A sub-group of the world’s 40 richest nations in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), 17 of the wealthier countries won 231 out of the 258 medals awarded at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
In percentage terms, the 17 wealthiest participants scooped up 89.5% of the total Olympic medal haul.
A cohort of 71 poorer nations including Belarus, Slovenia and Estonia took home the remaining 11.5%. Athletes from countries with lower GDP scores were on the Olympic podium 27 times.
2010 Olympics Medal Standings for Richest Countries
Listed below are the total medals that the 17 richest countries won in Vancouver. Also shown is the percentage gain or loss in each country’s medal count since the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
There were some dramatic improvements. Japan quadrupled the number of medals it took home, while Poland doubled its Olympic medal score from Turin.
The United States also showed an impressive overall 48% gain in medals.
- USA (world’s richest country) won 37 medals, up 48% from 25 in 2006
- Germany (5th richest country) won 30, up 3.4% from 29
- Canada (15th richest country) won 26, up 8.3% from 24
- Norway (40th richest country) won 23, up 21.1% from 19
- Austria (36th richest country) won 16, down 30.4% from 23
- Russia (8th richest country) won 15, down 31.8% from 22
- South Korea (13th richest country) won 14, up 27.3% from 11
- China (2nd richest country) won 11, same as in 2006
- Sweden (34th richest country) won 11, down 21.4% from 14
- France (7th richest country) won 11, up 22.2% from 9
- Switzerland (37th richest country) won 9, down 35.7% from 14
- Netherlands (21st richest country) won 8, down 11.1% from 9
- Poland (20th richest country) won 6, up 200% from 2
- Italy (10th richest country) won 5, down 54.5% from 11
- Japan (3rd richest country) won 5, up 400% from 1
- Australia (18th richest country) won 3, up 50% from 2
- Great Britain (6th richest country) won 1, same as in 2006.
A higher GDP did not guarantee improved performance at the Vancouver Olympics. Italy’s medal count was less than half of what it was in 2006. Russia and Austria received almost a third less medals than at the Turino Winter Games.
Final Results 2010 Olympics by Medal Type
At the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, the top 40 wealthiest countries won:
- 82 out of 86 gold medals (95.3%)
- 76 out of 87 silver medals (87.4%)
- 73 out of 85 bronze medals (85.9%)
Norway had increased its gold medal winnings to 9 from 2 in Turin. Canada also earned 7 more gold medals, garnering a record 14 first-place awards in Vancouver. The Chinese team warrants honorable mention, taking 3 more golden awards in 2010 over 2006.
- USA: 9 gold, 15 silver, 13 bronze (9 gold, 9 silver, 7 bronze in 2006)
- Germany: 10 gold, 13 silver, 7 bronze (11 gold, 12 silver, 6 bronze)
- Canada: 14 gold, 7 silver, 5 bronze (7 gold, 17 bronze)
- Norway: 9 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze (2 gold, 8 silver, 9 bronze)
- Austria: 4 gold, 6 silver, 6 bronze (9 gold, 7 silver, 7 bronze)
- Russia: 3 gold, 4 silver, 7 bronze (8 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze)
- South Korea: 6 gold, 6 silver, 2 bronze (6 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze)
- China: 5 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze (2 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze)
- Sweden: 5 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze (7 gold, 2 silver, 5 bronze)
- France: 2 gold, 3 silver, 6 bronze (3 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze)
- Switzerland: 6 gold, 3 bronze (5 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze)
- Netherlands: 4 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze (3 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze)
- Poland: 1 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze (1 silver, 1 bronze)
- Italy: 1 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze (5 gold, 6 bronze)
- Japan: 3 silver, 2 bronze (1 gold)
- Australia: 2 gold, 1 silver (1 gold, 1 bronze)
- Great Britain: 1 gold (1 silver).
Austria gathered only 4 gold medals compared with 9 first places in Turin. But it was the Italians who appear to have endured the severest decline, sliding from 5 gold medals to just 1 in 2010.
Vancouver Medal Standings for Lower GDP Countries
Athletes from nations with GDP scores lower than 40th place won 4 gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze medals in Vancouver.
- Czech Republic won 2 gold, 4 bronze (1 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze in 2006)
- Finland won 1 silver, 4 bronze (6 silver, 3 bronze)
- Belarus won 1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze (1 silver)
- Slovakia won 1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze (1 silver)
- Slovenia won 2 silver, 1 bronze (nil)
- Croatia won 2 silver, 1 bronze (1 gold, 2 silver)
- Latvia won 2 silver (1 bronze)
- Estonia won 1 silver (3 gold)
- Kazakhstan won 1 silver (nil).
Among the 9 countries above, 6 nations show improvements over the 2006 Winter Games. The biggest losers may be Ukraine which took 3 medals in Turin and Bulgaria which had 1 silver in short track speed skating. Neither country won an Olympic prize in Vancouver.
Then again, there were 60 other lower-GDP nations that participated but did not win a single medal at the 2010 Olympics.
Sources: The 2009 GDP numbers used to rank countries for this analysis were garnered from Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook’s latest estimates.
Daniel Workman - A senior business and finance writer who also does French translations, notably international trade and insurance materials.
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