As the Olympic host country, Great Britain is able to compete in plenty of events it may not have otherwise qualified for, meaning more opportunities to rack up medals. Unfortunately for Team GB, it also means more opportunity to lose in spectacular fashion.

As Great Britain continues to climb the actual medal table, it also tops a more dubious medal count—one not measured in gold, silver and bronze, but in lead, tin and zinc. The Journal reviewed every event in the Olympics thus far to see which country has finished last (the lead medal), second-to-last (tin) and third-to-last (zinc) most often. To qualify, the athlete or team actually needed to complete the entire event. In the case of a tie, we went with the team or individual who was beaten by the widest margin. We did the same tally during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, when Russia won the not-so-precious medal count.

Great Britain particularly struggled in certain team sports, taking the lead medal in men's and women's handball, men's and women's water polo and men's volleyball.

The good thing about this exercise is that the little guys get a chance to compete. The Cook Islands already has four of these medals. Seychelles and Mauritius have three each. Comoros and Palau have two apiece. San Marino, Tuvalu, Suriname and American Samoa all have one.