Golden states

The Economist: The highest-achieving nations in the modern Olympics

CERTAIN nations dominate certain Olympic sports. Some can sustain this dominance for decades, as America’s continuing triumphs on the athletics track and in the swimming pool make clear. Others enjoy their years of glory, but then move slowly down the pecking order: India’s hockey team won gold (and every match it played) at every summer games from 1928 to 1956, but has not come close to a medal since 1984. The last in our series of Olympic charts shows how national domination of particular sports has altered over the course of Olympic history. During the cold war, the Soviet Union and America played out their rivalry across the medals table. More recently it is China’s sporting star that has risen highest: having pushed America aside in the diving and taken control of the weightlifting, it is now challenging hard in the swimming too. Expect this progress to continue in Rio in four years’ time.