Per Capita Cup 2011: the winner is...Jamaica
The Caribbean island country wins the Per Capita Cup (the ranking based on GSN points per population) for the third time in 4 years, repeating the successes of 2008 and 2009.
It’s a glory resting almost uniquely on Usain Bolt and the Ladies Athletics team’s shoulders. Between them they earned 91,6% of Jamaican points, while the remainder of the points comes from Football (the Concacaf Gold Cup), Netball and Basketball. Hardly any diversity then, though a step forward from 2008 and 2009, when Athletics accounted for 100% of Jamaica’s points.
Jamaica is 26th overall in the 2011 Global Cup (20th in the Women G. Cup), far behind most leading nations. Their Per Capita Cup contenders, Norway, narrowly in second place (2987 people per point vs Jamaica’s 2541) and third –placed New Zealand (3618 ppp), are higher up in the ranking: Norway is 14th overall in the Global Cup and New Zealand 24th. These countries score points in a far greater number of sports than the Caribbeans’ 4, an outstanding 4th in the Athletics Global Cup notwithstanding. Norway scores in 26 different sports, with an emphatic overall victory in Cross-Country Skiing, and New Zealand scores in 18, they too with one significant win, the Rugby World Cup 2011.
Behind this trio in the Per Capita Cup, Slovenia repeats a remarkable 4th place, with Sweden 5th and up one place vs 2010. The most significant leaps in the top twenty come from Denmark (7th overall and up 10 places, with most of the points coming from Handball, Swimming and Ten Pin Bowling ) and Croatia (10th overall and up 7 places, the leading sports being Alpine Skiing, Water Polo and Handball).
Funky Jamaica and solid New Zealand are then very much the outsiders in a Per Capita Cup ranking dominated by Scandinavian and East European countries.
