Slovenia hammers Armenia in Medals Per Capita

Through eyeballs bloodshot from hours of trivial long division, the world's lonely and frivolous Medals Per Capita scholars will look at you and share with you an ancient Medals Per Capita adage:

Fear Slovenia.

Oh, Slovenia will bring along that dauntingly low population of 2,007,711. Oh, Slovenia will get some medals. And oh yeah, Slovenians have a demonstrable sturdiness.

Through history, they've come under the rule of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Carantania, the Holy Roman Empire, the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire, the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Germans and Italians during World War II and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

You think they can't handle the hammer throw?

Now, as a pursuit, the hammer throw can seem alien, inscrutable and marginal. It can make you wonder just how many dangerous things they're going to let people throw for medals in the Olympics.

But on Sunday night in Beijing, the hammer throw turned monumentally, epically, phantasmagorically pivotal when Primoz Kozmus won it and lifted Slovenia to No. 1 on the most vital, cogent, counter-snobbish Olympic ranking, Medals Per Capita.

It brought the first track-or-field gold medal ever to the gorgeous little kumquat of a nation next to Italy on the Adriatic. It gave Slovenia four medals for 2,007,711 people, or one for every 501,927 Slovenians. It gave Slovenia a noticeable array of medals thus far -- one judo, one swimming, one shooting, one field.

And it finally dislodged the mighty Armenians from the summit.

Medals Per Capita should take this opportunity, then, to salute the Armenians, who tenaciously held the No. 1 slot for five long Olympic days, wringing five medals from 2,968,586 people to fend off hordes of challengers while forcing us to learn rarefied factoids.

Did you know that Armenia is the smallest of the former Soviet Republics, that its currency is the dram or that it has a bunch of extinct volcanoes? You do now, because of Armenian prowess in weightlifting (three medals) and wrestling (two).

In fact, that five-day reign almost certainly will prove persuasive to the Medals Per Capita Hall of Fame voters.

Sorry, voter.

In MPC minutiae from Sunday:

-- If you saw Jamaican women sweep gold, silver and silver (dead heat) in the women's 100 meters, and you instantly thought of how that might ransack the Medals Per Capita standings, well, that proves you have no life whatsoever.

It also could mean you're trivially observant, as the Frazer-Stewart-Simpson domination rocketed Jamaica from No. 24 all the way to No. 3 with a glowing MPC rating of one medal per 701,083.

-- The Trans-Tasman tussle, so gripping on Saturday, remained on in earnest -- Australia No. 4, New Zealand No. 5 -- even though Australia hoarded four more medals to reach 29 while New Zealand got zero to stay at five. The Australians had to be scratching their heads and wondering why they'd reproduced with such relative abandon. In their defense, they do have a lot more land.

-- In an Olympic story that defies all known worldly sporting belief, Great Britain is kicking serious tail in Beijing. It has gotten so serious that some columnists were comparing Saturday's nine-medal haul to the golden day of July 30, 1966, when England won the World Cup at Wembley Stadium. Then Sunday continued almost apace, with a medal (bronze) in men's gymnastics, unprecedented for a nation long thought too gorged on beer to navigate a pommel horse. A haul of 17 medals in two days brought a Very Great Britain to 24 medals and 25th place, an outstanding MPC showing for a big population.

The top 10:
(country, medal tally, MPC)

1. Slovenia (4) - one medal per every 501,927
2. Armenia (5) - 593,717
3. Jamaica (4) - 701,083
4. Australia (29) - 710,374
5. New Zealand (5) - 834,692
6. Belarus (10) - 968,576
7. Trinidad & Tobago (1) - 1,047,366
8. Norway (4) - 1,161,114
9. Estonia (1) - 1,307,605
10. Slovakia (4) - 1,311,187

Selected Others:

11. Denmark (4) - one medal per every 1,371,180
25. Great Britain (25) - 2,437,756
26. France (25) - 2,562,311
35. Germany (21) - 3,922,359
39. Singapore (1) - 4,608,167
40. United States (65) - 4,674,225
41. Canada (7) - 4,744,670
44. Japan (20) - 6,364,420
46. Spain (6) - 6,748,508
56. China (61) - 21,804,010

-- Chuck Culpepper

Culpepper is a Times contributor.

Photo: Primoz Kozmus competes on Sunday during the men's hammer throw final at the National Stadium during the 2008 Beijing Games. Kozmus, of Slovenia, won the gold medal. Credit: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

Comments

[Mare]

Ok, first of all,poverty-ridden country?As you,ve already mentioned,most of you Americans(not all) cannot even locate my tiny little country on the map.But i guess thats your fault not mine,i was able to name every American state few years ago...And maybe you are not familiar with this information,but war in Slovenia ended like 18 years ago, we have come a long way since, developed into a modern european country, that was on head of EU from January to June 2008. So, our training ground facilities are maybe not as high-sofisticated like yours but are still better than in the most world countries, and our access to performance-anhancing drugs is as easy as yours...But it's true that we don't have a reputation like USA or China...But still, with population around 2 million, 4 medals is not bad at all. And we have like 5 or 6 players in the NBA, highest payed basketball player in Europe(Smodiš,CSKA), national hockey team in group A of world hockey (yes, the same group where your beloved national team plays, but we have only 5 hockey arenas:-)), soccer team played in european and world championship,......So, my dear Americans,Slovenia is not a third world country without electricity and clean water,but rather one of the most beautiful countries in the world,and i have travelled a lot...c ya...

[Glimsy]

Just because you never heard of Slovenia before it doesn't mean it's a poor country. Come visit us and you should learn... :P

[sLOVEnija]

Go to school Margarita and all who dont know where is Slovenija. I think your country is poor It can be seen that your country hasent got enough money for education...or the problem are lazy people. Also We Slovenians are hard working people, so that is why we stay alive from all those occupations. From there you can see that this is great land and all wanted it....but at the end...Real people who deserve it have taken it and that are we Slovenians. And a hint: You can write in google Slovenija or on wikipedia...there you may find where Our country is.

Slovenija #1

[France Preseren]

Erzeroutsi!!! If you can not locate Slovenia on the map, I don't know why are you writing such comments. And btw...Slovenia is not a poor country somewhere in the middle of no where (sounds good:D)..Come on...take some time and come to Slovenia and see where we live...The american president George W. Bush said that Slovenia is a big slize of heaven...and I bet that you would like it if you came here in our paradise, all you have to do is that you find Slovenia (not SLOVAKIA) on the map and after that you order a plane ticket (mybe one way ticket :D:D) and come here!!! Oh yes...do not forget about the money because our country does not have low prices because economic standard of Slovenia is high, higher that you think! FIND SOME INFORMATION ABOUT SLOVENIA AND ITS PEOPLE!!! Bye!!

[mika]

Well done Slovenia. I was in your country about 10 years ago and i was amazed
Greetings from Germany

[Mamoo Y. Ebatz]

Actually, there might be some countries in the world, residents of which could be better than Slovenians in throwing useful tools away ...

:P

[Janez Lomsek]

Proud to be Slovenian! I'm flying my Slovenian flag today. Damn proud of my country!

Viva Slovenija!

[Tainta]

Jesus, don't get your panties in a bunch guys ...

Pa kaj potem, ce ljudje ne vedo toliko o Sloveniji. Ni se treba pocutit tako ogrozene in se takoj zacet trkat po prsih rekoc, kako smo fajn ...
(So what if people don't know all that much about Slovenija. You don't have to be so defensive and start pounding on your chest saying how great we are ...)

No, kakorkoli - cestitke vsem nasim sportnikom!
(Well, anyway - congratulations to all of our athletes!)

Kozmus je luskan <3

[KateUK]

Poverty-ridden, Margarita??? I have to laugh.

Before you make statements like this you should have your facts straight.
I lived in Slovenia for professional reasons and I’ll tell you one thing … those people are highly educated, speak 2 foreign languages, have full health insurance from the state (with small contribution from themselves that everyone can afford) and are definitely not poverty-ridden. 95% of people own houses and/or flats they live in and have 2 cars per household. They take 2 holidays per year (skiing in winter and sea in summer).

It is a great country to visit and to live in! 

[max]

If you want learn about some Slovenian sport, culture and history... then visit my homepage with Slovenian stamps. If somebody likes to exchange stamps with me, please send me an email.
Max

[mike]

Dear Slovenians, you seem to be upset about the "poor" comment, and are letting us all know how well-off you are. Unfortunately, this effort in itself defeats the argument that you deserve to be on the top of the list.

see? Armenia is poor, yet competes at a wold class level. Your country has resources, Armenia las soviet leftovers of 20+ years... Go Armenia!!!

(Also, I hear that about 120 Armenian origin athletes are competing under other flag. I would guess that is also at the top of the charts.)

[ART]

gdg, then it seems like Slovenia has a terrible return on its investment so far:

Slovenia - 62 athletes, 4 medals = 1 medal per 15.5 athletes sent
Armenia - 25 athletes, 5 medals = 1 medal per 5 athletes sent

Go ahead and diminish this accomplishment. Just imagine if poor little Armenia had Slovenia's wealth.

[maxstamps]

If you want learn about some Slovenian sport, culture and history... then visit my homepage with Slovenian stamps. If somebody likes to exchange stamps with me, please send me an email:
maxstamps@email.si
homepage:
http://maxstamps.de.tl/SLOVENIA.htm
Max

[maxstamps]

Hello !

[Arnir]

...and no, we don't eat turists :P

[Slovenc]

@ Margarita: get some education, please. a four year slovenian can name all worlds contruies...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE

enough said

[Marc]

Personally, I dont think anyone should be dissing anybodys countries. I'm Armenian and I'm very proud to say that our tiny country( which is much tinier than Slovenia) produced 5 medals. I'm just amazed that Armenia which is a third-world country and a poverty-ridden country sorry to say managed to pull off a great performance like this. Bravo!!

Gotta give props to Slovenia too on their performance.!!

[Mikec]

Slovenia for the win! :)

[Jack]

Ok, ok. Relax Slovenians. So you are not poor, you are very well off. Calm down you are going to give yourselves a heath attack. You are definitely much better off now than when you were part of Czechoslovakia!

[tadej]

slovenia is a beautiful country, but austria is even more beautiful

[Moaner]

Oh my dear fellow citizens Slovenians! Enough of this phoney patriotism. =)

Let me just say a word about our sport investments. Well they are bad, so bad that our silver swimmer Sara Isakovic got only 300€ when she became europian champion besides loads of our sportsmen gave up and are still giving up on thier careers way too soon because they just can't live from sport.

And stop spamming=)

[Mack]

Jack, nice try to get 50 responses telling you Slovenia isn't Slovakia :)

[fejker]

Go Armenia!
Go Slovenia!
Go everybody else!

People are forgetting that it's the Olympic games we're talking about here. Who f-ing cares how many medals either country has ... as long as we don't forget what the OG are all about - connecting people. (Russia seams to be forgetting that.)

BTW, next year they should open a new category to compete in - medals/athletes_sent so ART there can get his satisfaction. But still the medals/capita counts here so if next year Armenia can send more wrestlers and weightlifters that would be cool - just to have a fair fight. /sarcasm off

And to all those Slovenian posts before me ... I don't think Margarita is American because she/he made too many mistakes in her/his post. Or maybe she/he hasn't even finished primary school. I'd be ashamed if a person from a "poverty-ridden" country spoke my language better than me.

Greetings from Slovenia and remember "connecting people".

[fejker]

@Jack: Slovenia was never part of Czechoslovakia, that was the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Maybe you're just saying this because you want to piss some people off or just because you're ignorant.

[kajjazvem]

@Jack : Czechoslovakia????? WTF?????