INFOGRAPHIC: Olympic Medals by Population, GDP

By Bridget O'Donnell

China may have had a disappointing 2016 Olympics, but how did its medal winning rate compare with non-traditional factors like population and Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?

The Telegraph has released a series of graphics charting medals against those factors. The results are fascinating — and a little bit surprising.

When comparing medal count to golds per athlete, for instance, China fares relatively well at ninth place — roughly 0.17 medals per athlete. Surprisingly, North Korea finds itself near the top of the list with 0.2 medals per athlete.

Per capita, China fares poorly. The country with the world's largest population earned just 0.05 medals per million people, ranking 26th out of 87 countries included in the survey.

When comparing medal count to GDP, China performs even worse, with 0.6 medals earned per GBP£100 billion of GDP. That puts it at 35th out of 87 countries. "Chinese Taipei" (AKA Taiwan), meanwhile, tops the list. Though it earned just three medals overall in the Rio Olympics (one gold and two bronze), its has won a rate of 91 gold and 273 overall medals per GBP£100 billion of GDP.



[Images via Telegraph, Interaksyon]

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