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Originally posted by BRISK
Exactly, and neither could a country of 2 people.
The larger your country's population, the greater chance you have of naturally producing champions. A country of 500 million has much greater chance of naturally producing champions than a country of 5 people
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Yes, because the larger countries generally have the larger pool from which to draw athletes.
But funding also plays a part in it. A larger populated country like the USA can generate an enormous amount of funding and back tens of thousands of athletes, and then draw the best from that elite pool.
The reason India, with the second larges population on Earth, didn't win that many medals is because India is a poorer country that doesn't pump billions of dollars into athletic programs like the USA does.
Population has a LOT to do with winning medals. Even the Olympic statistics put forth by various medias and the IOC includes population & per capita figures, I've seen it before. A country with 20 million people which wins a lot of medals certainly is something worth noting, Australia definitely has something to be very proud of there. I hope one day Canada can do as well.