15 August 2012 Last updated at 06:04 ET

Olympic counties: Does it matter where medal-winners come from?

By Jon Kelly BBC News Magazine

A geographical breakdown of Team GB's Olympic success reveals some areas with more prizes than others. Why is it important to people which counties fare best?

There is an accessory that every fashionable British community is sporting this summer. It is cast iron, cylindrical and daubed with bright metallic paint.

For each of the athletes who achieved a first-place finish at the Olympics, a postbox in their hometown has been re-coloured gold by Royal Mail.

Yet for all that it was intended as a patriotic celebration, the focus on localised achievement has cast a light on sub-national loyalties and rivalries.

It didn't take long, for instance, for Yorkshire-based social media users to calculate that the historic county's seven golds and total haul of a dozen medals would put it 12th on the global table were it an independent nation - a feat quickly trumpeted in adverts for tea brand Yorkshire Gold.

When a pillar box was painted gold in Harlow, Essex, birthplace of Laura Trott, the cyclist took to Twitter to protest that the marker should have been in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, where she grew up.

And an Olympic official even demanded a tribute be sited in Norfolk to Big Star, the horse that carried Nick Skelton to showjumping victory.

Whatever one's view on whether equine and human achievement should be valued equally, the passions raised by the recognition given to different localities tells us much about the layers of regional attachment that underlie British support for Team GB.

The attachment - particularly in England - to counties, many of which were swept aside in the local government reorganisations of the 1970s, is especially notable.

For administrative purposes, Yorkshire was divided into three county councils as far back as 1888, and each of its ridings had been governed by separate lieutenancies since the Restoration.

And yet as soon as the medal table was revealed, tourism chiefs published a map to guide proud Tykes around the county via the home towns of its victorious athletes.

Of course, some counties have a much stronger identity than others. Cornwall boasts its own language and flag, while Essex folk can bond over the jokes made about them by outsiders.

But as Simon Kuper, author of Football Against the Enemy and a writer on the anthropology of sport, points out, not all counties proclaim their affiliations equally.

"If you live far from London, in a county with its own accent and traditions, you might be more likely to identify with Yorkshire, for instance," he says. "Likewise, the Geordie identity seems quite strong, whereas if you live in the south-east of England you might be more likely to identify yourself purely as English.

"But English identity and Yorkshire identity are complementary - they don't diminish each other in any way."

Certainly, other sub-national British identities are forged on a civic or a regional rather than a county basis - and are fuelled by competitiveness as much as innate pride.

The rivalry between North Wales and South Wales is a much-observed phenomenon. In Scotland, the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh view each other with suspicion from across the central belt - just like Manchester and Liverpool along the M62.

In Olympics terms, of course, this is exacerbated by the fact that some parts of the country have more to shout about than others.

Unsurprisingly, London, the capital city with 8m inhabitants, can boast a wealth of medals.

And yet with a population of just 600, the island of Sark - which boasts a postbox repainted in honour of Carl Hester of the British dressage team - has a per capita tally to boast about.

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"Yorkshire has always prided itself in coming top in everything possible; my generation was brought up to assume that no other county was permitted to win the county cricket championship," writes Martin Wainwright in the Guardian's Northerner blog.

"It should do, of course, being so much vaster than everywhere else with - as I am afraid I repeat frequently - the West Riding alone being England's second largest county."

Forget Team GB v China, says the London Evening Standard - the real rivalry has been between the capital and Yorkshire.

"There are a few technical stumbling blocks to this story - the main one being that half of the Yorkshire lot got their medals competing in team sports, which only count as one medal between the team, and there are no teams just made up of Yorkshiremen. Hence London's lead, as we have Mo Farah and Wiggo."

A population-to-medals infographic in the Huffington Post points out while Merseyside scored one medal per 676,700 people, and Wales one medal per 612,000, Yorkshire's ratio is one per 481,818.

What's more, with a population which does not always stay still, different communities can stake competing claims for an athletics hero.

Andy Murray's gold postbox is in Dunblane, where the tennis gold medallist grew up - although he was, in fact, born in Glasgow, moved to Barcelona to train at 15 and now lives near Wimbledon in south-west London.

And of course there is the complicating factor of those with origins outside the UK - such as cyclist Bradley Wiggins, who was born in Ghent, Belgium, and runner Mo Farah, who lived in Somalia until he was eight.

Of course, both men firmly identify with British communities.

Wiggins describes himself as a "kid from Kilburn", the north-west London district in which he grew up - although online debates have raged about whether he in fact belongs to neighbouring Maida Vale. Farah, for his part, reacted indignantly at a press conference when asked if he would rather represent the country of his birth: "Look mate, I'm British."

Dr Steve Garner of Aston University, who conducted a major study of social identity formation in provincial England, says that, ultimately, people's loyalties are organic - not determined by local authority boundary reviews.

"People's allegiances are generally much more local - estates, areas within estates, and at the most, a town or city," he says.

"I live in a part of Bristol that is in South Gloucestershire. I can't imagine for the life of me an identity project based on South Gloucestershire-ness, regardless of a medal haul."

Regardless of where the boundaries are drawn, the medal map will surely inspire many triumphant emails from inhabitants of well-favoured localities to their more sparsely-rewarded neighbours.

Whether it's in your county, city, postcode district or street, a gold postbox is clearly worth bragging about.

More than 100 Team GB athletes will be returning home with a medal from the London 2012 Olympics. Find out where they are from with the map and sortable table below.

Eight medal winners were born abroad and one in the Channel Islands

The map shows English county boundaries, Scottish council areas, Welsh unitary authorities and district council areas in Northern Ireland.

Team GB: Who won what
Athlete	Discipline	Medals	Birthplace	Country or county
Source: Team GB
Alan Campbell	Rowing, men's single sculls	Bronze	Coleraine	Coleraine
Alex Gregory	Rowing, men's four	Gold	Cheltenham	Gloucestershire
Alex Partridge	Rowing, men's eight	Bronze	San Francisco	USA
Alistair Brownlee	Men's triathlon	Gold	Dewsbury	West Yorkshire
Andrew Triggs Hodge	Rowing, men's four	Gold	Aylesbury	Buckinghamshire
Andy Murray	Tennis, men's singles & mixed doubles	Gold & silver	Glasgow	Glasgow
Alexandra Danson	Women's hockey	Bronze	Southampton	Hampshire
Andrew Simpson	Sailing, men's Star	Silver	Chertsey	Surrey
Anna Watkins	Rowing, women's double sculls	Gold	Leek	Staffordshire
Anne Panter	Women's hockey	Bronze	Kettering	Northamptonshire
Anthony Joshua	Boxing, super heavyweight	Gold	Watford	Hertfordshire
Anthony Ogogo	Boxing, men's middleweight	Bronze	Great Yarmouth	Norfolk
Ashleigh Ball	Women's hockey	Bronze	Brighton	Brighton and Hove
Ben Ainslie	Sailing, men's finn	Gold	Macclesfield	Cheshire
Ben Maher	Equestrian jumping	Gold	Enfield	London
Beth Storry	Women's hockey	Bronze	Reading	Berkshire
Beth Tweddle	Gymnastics, women's uneven bars	Bronze	Johannesburg	South Africa
Bradley Wiggins	Road cycling, men's time trials	Gold	Ghent	Belgium
Carl Hester	Equestrian, dressage	Gold	Sark	Channel Islands
Charlotte Dujardin	Equestrian, dressage	Gold x2	Newent	Gloucestershire
Chloe Rogers	Women's hockey	Bronze	Harlow	Essex
Chris Bartley	Rowing, men's lightweight four	Silver	Wrexham	Wrexham
Christine Ohuruogu	Athletics, women's 400m	Silver	London	London
Christopher Froome	Road cycling, men's time trials	Bronze	Nairobi	Kenya
Constantine Louloudis	Rowing, men's eight	Bronze	London	London
Crista Cullen	Women's hockey	Bronze	Boston	Lincolnshire
Dani King	Track cycling, women's team pursuit	Gold	Southampton	Hampshire
Daniel Purvis	Gymnastics, men's artistic	Bronze	Liverpool	Merseyside
David Florence	Canoeing, men's double	Silver	Edinburgh	Edinburgh
Ed Clancy	Track cycling, men's omnium & team pursuit	Gold & bronze	Barnsley	South Yorkshire
Ed Mckeever	Men's kayak single 200m	Gold	Bath	Somerset
Emily Maguire	Women's hockey	Bronze	Glasgow	Glasgow
Etienne Stott	Canoeing, men's double	Gold	Manchester	Greater Manchester
Fred Evans	Boxing, men's welterweight	Silver	Cardiff	Cardiff
Gemma Gibbons	Judo, women's 78kg	Silver	Greenwich	London
George Nash	Rowing, men's pair	Bronze	Guildford	Surrey
Georgie Twigg	Women's hockey	Bronze	Lincoln	Lincolnshire
Geraint Thomas	Track cycling, men's team pursuit	Gold	Cardiff	Cardiff
Greg Rutherford	Athletics, men's long jump	Gold	Milton Keynes	Buckinghamshire
Greg Searle	Rowing, men's eight	Bronze	Ashford	London
Hannah Macleod	Women's hockey	Bronze	Boston	Lincolnshire
Hannah Mills	Sailing, women's 470	Silver	Cardiff	Cardiff
Heather Stanning	Rowing, women's pair	Gold	Yeovil	Somerset
Helen Glover	Rowing, women's pair	Gold	Truro	Cornwall
Helen Richardson	Women's hockey	Bronze	Hitchin	Hertfordshire
Iain Percy	Sailing, men's star	Silver	Southampton	Hampshire
Jade Jones	Taekwondo - women's 57kg	Gold	Bodelwyddan	Denbighshire, Wales
James Foad	Rowing, men's eight	Bronze	Southampton	Hampshire
Jason Kenny	Track cycling, men's individual sprint & team sprint	Gold x2	Bolton	Greater Manchester
Jessica Ennis	Athletics, heptathlon	Gold	Sheffield	South Yorkshire
Joanna Rowsell	Track cycling, women's team pursuit	Gold	Carshalton	London
Jon Schofield	Men's kayak double 200m	Bronze	Petersfield	Hampshire
Jonny Brownlee	Triathlon	Bronze	Leeds	West Yorkshire
Karina Bryant	Judo, women's +78kg	Bronze	Kingston upon Thames	Surrey
Kate Walsh	Women's hockey	Bronze	Manchester	Greater Manchester
Katherine Copeland	Rowing, women's lightweight double sculls	Gold	Ashington	Northumberland
Katherine Grainger	Rowing, women's double sculls	Gold	Glasgow	Glasgow
Kristian Thomas	Gymnastics, men's artistic	Bronze	Wolverhampton	West Midlands
Kristina Cook	Equestrian eventing	Silver	Findon	West Sussex
Laura Bartlett	Women's hockey	Bronze	Glasgow	Glasgow
Laura Bechtolsheimer	Equestrian dressage	Gold & bronze	Mienz	Germany
Laura Robson	Tennis, mixed doubles	Silver	Melbourne	Australia
Laura Trott	Track cycling, women's omnium, team pursuit	Gold x2	Harlow	Essex
Laura Unsworth	Women's hockey	Bronze	Sutton Coldfield	West Midlands
Liam Heath	Men's kayak double, 200m	Bronze	Guildford	Surrey
Lizzie Armitstead	Road cycling, women's road race	Silver	Leeds	West Yorkshire
Louis Smith	Gymnastics, men's pommel horse	Silver & bronze	Peterborough	Cambridgeshire
Luke Campbell	Boxing, men's bantamweight	Gold	Hull	East Yorkshire
Luke Patience	Sailing, men's 470	Silver	Aberdeen	Aberdeen
Lutalo Muhammad	Taekwondo, men's 80kg	Bronze	Walthamstow	London
Mark Hunter	Rowing, men's lightweight double sculls	Silver	London	London
Mary King	Equestrian eventing	Silver	Newark on Trent	Nottinghamshire
Matthew Langridge	Rowing, men's eight	Bronze	Crewe	Cheshire
Max Whitlock	Gymnastics, men's pommel horse	Bronze x2	Hemel Hempstead	Hertfordshire
Michael Jamieson	Swimming, men's 200m breaststroke	Silver	Glasgow	Glasgow
Mo Farah	Athletics, men's 5,000m, 10,000m	Gold x2	Mogadishu	Somalia
Mohamed Sbihi	Rowing, men's eight	Bronze	Kingston upon Thames	Surrey
Nick Dempsey	Sailing, men's RS-X	Silver	Norwich	Norfolk
Nick Skelton	Equestrian jumping	Gold	Bedworth	Warwickshire
Nicola Adams	Boxing, women's flyweight	Gold	Leeds	West Yorkshire
Nicola White	Women's hockey	Bronze	Oldham	Greater Manchester
Nicola Wilson	Equestrian eventing	Silver	Darlington	County Durham
Peter Chambers	Rowing, men's lightweight four	Silver	Ballymoney	Balleymoney
Peter Charles	Equestrian jumping	Gold	Liverpool	Merseyside
Peter Kennaugh	Track cycling, men's team pursuit	Gold	Douglas	Isle of Man
Peter Reed	Rowing, men's four	Gold	Seattle	USA
Peter Wilson	Shooting, men's double trap	Gold	Dorchester	Dorset
Phelan Hill	Rowing, men's eight	Bronze	Bedford	Bedfordshire
Philip Hindes	Track cycling, men's team sprint	Gold	Krefeld	Germany
Rebecca Adlington	Swimming, women's 400m & 800m freestyle	Bronze x2	Mansfield	Nottinghamshire
Richard Chambers	Rowing, men's lightweight four	Silver	Belfast	Belfast
Richard Egington	Rowing, men's eight	Bronze	Warrington	Cheshire
Richard Hounslow	Canoeing, men's double	Silver	Harrow	London
Rob Williams	Rowing, men's lightweight four	Silver	Taplow	Buckinghamshire
Robert Grabarz	Athletics, men's high jump	Bronze	Birmingham	West Midlands
Sally Walton	Women's hockey	Bronze	Southport	Merseyside
Sam Oldham	Gymnastics, men's artistic	Bronze	Nottingham	Nottinghamshire
Samantha Murray	Women's modern pentathlon	Silver	Preston	Lancashire
Sarah Thomas	Women's hockey	Bronze	Aberdare	Rhondda Cynon Taf
Saskia Clarke	Sailing, women's 470	Silver	Colchester	Essex
Scott Brash	Equestrian jumping	Gold	Edinburgh	Edinburgh
Sir Chris Hoy	Track cycling, men's keirin & team sprint	Gold x2	Edinburgh	Edinburgh
Sophie Hosking	Rowing, women's lightweight double sculls	Gold	Edinburgh	Edinburgh
Steven Burke	Track cycling, men's team pursuit	Gold	Burnley	Lancashire
Stuart Bithell	Sailing, men's 470	Silver	Rochdale	Greater Manchester
Tim Baillie	Men's canoe double	Gold	Aberdeen	Aberdeen
Tom Daley	Diving, men's 10m platform	Bronze	Plymouth	Devon
Tom James	Rowing, men's four	Gold	Cardiff	Cardiff
Tom Ransley	Rowing, men's eight	Bronze	Ashford	Kent
Victoria Pendleton	Track cycling, women's keirin & individual sprint	Gold & silver	Hitchin	Hertfordshire
Will Satch	Rowing, men's pair	Bronze	Oxford	Oxfordshire
William Fox-Pitt	Equestrian eventing	Silver	Canterbury	Kent
Zac Purchase	Rowing, men's lightweight double sculls	Silver	Cheltenham	Gloucestershire
Zara Phillips	Equestrian eventing	Silver	London	London