smokehard

With the Olympics coming up, Foreign Policy Magazine provides us with a list of the World’s Worst Olympians. According to them, India, Venezuela, Israel, Taiwan, and Peru are the worst out there.

India - Medal Count: 17

Think of India as the Washington Nationals of Olympic sport. India is by far the worst-performing Olympic country—no matter how you slice it. It’s not for lack of trying. A games participant since 1900, India still ranks behind Nigeria, a country with an economy one twentieth India’s size, in total medals. The country’s athletic ineptitude is so profound that a parliamentarian called for two minutes of silence to “lament the demise of Indian sports” after the squad failed to win any medals in Barcelona in 1992.

Two minutes of silence to “lament the demise of Indian sports”. OUCH!

Venezuela - Medal Count: 10

In May 2008, Hugo Chávez professed high hopes for his country’s Olympic team, which the Venezuelan president labeled “bearers of the homeland shame and the national pride.” Chávez is sending 100 athletes to Beijing, but if history is any bench mark, the strongman’s ambitions are sure to be dashed. Venezuelans have brought home only as many medals as Trinidad and Tobago, despite winning their first medal in Helsinki in 1952. Georgia, which first medaled at the 1996 Atlanta Games, has already outpaced the Bolivarian Republic.

Israel - Medal Count: 6

When Gal Fridman took home Israeli’s first gold medal at the 2004 Athens Games, a columnist for Haaretz acidly observed that the windsurfing champion had “confounded the Israeli athletic ethos that enshrines mediocrity and even aggrandizes it.”

If Israel allowed athletes to get out of patrolling the Gaza Strip, I am sure they would be winning way more medals. Guaranteed!

Taiwan - Medal Count: 15

Many Taiwanese also blame pro-Korean judges for robbing them of medals in tae kwon do.

After living in Korea for a more than a few years, it’s hard to believe that there are pro-Korean judges out there. The judges would have had to have been Korean. I’m sure of this.

Peru - Medal Count: 4

Peru stands with Zimbabwe and Moldova, arguably the biggest losers in Africa and Eastern Europe, respectively, as a top Olympic washout in its region. Nor does Peru fare well among countries that also took home their first medal at the 1948 London Games. Jamaica—whose economy is one tenth the size of Peru’s—has brought home 10 times as many medals….

Poverty and lack of infrastructure. Just 10 short years ago, more than half of Peru’s Olympic team was suffering from malnutrition. Practicing in crumbling stadiums, on ancient equipment, and with only some able to obtain uniforms, the athletes lined up for pasta doled out by the IOC.

Being ranked alongside Zimbabwe in anything is miserable. I mean talk about being grouped alongside a failing-everything state. Zimbabwe is the new Somalia for Christ’s sake!

I found a list of overall medal winners here. It’s pretty safe to say that the teams at the bottom of the list are either dirt poor or don’t give a rats ass about sports. I’m sure people in Kuwait, as an oil rich example, are far too lazy to even think about picking up a sport. They just pay migrant workers to play. And I do hope that Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world, does not even begin to think about an Olympic team until they can put adequate food on tables and provide at least some basic education. mmmkay?

OVERALL MEDALS			GOLD	SILVER	BRONZE	TOTAL
1	United States of America		973	771	660	2404
2	USSR		473	376	355	1204
3	Italy		218	178	198	594
4	France		208	220	250	678
5	Germany		206	212	229	647
6	Great Britain		197	245	247	689
7	Democratic Republic of Germany		192	165	162	519
8	Sweden		185	186	217	588
9	Hungary		156	138	161	455
10	Norway		149	141	125	415
11	Finland		141	140	165	446
12	Japan		123	115	129	367
13	Australia		120	122	150	392
14	Russia		119	104	104	327
15	China		116	112	91	319
16	Canada		93	123	145	361
17	The Netherlands		89	104	115	308
18	Romania		82	88	114	284
19	Switzerland		81	107	104	292
20	South Korea		72	72	71	215
21	Austria		69	96	103	268
22	Federal Republic of Germany		69	82	94	245
23	Cuba		65	53	52	170
24	Poland		60	77	122	259
25	Unified Team		54	44	37	135
26	Bulgaria		51	85	77	213
27	Czechoslovakia		51	57	60	168
28	Denmark		39	62	63	164
29	Belgium		37	51	54	142
30	United Team of Germany		36	60	41	137
31	Turkey		36	19	19	74
32	New Zealand		33	15	30	78
33	Greece		30	40	34	104
34	Spain		30	39	28	97
35	Yugoslavia		28	34	32	94
36	Ukraine		22	18	34	74
37	South Africa		20	23	26	69
38	Kenya		17	24	20	61
39	Brazil		17	21	38	76
40	Argentina		15	23	22	60
41	Ethiopia		14	5	12	31
42	Estonia		12	8	15	35
43	Mexico		10	18	24	52
44	Islamic Republic of Iran		10	15	21	46
45	Czech Republic		10	14	13	37
46	Kazakhstan		8	14	9	31
47	North Korea		8	12	17	37
48	Ireland		8	6	6	20
49	Mixed team		8	5	4	17
50	India		8	4	5	17
51	Jamaica		7	21	14	42
52	Egypt		7	7	9	23
53	Croatia		7	7	5	19
54	Belarus		6	18	29	53
55	Morocco		6	4	9	19
56	Indonesia		5	8	7	20
57	Thailand		5	2	10	17
58	Slovakia		4	7	4	15
59	Uzbekistan		4	3	5	12
60	Lithuania		4	2	5	11
61	Algeria		4	1	7	12
62	Portugal		3	6	11	20
63	Australasia		3	4	5	12
64	Pakistan		3	3	4	10
65	Bahamas		3	2	3	8
66	Azerbaijan		3	1	5	9
67	Nigeria		2	8	9	19
68	Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)		2	6	7	15
69	Chile		2	6	4	12
70	Slovenia		2	3	9	14
71	Luxembourg		2	3	0	5
72	Georgia		2	2	8	12
73	Uruguay		2	2	6	10
74	Liechtenstein		2	2	5	9
75	Cameroon		2	1	1	4
75	Zimbabwe		2	1	1	4
77	Latvia		1	10	4	15
78	Trinidad and Tobago		1	3	8	12
79	Uganda		1	3	2	6
80	Peru		1	3	0	4
81	Venezuela		1	2	7	10
82	Colombia		1	2	6	9
83	Tunisia		1	2	3	6
84	Israel		1	1	4	6
85	Costa Rica		1	1	2	4
86	Armenia		1	1	1	3
86	Syria		1	1	1	3
88	Hong Kong		1	1	0	2
89	Dominican Republic		1	0	1	2
89	Mozambique		1	0	1	2
89	Suriname		1	0	1	2
92	Burundi		1	0	0	1
92	Ecuador		1	0	0	1
92	United Arab Emirates		1	0	0	1
95	Mongolia		0	5	10	15
96	Namibia		0	4	0	4
97	Philippines		0	2	7	9
98	Lebanon		0	2	2	4
98	Moldova		0	2	2	4
100	Serbia and Montenegro		0	2	0	2
100	Tanzania		0	2	0	2
102	Puerto Rico		0	1	5	6
103	Bohemia		0	1	3	4
103	Ghana		0	1	3	4
105	Individual Participant		0	1	2	3
105	Iceland		0	1	2	3
105	Malaysia		0	1	2	3
108	Haiti		0	1	1	2
108	Saudi Arabia		0	1	1	2
108	Sri Lanka		0	1	1	2
108	Zambia		0	1	1	2
112	Netherlands Antilles		0	1	0	1
112	Cote d’Ivoire		0	1	0	1
112	Virgin Islands		0	1	0	1
112	Paraguay		0	1	0	1
112	Senegal		0	1	0	1
112	Singapore		0	1	0	1
112	Tonga		0	1	0	1
112	Vietnam		0	1	0	1
120	West Indies Federation		0	0	2	2
120	Panama		0	0	2	2
120	Qatar		0	0	2	2
123	Barbados		0	0	1	1
123	Bermuda		0	0	1	1
123	Djibouti		0	0	1	1
123	Eritrea		0	0	1	1
123	Guyana		0	0	1	1
123	Iraq		0	0	1	1
123	Kyrgyzstan		0	0	1	1
123	Kuwait		0	0	1	1
123	Macedonia		0	0	1	1
123	Niger		0	0	1	1