The Jewish state significantly outperformed the average of the top 50 medaling countries, per the JNS analysis.
By JNS
Israeli citizens have been significantly likelier to earn medals at the Olympics than are those from the leading two medaling countries, China and the United States, and they were more likely to earn gold medals than Chinese people were, but not Americans, according to a JNS analysis.
JNS studied the top 50 medaling countries—in descending order of gold medals—and it used the most recent population estimates for countries from the CIA World Fact Book.
Israel, which has a population of 9.402 million, per the CIA, earned one gold medal and seven total medals at press time. That means that one Israeli per 1.343 million medaled, and one Israeli per 9.402 million earned a gold medal.
The Jewish state significantly outperformed the average of the top 50 medaling countries, per the JNS analysis. On average, the top 50 countries had populations of 75.2 million—some eight times Israel’s population—and earned 6.26 golds and 18.56 total medals.
That meant that, on average, those in the top 50 medaling countries had a one in 5.877 million chance of medaling and one in 17.456 million chance of earning gold.
Israelis were 4.376 times likelier to medal than average, among top 50 countries, and were 1.857 times likelier to earn gold than the average.
The top two medaling countries at press time were China—which earned 40 golds and 91 total medals, or one per 35.401 million receiving gold, and one per 15.561 million medaling—and the United States, which earned 39 golds (one per 8.768 million) and 125 medals (one per 2.736 million).
Israelis were 11.587 times likelier to medal than were Chinese people, and 3.765 times likelier to earn gold. Citizens of the Jewish state were 2.037 times likelier to medal than were Americans, but Americans were 1.072 times likelier to earn gold than were Israelis.
According to the JNS analysis, New Zealand was the country, of the top 50, in which citizens were most likely to medal (one in 258,060), with Israel coming in 20th on the list. Jamaica was the country whose citizens were likeliest to earn gold (one in 2.824 million), with the Jewish state coming in 33rd on the list.