Per Capita Cup going to the wire
Greatest Sporting Nation’s Per Capita Cup is the ranking of the world’s sportiest nations: each country’s population figure is divided by the number of GSN points earned, to measure how many citizens a country ‘needs’ to score 1 GSN point.
Over the years it has proven to be a fiercely contested competition, with Jamaica, Norway and Slovenia two-times winners, and New Zealand winning once.
In 2015, Jamaica looks set to become the first country to earn the title three times, and they seem to be getting better and better at it: they are currently leading the pack with only 2881 citizens needed to score 1 GSN point, well ahead of the record of 3067 set by Slovenia in 2013.
Behind the fleet Caribbeans, the race for the runner-up spot is very tight, with Slovenia at 4359, New Zealand at 4486 and Norway at 4496.
Jamaica is a one-sport country – Athletics of course – and isn’t likely to score any more points by December 31st, while the other three contenders have greater range: Slovenia scored points in 13 sports this year, New Zealand in 16 and Norway in 18. None of them is likely to score enough points though, between roughly 400 and 500, to outperform Jamaica, but the race for second place, with two sporting months left to go, has never been so exciting.
