正文内容：
The Olympic medal count isn't actually anofficial competition. No country actually wins the Olympic Games. It'ssomething that we have conjured up to turn the Olympics into something of a battle betweencountries.
The medal count is a way to turn the Olympicsinto a country versus country competition. When you watch the Olympics, youassociate an athlete with their respective country. It becomes all about whocan win the most medals for their country.
奥运奖牌榜实际不是一项官方正式的竞争。对于国家来说奥运比赛其实没有输赢之分。只是一些神奇的因素把奥运变成了国家之争。
奖牌榜就是一种把奥运变成国家之争的方式。当你观看奥运比赛时，你会把运动员和他们所代表的国家联系在一起，这样就变成了主要看哪个国家获得最多的奖牌。

While that may not be the right way to go about things, aspeople should spend time focusing on the individual competing rather than whatnation they represent, it provides a much-needed shot in the arm.
It keeps people interested no matter how theevents go. If the United States screws up in swimming, it doesn't decimate thefans' hopes of the country seeing Olympic success because there are countlessother events to contribute to the overall medal count.
其实这不是一种可取的方式，人们应该更加关注运动员个人之间的竞争，而不是他们代表哪个国家。
这样不管单个比赛结果如何人们还是能够保持对体育的兴趣。比如假设美国在游泳项目上搞砸了，这也不会降低人们对国家在奥运上成功的希望，因为还有其他数不清的项目来为奖牌榜添砖加瓦。

The battle between the United States and China is beingrevisited again this year. It's no surprise that these two countries typicallyfind themselves atop the leaderboard.
China always finds itself amongst the leadersthanks to the massive population advantage it boasts. With over 1.3 billionpeople, it would be nothing short of a colossal failure if the Chinese weren'tcompeting for first place in the medal count.
今年中美对决在奖牌榜上交互领先。中美处于榜首位置对这两个国家的人来说都是意料之中。
中国发现他们处于榜首要归功于巨大的人口基数。拥有13亿人口的中国，如果不在奖牌榜中获得第一，则会被认为是一个巨大的失败。

The United States has its advantage thanks to the incrediblepopularity of athletic competition in the country. Sure, the endless resourceshelp the cause, but the country would be nowhere near as prominent in the worldof sports if the culture didn't stress sports and what they stand for.
(Also, 300 million people isn't that small of anumber either.)
美国的巨大优势则要归功于这个国家难以置信的崇尚运动竞争精神。当然，也有数不清的资源投入，但是如果没有这种重视运动的文化，这个国家是不可能取得今天在世界体坛上的地位。
（当然，3亿人口也不能算是一个小数目：）

In these 2012 London Olympics, there are countlessstorylines. Some are created for the sake of ratings and popularity, whileothers arise out of thin air.
This competition atop the overall medal countleaderboard is neither of those.
Both populations believe that their country isthe greatest in the world. That opinion is held in numerous countries all overthe world, but to say that nationalistic sentiments are very popular in theU.S. and China would be an understatement.
2012年的伦敦奥运会有着无数的精彩故事。有的是为了收视率和关注度，有的则是无中生有。
中美榜首之争不属于上面任何一种。
两个人民都相信他们的国家是世界上最好的。全世界很多国家都持有这种观点（认为自己国家是最好的）。爱国主义情节在美国和中国用“流行”来形容都有点轻描淡写。

When you combine nationalism and athletics, you get warwithout the bloody consequences.
Take LeBron James and Team USA for example. Most of theAmerican population outside of South Beach despises James during the NBAseason, but the entire country backs him during the Olympics.
Why? Because "we" need to get thatgold medal.
当爱国主义和运动结合在一起后，就成了一场没有流血的战争。
以勒布朗詹姆斯(注：NBA巨星)和美国队为例。NBA赛季中除南部沿海外的美国人都很鄙视他，但是在奥运期间整个美国都支持他。
为啥？因为“我们”需要那块金牌。

评论：
usa will come out on top for a couple of reason but the mainis tht the chinese main sports for winning medals are at the begining of theolympics and then us is good all through out the olympics espically track andfield
美国队最后会胜出，原因很多，但最主要的是中国主要夺金项目在奥运比赛的开始阶段，而美国在所有阶段都很好，特别是田径项目。

"With over 1.3 billion people, it would be nothing shortof a colossal failure if the Chinese weren't competing for first place in themedal count."
India has 1.2+ billion and one bronze medal;clearly sheer population isn't as huge of an advantage as you're making it outto be. Germany and France both have under 100,000,000 population and are in thetop 5.
“拥有13亿人口中国，如果不在奖牌榜中获得第一，会被认为是一个巨大的失败。”
印度有12亿人口，只得了一块铜牌。很显然人口不是像你所说的那样是一个巨大的优势。德国和法国都少于1亿人，但是他们都在前五名。

To think that a massive population isn't a huge advantage isridiculous. India doesn't emphasize athletic competition the way that China andthe United States do.
（注：回复上楼）认为人口不是一个巨大的优势太可笑了。印度只是不像中国和美国那样重视运动。

I certainly think its an advantage, but I would cite China'sdrive to seek out and relentlessly train potential Athletes before I'd be chalkingtheir success up to the size of their population when there is an equallypopulous country doing very little and countries that are less than 1/10th thesize pulling in much more than 1/10th the amount of medals.
（注：回复上楼）我觉得人口是个优势。但是我觉得中国迫切选拨和残酷训练有潜力运动员是更主要的原因。有些国家有差不多的人口但是没有什么奖牌，有的国家人口不到中国的十分之一，但是金牌远多于中国的十分之一。

Just signed up to say I enjoyed your post Sam. National prideis what drives the Olympics even though many would like to do away with bordersand nationalism in general. Another factor for me is unlike professional sportsathletes of which many seek out loyalty to the team that brings them the mostmoney, these athletes are not playing for millions of dollars and they want torepresent the United States of America.
I didn't focus on competition with China formedal count as very important but it is becoming, interesting :) I have nodoubt many in the US do. I know the Chinese can be very nationalist and willassume there's high hopes to beat America motivating their interest.
I think you're basically correct aboutpopulation size along with a competitive sports drive. Funding is also a factor.
我特意注册只想说我喜欢你的帖子。民族自豪感是驱动奥运的因素，即便是很多人希望奥运没有国界。让我喜欢的另外一点是，不像那些职业运动运只忠于给他钱最多的球队，这些运动员参加奥运并不是为了百万的美刀，他们只是想代表美利坚合众国。
我之前没有特别关注中美奖牌榜之战，但是它现在变得越来越有意思了。我敢肯定很多美国也对此有兴趣。我知道中国人都是爱国主义者，我猜他们肯定希望打败美国来激发他们的自豪感。

Be careful of what you say:
"China always finds itself amongst theleaders thanks to the massive population advantage it boasts. With over 1.3billion people, it would be nothing short of a colossal failure if the Chineseweren't competing for first place in the medal count."
That's a major insult to India, one of America'sbiggest allies in Asia...
请注意你说的话：
“中国经常发现他们处于榜首要归功于巨大的人口基数。拥有13亿人口中国，如果不在奖牌榜中获得第一，会被认为是一个巨大的失败。”
你这是对美国在亚洲最大盟友——印度的极大侮辱。

I wasn't out to insult India. The country doesn't put muchemphasis on athletics but excels in other areas.
（注：楼主回复）我没有侮辱印度的意思。这个国家不重视运动，但他在其他领域很优秀。

Of course you're not out to insult India. But in what seemsto be an attempt to cheapen China's achievements, India was colossally hurt inthe crossfire.
你当然不是有意贬低印度，但是看起来你想贬低中国的成就，所以印度躺着也中枪了。