Measuring Olympics performance based on a distance-based approach

Abstract

Measuring Olympics performance using either the Summer Olympic Games or Winter Olympics individually is criticized as a bias for participants. The present study develops a distance-based approach based only on the number of medals won to propose Olympic ranking. A state-of-the-art approach with mild weight restriction is used for integrating the performance in the lexicographic system. The common weights associated with the lexicographic and sum-ranking systems for both Summer and Winter Olympic Games are determined to provide a fair ranking for National Olympic Committees. Application to the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games and Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics is used to illustrate the effectiveness of our proposed method.