Definitely the amount of gold medals. It just has more value. If you country A has 150 medals, if they are bronze and silver, then it is not the same if country B has 70 gold medals. I do not think Michael Phelps would accept breaking the record of obtaining 8 bronze medals.

Neither, it's the participation of athletes from all over the world that counts the most. Medals can lie in boxes whereas the friendships formed at the Olympics can last a lifetime.

I hope you don't mind that I use Chinses to answer.金牌數同總獎牌數相比，在不同的國家有不同的意義。譬如在美國，美國人則把總獎牌數看得更重，因為衹有計算總數，他們國家才是世界第一。在中國，中國人歷來都比較重視金牌，自然會把金牌看得更重。That's my answer,friend.

i think they are equal,it just depends on what you think,every one has it's own opinion.just pursue what you want then pay your efforts is ok!

Neither - It's the olympic spirit that's important.

The amount of medals should be divided through the amount of people in a country, then you can see which country has performed best. It's kinda normal that China is leading the charts, because they have a population of 1,33 billion. However, it is amazing that countries like Australia (21 million), The Netherlands (16 million) and Jamaica (2.8 million!!!) end up high in the ranking.

I prefer the total no. of medals no matter what it is ...