Olympic glory, World Cup fame, or another Yao Ming?

In the modern era, China often tops the gold medal table during the Summer Olympics by the time the closing ceremony has tooted its last toot and lowered the curtain on the quadrennial sporting spectacle. Whether one measures success by the number of yellow metal medals earned, or overall medals, the world's second-most populous country certainly holds its own in Olympic contests, particularly the Summer Games.

The Olympics began in ancient Greece as a way for various city states to show their stuff and compete in hard-fought games that didn't involve actual warfare. But the Summer Olympics as we know them today officially kicked off in 1896, in, where else, their ancestral home of Athens. The Winter Games took another 28 years to get going, back in 1924 in France.

The People's Republic of China, founded in 1949, was a relative latecomer to the athletic extravaganza, not having competed at the Olympics until 1952, at the Summer Games in Finland. Therefore, it's understandable that the country has had some catching up to do. Combined medals by country — gold, silver and bronze — for both hot and cold-weather versions of the contests are, for the top five: the US (2,959), Russia, including USSR(2,012), Germany, including East and West (1,821), Great Britain (950) and China (713).