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/162 "2012-08-09T17:10:37Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I did specify “recently.” As the event grows even more expensive, it becomes even more important to make the home crowd happy. Wow, what a way to make me feel old. 😛 Sure, in Montreal I was only a teenager. But for the Calgary games I was a working adult. It doesn’t seem that long ago to me. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/163 "2012-08-09T17:13:19Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Britain’s long national nightmare (48hrs) is over - gold and bronze in the freestyle dressage Yay! We rule at circus pony acts!!! ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/164 "2012-08-09T17:27:19Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Britain’s long national nightmare (48hrs) is over - gold and bronze in the freestyle dressage, and the first ever women’s boxing gold. Possibly the two Olympic events that a least like each other? Now if they could be combined…that is an event I would pay to see. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/165 "2012-08-09T21:54:15Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Britain’s long national nightmare (48hrs) is over - gold and bronze in the freestyle dressage, and the first ever women’s boxing gold. Possibly the two Olympic events that a least like each other? Nice to see Nicola Adams, who I believe hasn’t had much in the way of sponsorship, win the boxing gold and do so decisively and with panache. She made it look positively easy, knocking her opponent (who is the current world #1) to the mat once in the second round. 16 points to 7 in the end. And she’s from Yorkshire too. What are they putting in the water up there? Whatever it is, start bottling it and selling it now. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/166 "2012-08-09T22:10:30Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Nice to see Nicola Adams, who I believe hasn’t had much in the way of sponsorship, win the boxing gold and do so decisively and with panache. She made it look positively easy, knocking her opponent (who is the current world #1) to the mat once in the second round. 16 points to 7 in the end. > > And she’s from Yorkshire too. What are they putting in the water up there? Whatever it is, start bottling it and selling it now. There’s nowt int’watter lad. It’s all down to Theakstons, tea and lard. The holy trinity. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/167 "2012-08-09T22:25:55Z")
Just randomly turned on the olympics gold zone iPhone app, and saw the medal ceremony for (I believe) men’s 65 kg Tae Kwan Do… Gold to Turkey, Silver to Iran, and two Bronzes, to Afghanistan and USA. Now there’s a medal stand fraught with potential political turmoil… (And how do you end up with two bronzes in a martial art? Wouldn’t there be a bronze medal fight?) ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/168 "2012-08-09T22:47:32Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > …(And how do you end up with two bronzes in a martial art? Wouldn’t there be a bronze medal fight?) Repechage…or loser’s bracket\*. In the Olympics they usually use the [repechage bracket with two third place finishers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repechage) in some contact sports. Don’t ask. ETA: AKA “double elimination tournaments” as in many a racquetball tourney. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/169 "2012-08-10T12:37:00Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > Perhaps Boris could have conspired with Thames Water to prevent them from filling the pool due to a hose-pipe ban. That would move us ahead of the US and just behind China in the medal table. Hold on a sec – did you remember to subtract the medals for Rebecca Adlington and Michael Jamieson? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/170 "2012-08-10T13:14:09Z")
The US 4x400m relay team qualified for the final despite Manteo Mitchell[breaking his leg](http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/09/london-2012-usa-relay-broken-leg) in the first 200m of the first lap. > [@](#): > > "As soon as I took the first step past the 200m mark I felt it break. I heard it. I even put out a little war cry but the crowd was so loud you couldn’t hear it. I wanted to just lie down. It felt like somebody literally just snapped my leg in half. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/171 "2012-08-10T16:56:22Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Nice to see Nicola Adams, who I believe hasn’t had much in the way of sponsorship, win the boxing gold and do so decisively and with panache. She made it look positively easy, knocking her opponent (who is the current world #1) to the mat once in the second round. 16 points to 7 in the end. > > And she’s from Yorkshire too. What are they putting in the water up there? Whatever it is, start bottling it and selling it now. \*\* > [@](#): > > **Nicola Adams now eighth hardest woman in Leeds** \*\* > **[Nicola Adams now eighth hardest woman in Leeds](https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/sport/sport-headlines/adams-now-eighth-hardest-woman-in-leeds-2012081037811)** > > NICOLA Adams’ historic gold medal win in the Olympic boxing has seen her edge into the top ten of Leeds hardwomen. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/172 "2012-08-10T17:31:20Z")
As of right now, Holland (where I’m from) has 18 medals, and Canada (where I live) has 17. Canada only has one gold, though, whereas Holland’s got 5 of them. That number might rise to 7, as the Dutch are in both the men’s and the women’s field hockey finals. This means there’ll be at least 20 medals for us, which is second only to our 2000 haul when the Dutch olympians brought back something like 25 medals. I’d expected Canada to do a bit better than they did - I’m actually surprised they did worse than the Dutch seeing as there’s twice as many Canadians. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/173 "2012-08-11T05:37:51Z")
Rather amazing turn in the past 4/5 days – we were sadly lagging in medals as compared to Beijing 18 to 7 as of Tuesday and are now up to 13, with an additional assured silver in B-ball & a shot at four more between canoeing & sailing. Thus although the five golds in China appear out of the question, the overall haul should be close to the last Olympics. Still far from were we’d like to be, but on track to stay were we were. Not bad, not bad at all considering how poorly we\* started. \*Speaking of the Spanish team. ---
**Author:** ![turtledove\_river](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@turtledove\_river](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turtledove_river)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/174 "2012-08-11T17:26:37Z")
Gooooo Mexico!!! We just got gold in Men’s Soccer! We also have 3 silvers and 2 bronze. But we all know that soccer is the one that _really_ counts. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/175 "2012-08-11T17:46:44Z")
> [@turtledove\_river](#): > > Gooooo Mexico!!! > > We just got gold in Men’s Soccer! > We also have 3 silvers and 2 bronze. But we all know that soccer is the one that _really_ counts. Congrats guy – I can understand just how huge an Olympic gold over Brazil in footie is. Specially as that’s still the only major football title La Canarinha have yet to win and you just _know_ how bad they wanted it. Enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/176 "2012-08-11T18:21:23Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > As of right now, Holland (where I’m from) has 18 medals, and Canada (where I live) has 17. Canada only has one gold, though, whereas Holland’s got 5 of them. That number might rise to 7, as the Dutch are in both the men’s and the women’s field hockey finals. This means there’ll be at least 20 medals for us, which is second only to our 2000 haul when the Dutch olympians brought back something like 25 medals. I’d expected Canada to do a bit better than they did - I’m actually surprised they did worse than the Dutch seeing as there’s twice as many Canadians. Canada does better in the Winter Games, for obvious reasons; that’s where the effort and funding is somewhat more concentrated. In 2010 Canada won 26 medals, 14 of them gold; the Netherlands won eight, four gold. That said, a straight medal-to-population ratio just doesn’t work, or else you’d have to conclude the Chinese and Americans actually suck at sports. I’d get into the math but it’s boring. The upshot is that you an only have so many elite athletes, and only so many events, and the difference among the very elite is so tiny that it’s just not within statistical likelihood that the medals will distribute evenly. You also have the problem that concentration on some sports means more medals than others; a country that is exceptionally good at soccer can’t win more than two medals at it, while a country that is really good at swimming could in theory win 102 medals in swimming. (34 events, 3 medals in each.) India excels at cricket and can win no medals at all in it. In Canada so many elite male athletes are put into the hockey development stream that it takes away from the talent available in other sports; here, talented hockey players often play hockey 12 months a year. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/177 "2012-08-11T18:41:33Z")
I feel pretty damn good today. Why? Because my country has the most medals which makes it the best country in the world bar none, and by extension that makes me one of the best people on the planet. Thank you Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/178 "2012-08-11T19:05:06Z")
> [@turtledove\_river](#): > > Gooooo Mexico!!! > > We just got gold in Men’s Soccer! > We also have 3 silvers and 2 bronze. But we all know that soccer is the one that _really_ counts. FWIW we had tickets for the Senegal-Mexico Qtr Final at Wembley last Saturday and we had a great time. The little ones took Mexico as their side to win and are very pleased tonight. And heck, you deserve it. Better team on the day last week, better team tonight. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/179 "2012-08-11T22:21:04Z")
OK, with Jaime Espinal in the freestyle wrestling, PUR’s final total for the Games is one bronze (Culson, 400m hurdles) and one silver (Espinal), both in sports where we had not made it before. This one was specially fun because it was entirely unhyped - he was one of the “new guys” in our squad and not expected to make it to the final (Franlin Gomez was, as World #2 in his weight, but in the very first round the #1 and #2 seeds drew one another and he washed out) and he now has our highest ever medal in an Olympic Games. Besides being nobody’s golden boy, Espinal is also an immigrant, born in the neighboring Dominican Republic, and he has shut the mouth of many who were mocking that. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/180 "2012-08-12T15:43:31Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > As of right now, Holland (where I’m from) has 18 medals, and Canada (where I live) has 17. Canada only has one gold, though, whereas Holland’s got 5 of them. That number might rise to 7, as the Dutch are in both the men’s and the women’s field hockey finals. This means there’ll be at least 20 medals for us, which is second only to our 2000 haul when the Dutch olympians brought back something like 25 medals. I’d expected Canada to do a bit better than they did - I’m actually surprised they did worse than the Dutch seeing as there’s twice as many Canadians. It’s worth noting that three of The Netherlands’ medals are from one person, Kromojidiwjojo, in swimming, where one dominant athlete can make a big impact in the medal count. Not that I’m complaining - Canada had just as much chance to train a dominant swimmer. But it’s one of those things you have to take in context, and shows how focusing on certain sports can pay dividends. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957.md?page=10)