In Charts | The link between a country’s economy and its sporting performance

India won 107 medals in the 19th Asian Games, crossing the hundred mark for the first time.

The recently concluded Asian Games saw India win a historic total of 107 medals. Interestingly, including India, the four biggest economies on the continent were also the top four medal haulers in this year’s tournament. An analysis of historical data shows the link between the economy and the sporting performance of countries.

India crossed the three-digit mark in Asian Games for the first time with 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze medals. The country finished the tournament fourth in ranking by number of medals—behind China, Japan, and South Korea. By GDP, these four countries are also Asia’s biggest economies.

As can be seen from the chart above, the final medal tally of the 19th Asian Games shows that the bigger economies of the continent have generally fared better than their counterparts in the tournament.

However, this is not just limited to the 2023 Asian Games. In fact, an analysis of historical data on Olympic medal hauls shows that countries with bigger GDPs and higher per capita incomes have had better luck winning medals.

The United States, the world’s biggest economy, is also far ahead of others when it comes to the number of Olympic medals won over the years.

In fact, our analysis of the performance of 135 national Olympic committees shows that more than 80 percent of the medals have historically been won by high-income countries. Upper-middle-income countries accounted for around 16 percent of the medals won.

Notably, low-middle-income and low-income countries accounted for less than 4 percent and 0.5 percent medals, respectively, won at the Olympic Games over the years.

As for India, along with its economy over the years, its sporting prowess also has been on the rise, as was seen in its performance in Hangzhou.

An earlier analysis by Moneycontrol explored how an increase in government spending on sports has improved performance. However, that analysis had also shown that corporate funding for sports remains abysmal in the country.