An Investigation into the Correlation between a Country's Total Olympic Medal Count, GDP, and Freedom Index through History

In 2021, Tokyo held the delayed 2020 Olympics in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As with any Olympics, the final medal count was of particular interest. Since 2004, South Korea has consistently ranked in the top ten most successful countries for four straight Summer Olympics. However, in 2021, it fell short of a top ten finish for the first time since 2004. There may be many factors that affect the final medal count in any Olympics, and this study compares and looks for correlations between some of these factors including final medal count, GDP, population, size of Olympic contingent, and Freedom Index. The study pays particular attention to South Korea and other countries which have seen a dramatic change in Freedom Index score since 1972, when the index was first published.