A recent study has identified the countries that have made the most significant athletic progress since their Olympic debut. Conducted by SportsShoes.com in collaboration with Damian Bailey, a professor at the University of South Wales, the research evaluated over 100 years of data following the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The study focused on four sports with consistent rules, scoring, and equipment throughout Olympic history: the 100m sprint, 100m freestyle swimming, team pursuit, and single sculls.
Researchers compared each country’s top results from the Paris 2024 Olympics with their performances in these events during their Olympic debut, highlighting the nations that showed the greatest athletic improvement.
The data revealed Hungary as the most improved country, with a 26% overall performance increase. Hungary’s swimmers, for instance, improved their 100m freestyle time from 82.2 seconds in 1896 to 52.52 seconds in 2024.
Sweden ranked second, showing a 23.4% improvement, largely driven by the performance of swimmer Sarah Sjoestroem, who won the 100m freestyle gold in Paris with a time 50% faster than Sweden’s debut in 1912.
France followed closely with a 23.1% improvement, bolstered by swimming and cycling events. The Netherlands ranked fourth, thanks to their women’s freestyle swimmers and men’s single scullers. Great Britain came in fifth, with British swimmers improving their times by 33% since their Olympic debut.
Notably, the United States did not make the top 10, but Noah Lyles’ 9.79s time in the 100m sprint at Paris 2024 represents an 18% improvement over the USA’s debut performance in 1896.
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