Penton: Canada: Small population, big medal haul
By Bruce Penton
It’s no surprise that the world’s athletic powers, the United States and China, stood atop the medal standings when the Paris Olympic Games concluded Aug. 11.
But Canada’s best-ever medal haul of 27, based on population, was sixth for per-capita medals behind New Zealand (20 medals from a country with 5.3 million people … one medal for every 265,000 people), Australia (53 medals, 27 million population (one medal per 500,000 citizens), the Netherlands, which finished sixth overall with 34 total medals (one medal per 529,000 people), Great Britain (one medal per one million people) and Italy (one per approximately 1.4 million).
Disappointingly for our friends to the south, the United States was well back, winning one medal per approximately 2.66 million people.
Canada’s athletes were outstanding, with our country’s 27 medals, including nine golds, working out to one medal per 1.5 million people. That’s nearly twice as good as the Americans’ total.
They say statistics are for losers, but numbers don’t lie. A country with a huge population like the United States, 342 million, can’t help but pile up the medals because it has so many more athletes from which to choose. China, which finished second in total medals with 91, has a population of about 1.4 billion, so its per-capital medal haul — one per 15.3 million people — was miserable.
The bulk of Canada’s medal success came in the pool, with Summer McIntosh the individual leader with three golds and one silver. Our country’s top hammer throw athletes — Camryn Rogers and Ethan Katzberg — both won gold and transformed Canada into the Hammer Throw Capital of the World. Canada’s other gold medals came from Christa Deguchi in women’s 57-kg judo, the 4x100-metre relay team, Phil (Wizard) Kim in breaking, and Katie Vincent in women’s sprint canoe.
Other Canadian silver medals were won by the women’s rugby sevens team, the women’s eight rowing team, weightlifter Maude Charron, Marco Arop in the men’s 800-metres, Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson in beach volleyball, and swimmer Josh Liendo. Eleven bronze medals also came back to Canada — in fencing, synchronized diving, swimming (three bronze medals), trampoline, mixed doubles tennis, boxing, pole vault, women’s canoeing and women’s taekwondo (57-kilograms).
Canada didn’t really start to make its mark as a solid Olympic threat until the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, the Games that were boycotted by many of the world’s Communist countries in retaliation for the 1980 boycott of the Moscow Games by the West. Canadian athletes won 44 medals (asterisk) that year but had racked up between 10 and 24 every year since. This year’s 27 sets a new benchmark. The Montreal Olympics of 1976 was painful for the Maple Leaf athletes, getting blanked in the gold medal category and emerging as the only host country in history to not win a single gold.
Not counting 1984, Canada’s previous best gold-medal years came in 1992 and 2021 (the 2020 Games that were pushed back a year because of Covid-19), with seven. Our overall medal total of 27 is impressive — 12th overall.
Per-capita, though, we’re sixth. Even more impressive.
Jon Greenberg of The Athletic, during the Chicago White Sox historic losing streak: “The White Sox lose and lose and lose, and they’ve gotten so much practice, they now might be the best to ever do it.”
Bob Molinaro of pilotonline.com (Hampton, Va.): “Jim Harbaugh’s vigorous public denial of knowing anything about Michigan’s sign-stealing scheme would have impressed Sgt. Schultz.”
Another one from Molinaro: “Another twist in the further monetization of college sports has Miami recording star Pitbull purchasing the naming rights to Florida International’s football stadium for $6 million. For the next five years, FIU will play in Pitbull Stadium.”
Headline at the Beaverton, in recognition of Canada’s two gold medals in the hammer throw: “Canadian tradition of giving children hammers at birth pays off.”
RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com: “In Dante’s Inferno, Satan is quoted as saying ‘It is better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven.’ Would someone please pass that on to Nathan Rourke?”
Headline at fark.com: “You’d think they’d stop the Swim the Paris Sewer event at the Olympics by now after another athlete falls ill.”
Another one from fark.com: “Following record-tying losing streak, White Sox close the barn door, fire Pedro GrifLOL”
Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: “There’s nothing wrong with 3X3 basketball as a sport. It’s something you should play in the park with your friends. It’s just not an Olympic sport.”
Another one from Simmons: ”Every Olympics, in my view, should have women’s softball and men’s baseball. How those rank below break dancing, pairs race walking, rock climbing and surfing is beyond me.”
A third Olympic crack from Simmons, after Canada won gold in both men’s and women’s hammer throw: “For the record, have you ever known anyone who threw hammers? Other than at IKEA instructions?”
Care to comment? Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca