Based on the Medal Table at lunchtime (GMT) on Thursday (18th) I decided to have a look at the relationship between GDP per capita, population and medals won at the Summer Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil.
Not unsurprisingly the United States (93), China (54), Great Britain (50), Russia (41), Japan (33), France (31), Germany (29), Australia (24), Italy (23) and South Korea (16) occupy the top ten places in the medals table. The ten are amongst the biggest economies on the planet, measured by GDP. Eight of the ten are in both top ten lists.
Below are two graphics to digest. The first considers the medals haul of the seventy-nine countries that have made the podium so far and GDP per capita. The second plots medals won and population. Those below the trend-line in each graph are outperforming the mean, based on either output per person or population.