Who won the olympics?

I came back to the US from an overseas trip close to the end of the olympic games and was surprised to see that the US was ranked first in the national websites.   Overseas the official ranking put China first followed by the US and Russia based on the gold medals each earned.  I recall that this was always the rule for the ranking.  I got to know that, somone decided that unlike the rest of the world, the US inhabitants deserve a better ranking.  The ranking in the US  will be based on the total number of medals without regard to the type of medal.   

This was a little buzzling! We have essentially decided that Gold, Silver and Bronze medals are worth the same.   According to this a country winning 100 gold medals would lose to another that got 101 Bronze medals.  This is quite a bit off if the price of actual metals is indicative of what these medals are worth.  Gold is worth 60 times as much as silver and bronze is even sold in pounds not ounces.  This silly rule seems to have been conveniently imposed to keep those of us living here thinking that we won the 2008 Olympics.  Our athletes did great winning 110 medals, but we came as number 2.  Who benefits from hiding this truth.  Is this indicative of a bigger problem?  Have we become too proud to admit when we lose?  I always thought that the only way to get ahead is to know when you are behind.  Burying our heads in the sand will never make things better.  The truth will always be the same, whether we know it or not.