Which country is doing best at the Paris Olympics? It depends on who’s counting medals — and how.
As of Monday at 2:noon Eastern time, Japan stood atop the official Olympic medal table, which sorts nations based on their number of gold medals. That approach is common in much of the world, with silver and bronze used only to break ties.
By another measure, the United States leads because it has the most medals overall (15, at last count). Publications in the U.S., including The New York Times, often take this approach.
Which way of counting is superior?