Medal Table
The Olympic medal table is ranked by the numbers of Gold medals in every country except the United States. The Total Medal ranking is used as the measure by the United States. Whereas, the rest of the world rejects this as a true measure as it values Gold, Silver and Bronze equally.
As a matter of fairness there should be a ranked (points) system adopted. The Points Total is based on the British Press's 5-3-1 system used in 1908. However, some may favour 3-2-1 as the scoring.
The Overall Medal Standings on the Official web site breaks down the medals won into Men’s and Women’s. Plus you can easily see who won every medal for each country and in which events.
The top of the table is dominated by China, USA, Russia, the big EU nations, and Australia. What is apparant is that some big countries like India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Mexico and Brazil all underachieve. Whilst small nations like Cuba and Jamaica overachieve.
Final Table
This is the complete Olympic medal table for the 2008 Beijing Games.
| Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 51 | 21 | 28 | 100 | 346 |
| United States | 36 | 38 | 36 | 110 | 330 |
| Russia | 23 | 21 | 28 | 72 | 206 |
| Great Britain | 19 | 13 | 15 | 47 | 149 |
| Germany | 16 | 10 | 15 | 41 | 125 |
| Australia | 14 | 15 | 17 | 46 | 132 |
| South Korea | 13 | 10 | 8 | 31 | 103 |
| Japan | 9 | 6 | 10 | 25 | 73 |
| Italy | 8 | 10 | 10 | 28 | 80 |
| France | 7 | 16 | 17 | 40 | 100 |
| Ukraine | 7 | 5 | 15 | 27 | 65 |
| Netherlands | 7 | 5 | 4 | 16 | 54 |
| Jamaica | 6 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 41 |
| Spain | 5 | 10 | 3 | 18 | 58 |
| Kenya | 5 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 44 |
| Belarus | 4 | 5 | 10 | 19 | 45 |
| Romania | 4 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 26 |
| Ethiopia | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 25 |
| Canada | 3 | 9 | 6 | 18 | 48 |
| Poland | 3 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 34 |
| Hungary | 3 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 32 |
| Norway | 3 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 32 |
| Brazil | 3 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 35 |
| Czech Republic | 3 | 3 | - | 6 | 24 |
| Slovakia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 22 |
| New Zealand | 3 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 23 |
| Georgia | 3 | - | 3 | 6 | 18 |
| Cuba | 2 | 11 | 11 | 24 | 54 |
| Kazakhstan | 2 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 29 |
| Denmark | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 19 |
| Mongolia | 2 | 2 | - | 4 | 16 |
| Thailand | 2 | 2 | - | 4 | 16 |
| North Korea | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 16 |
| Argentina | 2 | - | 4 | 6 | 14 |
| Switzerland | 2 | - | 4 | 6 | 14 |
| Mexico | 2 | - | 1 | 3 | 11 |
| Turkey | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 20 |
| Zimbabwe | 1 | 3 | - | 4 | 14 |
| Azerbaijan | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 15 |
| Uzbekistan | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 14 |
| Slovenia | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 13 |
| Bulgaria | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| Indonesia | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| Finland | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| Latvia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Belgium | 1 | 1 | - | 2 | 8 |
| Dominican Republic | 1 | 1 | - | 2 | 8 |
| Estonia | 1 | 1 | - | 2 | 8 |
| Portugal | 1 | 1 | - | 2 | 8 |
| India | 1 | - | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Iran | 1 | - | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Bahrain | 1 | - | - | 1 | 5 |
| Cameroon | 1 | - | - | 1 | 5 |
| Panama | 1 | - | - | 1 | 5 |
| Tunisia | 1 | - | - | 1 | 5 |
| Sweden | - | 4 | 1 | 5 | 13 |
| Croatia | - | 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
| Lithuania | - | 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
| Greece | - | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | - | 2 | - | 2 | 6 |
| Nigeria | - | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Austria | - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Ireland | - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Serbia | - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Algeria | - | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Bahamas | - | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Colombia | - | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Kyrgyzstan | - | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Morocco | - | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Tajikistan | - | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Chile | - | 1 | - | 1 | 3 |
| Ecuador | - | 1 | - | 1 | 3 |
| Iceland | - | 1 | - | 1 | 3 |
| Malaysia | - | 1 | - | 1 | 3 |
| Netherlands Antilles | - | 1 | - | 1 | 3 |
| Singapore | - | 1 | - | 1 | 3 |
| South Africa | - | 1 | - | 1 | 3 |
| Sudan | - | 1 | - | 1 | 3 |
| Vietnam | - | 1 | - | 1 | 3 |
| Armenia | - | - | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Chinese Taipei | - | - | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Afghanistan | - | - | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Egypt | - | - | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Israel | - | - | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Mauritius | - | - | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Moldova | - | - | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Togo | - | - | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Venezuela | - | - | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Blocs
| Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Points | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European Union | 90 | 106 | 94 | 290 | 862 | 499,021,851 |
| CIS / Soviet Union1) | 43 | 45 | 83 | 171 | 433 | 277,983,490 |
| Unified China | 51 | 21 | 32 | 104 | 350 | 1,352,450,242 |