Research from sports betting site Bookies.com has found that if the U.S. state of California were a country, it would have won 577 Summer Olympic medals between 1984 and 2016 – more than half of the 1,008 medals the United States as a whole won during that period.
When compared to other countries competing in the Olympics, California would rank after the U.S. as second in the world ahead of China (546 medals), Russia (426) and Germany (379). California falls to fourth behind Russia and Germany if defunct teams like the Soviet Union and East Germany are included, but still beats China and other Olympic powerhouses Great Britain (337), Australia (324) and France (301).
California has a population of around 40 million, which is comparable in size to most countries it beats in the rankings. Making the state’s feat more remarkable is that entry limits of two or three per country mean Californians can’t compete in all Olympic events they would otherwise qualify for as an independent nation.
It’s important to note, though, that the methodology used counts every Californian involved with a medal-winning team sport as having received a medal, while only counting one medal per team for regular nations. As such, California’s medal count is overrepresented in this regard.
Other U.S. states also performed well in the hypothetical world medal table, with New York ranking 16th with 154 medals, Texas in 20th with 128 medals, and three other states (Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Florida) rounding off the top 30 places.
The report further shows that only three U.S. states: Rhode Island, Vermont and North Dakota, did not win a Summer Olympic gold between 1984 and 2016. Rhode Island and Vermont have nonetheless won medals of other colors; and while North Dakota is shown as having no medals, the report’s criteria excluded Virgil Hill, who grew up in the state and won a boxing silver in 1984, because he was born in Missouri.
The most notable achievement for a small state at Tokyo so far has been the surprise gold medal of 17-year-old Alaskan swimmer Lydia Jacoby in the 100 meter breaststroke. Jacoby’s victory marks only the second ever gold Alaska has earned at the Summer Olympics.
Vermont also has a good chance of winning their first Summer Olympic gold this year, with native rower Brooke Mooney a member of the U.S. women’s eight team defending their 2016 Olympic title.
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