Elysium Trophy

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The ELYSIUM TROPHY

The principles of the ELYSIUM trophy

🏆The ELYSIUM TROPHY aims to highlight nations whose athletes have performed best collectively at the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games according to an algorithm which rewards excellence and absolute performance but also participation and surpassing oneself.

This trophy is rewarding and motivating for each athlete and for all nations, including the least populated. It strives to promote social inclusion, respect for differences, solidarity and team spirit.

It offers a different look at sport and competition compared to the “medal table” which ranks countries by number of gold medalsđŸ„‡ (then by silver medalsđŸ„ˆ if tied, then by bronze medalsđŸ„‰ if tied) which has established itself over time in the media and among the general public.

Indeed, although the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee do not officially rank the participating countries or delegations, the medal table has ultimately taken on incredible importance:

  • Featured prominently in television broadcasts and on newspaper front pages

  • Followed hour by hour by millions of supporters and viewers

  • Established as national objective by national sports authorities and governments

Questioning

However, this classification has flaws and raises questions:

  • Is it fair that a single gold medal is worth more than all the other silver and bronze medals combined?

  • Is it balanced that certain sports bring in 10 or 20 times more in the medal ranking than other sports (sometimes more popular)?

  • Are we promoting enough team spirit when a medal won as a team is worth less than a medal won as an individual?

  • Is it motivating for athletes, spectators and the media that only a gold medal can truly improve the ranking of a nation, while silver or bronze medals are only incidental, and incredible performances like 4th or even 8th places are not valued at all?

  • Are we inclusive enough when the medal table only shows 45% of the countries of the world while more than 100 other countries are not represented at all there?

  • Are the values ​​of solidarity sufficiently promoted when the Paralympic medal table is covered and followed 100 times less than the Olympic medal table?

  • Are we putting enough emphasis on the collective, when no recognition or trophy is awarded collectively to the best performing countries, in addition to the hundreds of individual ceremonies organized for each discipline?

The answer to all these questions is NO, and that’s why we – a group of sports and Olympic enthusiasts – have developed a simple, fair, balanced, motivating and inclusive points ranking system, which will rank the countries for the overall performances of their Olympic and Paralympic athletes and which will reward the best performing countries with the ELYSIUM TROPHY.

But the ELYSIUM TROPHY is the first time that a single ranking is based on Olympic and Paralympic results, and that a trophy will reward the countries whose athletes were the most successful

This ranking is not intended to exalt rivalry between nations, but to celebrate and congratulate the countries whose athletes have collectively been the most successful and to stimulate excellence, solidarity, and surpassing oneself. 🏑

In order to promote equality, fairness, social inclusion and highlight less populated countries whose athletes excel, three other rankings will also be published:

  • The ranking “inspiration Yukio Peter”, will rank countries according to the number of points won by their athletes per capita;
  • The ranking “inspired Alice Milliat”, will highlight countries, which have the highest ratio of points won by women / points reported by men;
  • The ranking “inspiration Ludwig Guttmann”, will highlight countries, which have the highest ratio of points won by Paralympic athletes / points won by Olympic athletes.

 

Finally, we will also award the three most inspiring athletes of the Olympic and Paralympic Games the Elysium Laurels of Gold, Silver and Bronze. 🌿

🏆 The ELYSIUM TROPHY is an independent initiative, carried by a community of enthusiast. Updated rankings are available, starting July 24. Daily rankings will be posted at the end of events (around 11 PM Paris time) and will also be available on X, Instagram, TikTok & Facebook.

The ELYSIUM TROPHY also has a social objective and aims to support sporting, social and solidarity projects around the world. 

If you want to support the Elysium Trophy, associate yourself with its social objective and participate in the future improvement of the methodology and algorithm, join the friends of the ELYSIUM TROPHY.