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Originally Posted by Ishkur
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The second reason is more obvious than the first: population. America is the most populated first-world country on earth, and the third most populated country ever. Considering over half of the countries on earth are troubled by more important things like civil wars and crushing poverty, this puts America in a very advantageous position.
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So there you go: A country that has the largest, most diverse, educated affluent labour pool in the world to pick from, with the most opulent facilities to train them on, and an almost limitless supply of money to throw at any and all athletics programs......I'm actually surprised America isn't winning EVERYTHING.
So if you want to record, track and count what is the best country of the Games, you have to take into account inflation for population and money. You'd find that the REAL hero of the Games is Australia. A country that small (with a population 1/14 the size of the US) is surprisingly successful at athletics. And they do it without any swagger or machismo.
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Aussie Aussie Aussie
* Natch is a proud Australian
One thing that was referenced on a Olympics summary program on Aussie TV the other night was an adjusted Medal tally comparing Australia with the US if Australia had the population of the USA ... quite insightful
But I think our tally would be even more impressive if we had the population of China LOL - anyway - the reasons related to funding, quality coaching and training venues are probably the main reasons why the US tally is higher than the others consistently.
I do take offense to the comment
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Originally Posted by mark_chalifoux
if it looks like a champion, and it smells like a champion, then by golly, it’s an American.
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But I think that's because the author meant for everyone who has a brain to take offense - it's an offensive statement.