February 2002
Most Olympic medal counts focus on nations, it is far more interesting to look at the bigger picture. The final medal count for the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics by continent:
| rank | continent | gold | silver | bronze | medals | points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Europe | 57 | 57 | 53 | 167 | 338 |
| 2 | North America | 16 | 16 | 19 | 51 | 99 |
| 3 | Asia-Pacific | 6 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 33 |
| total | 79 | 78 | 77 | 234 | 470 |
and by trading bloc:
| rank | trading bloc | gold | silver | bronze | medals | points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EU | 32 | 38 | 30 | 100 | 202 |
| 2 | others | 31 | 24 | 28 | 83 | 169 |
| 3 | NAFTA | 16 | 16 | 19 | 51 | 99 |
| total | 79 | 78 | 77 | 234 | 470 |
(The tables are sorted by points, where points are calculated by giving 3 for gold, 2 for silver and 1 for bronze.)
The worst things about the Olympics are the cheap nationalism of the audiences on site (in this case replete with jingoistic ape-like chanting of "USA") and the cringing nationalistic media coverage in every participating country.
The best things about the Olympics are the competitors themselves, and the competitions.
The best moments of this Olympics were the victories in ice hockey of Canada over the USA in the finals (3-2 for the women and 5-2 for the men). The USA has the biggest military killing machine in the world but in sport smaller countries can still put the USA in its place.