Pan American Games: The medals tell what the desks hide

After the fifth day of competition, the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago leave behind some eloquent – ​​and brutal – examples of the power disparity between the major sporting powers and those delegations whose attendance amounts to little more than testimony. Moreover, disproportionality continues to be expressed in the comparison between the United States and its main companions in the medal table.

Let’s look at the statistical details on which the first reviewer is based.

Of the 41 participating countries so far, only 25 have won at least one bronze medal. Only 15 of them won at least one gold. Regarding the gold medals, in addition to those achieved so far by the top three, The United States, Canada and Mexico have a total of 98 of the 115 titles distributed.

Regarding the other concept, once again the medal table speaks for itself. The North American delegation collected nearly 60 gold medals, almost equal to that of its three most prestigious representatives: Canada, Mexico and Brazil.

Moreover, in swimming and artistic gymnastics, the two sports that have distributed the most medals so far, it was not even necessary to send their main references to Chile.

It’s not a requirement. I can’t even think of a way to monetize this disparity. But it is worth bringing to the surface an inevitable and contradictory logic: In FIFA’s logic of sports bureaus, no matter how different the results are, no matter how much one country takes 100 podiums while others send only two mediocre athletes, when it comes to deciding what matters, each flag is worth one vote.