Does the medal count represent a country's general sporting abilities?

[flamer]

With the Olympics happening and the buzz about winning medals. Do you think (look at the Topic).

Another question to consider is whether Gold Medals should be given that much more recognition than Silver or Bronze. Its almost a Gold-or-nothing scenario at the Olympics. Does the number of Gold Medals or the total number of medals represent general sporting ability of a nation?

[yittz]

Gold should worth more than silver and bronze.

Also many sports aren't olympics sports.

And olympics is a competition of elite, it doesn't say much about the other 1.3 billion people discussing about olympics online or watching it on tv.

As a nation, I have to say Australia is the most sporty.

[flamer]

But should Gold get that much more recognition than Silver and Bronze. Sometimes they are only seperated by miliseconds. We seem to only remember Gold Medalists.

[Trien Chieu]

But should Gold get that much more recognition than Silver and Bronze. Sometimes they are only seperated by miliseconds. We seem to only remember Gold Medalists.

Well, I think medals should be evaluated as the following:
Gold Medal = 3 points
Silver Medal = 2 points
Bronze Medal = 1 point

[999roses]

Yeah I agree. The current system isn't that fair with only gold being important. It's like saying, if you're not the best, why bother.

[xJadedx]

I would say it only represents the country's summer sports abilities, and the medal count to me matters more than the scoring system, since often, the difference between gold and silver and bronze are minute.
Look at Canada who hasn't won anything. Does that mean Canada in general suck at sports? Not necessariyl, given that Canada has very good records at the Winter Olmypics. It may only be indicative that Canada isn't great at summer sports, or that they just didn't put as much effort.

[AndyChrono]

It's not really representative of a country's general ability at sports.

Anyone going to the Olympics is pretty much world-class and in that Top 0.0001 percentile or whatever. There's no way they can represent the general population in their country. The US has far and away the highest medal haul in history but yet has the highest obesity rate as well.

If anything, medal counts are more an indication of a country's sports infrastructure: training facilities, coaches, etc. Or if you are cynical about these things, the quality of their med labs... This is why many athletes train in the United States while representing another country.

[999roses]

Canada doesn't invest in its athletes as much...especially summer games. It's not fair to judge them that way. US and China are more gung-ho about it because they care a lot more about this as a way of "showcasing their image' to the world.