http://scoreboards.aol.com/olympics/medals.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Su...cs_medal_table http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Su...cs_medal_table

We had 91 in the 2000 Olympics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Su...cs_medal_table

[Sidney Lanier]

Interesting! We've been too busy to follow. What are the gold-silver-bronze counts?

Originally Posted by Sidney Lanier

Interesting! We've been too busy to follow. What are the gold-silver-bronze counts?

Source --Wikipedia-- counts who has the most gold medals as which country's athletes are #1.

Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 China (CHN) 47 17 25 89
2 United States (USA) 31 36 35 102
3 Great Britain (GBR) 18 13 13 44
4 Russia (RUS) 17 18 22 57

[Sidney Lanier]

Wow, impressive! Thanks, Tal!

Neat outcome at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with this development-- "A total of 87 countries won medals, and 55 of them won at least one gold medal, and both of these categories set new records."

[redwitch]

I do wish NBC had focussed a bit more on the first-ever medals. I had to get most of that information from the newspaper and the web. Those athletes who won a medal for a country that had never won any medal, were so very proud.

One thing to remember, China does not count any medal but gold. The rest are considered a loss by them. In their minds, they truly won the medal count. There are other countries with the same mindset. To me, it is a shame that the honor of being able to compete at the Olympics has been pushed aside and only if you win does it mean anything. Athletes used to stay until the Olympics were done. Now, if they lose or their event is over, they leave.

Originally Posted by redwitch

I do wish NBC had focussed a bit more on the first-ever medals. I had to get most of that information from the newspaper and the web. Those athletes who won a medal for a country that had never won any medal, were so very proud.

One thing to remember, China does not count any medal but gold. The rest are considered a loss by them. In their minds, they truly won the medal count. There are other countries with the same mindset. To me, it is a shame that the honor of being able to compete at the Olympics has been pushed aside and only if you win does it mean anything. Athletes used to stay until the Olympics were done. Now, if they lose or their event is over, they leave.

I agree that I was not all that impressed with NBC's coverage. It is so ratings based with a very heavy nationalist and gold medal ceremony slant.

[SteveFromNY]

Originally Posted by redwitch

One thing to remember, China does not count any medal but gold. The rest are considered a loss by them. In their minds, they truly won the medal count. There are other countries with the same mindset. To me, it is a shame that the honor of being able to compete at the Olympics has been pushed aside and only if you win does it mean anything.

I agree and I disagree!

As far as the medals, really the golds are the only medals that count. The silver and bronze are in recognition of losing. Counting all of your medals and comparing that against the total count of your opponents is like saying in a football game "They scored more points but we gained more yards so we won". Second place is the first loser.

That said, I absolutely believe that any athlete who has spent so much time training and then accomplishes the feat of making their Olympic team deserves a huge amount of credit and praise. Whether they win or lose isn't important really - getting there is really the accomplishment! They bring honor to their country and fellow team mates! We should recognize them more with the honors bestowed on the gold medal winners. Should someone who trained for 4 years then loses by 1/100 of a second not be honored for their accomplishment? They should be on the cereal box too!

[travelstiles]

One thing to remember, China does not count any medal but gold. The rest are considered a loss by them. In their minds, they truly won the medal count. There are other countries with the same mindset. To me, it is a shame that the honor of being able to compete at the Olympics has been pushed aside and only if you win does it mean anything. Athletes used to stay until the Olympics were done. Now, if they lose or their event is over, they leave.

Sadly, I could not get as interested in the Olympics this year because of how China handled the entire event (or how China handles human rights altogether). Sweeping the city clean of 'undesirables', arresting and retaining protesters, athletes whose ages are in question, and I could go on.
I truly support those athletes who are not groomed and totally supported by the government, whether or not they win a gold. They need all the encouragement and support we can offer.