The world’s most populous nation didn’t win a gold medal in Paris

After 19 days of non-stop sporting action, the Paris Olympics drew to a close yesterday with a Hollywood-worthy finale as Tom Cruise abseiled into the Stade de France and drove off on a motorcycle with the Olympic flag — setting the stage for Los Angeles in 2028.

Table stakes

Power. Entertainment. Money. The Olympics have long been an extension of the geopolitics of the day, and this year’s competition was no different. The two largest economies in the world, the United States and China, wrestled for top spot of the medal table. Tied on 40 gold medals each — the primary measure used by the International Olympic Committee to rank countries — the US claimed the top spot due to a higher silver medal count, helping it to a total medal haul of 126, the only nation to break the century mark.

But, one of the most striking macro stories of the games is India’s relative underperformance.

Despite a population of more than 1.4 billion, India won just 6 medals, with no gold medals, placing them 71st in the rankings. A country with phenomenal economic potential, which is increasingly being realized, many experts blame a chronic lack of investment in athletics and sports for the country’s underwhelming performance. Although, understandably, pouring money into elite sports is unlikely to be a vote-winning domestic policy when poverty and malnutrition remain all-too-common issues. Indeed, India’s GDP per capita remains around one-fifth of China’s.

Small but mighty

India’s place on that chart begs another question: which nations outperformed relative to their size?

Data compiled by Medals per Capita compares a country’s total medal count to its population, with 3 Caribbean nations claiming the top spots. Grenada, with its bronze medals in Javelin and Decathlon, achieved an impressive 17.8 medals per million people — remarkable for a nation of just over 110,000.

On this measure, New Zealand’s 20-medal haul translates into an impressive 3.7 medals per million citizens. Neighboring Australia also did well. The US, despite its dominance in total medals, barely made the top 50 with 0.4 medals per million people. India, with just one medal for every 235 million inhabitants, came in last.