For a country with just over 25 million people, Australia won a gold medal for every 1,499,993 individuals and a medal for every 554,345 people.
But it’s notably well behind trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand for golds per person. The Kiwis’ 10 golds puts them in third place on that table and a remarkable 11th overall. With a population of 5,338,900, it translates into gold for every 533,890 New Zealanders.
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It’s an astonishing achievement considering that, between 1988 and 2008, New Zealand didn’t surpass three gold medals in a single Games let alone on one single day as it did on Saturday.
Slovenia’s two golds with a population of 2.1 million, Ireland’s four with a population of 5.28 million and the Netherlands’ 15 gold from 17.97 million (1.198 per person) also has them in the top 10 ahead of the Australians in 11th.
Ireland’s position on the medals table makes it just one of three countries, along with New Zealand and Norway, in the overall top 20 ranking countries with a population of fewer than 6 million.
Four is the highest number of Olympic gold medals Ireland has ever won, doubling the amount won in Tokyo four years ago. The closest Ireland came before that was in Atlanta 1996 with three gold medals from Michelle Smith de Bruin for swimming which, despite the controversy that followed, were not struck from the record.
“My country’s name is Dominica (dah-min-EE-ka). We’re not Dominican Republic, so it’s pronounced differently,” LaFond advised journalists after her win. “We are about roughly 70,000 people. Not 7 million. Not 70 million. Seventy thousand. And it is a gorgeous, gorgeous gem in the Caribbean near to Martinique and Guadeloupe … And now they have a gold medal.”
Julien Alfred (right) of St Lucia, after winning the women’s 200 metres final, with Gabrielle Thomas of the US.Credit: AP
Neighbouring St Lucia may have claimed the title in any other year. Alfred won the women’s 100 metres and a few days later snared a second medal, silver in the 200 metres.
Alfred, the first athlete from St Lucia to win an Olympic medal, bent forward and started crying a few moments after she won gold
“Growing up, I used to be on the field struggling, with no shoes, running barefoot, running in my school uniform, running all over the place,” Alfred said.
“We barely have the right facilities. The stadium is not fixed. I hope this gold medal will help St Lucia build a new stadium, to help the sport grow.”
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