- Australia has won an impressive 14 gold medals in Paris
- This equates to 1.22 medals per million Australian residents.
- It ranks third in the overall medal table, behind the United States and China.
It’s officially time to celebrate: When it comes to the best Olympic nation per capita according to the top 10 of the current Games medal table, Australia leads the world.
With 14 gold medals so far, Australia’s figure of 1.22 medals per million people is impressive.
They currently occupy third place, ahead of host country France (13) and Great Britain (12).
Australia also has the highest number of gold medals per million people, with 0.48 gold medals per million residents.
This comes as the United States leads the tally in Paris with 24 golds and 86 medals in total at the time of writing, but considering its population is 342 million, the statistics tell the story.
China ranks second behind the United States in the medal count with 22 golds, and is also far behind Australia in the alternative count considering its current population is a whopping 1.42 billion people.
Elsewhere, small nations like Saint Lucia have managed to outgrow their small populations.
Saint Lucia has 179,000 permanent residents and, after track star Julien Alfred won his first Olympic medal in the women’s 100 metres, technically has five gold medals per million people.
When it comes to the best Olympic country per capita in the current top 10 medal table, Australia is the world benchmark (pictured: tennis stars Matthew Ebden and John Peers after winning doubles gold).
Swimmer Cameron McEvoy won the men’s 50m freestyle final, which comes as Australia has the highest number of gold medals per million people, with 0.48 gold medals per million residents.
Arisa Trew became Australia’s youngest ever gold medallist when, aged 14, she won the women’s park skate title.
Meanwhile, Australia, which sits third in the medal table, has the chance to add to its impressive haul on the 12th in Paris.
Sailor Matt Wearn (9.13pm AEST on Wednesday) looks all but certain to win gold in the dinghy class and reigning world champion Nina Kennedy is a favourite to win the women’s pole vault final (3am AEST on Thursday).
All the Games action wraps up on Sunday, with the closing ceremony in Paris on August 12 starting at 5am AEST.
Australia’s flag bearer has yet to be named, and given the rush of gold in the City of Love, Australia’s chef de mission Anna Meares will be spoilt for choice.
Canoeist Jessica Cox, who later won two gold medals in the K1 and C1 slalom events, and perennial hockey star Eddie Ockenden were the nominated flag bearers for the opening ceremony.
At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Australian basketball legend Patty Mills and swimmer Cate Campbell carried the flag at the opening ceremony.
Two-time gold medallist sailor Mathew Belcher was a popular choice ahead of the closing ceremony in Japan.