Countdown to Rio 2016

Which country won the last edition of the Summer Olympic Games, by scoring the most GSN points in Olympic events? Which was the top-performing nation in terms of results relative to population? You can find the quick answers to these questions on our Olympic results pages for London 2012.

 

But if you’re looking for a deeper insight, here’s a table showing who the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 winners were, both overall and for the main sports and sport groups.

Team ball sports: Football, Volleyball, Beach Volley, Basketball, Hockey, Handball, Baseball, Softball

Water sports: Sailing, Rowing, Canoe/Kayak Sprint and Slalom

Combat sports: Judo, Taekwondo, Boxing, Wrestling, Fencing

 

The usual suspects in terms of sporting heavy-weights are all there of course, with the USA to the fore. Great Britain notably had bumper Games on home soil, winning several major sports and finishing 4^th in the overall ranking behind the USA, Russia and China. The question for Team GB is whether their record London results can be replicated in Rio.

 

Other nations have proved capable of emerging in some of the major sports at London 2012, such as Australia in Track Cycling, Spain in Football, Italy in Fencing or Kenya in the Marathon. The latter, after finishing second behind the USA by only a handful of points in the 2015 Athletics Global Cup and in the 2015 Athletics World Championships, could spring a surprise or two in Rio, especially in Track Athletics.

 

In Per Capita terms (dividing Olympic GSN points by country population), the sportiest Olympic nations at London 2012 were, in ranking order, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, New Zealand, Australia and Lithuania.

The fleet Jamaicans were crowned world’s sportiest nation in 2015, ahead of Norway and Slovenia, but given the doubts about Usain Bolt’s fitness, their Olympic Per Capita laurel may be up for grabs in Rio.

 

All of Jamaica’s points at London 2012 came from one sport, Track Athletics, while some of the other potential contenders were more versatile. At the London Olympics, New Zealand scored points in 14 sports, Australia in 25 and Lithuania in 10. Were Jamaica to lose pace on the track, their Per Capita leadership could be challenged.

Only 21 days to go, then we will begin to find out!