Estonia ranks second for most Olympic medals won per capita

Despite its small size, Estonia has actually done remarkably well in the history of the Olympics: it ranks number eight in the total medal count and number two in summer Olympics, when calculated per capita.

When the 46 athletes who have been selected to represent Estonia in Brazil, gather at the opening ceremony on 6 August, they can think back and draw some inspiration from the hundreds of Estonian sportsmen and women who have competed and won medals in the Olympic games before.

In total, the country has won 26 gold medals, 26 silver medals, and 32 bronze medals. This makes Estonia the eighth most successful Olympic team on a per capita basis.

Despite its common image as the country of winter sports, Estonia fares even better in summer Olympics. The British newspaper, The Guardian, recently calculated the medal haul against each country’s 2015 population, and concluded that Estonia would receive a silver medal on the summer Olympics podium. Finland, Estonia’s Nordic neighbour, would be awarded gold, and the Bahamas the bronze.

Estonian triplets

The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will see 46 Estonian athletes competing in 13 different events.

Per capita Summer Olympics medals table

  1. Finland
  2. Estonia
  3. The Bahamas
  4. Hungary
  5. Sweden
  6. Belarus
  7. Bulgaria
  8. Jamaica
  9. Slovenia
  10. Georgia

Photos courtesy of Estonian National Olympic Committee.

9 thoughts on “Estonia ranks second for most Olympic medals won per capita”

          1. Where do you get that part,that estonians were on olympics while being under tsarist russuan rule?

  1. Chris Rhythmdoctor

    hello! your article states estonia has won 26 gold medals at the olympics. i have searched for the information to back this up & can only find 13 olympic gold’s when looking at wikipedia & official olympic pages. could you show me where to find the information about the 26 gold medals please. i’m asking as i’m researching for quiz questions. many thanks 🙂

    1. Chris Rhythmdoctor

      i’m guessing you include those won by estonians during soviet occupation- i have found this info hard to find – hope you can point me in the right direction

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