A different look at the Olympic Medal Count

A different look at the Olympic Medal Count

The Athens Olympics are now over and Greece won 16 medals. The best-performing nations, according to the official medal count are the United States, China, Russia, Australia and Japan. A different look at the medal count of the Olympics comes from the Australian Bureau of Statistics which has compiled a world ranking based on population per gold medal. The Bahamas, Norway, Australia, Hungary and Cuba lead this ranking, with Greece placing 8th. At the bottom of the table, Syria, Mexico, Colombia, Nigeria and India.

2,400BC golden mask of Thracian king

2,400BC golden mask of Thracian king

Bulgarian archaeologist Georgi Kitov holds a 2,400-year-old golden mask he discovered Thursday in the tomb of a Thracian king in Shipka, Bulgaria. The solid gold mask “has no comparison in the world,” said Kitov, who believes it may depict the image of King Seutus III.

Toronto Star. Aug. 21, 2004. 01:00 AM.

Golden mask `sensational'
Artifact unearthed in Bulgaria

Find may depict ancient king

SHIPKA, Bulgaria—A Bulgarian archaeologist has unearthed a 2,400-year-old golden mask in the tomb of an ancient Thracian king — a find he says is unrivalled in the study of classical antiquity.

"It is sensational," said Georgi Kitov, who found the mask Thursday near the village of Shipka, 200 kilometres east of Sofia.

He believes it may depict King Seutus III, a 5th century BC leader of the Thracians, the dispersed tribes who once lived in parts of what is now modern-day Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Turkey and Greece.

Kitov said the mask "has no comparison in the world," and may be a more significant find than the Mask of Agamemnon, the Greek hero described by Homer in the Iliad. It's one of the most famous images of Greek antiquity, and the centrepiece of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

"The Mask of Agamemnon was made of gold foil and weighs only 60 grams, while this mask weighs 690 grams (24 oz.) and is of solid gold," Kitov said.

The burial place was covered with six stone slabs, each weighing at least two tonnes. The king's remains have not yet been found, but excavations at the tomb continue.

The Thracians lived on the fringes of the Greek and Roman civilizations, often intermingling and clashing with the more advanced cultures until they were absorbed around 45 AD. Archaeological finds have provided most of what is known of the culture.

Richard Lynn's Massaged IQ Data

Richard Lynn's Massaged IQ Data

Anyone who uses Richard Lynn's national IQ values should be aware that this data is "massaged"; either that, or Lynn doesn't know elementary arithmetic. Of course, I did not have time to go through all of the studies referenced by Lynn, so I manually checked his reported numbers from Buj (1981), a study on national European IQ levels, which I have personally read when writing my Greek and European IQ page.

The first column below are the original numbers from Buj (1981) taken from [1] and cross-checked against my own reading of the original paper. The second column are the numbers reported in IQ and the Wealth of Nations. Lynn rounds most numbers to the closest integer, but Italy's score is rounded down (0.8->0), Austria's score is rounded down (0.5->0), Ireland's score is "rounded" up (0.2->1), Norway's score is 1.8 lower than the real one, Greece's score is 2.4 lower than the one reported by Buj (1981). All in all, 5 errors in 19 numbers from a single study.


Holland 109.4 109 rounded
Germany 109.3 109 rounded
Poland 108.3 108 rounded
Sweden 105.8 106 rounded
Italy 103.8 103 truncated
Austria 103.5 103 truncated
Switzerland 102.8 103 rounded
Portugal 102.6 103 rounded
Norway 101.8 100 -1.8
Denmark 100.7 101 rounded
Hungary 100.5 101 rounded
Czechoslovakia 100.4 100 rounded
Spain 100.3 100 rounded
Belgium 99.7 100 rounded
Greece 99.4 97 -2.4
Ireland 99.2 100 +0.8
Finland 98.1 98 rounded
Bulgaria 96.3 96 rounded
France 96.1 96 rounded

[1] http://members.shaw.ca/delajara/NationalIQs.html

Buj, V., 1981, Average IQ values in various European countries, Personality and Individual Differences, 2, 168-169.

Athens 2004

Athens 2004

Dae Sung Moon, right, from Korea, competes against Alexandros Nikolaidis, from Greece, in the men's over 80 kg taekwondo gold medal match at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug 29, 2004. Moon won the gold medal. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)



Gold medallist Moon Sung Dae (C) of South Korea (news - web sites), silver medallist Alexandros Nikolaidis (L) of Greece and bronze medallist Pascal Gentil of France wave during the medal ceremony for the over 80kg taekwondo tournament final at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games August 29, 2004. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon



China's Luo Wei (L) is kicked by Greece's Elisavet Mystakidou during the women's under 67 kg gold medal taekwondo match at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, August 28, 2004. China's Luo Wei won the taekwondo women's under 67kg gold medal at the Olympics on Saturday, Greece's Elisavet Mystakidou took the silver and South Korea's Hwang Kyung-sun the bronze. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

 

ATHENS - AUGUST 28: Elisavet Mystakidou of Greece shows her silver medal after the medal for the women's under 67 kg Taekwondo event on August 28, 2004 during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games at the Sports Pavilion part of the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)



Greece's Mirela Manjani competes in the women's javelin throw final at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games August 27, 2004. Manjani won the bronze medal. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich





   

Cuban women's javelin gold medalist Osleidys Menendez, centre, is flanked by Germany's Steffi Nerius, silver, left, and Greece's Mirela Manjani, bronze, following the medal presentation ceremony at the 2004 Olympic Games in The Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 27, 2004.(AP Photo/Ben Curtis)



Italy's Alexandra Araujo (L) and Evangelia Moraitidou of Greece fight for position during the women's Olympic water polo gold medal match in Athens, August 26, 2004. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh



Greece players celebrate their silver medal placing in the women's Olympic water polo gold medal match against Italy during the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, August 26, 2004. Greece were beaten 10-9 by Italy in extra-time. REUTERS/Andy Clark



Fani Halkia of Greece celebrates crossing the line to win the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2004 Olympic Games Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2004 in Athens, Greece. Jana Pittman, 2nd left, of Australia, and silver medalist Ionela Manolache, right, of Romania, follow. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)



ATHENS - AUGUST 25: Gold medalist Fani Halkia of Greece celebrates on the podium during the medal ceremony of the women's 400 metre hurdle event on August 25, 2004 during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in the Sports Complex in Athens, Greece. Ionela Tirlea-Manolache of Romania came second and Tetiana Tereshchuk-Antipova of Ukraine came third. (Photo by Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)



Greece's Artiom Kiouregkian (top) grapples with Ukraine's Olesksiy Vakulenko (bottom) on his way to win the bronze medal in their men's Greco-Roman (under 55kg) wrestling bout at the Athens 2004 Olympics August 25, 2004. REUTERS/Yves Herman



Greece's Bronze medallist Artiom Kiouregkian, Hungary's gold medallist Istvan Majoros and Russia's silver medallist Gueidar Mamedaliev (R-L) stand on the podium during the award ceremony for the men's Greco-Roman (under 55kg) wrestling at the Athens 2004 Olympics August 25, 2004. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings





Greece's Nikolaos Kaklamanakis pumps his sail in light winds on his way to winning the silver medal in the men's mistral class at the Olympic Sailing venue during the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, August 25, 2004. REUTERS/Nigel Marple



Greece's Nikolaos Kaklamanakis sailing in men's windsurfer mistral shows thumbs up at award ceremony after wining silver medal in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games regatta August 25, 2004.



Greece's Hrysopiyi Devetzi competes in the women's triple jump at Olympic Stadium at the 2004 Olympic Games August 23, 2004. Devetzi won the silver medal in the event. REUTERS/Jason Reed



Medalists for the women's triple jump (L-R) Greece's Hrysopiyi Devetzi, silver medal winner, Cameroon's Francoise Mbango Etone, gold medal winner and Russia's Tatana Lebedeva, bronze medal winner, pose during the medals ceremony at Olympic Stadium at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games August 23, 2004. REUTERS/Mike Blake



Greece's Athanasia Tsoumeleka celebrates after winning the women's 20km walk. Russia's Olimpiada Ivanova won the silver and Australia's Jane Saville won bronze.(AFP/Jeff Haynes)



Greece's Athanasia Tsoumeleka carries her national flag as she wears her gold medal for the women's 20 km walk at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games August 23, 2004. Tsoumeleka won the gold in a time of one hour 29.12 minutes ahead of Russia's Olimpiada Ivanova and Australia's Jane Saville. REUTERS/Mike Blake


Greece's Dimosthenis Tampakos performs his gold medal routine on the rings during the men's gymnastics individual apparatus finals at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games (news - web sites) in Athens, Sunday, Aug. 22, 2004. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)



Dimosthenis Tampakos of Greece (C) celebrates his gold medal with silver medallist Jordan Jovtchev of Bulgaria (L) and bronze medallist Yuri Chechi of Italy, after their rings event at the gymnastics competition at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games August 22, 2004. REUTERS/Reinhard Krause



Greek rower Vasileios Plymeros (L) raises his arm in victory after he and team mate Nikolaos Skiathitis won their heat in the lightweight men's double sculls during competition at the Athens 2004 Olympics August 15, 2004. The Greek team had a time of six minutes 15.22 seconds. REUTERS/Andy Clark



Silver medalists Pascal Touron, left, and Frederic Dufour of France, gold medalists Tomasz Kucharski, third from right, and Robert Sycz of Poland, and bronze medalists Vasileios Polymeros and Nikolaos Skiathitis of Greece, right, wave on the podium after the Men's Lightweight Double Sculls event at the 2004 Olympic Games in Schinias near Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 22, 2004. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)



ATHENS, Greece: Anastasia Kelesidou of Greece competes in the women's discus throw final, 21 August 2004, during the Olympic Games athletics competitions at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.Sadova won the gold. Kelesidou won the silver medal, Natalya Sadova of Russia won the gold and Irina Yatchenko of Belarus won the bronze. AFP PHOTO/JAVIER SORIANO (Photo credit should read JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images)



ATHENS, Greece: Anastasia Kelesidou of Greece holds up her national flag after she won silver in the women's discus throw final, 21 August 2004, during the Olympic Games athletics competitions at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.Kelesidou won the silver medal, Natalya Sadova of Russia won the gold and Irina Yatchenko of Belarus won the bronze. AFP PHOTO/TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA (Photo credit should read TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images)



Pyrros Dimas of Greece looks to the crowd of his countrymen while lifting 375 lbs (170 kg) in the snatch during the Men's 187 lb (85 kg) event at the Nikaia Olympic Weightlifting Hall during the Summer Olympics in Athens, Saturday Aug. 21, 2004. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)



Georgia's George Asanidze (C),lanked by silver medallist Belarus' Andrei Rybakou (L) and Greece's bronze medallist Pyrros Dimas, celebrates on the podium after he won the gold medal in the men's weightlifting 85kg event. REUTERS/Andrea Comas



Greek skipper Sofia BEKATOROU (L) and crew member Emilia TSOULFA as they cross the finish line, during the Women's Double-handed Dinghy-470 race nine, 19 August 2004, at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. The Greek pair went on to win the gold Medal.



Greek 470 class skipper Sofia Bekatorou, right, and crew Aimilia Tsoulfa wave during the medal ceremony of the women's double-handed 470 dinghy sailing event at the 2004 Olympic Games (news - web sites) in Athens, Greece, Saturday, Aug. 21, 2004. The Greek team won the Gold medal. (AP Photo/Herbert Knosowski)



Greece's Olympic champion Ilias Iliadis (R) grapples with Ukraine's Roman Gontyuk (L) on his way to win the gold medal in their men's judo half-middleweight (under 81kg) competition at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games August 17, 2004. REUTERS/Charles Platiau



Medal winners pose together during the victory ceremony after the Judo men's half-middle weight (-81 kg) event during the Summer Olympics in Athens, Tuesday Aug. 17, 2004. From left is silver medalist Roman Gontyuk of the Ukraine, gold medalist Ilias Iliadis of Greece, bronze medalists Robert Krawczyk of Poland and Flavio Canto of Brazil. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)



Greece's Nikolaos Siranidis and Thomas Bimis dive in the men's synchronised 3-metre diving final to take the gold medal at the Athens 2005 Olympic Games, August 16, 2004. Host nation Greece won its first gold medal of the Athens Olympics on Monday when Siranidis and Bimis triumphed in the men's synchronised 3-metre diving. REUTERS/Arko Datta



Gold medal winners in the men's Olympic synchronised diving 3 metre springboard final Thomas Bimis (L) and Nikolaos Siranidis of Greece (C) stand on podium and wave to the crowd during the medal ceremony in Athens, August 16, 2004. REUTERS/Toby Melville