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Say what you will about communists, but they can sure field a solid Olympic team.

East Germany routinely spanked not only the larger and wealthier Germany next door, but it repeatedly bested even the United States at both Winter and Summer Games. Meanwhile, even 27 years after its collapse, the Soviet Union still holds second place as history’s most prolific collector of Olympic medals.

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Which makes it all the more glaring that North Korea, one of the last throwbacks to the Cold War, has such a piddling Olympic record.

Photo by Thomas Coex/AFP Photo

Since its 1948 inception, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has won only 16 gold medals, and 56 medals in total. Compare that to the 22 gold and 77 total medals won by Jamaica, a country with a lower GDP and only one tenth of North Korea’s population.

North Korea’s Olympic performance is particularly dismal at the Winter Games. Despite being a cold country renowned for its mountains, it has won only two Winter Olympic medals: A silver in 1964 and a bronze in 1992.