To find the world’s winningest Olympics countries, The Daily Beast didn’t want to use a straight medal count. After all, the games have become known for their tales of triumphant athletes overcoming adversity to stand on that famous podium. So we wanted to know: which countries have defied the odds?
We started by looking at the summer Olympic games played since 1992, to avoid the data complications associated with the preceding two major national upheavals: the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the breakup of the Soviet Union. This allowed us to work with data for the world as it currently exists, for the most part. We considered the number of medals over these five Olympic Games for each country—while accounting for total population; GDP per capita (with a base dollar year of 2005); life expectancy, with data from the United Nations, the USDA Economic Research Service, and the CIA World Fact Book.
Because gold is worth more than bronze and represents the pinnacle of Olympic sporting achievement, we weighted gold medals at five times bronze, and silver medals at three times bronze. Finally, we put our top-25 on a 10-point scale. Like in a perfect gymnastic routine, the country closest to 10.00 ended up on the top of the podium. Click through to see the winners.
Getty Images (5)
Daily Beast Score: 6.78
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 29
Silver: 37
Bronze: 21
Total: 87
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 42,994,327
GDP/capita: $22,368
Life expectancy: 79
Michael Kappeler, AFP / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 6.80
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 16
Silver: 18
Bronze: 9
Total: 43
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 11,299,266
GDP/capita: $18,292
Life expectancy: 78
Pedro Ugarte, AFP / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 6.90
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 45
Silver: 43
Bronze: 52
Total: 140
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 61,614,663
GDP/capita: $32,207
Life expectancy: 78
Don Emmert, AFP / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 7.01
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 14
Silver: 14
Bronze: 12
Total: 40
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 10,578,682
GDP/capita: $10,476
Life expectancy: 75
Axel Schmidt, AFP / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 7.19
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 29
Silver: 34
Bronze: 34
Total: 97
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 16,368,390
GDP/capita: $35,091
Life expectancy: 78
Mark Ralston, AFP / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 7.22
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 143
Silver: 98
Bronze: 85
Total: 326
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 1,273,776,650
GDP/capita: $1,279
Life expectancy: 71
Al Bello / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 7.23
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 50
Silver: 44
Bronze: 54
Total: 148
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 60,404,269
GDP/capita: $27,646
Life expectancy: 79
Andy Lyons / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 7.35
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 22
Silver: 24
Bronze: 24
Total: 70
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 39,184,922
GDP/capita: $6,640
Life expectancy: 73
Julian Finney / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 7.43
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 54
Silver: 51
Bronze: 72
Total: 177
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 61,949,860
GDP/capita: $31,250
Life expectancy: 79
Valery Hache, AFP / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 7.47
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 5
Silver: 2
Bronze: 11
Total: 18
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 4,763,376
GDP/capita: $1,181
Life expectancy: 72
Valery Hache, AFP / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 7.56
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 2
Silver: 4
Bronze: 1
Total: 7
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 12,599,367
GDP/capita: $31
Life expectancy: 45
Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 7.62
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 11
Silver: 20
Bronze: 13
Total: 44
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 31,649,866
GDP/capita: $521
Life expectancy: 55
Phil Walter / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 7.82
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 9
Silver: 16
Bronze: 14
Total: 39
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 15,523,063
GDP/capita: $3,042
Life expectancy: 64
Al Bello / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 8.00
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 189
Silver: 167
Bronze: 156
Total: 512
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 291,175,223
GDP/capita: $37,079
Life expectancy: 77
Al Bello, Octagon / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 8.08
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 9
Silver: 14
Bronze: 10
Total: 33
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 2,616,549
GDP/capita: $4,021
Life expectancy: 71
Julian Finney / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 8.15
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 28
Silver: 22
Bronze: 46
Total: 96
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 49,522,445
GDP/capita: $1,550
Life expectancy: 67
Andrian Dennis, AFP / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 8.17
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 49
Silver: 52
Bronze: 44
Total: 145
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 46,381,608
GDP/capita: $14,838
Life expectancy: 76
Omar Torres, AFP / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 8.23
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 95
Silver: 82
Bronze: 116
Total: 293
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 85,357,469
GDP/capita: $30,907
Life expectancy: 78
Aamir Qureshi. AFP / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 8.55
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 63
Silver: 74
Bronze: 84
Total: 221
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 19,926,031
GDP/capita: $32,527
Life expectancy: 79
Cameron Spencer / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 8.59
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 31
Silver: 25
Bronze: 34
Total: 90
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 22,753,093
GDP/capita: $3,951
Life expectancy: 71
Fred Dufour, AFP / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 8.64
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 10
Silver: 29
Bronze: 36
Total: 66
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 10,202,890
GDP/capita: $3,207
Life expectancy: 69
Getty Images / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 8.67
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 14
Silver: 22
Bronze: 25
Total: 61
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 8,289,701
GDP/capita: $3,048
Life expectancy: 72
Saeed Khan, AFP / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 8.83
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 153
Silver: 135
Bronze: 139
Total: 427
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 149,666,339
GDP/capita: $4,579
Life expectancy: 66
Jamie Squire / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 8.91
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 37
Silver: 33
Bronze: 25
Total: 95
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 10,520,792
GDP/capita: $8,606
Life expectancy: 71
Fred Dufour, AFP / Getty Images
Daily Beast Score: 9.47
Medal Results, 1992-2008
Gold: 45
Silver: 43
Bronze: 48
Total: 136
Country profile, 1992-2008 averages
Population: 11,314,572
GDP/capita: $3,532
Life expectancy: 76
Paul Kitagaki Jr., Sacramento Bee / MCT / Getty Images
