American Exceptionalism in the Olympics

[Kablooie]

Looking at the Wikipedia list of All-time Olympic Games medals,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-time_Olympic_Games_medal_table

America has more than twice as many medals overall as the next country, (Soviet Union) and also more than twice as many gold medals as any other.

I suppose you'd have to group all the previously Soviet countries in with the Soviet medals to get a true count but still America wins by a landslide.

America is down a little bit in the Winter Olympics. Norway wins the most, probably because they live in a cold climate which gives them an advantage but still America is in the top 3.

Anyone want to throw out a theory as to why America is so superior in Olympic athletics?

I hate to spout the right wing meme of innate American exceptionalism but it does imply some kind of exceptionalism if you trust that the judging was unbiased.

[NYC_SKP]

1. It only proves that we're more well funded and obsessed with this nonsense.

Nothing more.

I suppose that's exceptional.

But it doesn't cure a disease, or feed a hungry child, or bring water to a village.

It's exceptionally chauvinistic.

IMHO.

[Fumesucker]

8. Bingo..

The county built a massive sports complex a couple of miles from my home, in the first place there's no way to get there except by car and in the second place I never see kids playing there other than in organized teams.

This is in addition to all the high schools and most of the grammar and middle schools having playing fields as well, also only for organized teams.

When I was a kid there was a much smaller and far less fancy park right down the road from us and we kids hung out there and played all summer and most weekends when it wasn't snowing or raining, I don't recall ever seeing an organized team but there were plenty of pickup games.

Sports used to be something kids played for the fun of it among other kids, I don't get the same feeling at all about it today.. A nine year old girl I know just got a $300 baseball bat, the crazy thing is that the parents are in a payment plan from a bankruptcy just a couple of years ago. I definitely get the impression they think this kid is going to be some kind of major sports star, I never hear them talking about schooling but they talk sports constantly..

[JonLP24]

2. I don't really have anything

Obviously population size is a factor which means you have a larger talent pool than most countries to pull from. China also has this advantage who has a great medal count the last 2 Olympics.

Also in certain sports Americans have more interest. Obviously this is the case in basketball. I think it all comes down to population size as the biggest factor but not the only factor.

[MrSlayer]

3. We care about it.

And we fund it. So did the Soviets. China is doing it now and it's paying off. England won nothing at the past few Olympics, started a lottery to fund training and now are winning quite a bit.

Combine our wealth, population size and give a shittedness and you have superior performances in World events.

[bayareamike]

4. From what I understand,

a large part of it has to do with the amount of funding that is available to the athletes, coaches, and sports in general. The USSR dedicated a large portion of its available funding to athletics. Athletic feats were a huge part of life in the Soviet Union. Same thing with China -- they dedicate a lot of money to preparing for the Olympics. Other, smaller countries with less funding lack the capability to do this.

[JI7]

5. We put more into it, even if someone may show some talent,ability etc but doesn't have money

there can usually get people to help them out to win the gold. not everyone but it is more likely to happen here than other parts of the world.

the Soviet Union and now China do a lot because they want to prove they are the best. with the breakup of the Soviet Union they have gone down.

but in America i think it's more the athletes and just people who are so into it . it's part of our culture in a way. look at Michael Phelps.

[Enrique]

6. really?

others have answered you, I'll just say i can hardly believe i'm seeing this argument here. I haven't even heard right-wingers make this argument.

[white_wolf]

7. For someone who hates to spout the right wing meme of American exceptionalism...

you're sure doing a good job. Though in fairness I don't think it is necessary a conservative thing. I've seen variations of it posted here and other liberal blogs and websites. It's often masked along the lines of getting back to what made America the greatest country on earth, before Reagan ruined it, but it's still just as bad as the conservative kind.

[Kablooie]

17. I was just wondering why America is so far ahead in Olympic wins.

The answers of a large population pool and lots of money put into training is probably the answer.

So we put an exceptionally large amount of money into Olympic training.
That's exceptionalism in a way, ugh.

Though, as is pointed out in other posts, we are exceptionally poor at many important societal measures.

I'm not touting it, I'm questioning it.

[fishwax]

9. It isn't exceptionalism, but rather a function of population, resources, and longevity

The United States has a much larger population than most countries, which makes for a larger talent pool from which to develop athletes. China and India have more people, but China has basically only been participating in the Olympics since 1980 (they competed in one event in 1952) and India has only recently begun sending large delegations.

The Soviets only had half as many medals as the US, but they also only competed in 9 summer games and 9 winter games, where the US (25 and 21) has competed in every games other than Moscow in 1980. Between 1952 (when the USSR first participated) and 1988 (when they last took part), the Soviets won more medals than the US (at least in the summer games--not sure about the winter); in the 8 summer Olympics that both countries were at, the Soviets earned more medals in all but 1952 and Mexico City in 1968.

[Angry Dragon]

13. +23,090

[SomethingFishy]

10. ROFLMFAO... yeah exceptional in the Olympics..

14th in reading..

17th in science

25th in math

41st in infant mortality

37th in World Health

I could go on but... no point, the Olympics are on

[Kablooie]

14. Hey, there you go! We are exceptionally poor in everything but the Olympics!

[cali]

12. wtf?

ugh.

[Codeine]

15. Dude.

Really? Come the fuck on.

[KamaAina]

16. You've basically proved that the U.S. WAS superior in Olympic athletics.

Right now in London, the Chinese are neck-and-neck with us in medals. The Chinese!! As late as the 1996 Atlanta Games, all they had were a few swimmers and divers. And now we're struggling to keep up with them just like we used to with the Russkies. Exceptionalism? I wish! That really only happened in L.A. in '84 because of the boycott!

[Spider Jerusalem]

18. Not really?

The US has competed in every Olympic Games since 1896, with the exception of 1980 (no Olympic Games were held in 1916, 1940, and 1944 for obvious reasons). The Soviet Union competed from 1952 to 1988; weighted for Games participated in I'd say that the Soviet Union would probably come out ahead. (and adjusted for population size and relative pool of potential athletes, several countries would come out ahead of the US).

[FarCenter]

19. Genetic diversity gives the US an edge as well

Looking at the various events, it is obvious that to do well in many of the events you have to have a particular physique. If you are born with the genes to develop that body type, then training, coaching, and money can help you to develop. If you don't have the body type, forget about it.

Due to the genetic variation of immigrants to the US, we have the developable raw material to work with.