Planning Article
July 2024 – By Bob Veres
The Summer Olympic games are coming, from July 26 through August 11. Paris is the host city, although many of the events will be happening in other French venues. For example, the equestrian events will be held on the extensive grounds of Versailles, where the French kings decanted for their summer vacations.
Historically, a few nations have dominated the medal award podium and heard their national anthem after the results are announced. The United States has won a total of 2,629 Summer Olympic medals, by far the most, including 1,061 golds, 830 silvers and 738 bronzes. Second is the Soviet Union, with 1,010 total medals (395 gold) followed by Great Britain (916 total, 284 gold), France (751; 223), China (636; 263), Germany (655; 201), Italy (618; 217), Australia (547; 164) and Hungary ((511; 181).
But the interesting thing about these totals is that the United States has participated in 28 of the 29 Summer Games (boycotting the Moscow Olympics in 1980), while the Soviet Union has only participated in 9, Germany in 17, and China in 11. If you were to rank countries by the number of medals earned in contests that they actually competed in, the order would be (using round numbers): Soviet Union (average of 122 medals per games attended); United States (94), East Germany (82 over just five Summer Games), Russia (71 average over just six Summer Games), China (58), Great Britain (32), France (26), Japan (22), Italy (22), Australia (20) and Hungary (19).
In the Winter Games, the runaway leader is Norway, with 405 total medals, followed (surprisingly) by the United States (330), Germany (267), Austria (250), Canada (225), the Soviet Union (194), Sweden (176) and Finland (175). Some of the discrepancies are interesting. Equatorial Brazil has won 143 total Summer Games medals and never medaled at the Winter Games. Cuba, with 235 Summer medals, has also never had a citizen on the Winter podium, and Turkey (103 Summer medals), Kenya (113), Argentina (77), South Africa (89) and Jamaica (88) are similarly winless in the Winter games.
Investment advice offered through HighPoint Advisor Group, LLC, a registered investment advisor.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendation for any individual. Although general strategies and / or opinions are revealed, this post is not intended to, nor does it represent or reflect, transactions or activity specific to any one account. To determine which investment(s) may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All data and information is gathered from sources believed to be reliable and is not warranted to be correct, complete or accurate. Investments carry risk of loss including loss of principal. Past performance is never a guarantee of future results.