A sian Participation and Performance at the O lympic G ames

This paper examines A sian exceptionalism at the O lympics. N ortheast A sian countries conform to the statistical norm, whereas the rest of A sia lags, but this result obscures underlying distinctions. Asian women do better than men. Non‐ N ortheast A sia's relative underperformance is due to the men. A sian performance is uneven across events, finding more success in culturally connected and weight‐stratified contests. The models imply that C hina, J apan, and S outh K orea will place among the top 10 medaling countries at the 2016 G ames, whereas C hina will continue to close the medal gap with the U nited S tates.