Why is India below Pakistan in the Olympic medal tally even after winning 5 medals at the Paris Olympics 2024

New Delhi: The Paris Olympics 2024 is at the business end with India currently sitting in the 64th position with 5 medals (1 silver and 4 Bronze). On the other hand, Pakistan is in the 53rd position with a single gold medal.

🇮🇳🥈 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗦𝗜𝗟𝗩𝗘𝗥! A terrific performance from Neeraj Chopra to win India's first Silver medal at #Paris2024   .

👏 Many congratulations to him on this incredible achievement!

👉 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 @sportwalkmedia 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲… pic.twitter.com/uKjeiKGnFP

— India at Paris 2024 Olympics (@sportwalkmedia) August 8, 2024

India’s quest for a gold medal took a major hit after Neeraj Chopra was unable to defend his gold medal in Tokyo 2020. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem clinched the gold medal which marked the first gold medal for both Nadeem and his country in athletics in the Olympics. Pakistan so far has won 3 gold medals in total, all from the game of Hockey (1960, 1968 and 1984). Pakistan last won an Olympic medal in any individual event was 1988 (boxing) and before that in 1960 (wrestling). However, on both occasions, it was a bronze medal and not a gold.

Nadeem’s monstrous throw of 92.97 m also dwarfed the record set 16 years ago by Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway who had clinched the gold medal with a throw of 90.57 m. Pakistan’s solitary attempt at the gold medal has lifted the country 11 places from where India currently stands.

How does the ranking happen on the Olympic Medals tally?

Now, everyone is wondering why despite having more medals than Pakistan, India is placed at a lower position than its neighbouring country. It is because of the rules of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which states that the ranking of any nation is solely based on the number of gold medals that nation is winning.

Neeraj Chopra is excellence personified! Time and again he’s shown his brilliance. India is elated that he comes back with yet another Olympic success. Congratulations to him on winning the Silver. He will continue to motivate countless upcoming athletes to pursue their dreams… pic.twitter.com/XIjfeDDSeb

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 8, 2024

This means that a nation with more bronze and silver medals will still be ranked lower than a solitary gold medal of a nation. Therefore, India is ranked in the 64th position with 1 silver and 4 bronze while Pakistan is ranked in the 53rd place.

Order of hierarchy of medals:

Gold>Silver>Bronze

Updated Medals tally