Fencing was once dominated by Europe. While Italy and France maintain their dominance, Russia, the United States and East Asia are now formidable rivals. South Korea performed strongly at the pandemic-delayed 2021 Tokyo Games, and Japan did the same this year. Combined with Hong Kong and mainland China, China has two gold medals in both 2021 and 2024.
In addition to fencing, other Olympic sports that could be considered “upper class” include equestrian, rowing, sailing, golf and tennis. The extra costs of these sports pose a barrier for Southern Hemisphere athletes. Great Britain won eight medals in rowing and France won seven medals in fencing, showing that traditional strength remains in some traditional sports.
Besides golf and tennis, soccer in Europe and basketball in the United States are highly commercialized, and amateur players compete against seasoned professionals in the Olympic Games.
08:25
Hong Kong Olympic history: Fencer Cheung Ka-Lung wins second gold medal, swimmer Siobhan Haughey wins bronze
Hong Kong Olympic history: Fencer Cheung Ka-Lung wins second gold medal, swimmer Siobhan Haughey wins bronze
Meanwhile, athletics, swimming and cycling accounted for 32% of the medals won in this year's 32 Olympic sports. While some African countries have excelled in athletics, especially long distance running, the United States and Australia have been very successful in swimming and Europe in cycling. Olympic swimming will grow from seven events in 1900 to 35 in 2024, with more than 100 medals to be contested. The United States and Australia brought home 28 and 18 swimming medals respectively at this year's Paris Games. The United States and China ended up with the same final medal count of 40, thanks in part to the success of the United States in swimming. As was made clear at the 2012 London Games and this year's Paris Games, the UK and France are increasingly multicultural societies. Their expanding talent pool, including second-generation immigrants like the great British triathlete Alex Yi, provides them with a key advantage over East Asia, which dislikes immigration. Europe is also not as reliant on traditional sports such as fencing to win medals, as seen by France winning more medals in judo than fencing this year. Western countries, and later the Soviet-led Eastern bloc, have invested substantial resources in sports infrastructure, from the elite to the grassroots level. As much as the stars of the sport, the modern Olympics is a competition between national sports systems in the multilevel mobilization and coordination of resources. For more than a century, Western countries have had structural, institutional, and resource advantages in the Olympics, in addition to the systemic strengths and capabilities of developed economies. It is all the more remarkable that East Asian athletes have overcome these challenges and performed well in this century. The evolution of the sports world reflects the trajectory of global economic competition. For most of the 20th century, the dominant forces in the global economy were Western Europe and the United States, but today the combined gross domestic products of Japan, South Korea, and China account for a quarter of the world's GDP and exceed that of the European Union. Meanwhile, the United States and China competed for the top spot in medals at the Paris and Tokyo Olympics. Driven by rising economic power, East Asia has strengthened its sports infrastructure and systems in recent decades. Countries in the region have invested significant resources in building state-of-the-art training facilities and comprehensive athlete support programs, recruiting top international coaches, implementing sports science, and building strong national sports systems. This strategic focus has positioned East Asian nations to position themselves as formidable competitors on the global stage.
05:01
Olympic dark horse: North Korean athletes surpass their potential
Olympic dark horse: North Korean athletes surpass their potential
East Asia's Olympic success is not just down to its economic strength. It is also rooted in the region's development of human capital. Olympic medal wins and high rankings in education assessments reflect different aspects of a country's strength, highlighting its physical and intellectual capabilities.
While the Olympics are ostensibly a showcase of sporting prowess, they also reveal deeper socio-economic dynamics at work in a globalizing yet fragmented world, and given the sporting dominance of countries that industrialized earlier, the Olympics will never be completely fair at a macro level.
Yet their true value transcends medal counts and population-adjusted rankings. In an age of increasing geopolitical competition, their overriding purpose is to foster international peace and friendship. This spirit was exemplified in a touching moment when table tennis players from North Korea, South Korea and China posed for a selfie together at the medal ceremony. Moments of human connection like this offer hope for a more harmonious world.
Winston Mock draws on his experience in regional private equity and international strategic advisory to examine global affairs from an East Asian and Global South perspective.
