Desirability and Performance Indices

if you'll live with terms I may have invented, count.

The count for overall medals obviously matters, but most countries have a set of medals they really care about and evaluate their results in those events more highly. I don't mean to downgrade our athletes who participate in sports like badminton, table tennis, archery and others; but a victory in the 100 meter dash is a bigger deal than a medal in what most Americans consider minor niche sports. For me how well we did in T&F, swimming, and most team sports and the medal counts in these sports define our success.

The second, related measure is how well we performed in the Olympics relative to expectations. For instance, our talent level going into the Olympics for the men's 10K may have indicated we had little realistic chance of winning a medal; so being shut out doesn't disappoint. Whereas in some races we had legitimate chances and may not have have reached that level. In one sense we're looking at the expected medal counts in events versus the actual.

However, not all medal achievements are equal. Compare the bronzes won by Molly Seidel and the USWNT in soccer. Or consider the feel-good aspect of Mackayla Skinner's silver medal after being left out of the vault competition by rules, flying home, and returning after Simone Byles' withdrawal. Or consider the silver won by Rai Benjamin in 400 meter hurdles when he broke the world record and finished second in an epic race.