Ah, the Summer Olympics. The rest of the world melts away as you remain glued to your TV, ready to be outraged if Greece’s water polo team doesn’t make it through the group stages. You change the channel and are suddenly invested in whether Brazil’s star race walker will get the gold.

Every four years, for a fortnight at the height of summer, the average sports naysayer can become insufferably competitive. Paris 2024 is providing plenty of drama and has left me curious about some of the numbers behind the scenes, particularly for Team GB and our very own Cambridge University. I decided to have a look at some statistics to see if I could answer a few burning questions.

Team GB has been smashing it with medals across disciplines but it made me wonder where our true strengths lie – what are Britain’s best events?

“Over a quarter of all the gold medals in equestrian and cycling were awarded to Team GB”

I divided the teams ‘best’ sports into several categories, and calculated what percentage of the medals available in these categories had been awarded to Team GB in the last three Summer Olympics (London, Rio and Tokyo). To make things simpler, events that haven’t been at all three are excluded.

The important question: is it true that the British are best at the ‘sitting down’ events? Surprisingly (or not), that’s an easy yes. The results showed that Team GB performed best in equestrian sports, getting 19% of the medals. Given that even a British Royal has won a medal in the category (Princess Anne in 1976), this is hardly astonishing.

Equestrian events are closely followed by cycling. Over a quarter of the gold medals in both categories were awarded to Team GB. In fact, Great Britain have won more track cycling medals in the whole of the modern Olympics than any other nation.

While Britain is not exactly famed for its white sandy beaches, sailing gets the bronze with Team GB attaining a fifth of gold medals. And despite a constant battle with river pollution, there’s a long and proud history of rowing in Great Britain – as all Cambridge students know. It’s almost surprising that it’s only in 4th place.

“If Cambridge University were its own nation, it would slide in at 24th on a table of overall medals”

This got me thinking about our very own Cambridge athletes. As of 2022, across all Olympics, Cambridge students and alumni have amassed 210 medals. Incredibly, if Cambridge University were its own nation, it would slide in at 24th on a table of overall medals, right between Bulgaria and Switzerland (and just above Oxford University – a win!). No Cambridge student would be surprised to learn that well over a third of our 350+ multitalented Olympians were rowers.

But when it comes to competition and Cambridge, there’s nothing like pitting the colleges against each other. Is this finally something that Trinity doesn’t win? Alas, no. Its 58 Olympians is easily the most. Silver goes to St John’s (32 Olympians), and bronze to…Trinity Hall! 27 is an impressive feat given our relatively small college size. Pembroke and Jesus are reputable with 25 and 23 respectively. A notable mention goes to Caius for boasting Harold Abrahams, who won the 1924 Paris 100m (yes, that’s exactly 100 years since the last Paris Olympics) and whose quest to become the fastest man in the world is told in the classic film Chariots of Fire.

Wooden spoons go to Clare Hall and Lucy Cavendish with no Olympians – in their defence, most other colleges had a few hundred years’ head start. And Girton may have only had three Olympians, but who can forget alumnus Alistair Brownlee from his sensational double Triathlon golds in 2012 and 2016.

Well, sitting down sports or not, Team GB certainly does the nation proud. And Cambridge’s long history with the Olympics (including an athlete in those very first modern games in 1896) means there’s a lot to celebrate. As you watch the final moments of the Paris 2024 Games enraptured, perhaps spare a thought for this history – and remember to cheer for the 11 Cambridge Olympians whose year it is to take the stage.