I think there is a correlation, but basically no causation. One of the biggest factors is going to be total wealthy population (wealthy enough focus on athletics education at least). This would also be a decent cause for military spending, so a large navy wouldn’t be surprising even before the States’ military fanaticism.
Another factor is that the States hosted many Olympics before it was easy to travel globally, giving hosting countries massive overrepresentation in competitors.
The U.S. is also one of the oldest participants, having weathered both world wars relatively untouched and never having their people significantly affected by any other conflict (except 9/11 to a small extent).
I think there is a correlation, but basically no causation. One of the biggest factors is going to be total wealthy population (wealthy enough focus on athletics education at least). This would also be a decent cause for military spending, so a large navy wouldn’t be surprising even before the States’ military fanaticism.
Another factor is that the States hosted many Olympics before it was easy to travel globally, giving hosting countries massive overrepresentation in competitors.
The U.S. is also one of the oldest participants, having weathered both world wars relatively untouched and never having their people significantly affected by any other conflict (except 9/11 to a small extent).