North Korea Sent Just 14 Athletes To Paris Olympics & They Took Home 6 Medals

China and the United States might have dominated the final medal tally at the recently concluded Paris Olympics, but it seems another country is getting attention for its haul.

North Korea’s 14-member contingent won six medals — two silvers and four bronze medals — beating out many countries with bigger populations.

The hermit kingdom has a population of 26 million people.

North Korea is ranked 68 on the medal list for their 11th appearance at the Olympics, winning in sports such as table tennis, wrestling, boxing and diving.

“People who train behind closed doors are very strong,” said one netizen while another said the athletes were probably coached by Chinese and Russian coaches.

In contrast, India with a population of 1.4 billion people is seeing its citizens voicing out their dissatisfaction with their country’s showing.

India won six medals at the Paris Olympics – one silver and five bronzes, ranking at 71.

“The only sport they care about is cricket and do not encourage their other athletes as much,” read one comment while another said the “population to medal ratio was embarrassing”.

Another even pointed out that countries with smaller populations such as the Dominican Republic were able to win a gold and two bronze medals at Paris 2024.

One even boldly said the US has less than a quarter of India’s population but still topped the charts with 126 medals.

At this point, don’t you think comparing population sizes in relation to winning medals at the Olympics isn’t accurate?

Some have come out to say that it is an unfair comparison as most Indian athletes face obstacles such as inadequate funding and lack of access to facilities.

In contrast, Yong Ja Hong, who is a doctoral candidate at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, says people shouldn’t be too envious of North Korea’s results.

She says only gold medalists are remembered and featured prominently in documentaries and parades.

Unconfirmed reports have said athletes who do not medal at the Olympics face various forms of punishments such as being sent to labour camps.

A netizen says: “North Korea is playing Squid Game” and says it’s the only country where the athletes compete with their lives on the line.