So how did Canada actually do in the London Olympics?

That depends how you spin the numbers.

What we do know is that Canada earned 18 medals, one gold, five silver and 12 bronze.

If you look at the London 2012 rankings from a Canadian vantage point, we ranked 13th. The Canadian Olympic Committee ranks by total medals won.

But if you look up rankings of the International Olympic Committee, you will find a dramatically different story. There we rank No. 36, below Azerbaijan and above Colombia.

The international standard, used by every other country except Canada and the United States, counts gold medal totals.

Each method comes up short. The international ranking system ignores silver and bronze, unless there is a tie for gold medals, in which case other medals are considered.

Canada, on the other hand, places equal value on each medal, whether it’s gold, silver or bronze. That seems a little unfair to the athlete who finishes in first place with a gold.

There are plenty of other ways to slice and dice Olympic rankings, too.

One that makes a lot of sense is a weighted system that awards, say, three points for gold, two for silver and one for bronze. That would put Canada somewhere between 36th and 13th.

In Britain, the Guardian newspaper used statistical analysis to create an alternative medal count.

They ranked countries on a per capita basis. The assumption here is that the larger the population, the greater likelihood of a medal. This means that tiny Grenada would be ranked on top with its one gold medal. Canada would be No. 45.

You could also factor in a country’s wealth, the idea being that countries with more money to spend on training have the advantage.

This means that Jamaica with its 12 medals — four of them gold — would be ranked No. 2. Canada, a much richer country, would be 65th.

If you account for team size, Jamaica, with its relatively small contingent of 50 and four gold medals, would rank second again. Canada, with its 277 team members, would rank 63rd.

All of this brings to mind Mark Twain’s observation that there are lies, damned lies and statistics. Ranking systems are subjective, political and flawed, unless they suit your own interests.

Of course, sports bureaucrats have a vested interest in propping up their country’s performance.

The Own the Podium program spends $34 million annually on training for elite athletes who participate in the Summer Games. The Canadian Olympic Committee sets goals: they wanted to see Canada finish in the top 12.

The Harper government also wants to refashion Canada’s image as a nation with confidence and swagger on the international stage.

Certainly Canada’s strong performance in Vancouver fuelled a national appetite for an American-style body painting and chest thumping in the supposedly reserved and polite Canadian character. It also set up an expectation for the Summer Games.

There’s nothing wrong with expectations, but a strong performance requires more than swagger, chest-thumping and self-serving ranking systems.

If Canada wants to be taken seriously in the Summer Games, it needs to wash off the body paint and face facts: we are a small country that does not invest as heavily in our Olympic athletes compared to other countries.

If we want to be that little country that “punches above our weight,” we need to allocate more money and resources in long-term development of athletes and set realistic timetables and goals.

We might also lead the charge for an international ranking standard that factors in all medal winners but also gives the first-place winners their due.

And let’s dump the “Own the Podium” brand and replace it with something less insulting to the Olympic spirit. No athlete or country, whether it’s a Phelps, Bolt, a U.S.A. or a China, owns the Olympic podium.

(glethbridge@herald.ca)