Top 10 countries with the most Olympic medals

[Monzanator 4,769]

On 17/04/2020 at 22:07, OlympicsFan said:

It's funny that you mention it ... since they discussed that point too. According to them it's not an explanation, because if all of "India's talent" would focus on cricket, then they should be very dominant in that sport, but they (according to the writers (i have no clue about cricket ...)) have never been as dominant as Australia/England or even the West Indies (apparently they are/were good in cricket?).

 

India used to be pretty good in field hockey too - just like Pakistan?

 

Hey, even USA doesn't win in Baseball World Classic all the time

[OlympicsFan 860]

9 hours ago, Monzanator said:

 

India used to be pretty good in field hockey too - just like Pakistan?

 

Hey, even USA doesn't win in Baseball World Classic all the time

Sorry, i don't get the point you are trying to make ... ?

1) India has 1.3 billion people, while pretty much all the other countries that are good at field hockey or cricket have far less people. If all the indian talent would focus on those 2 sports, then they should be at least as dominant as the US in basketball. You have to keep in mind that (to my knowledge) in none of the countries that are great in field hockey (Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Australia, England, Argentina), field hockey is anywhere close to being the most popular sport.

2) I have no clue about baseball, so i can't say how representative that fact is for the american strength in baseball. Maybe the reason why the don't win every time is the same as in basketball. They don't play with their best players and then there are also different rules.

The difference between the US and India is that the US is dominant in tons of other sports (despite having less than one fourth of India's population), so you can clearly tell that a lot of their talent is "diverted" into other sports. I am also not sure whether baseball in the US has the same importance as hockey in India? I would say football is more important in the US and basketball is about as popular as baseball. In addition to that the US not always winning in baseball might have something to do with the fact that (in my opinion) they have a stronger competitor in baseball than India has in cricket or hockey. Baseball is super popular in Japan (a big and rich country), while on the other hand hockey isn't anywhere near as popular in countries like Germany, Argentina, England or Australia.

[rajiv 31]

OK  Indians historically didn't have a lot of confidence in international sport . Mostly they are content to just be competitive and just to be there.

International travel is a dream for most Indians - and I'm talking of those who are characterised as middle class  . For Westerners it's no big deal BUT it probably was for your grandparents 

Anyway times are changing . Not so long ago this passive attitude was also in cricket . Just glad to be there .

But it has changed there to the stage where India fears no one  ( even when they lose because they are now mature enough to realise that everyone loses sometimes . Just don't make a habit of it )

cleaning up the admin is important . India must realise that the admin types are not the most important people in sport 

 

Anyway looking thru the comments- why do so many westerners -actually I mean continental Europeans-the greater germany crowd to be specific  - go on and on about Indian sporting underperformance.

[Monzanator 4,769]

4 hours ago, OlympicsFan said:

Sorry, i don't get the point you are trying to make ... ?

1) India has 1.3 billion people, while pretty much all the other countries that are good at field hockey or cricket have far less people. If all the indian talent would focus on those 2 sports, then they should be at least as dominant as the US in basketball. You have to keep in mind that (to my knowledge) in none of the countries that are great in field hockey (Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Australia, England, Argentina), field hockey is anywhere close to being the most popular sport.

2) I have no clue about baseball, so i can't say how representative that fact is for the american strength in baseball. Maybe the reason why the don't win every time is the same as in basketball. They don't play with their best players and then there are also different rules.

The difference between the US and India is that the US is dominant in tons of other sports (despite having less than one fourth of India's population), so you can clearly tell that a lot of their talent is "diverted" into other sports. I am also not sure whether baseball in the US has the same importance as hockey in India? I would say football is more important in the US and basketball is about as popular as baseball. In addition to that the US not always winning in baseball might have something to do with the fact that (in my opinion) they have a stronger competitor in baseball than India has in cricket or hockey. Baseball is super popular in Japan (a big and rich country), while on the other hand hockey isn't anywhere near as popular in countries like Germany, Argentina, England or Australia.

 

Basketball is more popular than baseball in USA right now.

 

It's the power of NCAA and scholarships. NCAA even covers such niche sports as fencing or waterpolo (where the women's US team is somewhat of a powerhouse globally). Volleyball is probably the most popular team sport in college and USA doesn't even have a pro league so every US player has to go to Europe or Far East to continue their careers. If NCAA fielded an Olympic team, it would probably battle for Top 3 spot in the medal table alone.

 

Every nation has its traditionally strong sports but USA has excelled in sports that is totally obscure in their country through the NCAA system. No other country in the world has developed such a system with maybe the exception of China but that was under the strict communist regime.

[OlympicsFan 860]

1 hour ago, rajiv said:

OK  Indians historically didn't have a lot of confidence in international sport . Mostly they are content to just be competitive and just to be there.

International travel is a dream for most Indians - and I'm talking of those who are characterised as middle class  . For Westerners it's no big deal BUT it probably was for your grandparents 

Anyway times are changing . Not so long ago this passive attitude was also in cricket . Just glad to be there .

But it has changed there to the stage where India fears no one  ( even when they lose because they are now mature enough to realise that everyone loses sometimes . Just don't make a habit of it )

cleaning up the admin is important . India must realise that the admin types are not the most important people in sport 

 

Anyway looking thru the comments- why do so many westerners -actually I mean continental Europeans-the greater germany crowd to be specific  - go on and on about Indian sporting underperformance .

 

 

 

I brought up one point about India's historic olympic performances, because i discovered it in a book that i currently read (by Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee ...) and thought that it might fit in this thread. Personally i find it very interesting that India has shown such weak performances at the olympics historically, despite being richer and having a much larger population than many other countries that have historically clearly outperformed them at the olympics. Some people might say that it has something to do with genetics (asian people being smaller on average than people from other countries), but studies have shown that 3rd generation asian immigrants in western countries reach about the same height on average as all the other people there if they adapt the same eating habits. This suggests that (one of) the main reason(s) for asian people being shorter on average could very well be their eating habits. At the same time there are countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that have clearly smaller populations than India and are also poorer, but at the same time they managed to outperform India. Therefore naturally (at least for me) you have to ask yourself about the reasons. Like i said earlier studies have shown that severe malnourishment during childhood/pregnancy has a strong impact on the height a person will reach as an adult. Surprisingly severe malnourishment of children is more common in India than in Sub-Saharan Africa (despite those countries being poorer and having less money for food), so there very well might be a connection there (if you are less likely to reach your full potential for height/strength, then you are less likely to become a world-class athlete). At this point you should have realized that the point i am trying to make is in no way racist (I am not saying something like: Indians are worse in sport because they have inferior genetics), but the complete opposite: In my opinion there is a very good chance that India would be much better at the olympics if they would manage to lower the percentage of children that are severly malnourished (by changing their eating habits).

[thiago_simoes 1,441]

I was bored, so I decided to do this.

Top 5:

World:      ; Now, if USSR is not considered,  is next

Europe:      ; If USSR is not considered,  is next

Asia:     

North America:      

South America:      
Americas (combined):     
Africa:      
Oceania:     

[LDOG 2,469]

hace 2 minutos, thiago_simoes dijo:

 

Oceania:     -

 

Fiji

[thiago_simoes 1,441]

3 hours ago, LDOG said:

 

Fiji

Oops. Totally forgot about it.

[Siddhartha Talukdar 244]

If the discussion is about India having 'talent' but not able to perform because of improper nutrition we can consider India's urban population which itself is comparable to small countries - Delhi (18.6 mil), Mumbai (22 mil), Bangalore (12.4 mil), Kolkata (4.6 mil), Chennai (4.9 mil). The urban population just doesn't play cricket but football, badminton, table tennis, basketball are quite popular too. Restaurants and pubs also air non-cricket matches but of course nothing can be compared to cricket games.

Recently there was a tournament of U-14 teams from English Premier League (including teams from Manchester United and Chelsea) and Indian Super League in Mumbai, where the Indian teams did well. 
https://www.news18.com/news/football/pl-isl-next-generation-mumbai-cup-relince-foundation-young-champs-stun-manchester-united-chelsea-crowned-champions-2519813.html
Inter district and state competitions of various sports are held regularly and is quite competitive

The issue is not dearth of talent but absence of grassroot level coaching and youngsters not choosing sports as a viable career option except for cricket.
But this might change with the introduction of Khelo India (multiple sports) and Baby Leagues (football) to identify and groom young talent, and hopefully they take up the sport professionally. Many of our young shooters like Saurabh Chaudhary, Manu Bhaker are products of Khelo India
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khelo_India_Youth_Games_2020

[yom 1]

On 19/04/2020 at 16:59, thiago_simoes said:

I was bored, so I decided to do this.

Top 5:

World:      ; Now, if USSR is not considered,  is next

Europe:      ; If USSR is not considered,  is next

Asia:     

North America:      

South America:      
Americas (combined):     
Africa:      
Oceania:     

 

 

Do you have any recommandation regading my video though ?