Nobody really cares about the medal count because of the apples to oranges aspect. I believe you’ll find Australia is near the top in terms of medals per capita. Botswana, a fairly small country in terms of population, about comparable to montana, did quite well and almost won a relay as well as winning one of the sprints. It’s not a poor country, they have gold and uranium.
Results ebb and flow but there’s also a lot of continuity of results in general terms.
Canada had a good Olympics compared to some, but about half the events at the Olympics mean very little to anyone but the friends and families of the hundred odd people who actually do the activity in question. Other events are just plain bizarre, bikes racing around in odd configurations on a track that is far too small, lifting absurd amounts of metal for no obvious gain, throwing a javelin — who in their everyday life would ever need to throw a javelin?
I don’t see why the Olympics has to go back to places it has been before, why not have it in Africa for a change? Or India? Use it as a bargaining tool, Iran could host the Olympics if they stopped supporting terrorist groups.
Well, I have a ~450 ft. stretch of property bordered by a fence line grown up in irregular “brush” and trees along an “outside curve” of the road: I have to regularly clear the ditch of small to modest size branches (usually not over ~ 2” diameter, but that’s “usually). Most branches get a “javelin throw” over the brush / fence and into the yard where I can safely deal with them. (Speed limit 55 mph on said road, plenty of faster traffic.)
Ok, maybe that’s not “typical”, but you did ask “who”. :-)
Plus, kids in more or less rural settings do a lot of stick chucking in a somewhat “javelin” manner. Spear chucking is probably in human DNA by now?
Granted, we could modernize, of course. Live grenade throwing as an Olympic sport would be a fun competition. ;-)
Anyway, when you get right down to it, few sports have a good “connection” to everyday life for most people. That’s kind of the point though, no?
Actually, that is the time I like to watch the Olympics is to see the “odd” sports. I like the unusual ones in the winter Olympics also like Curling.