2008 Summer Olympics medal table explained

2008 Summer Olympics medals
Award2 Type:Most total medals
Award1 Type:Most gold medals
Award3 Type:Medalling NOCs
Award3 Winner:87
Previous:2004
Main:Olympics medal tables
Next:2012
Location:Beijing,

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, were a summer multi-sport event held in Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China, from 8 to 24 August 2008.[1] Approximately 10,942 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in 302 events in 28 sports across 41 disciplines.[2] [3] Cycling BMX racing and 10km (10miles) marathon swimming were included as official medal events for the first time in history.[4] The Marshall Islands, Montenegro and Tuvalu made their Summer Olympic debuts in Beijing.[5]

Overall, athletes from a record 87 countries won at least one medal,[6] and 55 of them won at least one gold medal. Afghanistan,[7] Mauritius,[8] Sudan,[9] Tajikistan[10] and Togo won their first Olympic medals of any kind.[11] Athletes from Mongolia (which previously held the record for most medals without a gold)[12] and Panama won their first Olympic gold medals.[13] Serbian swimmer Milorad Čavić won the first medal for the country as an independent state.[14] Samoa won its first Olympic medal due to a reallocation of medals after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) retested doping samples in 2016.[15]

Athletes from the host nation China won the most gold medals, with 48, while athletes from the United States won the most medals overall, with 112. Among individual participants, American swimmer Michael Phelps won the most gold medals and the most total medals with eight each, breaking Mark Spitz's 1972 record for the most gold medals won at an Olympic Games.[16]

During and after the games, many athletes who were caught doping, or tested positive for banned substances, were disqualified from competition and had their medals revoked.[17] [18]

Medal table

See also: Olympic medal table. The medal table is based on information provided by the IOC and is consistent with IOC conventional sorting in its published medal tables. The table uses the Olympic medal table sorting method. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won, where a nation is an entity represented by a NOC. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals.[19] [20] If teams are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically by their IOC country code.[21]

Events in boxing result in a bronze medal being awarded to each of the two competitors who lose their semi-final matches, as opposed to fighting in a third place tie breaker.[22] Other combat sports, which include judo, taekwondo, and wrestling, use a repechage system which also results in two bronze medals being awarded.[23] In the women's 100 metres in athletics, there was a tie for second place which resulted in two silver medals and no bronze medal being awarded.[24] Two bronze medals were awarded for third place ties in both the men's 100 metre backstroke and men's 100 metre freestyle swimming events.[25] [26]

Key

Notes and References

  1. Encyclopedia: Johnston. Mindy. Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Encyclopædia Britannica. 13 August 2024. 12 September 2024. 9 September 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240909053728/https://www.britannica.com/event/Beijing-2008-Olympic-Games. live.
  2. Web site: Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. live. 21 March 2021. Swimming New Zealand. https://web.archive.org/web/20150114194056/http://swimming.org.nz/article.php?group_id=1994 . 14 January 2015 .
  3. Web site: 2008 Summer Olympics. Olympedia. 27 September 2024. 25 September 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240925135752/https://www.olympedia.org/editions/53. live.
  4. News: BMX gears up for Olympics debut. Rediff.com. 7 July 2008. 27 September 2024.
  5. Beech. Hannah. Let China's Games Begin. Time. 8 August 2008. 27 September 2024.
  6. News: Crary . David . 25 August 2008 . China wins gold medal race; U.S. first overall . 27 September 2024 . . Associated Press.
  7. News: Afghans win first Olympic medal . . 20 August 2008. 20 August 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080821064824/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/taekwondo/7572409.stm. 21 August 2008 . live.
  8. News: Mauritian delight at first ever medal . https://archive.today/20080827091942/http://olympics.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mauritian_delight_at_first_ever_medal/articleshow/3394390.cms . dead . 27 August 2008 . . 22 August 2008 . 26 August 2008 .
  9. News: Darfur runner wins Sudan's first Olympic medal . Osman, Mohamed . . 5 June 2009 . 24 August 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110714220216/http://2008games.nytimes.com/olympics/story.asp?i=20080824121844314602808&ref=rec&tm=&src=DOLY . 14 July 2011 .
  10. News: Italy, Azerbaijan win golds. Talmadge, Eric. The New York Times. 5 June 2009. 11 August 2008. 25 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181225174704/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/sports/11iht-olyjudo11.15183337.html?_r=1. live.
  11. News: Togo claims first Olympic medal . . 12 August 2008 . 12 August 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080813012701/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7556266.stm. 13 August 2008 . live.
  12. News: Naidan wins Mongolia's first gold . . 14 August 2008 . 14 August 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080815010006/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/judo/7560951.stm. 15 August 2008 . live.
  13. News: Liu out, Isinbayeva gets world record. The New York Times. 5 June 2009. 18 August 2008. 25 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181225174714/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/sports/18iht-olyath118.15391333.html. live.
  14. News: 18 August 2008 . Swimmer Scoops Serbia's First Olympic Medal . 27 September 2024 . . Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.
  15. Web site: Butler . Nick . 26 October 2016 . Six medal winners stripped by IOC in latest batch of Beijing 2008 retest results . 27 September 2024 . Inside the Games.
  16. Web site: 2008 Beijing Summer Games . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20200114073113/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/2008/ . 14 January 2020 . 27 September 2024 . Sports Reference.
  17. News: R. Ruiz . Rebecca . 21 November 2016 . Olympics History Rewritten: New Doping Tests Topple the Podium . subscription . 27 September 2024 . The New York Times.
  18. Kolliari-Turner . Alexander . Lima . Giscard . Hamilton . Blair . Pitsiladis . Yannis . M. Guppy . Fergus . 9 April 2021 . Analysis of Anti-Doping Rule Violations That Have Impacted Medal Results at the Summer Olympic Games 1968–2012 . Sports Medicine . 51 . 10 . 2221–2229 . 10.1007/s40279-021-01463-4 . 33835351 . 8033275 .
  19. News: Olympic medal table: USA beat China to top spot at Paris 2024 . . 11 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240812015233/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/olympics-2024-medal-table-count-paris-b2594580.html . 12 August 2024 . live . Ostlere . Lawrence . 12 August 2024 . en.
  20. News: A Medal Count That Adds Up To Little . . 18 August 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230321004238/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/19/sports/olympics/19araton.html . 21 March 2023 . live . Araton . Harvey . subscription . 25 July 2024 .
  21. News: What happens if two countries are tied in the Olympic medal table? Tiebreaker rules explained . . 10 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240811152350/https://en.as.com/olympic_games/what-happens-if-two-countries-are-tied-in-the-olympic-medal-table-tiebreaker-rules-explained-n/ . August 11, 2024 . live . Cons . Roddy . 11 August 2024 . en-us .
  22. Web site: Explained: Two bronze medals are awarded in the Olympics boxing competition . . 1 August 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230328143327/https://olympics.com/en/news/why-two-bronze-medals-boxing . 28 March 2023 . live . Ansari . Aarish . 28 September 2024 .
  23. Web site: Repechage in wrestling and other sports explained – the second chance . . 21 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240802015913/https://olympics.com/en/news/what-is-repechage-rules . 2 August 2024 . live . Nag . Utathya . 28 September 2024 .
  24. Web site: Beijing 2008 Athletics 100m Women Results. International Olympic Committee. 28 September 2024. 12 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220812221217/https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/beijing-2008/results/athletics/100m-women. live.
  25. Web site: Beijing 2008 Swimming 100m Backstroke Men Results. International Olympic Committee. 28 September 2024. 31 July 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210731203036/https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/beijing-2008/results/swimming/100m-backstroke-men. live.
  26. Web site: Beijing 2008 Swimming 100m Freestyle Men Results. International Olympic Committee. 28 September 2024. 14 December 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231214120027/https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/beijing-2008/results/swimming/100m-freestyle-men. live.

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