Putting the Olympics into perspective

So, Team GB finished the 2012 London Olympics with a magnificent haul of 29 gold medals.

Let's put that figure into some sort of perspective. If you were to trade each one of Team GB's gold medals for an African elephant, you would have 29 African elephants: a sizeable herd in anyone's book.

If you were to trade each one of the USA's 46 gold medals for a hairy wood ant, however, you would only have 46 hairy wood ants: barely enough to form a viable colony. And if you were to trade each one of China's 38 gold medals for a honey bee, their entire lifetimes' honey output, assuming 36 of them were drones, would be insufficient to fill a packet of Lockets honey and lemon cough sweets.

A herd of African elephants versus a struggling colony of wood ants, or half a packet of Lockets. Just dwell on that comparison for a union-flag-waving moment.

(The least said about Australia's paltry seven termites the better.)

Richard Carter

A fat, bearded chap with a Charles Darwin fixation.

3 comments

  1. & if just one of those gold medals encouraged a handful of directionless teenagers to come off the street, join a club & get a life, there might be one less youngster killed in gang fights...FUCKING PRICELESS!

  2. I'd prefer it if they we could inspire them to get an education and maybe read some books, but I'll take sport if that's all they can understand.

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