In the early 20th century, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) refused to publish medals tables, considering them vulgar and a goad to competitive nationalism rather than the cooperative internationalism that the Games were meant to nurture. It heartily disapproved of the US press which invented them as part of its coverage of the 1908 London Games as a way of selling papers and tracking the US’s sporting ascent and Britain’s decline. The IOC has since made its peace with the medals table, and at each Games it is offered – especially for those at the top – as a measure of national prowess and power.
How then to read Team GB’s performance at Paris 2024, seventh in the table with 14 golds and 65 medals in total? By the first two criteria, this marks a decline from the highs of London 2012 (29 golds and third in the table) and Rio 2016 (27 golds and second in the table), though that this should appear disappointing is a measure of the transformation of UK elite sport since the Olympic nadir of Atlanta 1996 where the UK won just one gold medal and finished 36th in the rankings. That said, the total number of medals won is about the same as recent Olympics and, given the small margins of elite competition, the UK could easily have finished higher up the table.
