DailyBeast.com: Top Summer Olympics Countries
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Top Summer Olymp...
To find the world’s winningest Olympics countries, The Daily Beast didn’t want to use a straight medal count. After all, the games have become known for their tales of triumphant athletes overcoming adversity to stand on that famous podium. So we wanted to know: which countries have defied the odds?
We started by looking at the summer Olympic games played since 1992, to avoid the data complications associated with the preceding two major national upheavals: the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the breakup of the Soviet Union. This allowed us to work with data for the world as it currently exists, for the most part. We considered the number of medals over these five Olympic Games for each country—while accounting for total population; GDP per capita (with a base dollar year of 2005); life expectancy, with data from the United Nations, the USDA Economic Research Service, and the CIA World Fact Book.
Because gold is worth more than bronze and represents the pinnacle of Olympic sporting achievement, we weighted gold medals at five times bronze, and silver medals at three times bronze. Finally, we put our top-25 on a 10-point scale. Like in a perfect gymnastic routine, the country closest to 10.00 ended up on the top of the podium. Click through to see the winners.
(Photos: Getty Images)
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15. Zimbabwe
Daily Beast Score: 7.56
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 2
Silver: 4
Bronze: 1
Total: 7
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 12,599,367
GDP/Capita: $31
Life Expectancy: 45
(Photos: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images)
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14. Kenya
Daily Beast Score: 7.62
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 11
Silver: 20
Bronze: 13
Total: 44
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 31,649,866
GDP/Capita: $521
Life Expectancy: 55
(Photos: Phil Walter / Getty Images)
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13. Kazakhstan
Daily Beast Score: 7.82
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 9
Silver: 16
Bronze: 14
Total: 39
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 15,523,063
GDP/Capita: $3,042
Life Expectancy: 64
(Photos: Al Bello / Getty Images)
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12. United State...
Daily Beast Score: 8.00
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 189
Silver: 167
Bronze: 156
Total: 512
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 291,175,223
GDP/Capita: $37,079
Life Expectancy: 77
(Photos: Al Bello, Octagon / Getty Images)
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11. Jamaica
Daily Beast Score: 8.08
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 9
Silver: 14
Bronze: 10
Total: 33
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 2,616,549
GDP/Capita: $4,021
Life Expectancy: 71
(Photos: Julian Finney / Getty Images)
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10. Ukraine
Daily Beast Score: 8.15
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 28
Silver: 22
Bronze: 46
Total: 96
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 49,522,445
GDP/Capita: $1,550
Life Expectancy: 67
(Photos: Andrian Dennis, AFP / Getty Images)
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9. South Korea
Daily Beast Score: 8.17
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 49
Silver: 52
Bronze: 44
Total: 145
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 46,381,608
GDP/Capita: $14,838
Life Expectancy: 76
(Photos: Omar Torres, AFP / Getty Images)
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8. Germany
Daily Beast Score: 8.23
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 95
Silver: 82
Bronze: 116
Total: 293
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 85,357,469
GDP/Capita: $30,907
Life Expectancy: 78
(Photos: Aamir Qureshi, AFP / Getty Images)
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7. Australia
Daily Beast Score: 8.55
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 63
Silver: 74
Bronze: 84
Total: 221
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 19,926,031
GDP/Capita: $32,527
Life Expectancy: 79
(Photos: Cameron Spencer / Getty Images)
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6. Romania
Daily Beast Score: 8.59
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 31
Silver: 25
Bronze: 34
Total: 90
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 22,753,093
GDP/Capita: $3,951
Life Expectancy: 71
(Photos: Fred Dufour, AFP / Getty Images)
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5. Belarus
Daily Beast Score: 8.64
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 10
Silver: 29
Bronze: 36
Total: 66
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 10,202,890
GDP/Capita: $3,207
Life Expectancy: 69
(Photos: Getty Images / Getty Images)
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4. Bulgaria
Daily Beast Score: 8.67
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 14
Silver: 22
Bronze: 25
Total: 61
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 8,289,701
GDP/Capita: $3,048
Life Expectancy: 72
(Photos: Saeed Khan, AFP / Getty Images)
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3. Russia
Daily Beast Score: 8.83
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 153
Silver: 135
Bronze: 139
Total: 427
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 149,666,339
GDP/Capita: $4,579
Life Expectancy: 66
(Photos: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
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2. Hungary
Daily Beast Score: 8.91
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 37
Silver: 33
Bronze: 25
Total: 95
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 10,520,792
GDP/Capita: $8,606
Life Expectancy: 71
(Photos: Fred Dufour, AFP / Getty Images)
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1. Cuba
Daily Beast Score: 9.47
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 45
Silver: 43
Bronze: 48
Total: 136
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 11,314,572
GDP/Capita: $3,532
Life Expectancy: 76
(Photos: Paul Kitagaki Jr., Sacramento Bee/ MCT / Getty Images)
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