Article by David Tanner, courtesy of the Courier Mail.
Fourth place on the medal tally was snatched from Australia’s grasp on the final day but the Aussie women finished third among all female competitors and, on a per-capita basis, Australia came third for gold medals and second for medals overall among the top sporting nations.
Australia broke its record for Olympics gold medals in Paris with 18 but an equal-record third place on the overall medal table was just out of reach.
Gold medals on the final day of competition for a Japanese javelin thrower and a Japanese wrestler lifted the Asian country above Australia into third place and denied the Aussies their best medal tally finish since the Melbourne Games in 1956. Fourth place – with 18 gold, 19 silver and 16 bronze – was Australia’s best finish in 20 years, matching the results in the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Games.
Australia’s women eclipsed their male counterparts, winning 13 of the 18 gold medals – a haul large enough to finish third on a women’s medal table behind the US (26) and China (20). The 13 women’s gold medals included six of Australia’s seven in the swimming, three in canoe slalom from the Fox sisters, two in cycling, pole vaulter Nina Kennedy and 14-year-old skateboarder Arisa Trew.
The Aussie men, with five gold medals, would have finished ninth on a male medal table.
Australia punched above its weight in Paris when factoring in population differences.
It finished third on gold medals per capita among countries that won five gold or more, behind New Zealand and The Netherlands; and second on all medals per capita among countries that won 10 medals or more, behind only Australia’s trans-Tasman rivals. New Zealand was the only country in the top 15 to win more than one gold medal for every million people (1.9) or more than two medals overall (3.8).
The US and China, first and second on the overall medal tally, finished 13th and 15th (last) on a per-capita basis for gold medals among the same group of countries.
France, fifth overall, came in sixth on a per-capita basis for both gold medals and total medals.
