Motor City Sports

The final RealSports Medal Standings for the 2008 Summer Olympics:

1) United States 34 gold, 30 silver, 32 bronze = 292 points (1st in 2004)
2) China 29-18-19=218 (3rd in 2004)
3) Russia 18-16-21=159 (2nd in 2004)
4) Great Britain 17-13-9=133 (8th in 2004)
5) Australia 12-13-17=116 (4th in 2004)
6) Germany 13-7-12=98 (5th in 2004)
7) France 7-13-13=87 (7th in 2004)
South Korea 9-9-5=77 (10th in 2004)
9) Italy 7-8-10=69 (6th in 2004)
10) Japan 9-4-9=66 (14th in 2004)
11) Ukraine 6-5-8=53 (12th in 2004)
12) Spain 5-7-3=49 (13th in 2004)
13) Holland 6-4-4=46 (11th in 2004)
14) Kenya 5-2-4=44 (27th in 2004)
15) Jamaica 6-2-3=39 (33rd in 2004)
16) Belarus 4-3-9=38 (22nd in 2004)
17) Cuba 2-7-7=38 (21st in 2004)
18) Brazil 3-4-7=34 (15th in 2004)
19) Canada 3-4-6=33 (25th in 2004)
20) Hungary 3-5-2=32 (9th in 2004)
21) Poland 2-6-1=29 (19th in 2004)
22) Czech Republic 3-3-0=24 (28th in 2004)
23) Norway 2-4-2=24 (18th in 2004)
24) New Zealand 3-1-5=23 (23rd in 2004)
25) Ethiopia 4-0-2=22 (24th in 2004)
26) Slovakia 3-2-1=22 (32nd in 2004)
27) Romania 3-1-2=20 (17th in 2004)
28) Kazakhstan 1-3-5=19 (60th in 2004)
29) Georgia 3-0-3=18 (52nd in 2004)
30) Denmark 2-2-2=18 (30th in 2004)
31) Turkey 1-3-1=15 (29th in 2004)
32) Switzerland 2-0-4=14 (41st in 2004)
t32) Argentina 2-0-4=14 (35th in 2004)
34) Zimbabwe 1-3-0=14 (43rd in 2004)
35) Azerbaijan 1-2-3=14 (67th in 2004)
36) Sweden 0-4-2=14 (20th in 2004)
37) Slovenia 1-2-2=13 (58th in 2004)
38) Uzbekistan 1-2-1=12 (no medals in 2004)
39) Bulgaria 1-1-3=11 (34th in 2004)
t39) Indonesia 1-1-3=11 (42nd in 2004)
t39) North Korea 1-1-3=11 (45th in 2004)
42) Finland 1-1-2=10 (65th in 2004)
43) Latvia 1-1-1=9 (44th in 2004)
44) Lithuania 0-2-3=9 (40th in 2004)
45) Mongolia 1-1-0=8 (no medals in 2004)
t45) Estonia 1-1-0=8 (61st in 2004)
t45) Portugal 1-1-0=8 (46th in 2004)
t45) Belgium 1-1-0=8 (47th in 2004)
49) India 1-0-1=6 (63rd in 2004)
50) Trinidad & Tobago 0-2-0=6 (69th in 2004)
51) Thailand 1-0-0=5 (no medals in 2004)
51t) Cameroon 1-0-0=5 (53rd in 2004)
51t) Panama 1-0-0=5 (no medals in 2004)
51t) Bahrain 1-0-0=5 (no medals in 2004)
51t) Tunisia 1-0-0=5 (no medals in 2004)
56) Austria 0-1-2=5 (26th in 2004)
56t) Nigeria 0-1-2=5 (66th in 2004)
56t) Serbia 0-1-2=5 (50th in 2004)
59) Bahamas 0-1-1=4 (48th in 2004)
59t) Algeria 0-1-1=4 (no medals in 2004)
59t) Kyrgyzstan 0-1-1=4 (no medals in 2004)
59t) Colombia 0-1-1=4 (68th in 2004)
59t) Greece 0-1-1=4 (16th in 2004)
59t) Croatia 0-1-1=4 (37th in 2004)
59t) Tajikistan 0-1-1=4 (no medals in 2004)
59t) Morocco 0-1-1=4 (36th in 2004)
67) Armenia 0-0-4=4 (no medals in 2004)
68) Vietnam 0-1-0=3 (no medals in 2004)
68t) Ecuador 0-1-0=3 (no medals in 2004)
68t) Malaysia 0-1-0=3 (no medals in 2004)
68t) Singapore 0-1-0=3 (no medals in 2004)
68t) Chile 0-1-0=3 (39th in 2004)
68t) South Africa 0-1-0=3 (31st in 2004)
68t) Sudan 0-1-0=3 (no medals in 2004)
68t) Iceland 0-1-0=3 (no medals in 2004)
76) Taiwan 0-0-2=2 (59th in 2004)
77) Egypt 0-0-1=1 (no medals in 2004)
77t) Togo 0-0-1=1 (no medals in 2004)
77t) Iran 0-0-1=1 (55th in 2004)
77t) Israel 0-0-1=1 (54th in 2004)

China and Great Britain were both up 60 points from 2004, while Kenya and Jamaica were both up around 25 points from much lower bases. Of course, neither of those countries won a single medal outside of track & field.

On the other hand, did anyone inform South Africa that the Olympics were being held this year? One silver medal? They only won six in Athens, but that’s a lot better than one.

And if there’s any question about the home-field advantage in the Olympics, we give you Greece. In 2004, 10 medals and 30 points. In 2008, two medals and four points. They did manage to have one high-profile doping bust in both Olympiads, though.

One last thing. Michael Phelps had a good Olympics in Greece in 2004, but became The Greatest Olympian Ever in 2008, right?

As a country, MichaelPhelpsLand finished 15th in Athens and 15th in Beijing.