Average number of medals won per capita in the Summer Olympics 1896-2020

Although the United States lead the all-time Summer Olympics medal table, and the Soviet Union have the highest average medal tally per event, it is the Bahamas who has the highest medal count per capita. With 8 golds and 16 total Olympic medals, and a population of fewer than 290,000 people in 2020, The Bahamas have won roughly 56 medals per million people. Until the 2020 Games, Finland consistently had the highest number of medals per capita, due to its legacy in athletic and wrestling events in the mid-twentieth century, although smaller (particularly Caribbean) nations have climbed the table in recent years.Olympic tradition and lower populations in the top tenWith 511 total medals, Hungary is the most successful nation to have never hosted the Summer Olympics. Unlike the Bahamas or Finland, Hungary's medal haul has been consistently high throughout Olympic history, and they are currently eighth in the overall medal table. Hungary has won a large proportion of its medals in fencing, swimming and canoeing events, and is top of the overall table in pentathlon and water polo events. When it comes to gold medals per capita, Hungary is in second place with just under 19 medals per one million inhabitants. In addition to Finland, other Nordic countries have performed well at the Olympics on a per capita basis, as their high rate of participation over time and relatively low populations means that four of the top ten spots on this list are taken by Scandinavian countries.U.S., Soviet Union and China fall behindAs mentioned previously, countries who have won the most medals overall do not have always the highest per-capita totals. For example, China has the fourth-most gold medals of all time, but, as China has the highest population in the world, this translates to just 0.18 golds per million people. The U.S. has won a total of 3 golds and 8 total medals per million people, while the Soviet Union had won fewer than four medals per million people, based on its population in 1990.

尽管美国在夏季奥运会史上金牌榜位居首位，苏联在每项赛事的平均奖牌数上独占鳌头，但巴哈马却以每百万人口拥有最高奖牌数而闻名。2020年，巴哈马以8枚金牌和16枚奥运奖牌的成绩，在人口不足29万的背景下，实现了每百万人口约56枚奖牌的骄人成绩。直至2020年奥运会，芬兰凭借其在二十世纪中叶的田径和摔跤项目上的传统优势，一直保持着每百万人口奖牌数的最高记录，尽管近年来一些小国（尤其是加勒比海地区国家）在奖牌榜上有所上升。奥运传统与顶尖国家人口规模奥运史上，获得奖牌总数最多的国家并不总是拥有最高的每百万人口奖牌数。例如，匈牙利虽未曾举办过夏季奥运会，但其奖牌总数达到511枚，是奥运史上最成功的国家。与巴哈马或芬兰不同，匈牙利在奥运历史上的奖牌收获始终保持着较高水平，目前在全球奖牌榜上位列第八。匈牙利在击剑、游泳和皮划艇项目上赢得了大量奖牌，并在五项全能和水球项目上位居整体奖牌榜榜首。在人均金牌数方面，匈牙利以每百万人口不足19枚奖牌的成绩位居第二。除了芬兰之外，其他北欧国家在奥运会上的人均表现也相当出色，由于这些国家在奥运会上的参与率较高且人口规模相对较小，因此在这份榜单的前十名中，有四个位置被斯堪的纳维亚国家占据。美国、苏联和中国落后于其他国家。如前所述，获得奖牌总数最多的国家并不总是拥有最高的每百万人口奖牌数。例如，中国拥有史上第四多的金牌数，但由于中国是世界人口最多的国家，这使得其每百万人口仅产生0.18枚金牌。美国每百万人口获得3枚金牌和8枚奖牌，而苏联在1990年的人口基础上，每百万人口获得的奖牌数不到4枚。