A. 40% is not correct

Between the first modern games in 1896 and the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010, the three countries that have won the most medals accounted for just over half of all the medals who by the ten most successful nations in Olympic competitions. These nations — the United States, Russia/Soviet Union and Germany — have won a combined 5,779 gold, silver and bronze medals, according to the International Olympic Committee's all-time medal count.

While these nations have been very successful, 80 countries — almost 40% of the altogether 204 countries with National Olympic Committees — are true Olympians. Their glory is that to have participated in the Games without ever winning a medal. The most noteworthy among those countries include Bangladesh, El Salvador, Jordan, Mali and Yemen.

B. 27% is correct.

As of the conclusion of the 2010 Winter Games, the United States has raked in 2,549 of the almost 9,400 medals — or 27% — won by ten winningest nations in modern Olympic history.

The U.S. performance stands in sharp contrast to that of its main geostrategic competitor, China. China has so far won only 429 medals — or one-sixth of the U.S. medal count. For a long time, China — as was historically the case with many other developing countries — had very different priorities than to invest in sports.

C. 17% is not correct.

Both the second- and third-ranked nations, Russia and Germany, each account for 17% of the medals. In Germany's case, this count includes the medals won by athletes from West Germany and East Germany, when the country was divided between 1945 and 1990. In total, Germans won 1,618 medals.

In second-ranked Russia's case, the exact count is more complicated. The Soviet Union, which existed from 1917 to 1990, received 1,204 medals, and Russian athletes received another 408, for a total of 1,612 medals.

However, beyond Russia itself, there were another 14 republics in the Soviet Union that are now independent nations. If one were to include the medals won by those nations, Russia's count would be several hundred medals higher.

D. 8% not correct.

The United Kingdom, the host nation of the 2012 Summer Games, and France each account for around 8% of the medals won in the modern Olympics era by the ten best-performing nations.