Bedtime Facts (37/365)

in finland •  7 years ago  (edited)

Finland has the highest number of Olympic medals won (302 of which 101 are gold) per capita of all countries

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This fact is more than a little surprising considering the current games are going and how the Olympic games in the post-war period have been going. This record that still holds is based on Finland's success in the beginning of the 20th century.

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Interesting those medals are all in winter games?

Not at all. In fact, when it comes to the Winter Games, Finland is second to Norway on a medals per capita basis. A very large number of medals were won by Finnish athletes in long-distance running and track&field in the first half of the 20th century. Paavo Nurmi was one of the greatest athletes of that era.

The first half of the 20th century was a time when very large parts of Africa and Asia did not participate in the Olympic Games as independent countries. These days, West Africa dominates short distances in running and long jump whereas long-distance running is completely dominated by East Africans. Europeans still manage to do well in javelin, hammer, shot put and pole vault. Asians are a more diverse group when it comes to sports.

Finland is too dope, it even has the most Olympic medals won.
Mmm... what facts can I learn next, I think my IQ raised from 1 to 3 in last two weeks thanks to reading Bedtime facts.

:D

SUOMI PERKELE tähän väliin

That's pretty cool Finland.

Really, I never knew this. What do you think contributes to the high number? Is sports well funded in Finland?

Finland hasn't been particularly successful for the past 50 years. The high medal count is owed to a few dozen extraordinarily successful runners and track & field athletes in the first half of the 20th century. There was much less international competition back then. In fact, Paavo Nurmi was accused of being a de facto professional when he was active in the 1920's.

It really is surprising, didn't knew that.

Me neither.

That is cool, any specific discipline that Finland crushes? For example here in my country, baseball is in the blood, It's not a winter discipline but I think you understand the idea.

Well, there is our version of baseball, pesäpallo. There is a small but organized player population in India, too. Some guy just happened to watch a game of pesäpallo on YouTube and then he persuaded a group of friends to play it with him. That's how it got started in India.

See:

Floorball is dominated by Finland and Sweden.

It was amazing..... Keep it up