Historically, South America has been one of the less successful regions in terms of medals won, but several important factors have turned football into one the most important and successful Olympic sports for the continent in recent years.

"If you look at the all time medal table, South America's contribution to the Olympics is quite frankly pathetic," said Tim Vickery, a Rio-based journalist for World Football Magazine.

South America has won just 1.5 percent of all medals awarded since the modern games first began in 1896. Outside of Brazil with 91 in total, the medal count is poor, particularly with gold medals.

Bolivia have never won any medal while Ecuador and Peru have won two and three respectively.  Paraguay's only medal (silver) was in football at the 2004 Olympics, while the only two gold medals Uruguay have ever won were in football in the 1920's.

"Argentina were a force at Olympic sports until [former President Juan] Peron was deposed in the mid 1950's, at which point they stopped investing in sports," said Vickery. Since the 1950's, Argentina have only won four gold medals, two of which have been in football at the last two Olympics.

That dearth of medals may have been a factor in South America's interest in hosting the games. To date, only two South American cities have ever bid for the Olympics - Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. After three previous unsuccessful bids, Rio will be the first South American city to host the games in 2016. 

Eastern Bloc dominance

While many countries see events like swimming, track and field, and gymnastics as the marquee Olympic sports, for South Americans the focus is on the football. That has been particularly true since the mid 1980's.

Up until then, said Vickery, "it was really only the Eastern Bloc countries … monopolizing the Olympic tournament because they were still officially amateurs."

Outside of that region, football leagues in most countries had turned fully professional by the first half of the twentieth century. That switch meant that many countries' best players were barred from competing at the Olympics.

From 1948 until 1988, the last fully amateur games, Eastern Bloc teams won gold at all but two Olympics in football, and collected 25 out of 33 total medals. During that same time, Brazil was the only South American team to medal, winning silver in 1984 and 1988.

South America emerges

Brazil's success in the 1980's was a precursor to South America's renewed interest and success in Olympic football beginning in the 1990's. Since the 1992 games, professionals have been allowed to compete. In that time, South American teams have won seven out of 15 total medals in football, more than any other region.

"Football is the thing that South America does well, and because of that, there is an emphasis on it," said Vickery.

"On free-to-air TV you hardly ever saw the track and field - the thing that I thought was the centerpiece of the Olympics," said Vickery, describing his first experience watching the Olympics in South America in 1996. "The centerpiece of the Olympics for them was the football tournament."

Added pressure

Unlike in Europe, South American countries have their footballers playing all over the world. That dispersion means tracking young talent is done through youth national teams more so than at the club level. As a result, South Americans follow their youth sides much more closely.

"We are looking here at the future of the national teams of Brazil and Uruguay, and the one thing you can guarantee is that when the full story of the 2014 World Cup is written, in terms of Brazil and Uruguay, that story will involve what happens in England this summer," said Vickery.

South America's two participants at the football tournament this summer are both considered favorites to medal. Uruguay are playing in their first Olympics since winning gold in 1928, and their success at the senior level over the past two years means medaling is expected.

For Brazil, there is extra pressure because the Olympic football tournament is the only major international title Brazil has never won. "If Brazil fail in this Olympic campaign, it is difficult to see how [Manager Mano Menezes] stays in his position," said Vickery.

Author: David Raish
Editor: Matt Zuvela