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“
There are two basic constraints which are common to all the above
possibilities, and which must be obeyed by any "reasonable" absolute
ranking system:

• We must consider more medals to be better than fewer, other
  things being equal. If
  country A has at least as many gold, at least as many silver
  and at least as many bronze as country B, then we must
  surely consider it to have done at least as well.
  
• We must consider the higher medals to be better than the
  lower. If country C has one more silver than country D but one
  fewer bronze, we must surely consider it to have done unambiguously
  better by any sensible ranking, because it has the score country D
  would have had if one of their bronze medallists had done a little
  better and won silver instead.
  

” source...