[Regorp]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

Anyone catch the race last night??

USA v Botswana. USA has a population of about 330 million. Botswana has a population of about 2.6 million. USA won by .1 - that is point 1 - seconds.

Tiny country just north of South Africa is amazing. Consider they run through the jungle in bare feet, wearing running shoes they should have won. Go Botswana!!

[mtdjed]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

In my experience, the larger the population pool, the better chance you have of getting better athletes. That is the reason that most states have separate divisions for sports. The large schools play large schools and the small schools play small schools.

There are exceptions which is why Hoosiers was such a great story. It was based on Milan High School winning the 1954 Indiana state championship against Muncie .Central High School, a school ten times its size. If Muncie had won, it would not have been a great story.

The story of the runner from St. Lucia (with a population of under 200,000 - a little bigger than the Villages) beating Sha'Carri Richardson in the 100 was an amazing story.

As to the 4x400, the fact that a country with a population less than half the population of the Miami metro area can come within a tenth of a second of beating the USA is a story.

There is a lot more than population pool size involved. To name a few: genetics, opportunity, religion, environment, health, wealth, discipline, devotion, training, tradition, family, government, etc.

Consider how close Serbia came to defeating the USA Men's Basketball team. They have something beyond a population pool providing their talent. Perhaps it was their haircuts and fewer tattoos. Who knows?

[LeRoySmith]

Originally Posted by Charsaunt

One thing never ceases to amaze me about Talk of The Villages. No matter how innocuous or innocent an original post might be, there is always someone who can find a way to make a snarky comment about it. Really Boogie, if you and other like minded individuals are that jaded or unhappy with your life, please don't invite the rest of us to share your misery.

I think this should be the post of the day. Good on you Char's aunt.

[Arctic Fox]

Originally Posted by GATORBILL66

Why would anyone watch these anti christian olympics?

Because most of the World's population is not Christian...

...and most of those who are do not over-react to imagined slights.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Charsaunt

One thing never ceases to amaze me about Talk of The Villages. No matter how innocuous or innocent an original post might be, there is always someone who can find a way to make a snarky comment about it. Really Boogie, if you and other like minded individuals are that jaded or unhappy with your life, please don't invite the rest of us to share your misery.

Well said. Other than certain comments almost anything open for discussion

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Arctic Fox

Because most of the World's population is not Christian...

...and most of those who are do not over-react to imagined slights.

Well said

[greg.turay]

Because they have to outrun the lions and wilderbesst

[Rainger99]

I just came across this website.


OlympicNationalRankings

It says that the top 5 countries were
1. Australia
2. France
3. Great Britain
4. Netherlands
5. USA

It uses probability rankings to determine which country performed the best at the Olympics. It is based on a mathematical formula that appears to be quite complicated. It takes a 24 page article to explain it. I just went to the results!

It does this by ranking according to the Probability Index U, which has a simple meaning: U measures the improbability that a country of a given population would win as many medals as it has, or more medals, if all people in competitive countries worldwide had equal medal-winning capabilities.

[Rainger99]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

The two countries that dominated in the Olympics were USA and China. India, despite its huge population, is a third world country so I would not expect them to do very well at the Olympics.

Just found this article on why India performs so miserably at the Olympics.
I guess when you don't have enough to eat, you don't have much time to spend at the golf course, swimming pool, track, or gymnasium.

No golds for India: Why the world’s most populous country punches below its weight at the Olympics - Yahoo Sports

“When people say 1.4 billion people and only (six) medals, that is a totally wrong headline, because … 1.39 billion people don’t have access to sports facilities,” said Boria Majumdar, sports analyst and author of “Dreams of a Billion: India and the Olympic Games.”