China has won 40 gold medals at the 33rd Summer Olympic Games, tying with the U.S. and ranking second in total medal count (91), just 35 medals behind the Stars and Stripes team. But is China really that good at sports as it has been proclaiming after each Olympics in recent years?
The modern Summer Olympics were revived from the ancient Greek Olympics, which had been discontinued for centuries. This tradition was resurrected in 1896, when the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, the sacred site where ancient Greeks gathered to compete for glory.
To honor the ancient traditions, the modern Olympic Games have restored many of the original competitions. Although new events continue to be introduced to the Olympics — such as the recent addition of Breaking, an athletic street dance — athletics and swimming remain the most popular competitions in the Olympic stadiums. These two categories not only best reflect the events of the ancient Greek Olympics, but they are also the most common daily sports in modern life.
This year’s Olympic Games featured a total of 83 events in athletics and swimming (48 and 35 events, respectively). By comparing China’s performance with that of the U.S. in these events, one can see how poorly China fared in these premier Olympic sports.
The United States won a total of 62 medals (22 gold, 24 silver, and 16 bronze) in these two categories, accounting for a quarter (24.9%) of the medals available in these 83 events. In contrast, China won only 16 medals (3 gold, 4 silver, and 9 bronze), or just 6.4% of the total medals in these categories.
The huge gap in achievements between China and the United States in the two most popular sports is not only shown in Olympics stadiums, but even more profoundly reflected in everyday life. For instance, in the United States it is common to see people jogging on city streets, while in China people are more inclined towards non-physical leisure activities. In the United States, gyms are as numerous as churches, and at least half of the gyms have swimming pools. In China, however, the number of adults who can swim is far smaller than those who cannot, and swimming pools are almost nonexistent.
It is apparent that the public participation rate in sports is extremely low in China, even though many of those sports cost little.
So, how did China manage to rise to the top of the Olympic medal counts? Below is a breakdown of China’s medal composition.
U.S. Department of Defense
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