London 2012 has already been the most successful Olympics for Team GB since 1908, with 23 gold medals already in the bag. But that’s not enough numbers for you, is it… let’s drill down into the stats behind this remarkable medal-winning team.


The UK’s Top 10 Golden Counties

Yorkshire has been the most successful county in the United Kingdom, with two and a half gold medals in total. How do you get half a medal I hear you ask?

Well, Ed Clancy from Huddersfield was one quarter of the gold medal-winning team in the men’s cycling team pursuit. And rower Andrew Triggs Hodge from Hebden was one of the victorious men’s coxless four. See, two quarter medals – easy right?

The battle of the sexes

British women have contributed 8.65 of Team GB’s 23 gold medals, including Jessica Ennis’s individual gold in the women’s heptathlon. Denise Lewis said that there should be a separate category in this year’s Sports Personality of the Year Awards exclusively for women; there will certainly be plenty of females to choose from this year should the BBC decide to change the voting system.

Painting the town gold

Surprisingly, Newent in Gloucestershire is the most successful Olympic town outside of London. The small market town has 1.66 gold medals thanks to equestrian maestros Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin. Bolton, Edinburgh and Cheshunt in Hertfordshire are close behind with 1.33 medals each.

London has 1.83 gold medals: one individual gold for Mo Farah, one half of a gold for double sculls rower Sophie Hosking, and one third of a medal for Joanna Rowsell, who was part of the three-strong women’s team pursuit champions.


However, with a population of over 8 million, London actually comes bottom in the table of gold medals per capita, with one gold for every 4.5 million people. Stirling, in contrast, has one gold for every 86,370 people living in the county. Stats don’t lie: in the race for gold, coming from a small town has its advantages.