Why does tiny Australia kick ass at the Olympics, while giant India flounders?

[Connorsrpg]

As an Aussie, I say "yay, go Aussies!"

We do do well and I think climate and being sports mad does contirbute. BUT, you cannot put our success to just the dollars being spent by our Govt!!!

Much of the money in Australia goes to sports NOT in the Olympics, just like other countries mentioned. Another Aussie, said our sports funding is crazy (I don't see it as so), but even with inflated spending on sports, it DOES NOT go into the sports that we see at the Olympics. We have a well-funded AIS, yes, but a lot of money is spent in communites playing traditional sports that are NOT at Olympics.

Ask how well the Aussie baseballers do. Even the well celbrated swimmers do not see the piles of money, until AFTER their success, when, like in US and other places SPONSORS chip in. Jodie Henry won 3 gold. Ask her how much she earnt to get to Olympics and I bet you will be stunned.

Yes, we are sports mad
But $, especially from our Govt doen't cut it, especially when you see the sports that we are winning in.

Connors

 

[TimSmith]

Only Norway kicks major arese. And that's because ... [okay, treading into politics here] ...

I thought Norway had a high GDP because of its North Sea Oil and low population? Wealth distribution is another story of course....

 

[johnsemlak]

If you use purchasing power parity numbers (which the CIA world factbook does, and so does this http://www.economist.com/countries/India/profile.cfm?folder=Profile%2DEconomic%20Data at the Economist's web site, the ~$3000 number seems to be correct. Purchasing power parity numbers are generally considered more accurate than strict currency conversions.

I rely on the Big Mac Index for all my comparative economics needs.

 

[drothgery]

After ELEVEN days Australia is 2nd to the Bahamas, who have only 1 medal, a gold.

THE USA has slipped to 29th place.

Go to www.abs.gov.au and follow the link from there.

Duncan

What I should have said was that the absolute numbers (medals per capita) for the US were going to go up a lot in the second week, while Australia's going to stay pretty level. The position on the chart, though, might drop, because the more events that are contested, the more likely it is that a small country will win a medal or two. I'd suggest the authors include minimum medal threshold in their rankings if they want it to be at all meaningful though, or small countries that win a medal or three really distort the results.

It's also likely that Russia will pass China for the #2 spot in the overall medal count.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I rely on the Big Mac Index for all my comparative economics needs.

Its kind of sad that its almost the best way to compare economies.

 

[Welverin]

India has a GDP per head of $470. Literacy is 58 percent.

U.S. has a GDP per head of $35,500. Literacy is 99 percent.

Where do you get the literacy numbers for, and what is the current rate for the world as a whole?

Still, I'm not minimizing Australia's accomplishments. They deserve all the recognition they earn. Speaking from an American's point of view, I was cheering for the Aussies to beat our basketball team. Our team is made up of a bunch of prima donna street thug wannabees. Seeing our team humbled twice, by Puerto Rico and Lithuania was AWESOME! Frankly, I hope that the US's other basketball team (Puerto Rico!) goes all the way.

*ahem* sorry for that detour...

You should be, it's wrong and inaccurate. I also don't think the fact none of them are members excludes them from the prohibition on personal attacks.

 

[drothgery]

Where do you get the literacy numbers for, and what is the current rate for the world as a whole?

I'm not sure where he got them, but they're in the CIA world factbook as well; you can get global data by looking up the country "World". Apparently the world's literacy rate is about 77% (1995 est).

 

[Gary Johnson]

Australia is of western culture, not India. I think that India at large don't care for the Olympic games, which just are a westerners' stupidity. When you are an Indian you know better: life is short, lets practive yoga quickly and be able to reach the divine before death, and leave those puny nonsensical olympic concerns for materialistic people who have lost their brains.

Don't take my insults against the loympics too seriously However, know that I really don't care for the games, and think that Indian culture has much more interesting things to propose than a handful of olympic champions.

Like cricket, for instance. I'm sure India would be much more interested in the Olympics if Tendulkar, Laxman, Dravid, Ganguly, Kumble and teammates were taking part.

Australia's fascination with sport and sporting success has already been mentioned. As an Australian, the thing I find most interesting about the Olympics is how well we do considering our major team sports aren't represented: cricket (the premiere summer sport), Australian Rules football, rugby league, rugby union (all bigger than soccer), netball ... we do pretty well considering so many of our team sports aren't included in the Olympics. Still, on the plus side, if rugby union and netball were in the Olympics, New Zealand would have a chance to win something, and we can't have that.

Cheers,

Gary Johnson
--
Home Page: http://www.uq.net.au/~zzjohnsg
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[Hypersmurf]

Still, on the plus side, if rugby union and netball were in the Olympics, New Zealand would have a chance to win something, and we can't have that.

Well, we won women's double sculls in rowing, and women's individual pursuit in cycling.

As we cannot possibly fail to be reminded of, any time we go anywhere near a newspaper, television, or radio.

It's as bad as 1996, with Danyon Loader winning the 200 and 400 freestyle. We saw the last few seconds of those two damned races a thousand times. More. Aargh.

-Hyp.

 

[drothgery]

Well, we won women's double sculls in rowing, and women's individual pursuit in cycling.

As we cannot possibly fail to be reminded of, any time we go anywhere near a newspaper, television, or radio.

... whereas here in the states, you have to be a freakishly good athlete who wins multiple medals (ala Michael Phelps), be really hot (ala Kerri Walsh & Misty May), play a popular team sport (basketball, women's soccer, softball), or be a medal contender with a great story to even get noticed.