Pitting SEC States Against Each Other in the Olympics
Posted: July 25, 2012 Filed under: Alternative sports, College Football, SEC, Uncategorized | Tags: Angelo Taylor, Bill Carr, Calvin Smith, Clyde Scott, Earl Bell, Eddie Hamm, Gwen Torrence, Olympics, Ralph Boston, Scottie Pippen 1 Comment »
Pole vaulter Earl Bell is in the middle of any debate on Arkansas’ most accomplished Olympian.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN 7.10.00
In Southeastern Conference territory, competition is a way of life. Year after year, SEC sports programs spew jetstreams of cash to beat each other on and off the field. Stadia, facilities, coaches’ salaries, TV contracts just keep getting bigger and better. There’s really no choice. Snazzy helicopters, after all, can only do so much to lure the big-time recruits which make college sports’ premier conference go round.
With the Summer Olympics opening ceremony this Friday, though, now is a good time to figure out which SEC state is top dog in terms of all-around athletic talent. For this exercise, we’ll tear down institutional walls which divide states. No Auburn/Alabama or MSU/Ole Miss delineations here. We only care about state borders, and the Olympians who grew up between them.
With this in mind, it turns out the biggest states have produced the most gold medalists at all modern summer Olympic Games since 1896. Not a surprise.
It gets interesting, however, when examining the numbers on a per capita basis:
Breaking Down SEC states’ # of Gold Medalists Per Capita
|
Rank |
State |
# of Gold Medalists |
2010 Population |
# People per Gold Medalist |
Most Impressive Olympians? |
| 1 | Mississippi | 22 | 2.97 million | 135,000 | Calvin Smith, Ralph Boston |
| 2 | Missouri | 31 | 5.99 million | 193,226 | Henry Iba, Helen Stephens |
| 3 | Arkansas | 14 | 2.92 million | 208,571 | Earl Bell, Scottie Pippen |
| 4 | Louisiana | 21 | 4.53 million | 215,714 | Rod Milburn, Karl Malone |
| 5 | Kentucky | 16 | 4.34 million | 271,250 | Muhammad Ali, Mary Meagher |
| 6 | Alabama | 17 | 4.7 million | 276,471 | Harvey Glance, Jennifer Chandler |
| 7 | Georgia | 35 | 9.69 million | 276,857 | Gwen Torrence, Angelo Taylor |
| 8 | Texas | 72 | 25.15 million | 349,306 | Babe Zaharias, Michael Johnson |
| 9 | South Carolina | 12 | 4.63 million | 385,833 | Joe Frazier, Katrina McClain |
| 10 | Florida | `43 | 18.80 million | 437,209 | Bob Hayes, Rowdy Gaines |
| 11 | Tennessee | 11 | 6.35 million | 577,273 | Wilma Rudolph, Tracy Caulkins |
