Is the US winning or losing the medal count?

Lavender Room
1

The way the charts are being reported, the US is “winning the medal count”, currently with 30 medals, vs 26 for France and 19 for China.

But the US only has 5 golds, which puts US in 7th overall. I’m sorry, but we should only be counting golds here.

I’m sure Tiger, the Williams sisters, Nadal, Federer, Nicklas, Sampras, Djokovic and all the other greats couldn’t give a damn how many podiums they reached in majors and I would be somewhat surprised if they even know how many 2nd and 3rd place finishes they had.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

2

The way the charts are being reported, the US is “winning the medal count”, currently with 30 medals, vs 26 for France and 19 for China.

But the US only has 5 golds, which puts US in 7th overall. I’m sorry, but we should only be counting golds here.

I’m sure Tiger, the Williams sisters, Nadal, Federer, Nicklas, Sampras, Djokovic and all the other greats couldn’t give a damn how many podiums they reached in majors and I would be somewhat surprised if they even know how many 2nd and 3rd place finishes they had.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

I’ll favor a 5-3-1 scoring system. They should not all “count” the same.

China has 69 points. The USA has 76.

But I would hope that the USA finishes with the most gold and the highest total anyway.

3

The way the charts are being reported, the US is “winning the medal count”, currently with 30 medals, vs 26 for France and 19 for China.

But the US only has 5 golds, which puts US in 7th overall. I’m sorry, but we should only be counting golds here.

I’m sure Tiger, the Williams sisters, Nadal, Federer, Nicklas, Sampras, Djokovic and all the other greats couldn’t give a damn how many podiums they reached in majors and I would be somewhat surprised if they even know how many 2nd and 3rd place finishes they had.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

I’ll favor a 5-3-1 scoring system. They should not all “count” the same.

China has 69 points. The USA has 76.

But I would hope that the USA finishes with the most gold and the highest total anyway.

And do all count the same? 200M backstroke does not equal basketball team or gymnastics team medals.

4

The way the charts are being reported, the US is “winning the medal count”, currently with 30 medals, vs 26 for France and 19 for China.

But the US only has 5 golds, which puts US in 7th overall. I’m sorry, but we should only be counting golds here.

I’m sure Tiger, the Williams sisters, Nadal, Federer, Nicklas, Sampras, Djokovic and all the other greats couldn’t give a damn how many podiums they reached in majors and I would be somewhat surprised if they even know how many 2nd and 3rd place finishes they had.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

I’ll favor a 5-3-1 scoring system. They should not all “count” the same.

China has 69 points. The USA has 76.

But I would hope that the USA finishes with the most gold and the highest total anyway.

And do all count the same? 200M backstroke does not equal basketball team or gymnastics team medals.

Interesting, I meant that gold, silver and bronze do not have equal value toward a medal count, in my opinion.

Would you weigh team titles or relays as worth more than individual titles? Would you value some sports over others (is basketball worth more than archery)?

5

The official medal count is for Golds. The USA likes to track total medals because they win that.

6

The official medal count is for Golds. The USA likes to track total medals because they win that.

“Official” according to whom?

Wouldn’t “medal count” mean all medals?

7

The official medal count is for Golds. The USA likes to track total medals because they win that.

“Official” according to whom?

Wouldn’t “medal count” mean all medals?

According to the IOC.

8

https://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/?post=8165223#p8165223
.

9

The official medal count is for Golds. The USA likes to track total medals because they win that.

“Official” according to whom?

Wouldn’t “medal count” mean all medals?

You should be proud at being the best in the world at coming second.

But seriously, yes, everywhere else we report ordering based on golds, then silvers, then bronzes. Though there is no doubt the count done the ‘American way’ shows great depth, it isn’t how it’s done and you’re currently a few rungs down from the top.

Don’t fret, track & field starts soon enough…

10

The official medal count is for Golds. The USA likes to track total medals because they win that.

It’s worse than that. US networks report the US medal count in whichever way puts the US on top of the medal count. If the US had more golds but fewer overall medals, they would rank the table based on golds. But they’re serving an ignorant audience who doesn’t notice the switch.

11

The official medal count is for Golds. The USA likes to track total medals because they win that.

Wouldn’t it be fair to say that when it comes to Olympic medals, the USA can count it however we want and we would “win that”?

All time gold.

All time all medals.

Gold medals in most Summer Olympic Games.

Total medals in most summer Games.

Etc.

EDIT TO ADD:

Holy crap do we dominate. I knew, but I had to look up the specifics. I mean, China beat us in Beijing, and the Soviet Union had some great Olympics (but that is a lot of countries compiled, so that hardly seems fair)… but the USA has still won the medal count 18 times, Soviet Union 6, and five countries did it once (and that includes the “Unified Team” once).

12

The official medal count is for Golds. The USA likes to track total medals because they win that.

It’s worse than that. US networks report the US medal count in whichever way puts the US on top of the medal count. If the US had more golds but fewer overall medals, they would rank the table based on golds. But they’re serving an ignorant audience who doesn’t notice the switch.

Why is this an “ignorance” thing, and moreover, who gives a fuck whether NBC, which is an American network catering to an American audience presents the info in a way that appeals or even panders to that American audience?

There are plenty of actual things and real issues of ignorance to worry about. This isn’t one of them.

13

sure, whatever. That wasn’t the question asked.

14

Wouldn’t be the first time the USA has used a system of measurement separate and inferior to the rest of the world while proclaiming it best :wink:
.

15

The official medal count is for Golds. The USA likes to track total medals because they win that.

It’s worse than that. US networks report the US medal count in whichever way puts the US on top of the medal count. If the US had more golds but fewer overall medals, they would rank the table based on golds. But they’re serving an ignorant audience who doesn’t notice the switch.

Why is this an “ignorance” thing, and moreover, who gives a fuck whether NBC, which is an American network catering to an American audience presents the info in a way that appeals or even panders to that American audience?

There are plenty of actual things and real issues of ignorance to worry about. This isn’t one of them.

I just think it’s disingenuous to tweak the presentation of the medal table without discussing it with the audience. And I think the reason they do this and get away with it is the general ignorance of the audience.

16

The official medal count is for Golds. The USA likes to track total medals because they win that.

It’s worse than that. US networks report the US medal count in whichever way puts the US on top of the medal count. If the US had more golds but fewer overall medals, they would rank the table based on golds. But they’re serving an ignorant audience who doesn’t notice the switch.

Why is this an “ignorance” thing, and moreover, who gives a fuck whether NBC, which is an American network catering to an American audience presents the info in a way that appeals or even panders to that American audience?

There are plenty of actual things and real issues of ignorance to worry about. This isn’t one of them.

I just think it’s disingenuous to tweak the presentation of the medal table without discussing it with the audience. And I think the reason they do this and get away with it is the general ignorance of the audience.

What exactly do you think the audience is ignorant of? NBC usually shows a chart with the countries listed from top to bottom in order of total medals won, but with columns for gold, silver, and bronze. The audience can clearly see who has the most of each medal.

So what exactly is disingenuous?

17

But I would hope that the USA finishes with the most gold and the highest total anyway.

You may be in trouble here. The nations of the world are catching up… Primarily NATO nations, are spending their 2% of GDP on Olympic development programs. Instead of defense. :wink:

18

The official medal count is for Golds. The USA likes to track total medals because they win that.

It’s worse than that. US networks report the US medal count in whichever way puts the US on top of the medal count. If the US had more golds but fewer overall medals, they would rank the table based on golds. But they’re serving an ignorant audience who doesn’t notice the switch.

Why is this an “ignorance” thing, and moreover, who gives a fuck whether NBC, which is an American network catering to an American audience presents the info in a way that appeals or even panders to that American audience?

There are plenty of actual things and real issues of ignorance to worry about. This isn’t one of them.

I just think it’s disingenuous to tweak the presentation of the medal table without discussing it with the audience. And I think the reason they do this and get away with it is the general ignorance of the audience.

What exactly do you think the audience is ignorant of? NBC usually shows a chart with the countries listed from top to bottom in order of total medals won, but with columns for gold, silver, and bronze. The audience can clearly see who has the most of each medal.

So what exactly is disingenuous?

It’s disingenuous to switch the format of the table to gold medal priority when the US has the most golds but not the most total medals, without any mention of using a different presentation format. Most Americans don’t notice (are ignorant of) the difference.

That said, it seems NBC is actually aware that they’re being a bit sneaky, though they never mention it on TV:

https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/olympics/are-different-olympic-medal-counts-know-tally-rcna164477

19

The official medal count is for Golds. The USA likes to track total medals because they win that.

It’s worse than that. US networks report the US medal count in whichever way puts the US on top of the medal count. If the US had more golds but fewer overall medals, they would rank the table based on golds. But they’re serving an ignorant audience who doesn’t notice the switch.

Why is this an “ignorance” thing, and moreover, who gives a fuck whether NBC, which is an American network catering to an American audience presents the info in a way that appeals or even panders to that American audience?

There are plenty of actual things and real issues of ignorance to worry about. This isn’t one of them.

I just think it’s disingenuous to tweak the presentation of the medal table without discussing it with the audience. And I think the reason they do this and get away with it is the general ignorance of the audience.

What exactly do you think the audience is ignorant of? NBC usually shows a chart with the countries listed from top to bottom in order of total medals won, but with columns for gold, silver, and bronze. The audience can clearly see who has the most of each medal.

So what exactly is disingenuous?

It’s disingenuous to switch the format of the table to gold medal priority when the US has the most golds but not the most total medals, without any mention of using a different presentation format. Most Americans don’t notice (are ignorant of) the difference.

That said, it seems NBC is actually aware that they’re being a bit sneaky, though they never mention it on TV:

https://www.nbcnews.com/...now-tally-rcna164477

Your brain is too wrapped up in conspiracy nonsense. Not everything is a plot to defraud the average American.

20

The official medal count is for Golds. The USA likes to track total medals because they win that.

It’s worse than that. US networks report the US medal count in whichever way puts the US on top of the medal count. If the US had more golds but fewer overall medals, they would rank the table based on golds. But they’re serving an ignorant audience who doesn’t notice the switch.

Why is this an “ignorance” thing, and moreover, who gives a fuck whether NBC, which is an American network catering to an American audience presents the info in a way that appeals or even panders to that American audience?

There are plenty of actual things and real issues of ignorance to worry about. This isn’t one of them.

I just think it’s disingenuous to tweak the presentation of the medal table without discussing it with the audience. And I think the reason they do this and get away with it is the general ignorance of the audience.

What exactly do you think the audience is ignorant of? NBC usually shows a chart with the countries listed from top to bottom in order of total medals won, but with columns for gold, silver, and bronze. The audience can clearly see who has the most of each medal.

So what exactly is disingenuous?

It’s disingenuous to switch the format of the table to gold medal priority when the US has the most golds but not the most total medals, without any mention of using a different presentation format. Most Americans don’t notice (are ignorant of) the difference.

That said, it seems NBC is actually aware that they’re being a bit sneaky, though they never mention it on TV:

https://www.nbcnews.com/...now-tally-rcna164477

Your brain is too wrapped up in conspiracy nonsense. Not everything is a plot to defraud the average American.

No, it’s a plot to serve the American audience with what it wants to see: America leading the medal table. Which brings more views, and ad revenue. It’s not a conspiracy. It’s a decision by the network management. They know what they’re doing, as they admit in that article I linked to.