Who has the highest medal strike rate in 2012?



We are crunching the numbers during the London 2012 Olympic Games to show how many medals countries are winning relative to their population.



This differs from the traditional medal table, which ranks countries on the basis of how many gold, silver, and bronze medals they have won.

Final count – revised

Due to the disqualification overnight of the Belarussian athlete Nadzeya Ostapchuk, New Zealand’s Valerie Adams has now been awarded gold in the women’s shot put.



This does not affect our place in the population-based tables – we rank 4th for both gold medals and total medals won. However, the upgrade does move New Zealand from 16th to 15th place in the traditional medal table. As a result of Ostapchuk’s disqualification, Russia now claims another silver medal, and China has been awarded a bronze.

Final count

The New Zealand team rounded off their most successful Olympic campaign since 1984 in some style over the weekend.



Once again water and boats were involved, with the women’s 470 sailing crew sealing our 4th gold of these games on Friday night. This was followed by Lisa Carrington’s blistering win in the women’s K1 200m kayak sprint race at Eton Dorney on Saturday night.

These gold medals propelled the Kiwi team to 4th place on our gold and total medals by population tables. On the traditional medal table, New Zealand finished in 16th place, our highest ranking since claiming eight gold medals at the 1984 Olympics.



The rest of our top 5 population-based tables really are a Caribbean and Kiwi dream. In our gold medal table, the Caribbean nations of Grenada, the Bahamas, and Jamaica claim the top three spots, with New Zealand taking 4th and Hungary the 5th spot. The Bahamas (population approximately 347,000) soared into 2nd position courtesy of a single gold medal – won in stunning fashion over the United States in the men’s 4x400m relay final.



The top 5 total medal table is an exclusively Caribbean and Pacific affair, with Grenada, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago taking the top three spots, and New Zealand and the Bahamas chasing them.



The United States finished top of the traditional medal table with 46 gold, 29 silver, and 29 bronze medals, but in our population-based tables they finished 28th for gold medals won, and 50th for total medals won. China, finishing second in the traditional table, was further behind the Americans in our population-based tables – coming in at 48th for gold, and 74th for total medals won.



You can also download a table with results from all countries, from 'Available files' above. If you have problems viewing the file, see Opening files and PDFs.

We will be providing a final medal count by population at the completion of the Paralympics on Monday 10 September. As with our Olympic population-based tables, we will provide top 10 tables by gold medals and total medals won relative to the population of each country.

Gold medal count, per 1,000,000 population, final count (revised 14 August after medal upgrade), London 2012 Olympic Games Gold per million population Actual number won Rank Number Country Total population (million) Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 9.57 Grenada 0.10 1 0 0 1 2 2.92 Bahamas 0.34 1 0 0 1 3 1.46 Jamaica 2.74 4 4 4 12 4 1.37 New Zealand 4.37 6 2 5 13 5 0.80 Hungary 9.98 8 4 5 17 6 0.75 Trinidad and Tobago 1.34 1 0 3 4 7 0.68 Croatia 4.40 3 1 2 6 8 0.60 Lithuania 3.32 2 1 2 5 9 0.49 Slovenia 2.03 1 1 2 4 10 0.47 Great Britain 62.04 29 17 19 65

Medal count, per 1,000,000 population, final count (revised 14 August after medal upgrade), London 2012 Olympic Games Total medals per million population Actual number won Rank Number Country Total population (million) Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 9.57 Grenada 0.10 1 0 0 1 2 4.38 Jamaica 2.74 4 4 4 12 3 2.98 Trinidad and Tobago 1.34 1 0 3 4 4 2.98 New Zealand 4.37 6 2 5 13 5 2.92 Bahamas 0.34 1 0 0 1 6 1.97 Slovenia 2.03 1 1 2 4 7 1.81 Mongolia 2.76 0 2 3 5 8 1.70 Hungary 9.98 8 4 5 17 9 1.62 Denmark 5.55 2 4 3 9 10 1.61 Georgia 4.35 1 3 3 7

With no New Zealand medals on day 13, focus turned to the track. Jamaica moved into 2nd place on both population-based tables – thanks to a marvellous 1-2-3 finish in the men’s 200m final. Once again it was that man Usain Bolt who retained his title. In doing this, he claimed his 5th gold medal across the last two Olympics, with the promise of more to come in the relays over the next few days.New Zealand now sits in 4th place on our gold medal by population table, and 3rd on the total medal table. All eyes will turn towards the Dorset coastline overnight, where the New Zealand women’s 470 sailing crew are in a straight battle for gold with the Great Britain crew. Should the New Zealand pair win gold, they are likely to move us back into 3rd place on our gold medal table.Grenada and Jamaica are 1st and 2nd on both population-based tables. New Zealand is 3rd on the total medal by population table and Hungary now sits 3rd on the gold medal by population table.After an excellent day, where the United States claimed five more gold medals, they now lead the traditional medal table, with 39 gold, 25 silver, and 26 bronze. On our population-based medal table they sit in 22nd place for gold medals, and 41st for total medals won.





Day 12: New Zealand won its 100th Olympic medal since 1908 with a silver to Peter Burling and Blair Tuke in sailing's 49er class. Their medal is New Zealand's 19th Olympic silver, to go with 40 golds and 41 bronzes. The 100 medals are spread over 12 sports, although most have come from athletics and rowing, each having won 21 medals.



New Zealand moved back into second place on our total medal by population table. We maintain our third position on the gold medal by population table. Grenada, with its estimated population under 110,000, remains on top of both population-based tables and is likely to stay there for the rest of the Games.



We remain in 17th place on the traditional medal table. China has increased its lead over the United States in this table at the end of day 12, with 36 gold, 22 silver, and 19 bronze. On our population-based medal tables China now sits in 35th place for gold medals and 57th for total medals won.

Day 11: New Zealand has moved back into second place on our total medal table by population. This is courtesy of the bronze medal that 23-year-old Feilding cyclist Simon van Velthooven won in the men’s keirin cycling event.



We maintain our position of third on the gold medal table by population. We now sit in 17th place on the traditional medal table. Grenada remains on top of both population-based tables and is likely to stay there for the rest of the Games. In fact, New Zealand would need another 39 golds or 33 total medals to move back above Grenada, due to the small population size of the Caribbean island.



China has increased its lead over the United States in the traditional medal table at the end of day 11, with 34 gold, 21 silver, and 18 bronze. On our population-based medal tables China now sits in 35th place for gold medals and 57th for total medals won.

With 19-year-old Kirani James of Grenada claiming his country’s first medal of the London 2012 Olympic Games by winning gold in the men’s 400 metres final, New Zealand has slipped to third on the gold, and total medal tables by population. We remain in a strong position on the traditional medal table, in 15th place. Prior to this race, we had maintained our position in second on both tables, thanks to Valerie Adams winning our first silver of the games in the women’s shot put. Grenada, with a population of just over 100,000, now sits on top of both tables, with Jamaica and New Zealand rounding out the top three for the gold medal table, and Slovenia and New Zealand completing the top three in the total medal table.China has maintained their slender lead over the United States in the traditional medal table at the end of day 10, with 31 gold, 19 silver, and 14 bronze. On the gold medal table by population they have slipped to 36and on the total medal by population table they are in 57place.

Day 9: After the golden hour on Friday night when New Zealand rowers claimed two more gold medals at Eton Dorney, we rose to 14th place on the traditional medal table. When ranked on the basis of medals per million people, New Zealand is now second for total and gold medals. New Zealand had sat in first place on both tables over the weekend, until Jamaica bolted up the medal tables courtesy of the outstanding form of their sprinters. Jamaica now sits at the top of the gold medal table, with Slovenia rounding out the top three.



China and the United States swapped positions many times over the weekend, but at the end of day 9, China still leads the traditional medal table count with 30 gold, 17 silver, and 14 bronze. On the gold medal count by population, they have risen to 33rd place, because of their population of 1.3 billion.

Day 6: New Zealand surged into 19th place on the traditional medal table with a gold medal-winning performance from Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan in the men's double sculls. This secured New Zealand's first gold of the London Games. However, when ranked on the basis of medals per million people, New Zealand is now fourth for gold and third for total medals. Slovenia (2.2 million people), who claimed bronze in the same race, have retained their place at the top of the gold medal table.



China, with another gold overnight, maintain their lead on the traditional medal count with 18 gold, 11 silver, and five bronze. However, on our medal count by population, they have slipped to 44th place, because of their population of 1.3 billion.

Day 5: Qatar had one bronze medal, putting them 39th equal on the traditional medal table, and New Zealand, with two bronze medals, was 37th equal. However, if we rank countries on the basis of medals per million people, Qatar (1.76 million people) came first, and New Zealand (approximately 4.4 million people) came third.



Using the traditional overall medal count, China was the day 5 leader, with 17 gold, nine silver, and four bronze medals. On our medal count, China was 42nd, because its population is 1.3 billion.



Page updated 14 August 2012