How some US sites are 'rigging' Olympic medal tally

There is a rort going on at the Olympic Games - and fingers are pointing squarely at our friends in the US.

American athletes are traditionally one of the big hitters at the Olympics, but it appears media outlets back home are working hard to give them a little extra edge.

How? By rigging the medal tally. And it's also inadvertently given our old arch-rival an unforgiveable leg-up.

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Traditionally - and officially - countries are ranked by their gold medal achievements, deferring to silver and bronze hauls if there's a tie.

For example, take a look at nine.com.au's own medal table, with Australia ranked a glorious third with six gold medals, behind China (six golds, but six silvers to Australia's four) and Japan (seven golds).

The official Olympic Games medal table is laid out the same way.

Now, have a look at this array of tomfoolery.

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Numerous - not all - US media outlets are instead ranking countries by total medal achievements, which oh-so-coincidentally puts the US well in front with 26 medals overall, followed by France on 18.

In golds, France is ranked fifth with five, and the US sixth with four.

Perhaps most galling of all, under the US measure, while Australia is ranked a respectable sixth with 11 gold medals - we're just behind fifth-placed Great Britain (12 overall - but a mere four golds).

Paper of record the New York Times does acknowledge this divergence, then compounds it by offering readers multiple ways to rank the competing nations, depending on how much they personally value each kind of medal.

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"Which way of counting is superior? It's possible neither is. Maybe the ideal method is somewhere in between," the Times opines.

It remains to be seen whether this sly perversion of the medal count will stand if the US starts accruing more gold.

On the other hand - it could be that the New York Times has a point, and it's all to the good to celebrate our silver and bronze medallists with equal enthusiasm. After all, it's the achievement of a lifetime just to be selected for the Olympics.

As long as we don't finish behind the Brits.

Watch every moment, every medal of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 live and free on Channel 9 and 9Now. Plus, every event ad-free and in 4K on Stan Sport.