Tokyo Olympics: New Zealand one of the most successful nations in world per capita

When you think of the great Olympic nations throughout history, you might think of China, the United States or Russia.

But the truth is little old New Zealand has done much better than you might think - especially when you factor in we're a team of just 5 million.

In fact, Aotearoa is in the top 10 countries in the world for both gold medals and podium finishes per capita, dating all the way back to the first Games in Athens in 1896.

Data from all Summer Olympics across history compiled by Topend Sports shows New Zealand sits sixth on the all-time gold medals per population list, having stood atop the podium on 46 occasions.

Just Norway, Sweden, the Bahamas, Hungary and Finland have better records than us - and the Scandinavian countries scored most of their medals in the early 1900s.

Tokyo Olympics: New Zealand one of the most successful nations in world per capita
Photo credit: Topend Sports

In recent history we've fared even better. We sit fifth on the gold medals per capita list if you count since 1996 - though Caribbean nations the Bahamas, Grenada and Jamaica have enjoyed a marked rise to take the top three spots in that time.

But our 20 golds at the last six Summer Games sees us boast an impressive tally of 4.147 gold medals per million people - just behind Hungary in fourth.

On the same scale, the giants of the US and China - who always seem to lead the medal charts - are no powerhouses after all. They sit 37th and 70th respectively when you factor in their large populations.

But they're far from the worst-performing large nations in the world. For its 1.35 billion people, you'd expect India to fare better - but the country has only won one gold medal since 1996.

Where NZ's Olympic medals come from

New Zealand has won 117 medals in total - the 10th-highest number of podium finishes at summer Olympic Games per million people.

Our success owes mainly to our prowess on the water. Three of our top four sports are boat-based, with rowing earning us 24 medals in total (11 gold), sailing bagging us 22 (nine gold) and canoeing 12 (seven gold).

Here's hoping the likes of Lisa Carrington, Mahe Drysdale and Blair Tuke & Peter Burling can replicate the successes of previous Olympics.

Lisa Carrington won Olympic gold in the Women's K-1 200 metres in both 2012 and 2016.
Lisa Carrington won Olympic gold in the Women's K-1 200 metres in both 2012 and 2016. Photo credit: Photosport

Athletics is our joint-highest medal-earning sport (10 gold) with 24 - though that encompasses dozens of events.

Equestrian (10 medals, three gold), cycling (eight medals, one gold), swimming (six medals, two gold), boxing (three medals, one gold), triathlon (three medals, one gold) and shooting (two medals, no gold) round out our top 10.

We've also won one medal each in hockey, golf and rugby sevens.