Overview of the Caribbean region’s medal performance at the 2016 Summer in ,

Prepared for http://repeatingislands.com by Peter B. Jordens Curaçao, August 29, 2016

Introduction

The 28th Olympic Games were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from August 5 to 21, 2016. This overview summarizes the performance of the Caribbean nations that won medals at “Rio 2016”. It connects with the overview of the Caribbean medal performance at “ 2012” that is available online at https://repeatingislands.com/2012/08/17/caribbean-athletes-shine-at-the-olympics-an-overview .

The core information in this overview has been sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org (several entries on overall medal count and individual country performances) and https://www.rio2016.com/en .

This overview uses the following abbreviations: B : Number of bronze medals G : Number of gold medals n.a. Not applicable pop : Population size of a nation (expressed in millions of inhabitants) S : Number of silver medals T : Total number of medals, where each medal type counts as one (G=1, S=1, B=1) WT : Weighted total number of medals, where the medal types are counted as G=1, S=0.5, B=0.25 (x-y-z) : (Number of gold medals, number of silver medals, number of bronze medals)

Core results

The athletes of the Caribbean won 39 medals at Rio 2016. This constitutes 4.0% of the total number of medals conferred at the Rio Games. Table 1 shows how the 39 medals were distributed among the nations of the region.

Table 1. Caribbean medal count by nation G S B T WT 6 3 2 11 8.00 5 2 4 11 7.00 3 2 3 8 4.75 Bahamas 1 0 1 2 1.25 Puerto Rico 1 0 0 1 1.00 Venezuela 0 1 2 3 1.00 Grenada 0 1 0 1 0.50 0 0 1 1 0.25 Dominican Republic 0 0 1 1 0.25 CARIBBEAN TOTAL 16 9 14 39 24.00 WORLD TOTAL 307 307 360 974 550.50 Caribbean total as a 5.2% 2.9% 3.9% 4.0% 4.4% % of world total

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In comparison, the Caribbean won 45 medals at the previous Olympic Games, i.e. London 2012, which total represented 4.7% of the overall number of medals conferred at those Games.

By sport, the distribution of the region’s 39 medals at Rio 2016 was as follows:

Table 2. Caribbean medal count by sport G S B T WT Track and field 8 5 5 18 11.75 Boxing 3 1 5 9 4.75 Wrestling 2 1 0 3 2.50 Cycling 1 0 2 3 1.50 Weightlifting 1 0 1 2 1.25 Tennis 1 0 0 1 1.00 0 2 0 2 1.00 Taekwondo 0 0 1 1 0.25 TOTAL (all sports) 16 9 14 39 24.00

The region’s medal performance has traditionally been strongest in boxing and track & field. The 9 medals won in boxing this year constituted 17.3% of all boxing medals conferred at the Rio Olympics. Meanwhile, the 18 medals won by the region in track and field represented 12.8% of all track & field medals conferred at Rio 2016.

Cuba, traditionally the region’s foremost supplier of boxing medals, ranked second on the Rio Olympics medal table for the sport of boxing, as Table 3 shows.

Table 3. Ranking of world’s nations by medal count for boxing (top 5) G S B T WT 1 Uzbekistan 3 2 2 7 4.50 2 Cuba 3 0 3 6 3.75 3 France 2 2 0 4 3.00 4 Kazakhstan 1 2 2 5 2.50 5 Russia 1 1 3 5 2.25

Jamaica’s medal performance at Rio 2016 earned that nation the third spot on the global ranking of nations for Rio 2016 as far as medals in track and field are concerned. 1 See Table 4.

Table 4. Ranking of world’s nations by medal count for track and field (top 6) G S B T WT 1 USA 13 10 9 32 20.25 2 Kenya 6 6 1 13 9.25 3 Jamaica 6 3 2 11 8.00 4 Great Britain 2 1 4 7 3.50 5 China 2 2 2 6 3.50 6 South Africa 2 2 0 4 3.00

Table 5 on the next page provides the names of the Caribbean athletes who won the 39 Olympic medals for the region in 2016.

1 All of Jamaica’s 11 medals at Rio 2016 were in track and field. Of the 78 medals that this country has won ever since it has participated in the Summer Olympic Games, 77 medals have been in track and field. Jamaica obtained one medal in cycling in 1980.

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Table 5. The 39 Caribbean medals by country, medal type, athlete’s name and sport event Jamaica (11) Track and field 11 (6-3-2) G (6) 1. Usain Bolt (men’s 100m) 2. Usain Bolt (men’s 200m) 3. Omar McLeod (men’s 110m hurdles) 4. Elaine Thompson (women’s 100m) 5. Elaine Thompson (women’s 200m) 6. Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake, Nickel Ashmeade, Usain Bolt (men’s 4x100m team relay) S (3) 7. Christania Williams, Elaine Thompson, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Shelly- Ann Fraser-Pryce (women’s 4x100m team relay) 8. Fitzroy Dunkley, Nathon Allen, Peter Matthews, Javon Francis (men’s 4x400m team relay) 9. Stephenie-Ann McPherson, Anneisha McLaughlin-Wilby, Shericka Jackson, Novlene Williams-Mills (women’s 4x400m team relay) B (2) 10. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (women’s 100m) 11. Shericka Jackson (women’s 400m) Cuba (11) Boxing 6 (3-0-3), wrestling 3 (2-1-0), judo 1 (0-1-0), track and field 1 (0-0-1) G (5) 12. Julio César La Cruz (boxing, men’s light heavyweight 81kg) 13. Arlen López (boxing, men’s middleweight 69.9kg) 14. Robeisy Ramírez (boxing, men’s bentam weight 53.5kg) 15. Mijaín López (wrestling, men’s Greco-Roman 130kg) 16. Ismael Borrero (wrestling, men’s Greco-Roman 59kg) S (2) 17. Yasmany Lugo (wrestling, men’s Greco-Roman 98kg) 18. Idalys Ortiz (judo, women’s +78kg) B (4) 19. Denia Caballero (track and field, women’s discus throw) 20. Erislandy Savón (boxing, men’s heavyweight +90kg) 21. Lázaro Álvarez (boxing, men’s lightweight 61kg) 22. Joahnys Argilagos (boxing, men’s light flyweight 49kg) Colombia (8) Cycling 2 (1-0-1), weightlifting 2 (1-0-1), boxing 2 (0-1-1), track and field 1 (1-0-0), judo 1 (0-1-0) G (3) 23. Mariana Pajón (cycling, women’s individual BMX) 24. Caterine Ibargüen (track and field, women’s triple jump) 25. Óscar Figueroa (weightlifting, men’s 62kg) S (2) 26. Yuri Alvear (judo, women’s 70kg) 27. Yuberjén Martínez (boxing, men’s light flyweight) B (3) 28. Carlos Ramirez (cycling, men’s individual BMX) 29. Luis Javier Mosquera (weightlifting, men’s 679kg) 30. Ingrit Valencia (boxing, women’s flyweight 51kg) Bahamas (2) Track and field 2 (1-0-1) G (1) 31. Shaunae Miller (women’s 400m) B (1) 32. Alonzo Russell, , Steven Gardiner, (men’s 4x400m team relay) Puerto Rico (1) Tennis (1-0-0) G (1) 33. Mónica Puig (women’s singles) Venezuela (3) Track and field 1 (0-1-0), boxing 1 (0-0-1), cycling 1 (0-0-1) S (1) 34. Yulimar Rojas (track and field, women’s triple jump) B (2) 35. Yoel Finol (boxing, men’s 52kg) 36. Stefany Hernández (cycling, women’s individual BMX) Grenada (1) Track and field 1 (0-1-0) S (1) 37. (men’s 400m) T and T (1) Track and field 1 (0-0-1) B (1) 38. Keshorn Walcott (men’s javelin throw) Dom Rep (1) Taekwondo 1 (0-0-1) B (1) 39. Luisito Pie (men’s 58kg)

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Some of the remarkable feats and facts that accompanied the region’s medal performance are: • Jamaica’s Usain Bolt completed an unprecedented Olympic ‘triple triple’, winning the 100m and 200m individual sprints and the 4x100m team relay for the third consecutive time. It signifies a perfect and unmatched athletics feat of nine wins out of nine Olympic finals, establishing him as a true Olympic legend. Having dominated the 100m and 200m sprint events at the World Championships and the Olympic Games since 2008 and holding the world record in both events since 2009, “Lightning Bolt” is not only the “world’s fastest sprinter” of the present era but is also generally considered to be the “greatest sprinter of all time.” • Elaine Thompson of Jamaica has surfaced as the new fastest woman sprinter in the world, winning both the 100m and 200m Olympic sprint events. • At present both the “world’s fastest man” and the “world’s fastest woman” are Jamaican. • Veronica Campbell Brown of Jamaica won her 8 th medal at her 5 th consecutive Olympic Games since 2000. She has won 3 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze Olympic medals in her illustrious career. • In Rio, Jamaica won a medal in all four track-and-field relay events contested by their men and women. • Mónica Puig Marchán won Puerto Rico’s first Olympic gold medal ever. • Idalys Ortiz Boucurt of Cuba has now won a medal in judo at three consecutive Olympic games. • Mariana Pajón Londoño, BMX cyclist, has become the first Colombian to win two Olympic gold medals. • In Rio, Caterine Ibargüen won Colombia’s first ever Olympic gold medal in track and field. • Honorable mention: Machel Cedenio of Trinidad and Tobago finished 4 th in the men’s 400m final, while breaking a 24-year-old national record for his country.

The regions’ performance relative to population size

Table 6. Ranking of the world’s nations by weighted total medal count (top 22) G S B T WT 1 USA 46 37 38 121 74.00 2 Great Britain 27 23 17 67 42.75 3 China 26 18 26 70 41.50 4 Russia 19 18 19 56 32.75 5 Germany 17 10 15 42 25.75 6 France 10 18 14 42 22.50 7 Japan 12 8 21 41 21.25 8 Italy 8 12 8 28 16.00 9 Australia 8 11 10 29 16.00 10 South Korea 9 3 9 21 12.75 11 Netherlands 8 7 4 19 12.50 12 Brazil 7 6 6 19 11.50 13 Hungary 8 3 4 15 10.50 14 Spain 7 4 6 17 10.50 15 New Zealand 4 9 5 18 9.75 16 Kenya 6 6 1 13 9.25 17 Canada 4 3 15 22 9.25 18 Jamaica 6 3 2 11 8.00 19 Kazakhstan 3 5 9 17 7.75 20 Croatia 5 3 2 10 7.00 21 Cuba 5 2 4 11 7.00 22 Azerbaijan 1 7 10 18 7.00

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Table 6 on the previous page shows the customary way of ranking the nations of the world in terms of Olympic medal performance, i.e. according to absolute (weighted) medal count. In this manner, the highest ranked Caribbean nations at Rio 2016 were Jamaica and Cuba, positioned 18 th and 21 st respectively.

However, this traditional way of ranking tends to favor the larger and wealthier countries. When the nations of the world are instead ranked according to medal count per population size , a very different picture emerges: no less than four Caribbean nations appear within the top 20 of this alternative ranking. Moreover, Caribbean nations occupy the three top spots on this list. See Table 7. 2

Table 7. Ranking of nations by weighted total medal count per 1 million inhabitants (top 17) Pop G S B T WT WT/pop 1 Grenada 0.103 0 1 0 1 0.50 4.839 2 Bahamas 0.378 1 0 1 2 1.25 3.307 3 Jamaica 2.723 6 3 2 11 8.00 2.938 4 New Zealand 4.710 4 9 5 18 9.75 2.070 5 Croatia 4.191 5 3 2 10 7.00 1.670 6 Denmark 5.724 2 6 7 15 6.75 1.179 7 Slovenia 2.063 1 2 1 4 2.25 1.090 8 Hungary 9.823 8 3 4 15 10.50 1.069 9 Bahrain 1.405 1 1 0 2 1.50 1.068 10 Georgia 3.720 2 1 4 7 3.50 0.941 11 Armenia 2.995 1 3 0 4 2.50 0.835 12 Netherlands 17.045 8 7 4 19 12.50 0.733 13 Azerbaijan 9.756 1 7 10 18 7.00 0.718 14 Australia 24.172 8 11 10 29 16.00 0.662 15 Great Britain 65.110 27 23 17 67 42.75 0.657 16 Serbia 7.076 2 4 2 8 4.50 0.636 17 Cuba 11.239 5 2 4 11 7.00 0.623

Several other rankings can be found online. 3 They use, in addition to population size, such parameters as size of the Olympic squad, size of the economy, and national wealth to present alternative indicators of Olympic medal performance.

For example, when the medal count of nations participating in the Rio Olympics is divided by the economic size of each nation (as measured by gross domestic product or GDP), then Grenada, Jamaica, , and Cuba appear in the top 15 of the world ranking.

When the medal count is calculated relative to the size of the Olympic squad of the participating nation, then Grenada and Jamaica appear within the top 15 spots of this ranking of the nations of the world.

Finally, when the Olympic medal count is weighed in terms of a nation’s economic wealth (measured by GDP per capita), then Jamaica is ranked in the global top 15.

2 The source used for population size is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population . 3 Examples are http://www.medalspercapita.com by Craig Nevill-Manning of New Zealand, http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/population/estimates_and_projections/olympics-2016.aspx by Statistics New Zealand (Government), http://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2016/08/21/rio-2016-alternate-medal-table-how- countries-rank-when-we-adjust by the Telegraph (UK), https://inews.co.uk/essentials/sport/olympics/rio-olympics- top-ten-medal-winning-countries-adjusted-gdp by i-News (UK) and https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/sports/olympics/rio-2016-olympic-medal-count by the Washington Post (USA).

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The region’s performance at Rio 2016 viewed historically

How does the performance of the Caribbean at Rio 2016 compare to the region’s performance at recent Olympic Games?

Table 8 summarizes the medal performance of the Caribbean at the last six Olympic Games, held from 1996 to 2016. The data indicates that the region’s medal performance in 2016 was basically on par with the region’s average achievement during this period.

Table 8. Caribbean medals per Olympic Games, 1996-2016 G S B T WT Medals in 1996 (Atlanta, USA) 10 12 13 35 19.25 Medals in 2000 (Sydney, Australia) 14 18 13 45 26.25 Medals in 2004 (Athens, Greece) 13 8 19 40 21.75 Medals in 2008 (, China) 9 19 16 44 22.50 Medals in 2012 (London, England) 15 12 18 45 25.50 Medals in 2016 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) 16 9 14 39 24.00 TOTAL MEDALS 1996-2016 77 78 93 248 139.25 Average annual medal count 1996-2016 13 13 16 41 23.21

Chart 1 illustrates the trend in the region’s medal performance during the 1996-2016 period. The blue vertical bars represent the total medal count for each Olympic year, while the brown horizontal line represents the average medal count for the 20-year period at hand. Chart 1 confirms that the region’s medal performance at Rio 2016 was fairly representative of the region’s average performance at the last six Olympic Games. In comparison, the Caribbean medal performance four years ago, at London 2012, was above average.

Chart 1. Trend in Caribbean (weighted) total medal count, 1996-2016 a. Total medal count b. Weighted total medal count

50 30.00 40 30 20.00 20 10.00 10 0 0.00 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016

A look at the individual nations of the region reveals certain interesting developments.

Chart 2 on the next page visualizes the contribution of the various Caribbean nations to the region’s weighted total medal count in 1996 and 2016 respectively. Two developments jump out: the decline in Cuba’s share (the dark blue segments in both Chart 2a and Chart 2b) of the medal performance of the region as a whole and the rise in Colombia’s share (the light green segment in Chart 2b). Cuba’s share of weighted medals has dropped from 78% in 1996 to 29% in 2016, while Colombia’s share has increased from 0% in 1996 to 20% in 2016. Jamaica’s share (the dark red segments in the Charts) of the region’s total has also increased significantly during the 1996-2016 period: from 16% to 33%.

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Chart 2. National contributions to the region’s total (weighted) medal count, 1996 and 2016 a. 1996 b. 2016

Cuba Cuba Jamaica Jamaica Bahamas Bahamas T & T Puerto Rico T & T Venezuela Grenada Puerto Rico Dom Rep Colombia

Chart 3a shows the trend of Cuba’s medal production (weighted medal count, in absolute terms) between 1996 and 2016, while Chart 3b shows the same for Colombia.

Chart 3. Cuba’s and Colombia’s (weighted) medal performance, 1996-2016

a. Cuba b. Colombia

20.00 5.00

15.00 4.00 3.00 10.00 2.00 5.00 1.00 0.00 0.00 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016

The next two tables provide an overview of the 1996-2016 aggregate Olympic medal performance of the Caribbean region: by nation (Table 9) and by sport (Table 10).

Table 9. Caribbean medal count, 1996-2016 aggregate, by nation G S B T WT Cuba 41 42 47 130 73.75 Jamaica 19 20 15 54 32.75 Colombia 5 6 10 21 10.50 Bahamas 5 2 4 11 7.00 Trinidad and Tobago 1 3 8 12 4.50 Dominican Republic 3 2 1 6 4.25 Venezuela 1 1 5 7 2.75 Puerto Rico 1 1 2 4 2.00 Grenada 1 1 0 2 1.50 Barbados 0 0 1 1 0.25 Total (all nations) 77 78 93 248 139.25

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Table 9 illustrates that for the 20-year period as a whole, Cuba has been the Caribbean region’s premiere medal producer. However, as mentioned, Cuba’s dominance of the region’s Olympic medal count has decreased over the years, with both Colombia and Jamaica claiming a growing medal share.

Table 10. Caribbean medal count, 1996-2016 aggregate, by sport G S B T WT Track and field 34 36 37 107 61.25 Boxing 19 10 15 44 27.75 Judo 4 11 14 29 13.00 Wrestling 7 7 6 20 12.00 Weightlifting 3 2 4 9 5.00 Cycling 2 2 4 8 4.00 Taekwondo 1 3 5 9 3.75 Baseball 2 2 0 4 3.00 2 0 1 3 2.25 Fencing 1 1 3 5 2.25 Shooting 1 0 2 3 1.50 Canoeing 0 3 0 3 1.50 Tennis 1 0 0 1 1.00 Swimming 0 1 2 3 1.00 TOTAL (all sports) 77 78 93 248 139.25

The gender dimension

Of the region’s 39 medals earned at Rio 2016, 16 medals were won by women and 23 by men. In terms of weighted medal count, women were responsible for 41% of the Caribbean medal performance in Rio de Janeiro. This was in line with the trend during the period from 1996 to 2016, when the region’s women athletes won on average 38% of the total medals of the region (weighted medal count).

Chart 4 shows the share of women’s medals in the total (women’s and men’s) medal count of the Caribbean, from 1996 to 2016. The horizontal dark red line represents the 1996-2016 period average of 38%.

Chart 4. Women’s (weighted) medal count as a percentage of the region’s total (women’s and men’s) medal count, by Olympic year, 1996-2016

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0% 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016

Of the 974 total medals conferred at Rio 2016, 45% were won by women. Women are allowed to compete in fewer events than men. Of all athletes participating in the Rio Olympic Games, 44% were women.

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Tables 11 and 12 display the distribution of the medals earned by Caribbean women athletes during the 1996- 2016 period. Table 11 shows this across the various nations, while Table 12 does so across the different sports.

Table 11. Women’s medal count, 1996-2016 aggregate, by nation G S B T WT SHARE Cuba 8 17 15 40 20.25 28% Jamaica 9 15 10 34 19.00 58% Colombia 4 2 6 12 6.50 62% Bahamas 4 2 0 6 5.00 71% Venezuela 0 1 3 4 1.25 45% Puerto Rico 1 0 0 1 1.00 50% TOTAL (all nations) 26 37 34 97 53.00 n.a.

The rightmost column of Table 11 shows the women’s weighted medal count of a given nation as a percentage of the total (men’s and women’s) weighted medal count of that nation. So, for example, “28%” for Cuba means that the 20.25 weighted medals won by Cuba’s women between 1996 and 2016 represented 28% of all (men’s and women’s) weighted medals won by Cuba in that period.

Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, the Dominican Republic and Barbados are absent from Table 11. The medals won by these four nations between 1996 and 2016 were all won by men athletes.

Table 11 shows that the Bahamas is the country that, relatively speaking, produces the most medals by women athletes: 71% of the Bahamian weighted medal count between 1996 and 2016 were supplied by Bahamian women athletes.

Table 12. Women’s medal count, 1996-2016, by sport G S B T WT SHARE Track and field 16 24 13 53 31.25 51% Judo 4 10 9 23 11.25 87% Cycling 2 1 2 5 3.00 75% Volleyball 2 0 1 3 2.25 100% Taekwondo 0 2 4 6 2.00 53% Weightlifting 1 0 1 2 1.25 25% Tennis 1 0 0 1 1.00 100% Wrestling 0 0 2 2 0.50 4% Shooting 0 0 1 1 0.25 17% Boxing 0 0 1 1 0.25 1% TOTAL (all sports) 26 37 34 97 53.00 n.a.

The rightmost column of Table 12 shows the women’s weighted medal count for a given sport as a percentage of the total (men’s and women’s) weighted medal count for that sport. So, for example, “51%” for track and field means that the 31.25 weighted medals earned by Caribbean women track-and-field athletes between 1996 and 2016 represented 51% of all weighted medals won by the region’s athletes (men and women) in track and field during that period.

Table 12 shows that the region’s women have been responsible for all the medals won by the region in volleyball and tennis, while judo and cycling are also sports in which women athletes have produced more medals than their male colleagues during the period covered here.

The remarkable achievements of some of the region’s top women athletes were already mentioned on page 4 of this overview.

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