Academic

Olympic Medal Count--Stuntz

By David Skeel and Bill Stuntz

I'm not the biggest Olympic junkie around, but I've enjoyed watching, and following the Chinese and American medal counts. So far, everyone I've read uses one of two measures: who has the most gold, and who has the most total medals. Both measures are obviously unfair in opposite ways.

The solution is easy--give each country three points for a gold medal, two for a silver, and one point for a bronze. According to cnnsi.com (link: here) and my own arithmetic calculations, the two nations have nearly identical counts by that measure.

As of this writing, China has 49 golds, 19 silvers, and 28 bronzes.
(49 x 3) + (19 x 2) + 28 = 213

The U.S. has 33 golds, 37 silvers, and 36 bronzes.
(33 x 3) + (37 x 2) + 36 = 209

Very, very close. By this measure, the two nations were tied last night at 200 apiece.

Full post as published by Less than the Least on August 23, 2008 (boomark / email).