Ranking of countries in sporting events using two-stage data envelopment analysis models: a case of Summer Olympic Games 2016

Abstract

After important sport events as the Summer Olympic Games (SOG) are, the participating countries are ranked according to the number of gold, silver and bronze medals. A lexicographic ranking is usually applied in official reports which leads to higher ranking of countries with one gold and no other medals comparing to countries without any gold but with several silver or bronze medals. Moreover, this ranking does not take into account the specific conditions of the countries (population, economic strength measured by gross domestic product and tradition in sports). The aim of the paper is not only to evaluate the absolute achievements of the countries but evaluate their performance with respect to the resources they can spent. A two-stage data envelopment analysis model is formulated and solved by an original slack-based measure procedure. The first stage evaluates the performance of the countries in training of athletes and the second stage evaluates the achievements of the nominated athletes. The models with variable returns to scale and weight restrictions are applied. The models and their results are illustrated on the case of Olympic Games 2016 and compared with results given by traditional approaches.