By twisting 'this,' North Korea can rank top in Rio medal standings

North Korea is placed first, according to Total Medals by GDP. / Captured from Medals Per Capita

By Park Jae-hyuk

As of Friday, North Korea ranks 37th at the Rio Olympics with two silver medals and two bronze. But it will readily jump to the top if the ranking system is overhauled to add “this” as a critical element: gross domestic product (GDP).

Statistics-providing website “Medals Per Capita” actually did it and under its untested system North Korea outperforms the United States, China and other sports powerhouses to be top as of Friday.

The system divides a country’s GDP by the total number of medals a country wins, regardless of color. The lower the outcome, the higher ranking.

According to the website, the North’s “GDP per medal” is 5.5 as of Friday ― achieved by dividing its GDP of $22 billion by its four medals. The runner-up is Kyrgyzstan (5.92), followed by Georgia (7.18) and Mongolia (8.56). The U.S. ranks 45th with 431.26 and South Korea 20th with 101.48.

Craig Nevill-Manning, who made the website and the system in New Zealand, said neglecting a country’s wealth and population in medal standings is unfair.

“Larger countries tend to win more medals,” he wrote on the website. “The obvious next question is: who leads the world in medals per capita? This site, which is updated daily during the Olympics, provides the answer.”