One more Olympics note

How should the “winner” of the medal race be counted? Only by gold medals won, as the ChiComs want, or by total medals, as the USOC appears to want? This is the question being asked by James Fallows here.

The real answer is that both of these methods are asinine. It doesn’t make any sense to count only the golds, and it doesn’t make any sense to treat a bronze the same as a silver or a gold. Which is why there should be a weighted system. 3 (or possibly 4) points for a gold, 2 points for a silver, and 1 point for a bronze. Under the 3/2/1 system, China would currently be leading 99 points to 84.