Following the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, the President of the European Commission Romano Prodi issued a press release congratulating EU athletes for their success, and stating that he hoped to see teams in the 2008 Beijing games carrying the EU flag as well as their own national flags. His chief spokesman, Reijo Kemppinen, commented that the EU had "swept the floor in the Olympic Games", with nearly three times as many medals as the United States, which topped the medals table. These comments caused some controversy, being ridiculed by some Eurosceptic newspapers. Jump to: navigation, search The 2004 Summer Olympics are officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (the 28th Summer Olympic Games). ... Jump to: navigation, search The Acropolis in central Athens, one of the most important landmarks in world history. ... Jump to: navigation, search The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive of the European Union. ... Jump to: navigation, search Romano Prodi (born in Reggio Emilia on August 9, 1939) is an Italian politician and a former President of the European Commission. ... Jump to: navigation, search The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, will be held in Beijing in the Peoples Republic of China from August 8, 2008 to August 24, 2008, with the opening ceremony to take place at 8 p. ... European flag The European flag consists of a circle of twelve golden stars on a blue background. ... Euroscepticism is scepticism about, or disagreement with, the purposes of the European Union, sometimes coupled with a desire to preserve national sovereignty. ...

The following tables illustrate the comments.

Medal counts

Medals won by athletes of EU member states

Rank	NOC Name	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Germany	14	16	18	48
2	France	11	9	13	33
3	Italy	10	11	11	32
4	Great Britain	9	9	12	30
5	Hungary	8	6	3	17
6	Greece	6	6	4	16
7	Netherlands	4	9	9	22
8	Sweden	4	1	2	7
9	Spain	3	11	5	19
10	Poland	3	2	5	10
11	Austria	2	4	1	7
12	Slovakia	2	2	2	6
13	Denmark	2		6	8
14	Czech Republic	1	3	4	8
15	Lithuania	1	2		3
16	Belgium	1		2	3
17	Ireland	1			1
18	Latvia		4		4
19	Portugal		2	1	3
20	Finland		2		2
21	Slovenia		1	3	4
22	Estonia		1	2	3
	Cyprus
	Luxembourg
	Malta
	Total	82	101	103	286

At the conclusion of the Athens games, European Union President Romano Prodi commended the work of European athletes at the Games, and stated he believed the Union would compare favourably against frontrunners like the United States if the EU instead competed as a unified team. National Olympic Committees are the national constituents of the worldwide olympic movement. ... {{JESUS TOOK THE FLAG}} He stole it and sold it to some asian drug dealers from the atlantic, hmm? File links The following pages link to this file: Arsenal F.C. Berlin Brandenburg Chelsea F.C. European Peoples Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats Fulham F.C. Football World... Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links France_flag_large. ... Please dont use this image. ... Image File history File links Uk_flag_large. ... Large flag of Hungary Image originally derived from the public domain flags of the CIA World Factbook. ... 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File links The following pages link to this file: Austria Belgium Czech Republic Cyprus Economy of the Czech Republic European Union Estonia European Parliament Talk:European Union European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party European Peoples Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats Finland France Germany Economy of Germany Greece Hungary... Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links Portugal_flag_large. ... File links The following pages link to this file: Austria AZ Alkmaar Belgium Czech Republic Cyprus Economy of the Czech Republic Charlton Athletic F.C. Chelsea F.C. European Union Estonia European Parliament Talk:European Union European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party European Peoples Party (Christian Democrats) and European... Large Flag of Slovenia, originally from flags of the CIA World Factbook, 2004. ... File links The following pages link to this file: Austria Belgium Czech Republic Cyprus Economy of the Czech Republic European Union Estonia Foreign relations of Estonia European Parliament Talk:European Union European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party European Peoples Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats Finland France Germany Economy... General info: Large flag of Cyprus Dimensions: 503x302 pixels Source: Image originally derived from the public domain flags of the CIA World Factbook License: Originally public domain, modifications under GFDL Most of the flags have had their colours improved and many have been resized to the proper ratios. ... Headline text File links The following pages link to this file: Austria Belgium Czech Republic Cyprus Economy of the Czech Republic European Union Estonia European Parliament Talk:European Union European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party European Peoples Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats Finland France Germany Economy of Germany... Flag of Malta. ... Download high resolution version (1200x800, 13 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Austria Belgium Bulgaria Czech Republic Croatia Cyprus Economy of Cyprus Economy of the Czech Republic Council of Europe Economy of Denmark Drachma European Union Estonia Euro European Parliament Talk:European Union European Free Alliance... Jump to: navigation, search Romano Prodi (born in Reggio Emilia on August 9, 1939) is an Italian politician and a former President of the European Commission. ...

Medals won by USA athletes

Rank	NOC Name	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	35	39	29	103

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Analysing the result of combining teams

Comparing the EU's aggregate count to that of any single National Olympic Committee (NOC) needs to be done carefully, because athletes and teams qualify for the Olympics on a per-NOC basis (although the category of "Independent Olympic Participants" has been used in the past). Certainly, simulations that might be made in the future would add to the picture. But at the moment, it can be noted that: National Olympic Committees are the national constituents of the worldwide olympic movement. ...

• EU states may "sweep the medals" in men's handball, while such a result would be impossible if only one pan-EU team participated; similarly, Australia may only qualify three swimmers per event no matter how many in its top-class national training programme meet the Olympic qualifying time standard, while the EU can qualify that number of swimmers per country per event (theoretically up to 75; realistically perhaps 20 — still therefore offering a better medal chance for the EU state swimmers). This applies more to the overall total of medals than to the gold medals which can in general be obtained only by the best athletes or teams.

• Conversely, if there only was one EU nation, since each nation can qualify three athletes per event, there would be trials or other selection mechanisms as operate on the current national level. Therefore only the three best EU athletes would compete, and the final result would be about the same: if the top three spots are now won by three different European nations, they would be won by the same three athletes. (This would not apply to realys or other team events, where only one team is allowed per NOC.) Other reasons are: the EU could put together competitive teams in, for example, Kabaddi where individual states may not; a smaller number of participating athletes, in the hypothesis of a single NOC, is no certainty for many less medals, as there is, as in other fields, a law of decreasing return between the volume of inputs (number of participants) and the volume of outputs (medals obtained); thirdly, the smaller combined team would have access to more resources for training, equipment, diet, facilities and support staff, fourthly athletes form poorer areas might find access to better quality resources.

Jump to: navigation, search Team handball (also known as field handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport where two teams of seven players each (six players and a goalkeeper) pass and bounce a ball trying to throw it in the goal of the opposing team. ... Kabaddi or Kabadi is a team pursuit sport, primarily played in South Asia. ...

Complicating factors

The size of the EU is constantly changing, up to 2005 and for the foreseeable future expanding. Jump to: navigation, search 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Relevance

While the EU has taken on certain national characteristics, there is considerable doubt that the member nations would wish to forego their individual Olympic teams in favour of one EU team. Furthermore, while athletes need to be nominated by a National Olympic Committee, medals are awarded to the athletes, not to their nation. Nonetheless, since the comments by the EU presidency mentioned above, it is likely that some interest will be expressed in the EU (and other supranational organizations) combined medal results in future.

See also

• Sports in the European Union
• 2004 Summer Olympics medals count by International Organization
• 2000 Summer Olympics medal productivity, giving a different view of the most successful nations

In the European Union, a large diversity of sports are practiced, and many leading athletes and teams belong to the Unions countries. ... This is a listing of the 2004 Summer Olympics medal counts if the countries of various International organizations pooled their medals. ... This article shows medal productivity of nations in the Bahamas 1 1 0 2 303 000 152 000 Barbados 0 0 1 1 267 000 267 000 Iceland 0 0 1 1 282 000 282 000 Australia 16 25 17 58 19 153 000 330 000 Jamaica 0 4 3...

External links

• EU Medals table
• Calcutta Telegraph story on EU 'victory'