Renowned commentator Lou Yichen published a column in the Oriental Sports Daily, in which he stated that the Olympics, held every four years, always provoke some inexplicable controversies, such as disputes over the ranking of the medal table.
The report states that since the debut of the Chinese delegation at the 1984 Olympics, our medal tables (both official and media) have consistently ranked nations primarily based on the number of gold medals won.
Lou Yichen believes that this method of ranking is entirely reasonable. After all, gold medals carry the most weight, and their number is paramount. This is the preferred method of the International Olympic Committee and the majority of countries and regions worldwide.
However, the author notes that there are some countries that rank by total medals won, such as the United States, both officially and in the media.
For Chinese audiences accustomed to ranking countries by the number of gold medals, the American approach appears arrogant and disrespectful, imbued with a sense of contrarianism and a “none of your business” attitude. Particularly when the U.S. team wins fewer gold medals than other countries, being first in total medals can be seen as indicative of pettiness and a dark mindset.
The author concludes that there may be another reason: the U.S. has long claimed itself as the New World… being the New World, it naturally seeks to distinguish itself from the Old World… hence, while most use the metric system, measuring distances in meters and weights in kilograms, Americans use miles, feet, yards, pounds, ounces, and gallons. How tall is Michael Jordan in metric units? He is six feet six inches tall.
