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The REAL winners on the FINAL 2024 Olympic medal list

The final 2024 Olympic medal list is available HERE and makes for great reading if you’re American. The next hosts of the 2028 Olympic games in Los Angeles will be well pleased with 126 medals, including 40 golds. But because they sent by far the largest athlete contingent, with the most financial backing, was coming out on top not expected?

More than 11 000 athletes across 32 sporting codes made up the 329 events at the 2024 Olympic games in Paris. And we want to dig a little deeper behind the medal tally. We want to find which of the 206 competing nations on the final 2024 Olympic medal list achieved the most with the least number of athletes. Therefore, which nation has the highest concentration of medal-winning athletes for the number that qualified. And where South Africa sits amongst it all …

FINAL 2024 OLYMPIC MEDAL LIST

A final 2024 Olympic medal list reads very differently when you factor in the number of athletes each nation sent. Image: IOC

Below is a list of the final 2024 Olympic medal list but with the medals divided by the number of athletes each nation sent to the games, according to Today.com:

RANK NATION MEDALS ATHLETES ATHLETES PER MEDAL
1. China     91  405   4.45
2. Korea   32   144   4.50
3. Great Britain 65  327 5.03
4. USA  126  637  5.05
5. Kenya 11 72  6.54
6. Ethiopia   5   34 6.8
7. Uzbekistan 13    90 6.92
8. Jamaica 6   48    8
9. Netherlands  34   273   8.02
10. Australia 53  477  9.00
11. France 64 596   9.31
12. Hungary 19 178    9.36
13. Japan 45 428  9.51
14. New Zealand 20 195 9.75
15. Italy   40 402 10.05
16. Canada  27  315  11.66
17. Germany 33   453 13.72
18. Algeria 3 45 15.00
19. Spain 18 383  21.27
n/a South Africa 6 149   24.83

FAR EAST AND AFRICA ON THE RISE

final 2024 Olympic medal list
The ratio of medals earned to athletes paints a different picture for the final 2024 Olympic medal list. Image: IOC

When you look at the final 2024 Olympic medal list through the lens of the number of athletes, the complexion does begin to look different. Top of the pile ahead of the United States is in fact China. The former hosts sent over a big contingent but also great delivered results. The Republic of Korea will be bringing home a healthy tally of medals for a team that’s a third the size of larger nations.

Even the British outdid the Americans when it comes to the number of athletes per medal. Great Britain’s contingent of 327 athletes was made up of more women than men – 174 to 153. On the African continent, Kenya and Ethiopia performed brilliantly well in the distance running events, bringing home a combined 16 medals for just over 100 athletes. The unfancied nation of Uzbekistan had great success in fighting sports like wrestling and boxing.

SOUTH AFRICA’S PERFORMANCE

Team South Africa medal table
Team South Africa was represented by 149 athletes at Paris 2024 in the country’s 21st appearance at the Olympic Games. Image: Roger Sedres / Anton Geyser / Team SA

Meanwhile, ranked well out of the top final Olympic medal list, South Africa won only one medal per 24.83 athletes it sent to Paris. Granted, we did compete in team events like rugby and hockey, which skews the ratio. However, many poorer nations – including three on the African continent – achieved a lot more than we were able to. Six medals may be an improvement over the three we earned back in Japan 2020. But it pales in comparison to our Rio 2016 return of 10 medals. Under Gayton McKenzie’s leadership we must identify the events we can excel in and begin to funnel money and resources into these for future success.

WHAT CAN WE DO TO IMPROVE OUR OLYMPIC ATHLETES?

final 2024 Olympic medal list
Be sure to share your thoughts in the comment section below … Image: File

Let us know by clicking on the comment tab below or by emailing info@thesouthafrican.com. You can also send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Don’t forget to follow @TheSAnews on X and The South African on Facebook for the latest social media updates.

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