When one medal is more than enough
In the U.S., we are used to seeing our athletes bring home lots of medals. Our all-time medal count easily eclipses other countries, and sometimes we take that for granted. To athletes for some other countries, their one or two medals bring joy to the entire country.
- Rashid Ramzi, from the tiny Persian Gulf country of Bahrain, is bringing home his country's only medal, a gold for the 1500m.
- Panama's Irving Jahir Saladino Aranda, is bringing home gold for the long jump, an event long-dominated by the U.S.
- Mongolia's first-ever gold medal for Tuvshinbayar Naidan in judo was celebrated in the streets of the capital, Ulan Batar.
- Bill already shared with us the story of Francoise Mbango Etone, Cameroon's lone medal winner.
- India, a country of one billion people, at the moment has two medals -- a gold in shooting for Abhinav Bindra and a bronze in wrestling from Sushil Kumar.
So, the next time you get wrapped up in the medal count, think about this: there are 206 countries competing in the Olympics, and only 72 countries have been awarded a medal to date.
Photo via Getty Images
