American news outlet trolled for ranking Olympic countries by total medals instead of golds

American news outlets have been mocked for ranking countries at the Tokyo Olympics by total medals won instead of golds.

The longstanding practice keeps the US on top of the leaderboard with a two-medal lead as of Tuesday morning, even though China has seven more golds.

The New York Times posted a medal count to Facebook on Sunday which quickly came under the scrutiny of international readers.

Many were quick to point out the newspaper ranked the countries by the total amount of medals won, instead of the number of gold, silver and bronze.

American news outlets have been slammed for ranking countries by total medals won instead of golds in a bid to keep the United States on top of the leaderboard

The New York Times posted a medal count from the Tokyo Olympics to Facebook on Sunday which quickly came under the scrutiny of international users

The New York Times posted a medal count from the Tokyo Olympics to Facebook on Sunday which quickly came under the scrutiny of international users

The ranking system placed the US firmly on top with a total of 56 medals at the time, followed by China with 50, the Russian Olympic Committee with 40, Britain with 32, and Japan with 31.

The US is the only major sporting country to rank the count by total medals, and faces criticism every year for being out of step with the rest of the world. 

One NYT reader went as far to say Americans had a ‘superiority complex’ that prompted them to ‘rearrange an entire competition so that it looks like they’re winning’. 

‘It is ranked according to the number of gold medals won and then silver, etc. It is not ranked on the number of medals won,’ another added. 

‘Surely that is the reason why the athletes aim for the gold for their countries. 

‘I will keep posting this until The New York Times complies with how it should be presented properly.’

The ranking system placed the United States firmly on top with a total of 56 medals, followed by China with 50, adding fuel to the long-standing competition between the two nations

The ranking system placed the United States firmly on top with a total of 56 medals, followed by China with 50, adding fuel to the long-standing competition between the two nations

The comment received over 1,400 likes with another user adding the tally made them incorrectly assume the US was leading in the Games instead of China. 

‘I’ve been staring at this tally for a long time from here in Australia completely confused,’ another woman wrote. 

‘Then I realised The New York Times were being, for lack of a better phrase, “American” about this. Goodness.’

‘Only the American media presents it like this. It is so silly. The gold medal winners are the champions,’ a third user shared. 

‘Why shouldn’t their achievements be recognised more than others?’

Another user argued the official Olympics website provided a tally of golds and the total of medals won overall. 

‘Athletes do aim for gold, but all medals count, otherwise they wouldn’t exist. If silver and bronze medals didn’t count, only gold medals would be awarded,’ they added. 

While the long-standing tradition is incorporated across most mainstream American media several Olympic commentators argued the ranks were incorrect

While the long-standing tradition is incorporated across most mainstream American media several Olympic commentators argued the ranks were incorrect

One user went as far to say Americans had a 'superiority complex' that propelled them to 'rearrange an entire competition so that it looks like they're winning'

One user went as far to say Americans had a ‘superiority complex’ that propelled them to ‘rearrange an entire competition so that it looks like they’re winning’

Other commentators said the issue would be solved by the Olympics operating on a points system, with 10 points for gold, seven for silver and five for bronze. 

‘That way you wouldn’t have a nation that’s won a single gold medal listed above one that has, again for example, won six silvers and four bronze,’ they explained. 

Similar comments were seen on posts by other American news outlets that featured medal tallies from Tokyo.

American fans further revealed themselves to be sore losers when they accused the Australian women’s swim team of cheating after their sensational win in the 4x100m medley relay, despite being hilariously wrong.

Emma McKeon, Kaylee McKeown, Chelsea Hodges, and Cate Campbell beat their US opponents by 0.13 seconds to clinch gold in the race on Sunday.  

Upset American fans immediately took to Twitter to claim the narrow victory was only possible because Campbell cheated by jumping into the water before McKeown touched the end wall during the final changeover.

Officials declared Campbell actually made her start 0.04 seconds after McKeown touched the wall and, therefore, the changeover was legal. 

It comes after US fans accused the Australian women's swim team of cheating after their sensational win in the 4x100m medley relay

It comes after US fans accused the Australian women’s swim team of cheating after their sensational win in the 4x100m medley relay

‘Australia straight up cheated,’ one American fan tweeted. ‘Should have been a disqualification. Shameful.’

Another one added: ‘Campbell jumped into the water too soon!’

‘Australia dove in early!’ another tweeted. ‘No one caught it! Americans were cheated out of gold!’

‘BS. How did Australia’s final swimmer leave the top?’ another added. 

American fans’ unfounded cheating accusations became awkward after the US men’s team’s own questionable conduct in their relay just minutes later.