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CanadaGermanyBobsledGold.jpg

24/02/2018 GMT

The Winter Olympics

BBC World Service - More or Less, The Winter Olympics

Which is the most successful country? Plus the chances of a dead heat.

This week we are answering a range of statistical questions from listeners about the Winter Olympics.

What’s the most successful nation? We see if the medal table tells the whole story, or if factors like population, GDP per capita and snowfall change what we’d expect each country to achieve.

Plus, what do we mean when we talk about a nation having their most successful games ever? 
The two-man bobsleigh event ended in a dead heat with both Canada and Germany achieving a time of three minutes 16.86 seconds.

News outlets called it ‘the first time since 1998’ but is this true and what is the likelihood of a dead heat result in a bobsleigh competition?


(image: Canadians Alexander Kopacz and Justin Kripps and Germans Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis celebrate winning joint-Gold in the 2 man bobsleigh at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.Credit:Tom Pennington/Getty Images.)

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