USA and Jamaica top in 2012 Athletics, Slovenia, Kazakhstan Per Capita continental champions

Thanks to the London Olympics, 2012 has been a very rich year for Athletics competitions.

We have analysed GSN’s data base in depth and have picked the most interesting statistics of how nations performed in GSN’s second most prolific sports overall (6903 points on offer, equivalent to 10,5% of all GSN points awarded in 2012).

 

USA DOMINANT

 

Not surprisingly, the USA were number one in the ranking, with just over twice (!) the points of Russia, followed in third place by astonishing Jamaica. The US narrowly led  (by 21 points) the Field Athletics ranking ahead of Russia and Germany but triumphed on the Track, ahead of Jamaica and Russia. They won the Men Athletics ranking, ahead of Jamaica and Kenya, and also, by a slim margin, the Women’s, ahead of Russia and surprising Ethiopia.

 

African countries did in general very well: in the top twenty Athletics table we find Kenya (4^th), Ethiopia (5^th), South Africa (17^th) and tiny Botswana (1.882.000 inhabitants) in 20^th place.

 

THE PER CAPITA CUP

 

Caribbean nations dominated the Athletics Per Capita Cup, which ranks countries by the inhabitants/points ratio.

The mantle goes to Jamaica (2.714.000 inhabitants), needing need only 4679 happy islanders  to score one GSN point in Athletics. Trinidad & Tobago (1.333.000 inhabitants) came second needing 8331 citizens for a point and Kenya was third (37.538.000 inhabitants) with 68.751. There is a big gap between the Caribbeans and Kenya, and an even greater one between the latter and 4^th placed Slovenia (2.029.000 inhabitants) with 101.450 Slovenians for one point.

 

THE TOP THREE NATIONS OVERALL AND PER CAPITA