If you are an aspiring Olympic athlete training in the Dallas area, you may considering moving to California — or maybe Colorado Springs. That’s because when you break down the Olympic spoils from the United States’ recent world-topping athletic romp in Rio by metro area, Dallas ranks eighth among American cities — and a lowly 35th in medal count-per-resident — according to a new study. Topping the list of Olympian cities: Los Angeles and San Francisco. In fact, if LA were a country, it would have won more medals that either Canada or South Korea. San Francisco would have tied with Brazil.
But it’s that second data set in the analysis — medal count-per-resident — that I believe tells a more interesting story about athletics and regions. The cities and towns that top that list tend to be smaller university towns or places that boast specialized training facilities designed to churn out world class athletes. It seems to suggest that it’s not the place that generates the athletes, but the facilities that draw athletes to the place. In other words, if regional boosters want to boost the Metrop#@x’s medal count rankings, they may not have to worry about improving DFW’s abysmally low health and fitness rating. Perhaps they could find some incentives to lure Colorado Springs’ U.S. Olympic Complex to Frisco.
