It makes sense that China got second overall, with a 1.4 billion person population, the US winning with 333 million and great funding and relatively large population.

Surely a large enough population gives you a massive advantage of covering more sports and getting genetic miracles of athletes, right? But then I realized that the biggest populated country wasn’t on the top 10, or even top 50. How is India at 1.42 billion coming in after NK and Lithuania?

  • DaGuys470BEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    To be great in the Olympics you need:

    • many inhabitants
    • public interest in sports
    • sufficent funding
    • sufficent interest and funding in many different sports
    • the necessary infrastructure to practice these sports
    • good youth development

    If you lack any of these, you’re not gonna be great. Germany for example has the people and the interest, but we only focus on a few sports which aren’t properly funded and thus lack infrastructure.

  • NuurpsBEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    With Cricket in LA they’ll send a good team, which will probably flow on to having more athletes sent over as well. It’s hosted in Brisbane after that which will definitely include cricket after it gets a run in LA.

    Chances are we’ll see a few more Indian athletes representing at the next couple even with ignoring all the cultural nuances.

  • EastBayWoodsyBEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    India may not be as into sports as other countries, but they’re already a sure bet to win gold in Cricket in LA.

    • itsadoubledionBEnglish
      1·
      2 months ago

      Nah they don’t even do the best at the World Cup. But should be competitive at least

  • ElSalvoBEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    Supporting sports from the amateur ranks all the way to the professional level requires a ton of discretionary spending and India in particular doesn’t spend a cent on it unless they need to. The only sport that is supported at a decent level is cricket and even then all of the attention is put on superstars, not grassroots players. I think things will change after Paris though because they severely underperformed and if they want to host in 2036 they’ll need to make some serious changes.

    Other countries with high population just don’t have the money. Pakistan managed to get a gold but Nadeem did it with zero support at all. Indonesia tends to do well in weightlifting and badminton but competing with China is a big ask. The various governing bodies of Nigeria are notoriously corrupt and inefficient. Bangladesh is on fire. I can go on.