As the world’s sporting elite compete for medals at London 2012, our alternative table shows you how Olympic nations compare once the hurdles become social, economic and environmental.
How to use the table:
• Select “medals” and choose a country or nation group
• The total number of gold, silver and bronze medals for that country or group will appear
• Apply one of the filters e.g. freedom ranking – and see if the medals shrink or grow
• Then compare countries or groups side by side
The countries with the best freedom ranking will see their tally boosted, while those with the worst will see their tally shrink. In the population category, smaller nations will be rewarded with extra medals and vice-versa.
Countries with larger national debts will see their medals shrink, while those in credit will fare better. And nations with lower carbon emissions will rise up the podium as their polluting neighbours slide down.
Qualifying for our alternative table:
Each of our categories starts with the number of medals each Olympic nation has won at London 2012.
When you select an alternative factor, this number is then adjusted according to where that country falls in six divisions – the countries will either gain or lose a percentage of their medals.
“Winning” countries get an extra 75 per cent, 50 per cent or 25 per cent on top of their medals tally, but “losing” countries are penalised and lose 75 per cent, 50 per cent or 25 per cent of their medals.
In each category, lower ratios are better.
Lower debt should equal more medals via investment in sport, for example.
Lower CO2 emissions should mean healthier, fitter athletes.
Our freedom index is taken from Freedom House: oppressive nations are forced to give up their medals.
And countries with the smallest portion of the global population are rewarded for punching above their weight.