Does Winning The Olympics Medal Count Make America The Greatest?

I was reading upon today's events and came across this comment from Romney

"This is still the greatest nation on Earth. I know there are people around the world who are always critical of America, have something negative to say, say our greatest days are in the past. Baloney,” Romney said. “We just won more Olympic medals than any other nation on Earth. You also just saw we just landed on Mars and took a good look at what's going on there. And I know the Chinese are planning on going to the moon, and I hope they have a good experience doing that and I hope they stop in and take a look at our flag that was put there 43 years ago.”

www.latimes.com...

and it really got me thinking. I agree that beating other countries in the medal count is fun for bragging rights, but doesn't make America the greatest. I agree with Romney that America is the greatest, but I prefer to say it is ONE of the greatest, NOT the greatest. I agree that landing Curiosity on Mars is a great feat, but I don't think it makes America the greatest. I agree that placing our flag on the moon was historical, but once again it doesn't make us the greatest.

Of course, my views and Romney's views of America are merely opinions. However, I do feel that Romney's view is bad for America. This we are the Greatest mentality merely makes other countries more critical and sometimes resentful to America. Does one really need to insult the Chinese to prove their point that America is the greatest?

And Romney isn't the only culprit. They're many other politicians who feel America can throw its weight around because they think America is the greatest. They feel other nations should do what America says, because America said so. America(politicians) needs to realize that times are changing. America doesn't have all the solutions or resources to take care of the world's problems. Sticking its nose in everyone's business and sending troops and ammo/weapons to every part of the world is not going to make America the greatest.

If American is ever going to be the greatest, the title has to be earned and not self-proclaimed. If he does become President, I can only hope he will work toward earning such title for America.

If anyone says america is the greatest country obviously has not left their country and has a very closed, delusional mind.

Sorry Mitt, you're a moron for thinking that people will eat your crap, you Ivy league charleton.

reply to post by jam321


regardless of if they are or not, it shouldn't be judged on a medal count.
all the medal count means is the U.S. won more than anybody else.
and even that means nothing when you consider some countries sent less athletes.

obviously those who send the most will win more. a lot of countries sent less than 50 and there were quite a few who only sent 5 or less as oppose to Britians 541 and i am sure america and china may of sent more than that and if not then it cannot be far off.

No it just means that the US has the resources and man power to train athletes to olympic levels.


Medal winners have been training since childhood. Not every country can afford to do that. That's a lot of recreational expenses just to run faster than someone from another part of the world

Winning the most medals in the Olympics doesn't mean a great deal in terms of national greatness. It sure is a nice boost in the morale department and a great fun thing to be able to say. But now is when the price of those medals start adding up. The Olympics weren't even over and the reports of the impending foreclosures and bankruptcies of our new champions started to surface. That doesn't scream greatness to me. And then there will be the usual medal forfeitures by those that will get caught or admit to using performance enhancers.

reply to post by jam321


Nope. America just has great athletes. It could change, in the next 4 years.

Greatest at sport maybe. But then again you'd need to take into account previous Olympics to really see the whole picture of how how good America is at sport.

I think that in the USA, sports is seen as a way out of poverty for so many that anyone with any talent at all tries to develop it with the hopes of making it big. The structure of the NCAA, with college donations being tied to success, reinforces the system by seeking out talented athletes and giving them a free ride just to play sports.

I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing because pro sports is a good way to redistribute wealth from the rich team owners/corporations to the poorer class, where most athletes come from.

reply to post by Shadow Herder


It says that we have a better contingent of Olympic athletes this year.

And SH; a quote from the Matrix movie as you signature..really. Sorry but to many people use crap from those movies.

Originally posted by coven83
reply to post by Shadow Herder

 

It says that we have a better contingent of Olympic athletes this year.

And SH; a quote from the Matrix movie as you signature..really. Sorry but to many people use crap from those movies.

I found it quite fitting.

And you are a lame cynic...lol..... cheers.

Perhaps he should be looking here and here to see who the real powerhouses of olympic sports are.

Originally posted by Shadow Herder

Originally posted by coven83
reply to post by Shadow Herder

 

It says that we have a better contingent of Olympic athletes this year.

And SH; a quote from the Matrix movie as you signature..really. Sorry but to many people use crap from those movies.

I found it quite fitting.

And you are a lame cynic...lol..... cheers.

cynic yes...lame nah.

cheers

The funny thing is, in most of the traditional games, the USA do not fair that well. Usain Bolt is not American, The Marathon winners are not American, Most of the swimmers were not american.. Track and field, most were not American.

Of course the USA will win the basketball. The point is, it doesn't matter who won the most medals. When it comes down to it, it is an individual or team achievement. Did Mitt Romney run out and run a 400 metre sprint? The USA only beat China by 4 gold medals also and trailed for most of the Olympics.

"Does Winning The Olympics Medal Count Make America The Greatest?"

Sadly not.... it just means America has a bigger population to choose from

The UK won 29 gold medals (65 total) and has a population of 60 million people.
America won 46 gold medals (104 total) and has a population of 315 million people.

What should be taken into account is medal to population ratio -
UK - there was a medal for every 923,000 persons.
America - there was a medal for every 3,028,000 persons.

Therefore the UK is the greatest at sport and America is the greatest at having a big population.... jk

USA should be proud of themselves for their feats in the Olympics and rightly so. However Romney and his wife Mrs Ryan are a right pair of pricks. Yeah they can chirp America is the greatest all they like, but if they keep bad mouthing Great Britain's efforts whether it be Olympics, the NHS or otherwise to further their own ends then should they come to power they are going to have to keep each other warm at night and no goodnight kiss and a cup of Ovaltine from good old mother Blighty.

reply to post by jam321


The Olympics were simply one of his examples, nothing more. I will only say this much... It is refreshing to have a candidate for American president who espouses the views of American Exceptionalism. We've experienced 4 years of a president who unabashedly and routinely has rejected American Exceptionalism time and time again. It doesn't take too many times for a parent or teacher to tell a child "you're nothing special..." before that child either begins to believe the insult is true or starts to hate the insulting parent or teacher. Sadly, I have seen far too many Americans believe the insult rather than stand up to it. I still believe America is the greatest, even if our leadership is very subpar, and I appreciate those who are willing to openly say the same.

You have great athletes, there is no doubting that and even as a Brit I was pleased to see the US ahead of China on the medal table, we finished third, but medal to population ratio Great Britain came 1st. So we are the greatest, it even says so in our countries name GREAT Britain.

I don't like that guy very much but to be fair we all tend to think our own Country is the greatest.
Just like Lord Sebastian Coe who at the Olympic closing ceremony, hailed London as the Greatest City on Earth or words to that effect. It's only a reflection of national pride, no harm done.

Does Winning The Olympics Medal Count Make America The Greatest?

Yes. Yes is does.

I'm surprised not everyone is aware of the inverse proportional relationship to womans volleyball and the impact is has on Keynesian economics! Also when you factor in Synchronised Swimming, it can only take you to the simple conclusion that America is BACK ON TOP!

YEAH BABY! WE'RE NUMBER 1!

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
You have great athletes, there is no doubting that and even as a Brit I was pleased to see the US ahead of China on the medal table, we finished third, but medal to population ratio Great Britain came 1st. So we are the greatest, it even says so in our countries name GREAT Britain.

It's nice to see us Brits being proud of our nation for a change.

Give it a few weeks and we'll all be moaning about Britain going down the pan.

Though I guess that self-deprecation is a good thing in a way, it stops us becoming too big for our boots.