The Olympics medals table is not proportionate to the number of contenders each country sends to participate. I have produced the table below which details the ratio of athletes sent to the Beijing 2008 Olympics divided by the number of medals won. For example, both Panama and Togo only sent three athletes each, but both countries won one medal, so they top the table by ratio. South Africa are at the bottom as they sent 136 athletes but only won one medal.
Panama, Togo : 3.00 athletes for every one medal won (3 athletes sent, 1 medal won)
Ethiopia : 3.14 (22 athletes sent, 7 medals won)
Zimbabwe : 3.25 (13, 4)
Afghanistan : 4.00 (4, 1)
Armenia : 4.17 (25, 6)
Indonesia : 4.80 (24, 5)
USA : 5.42 (596, 110)
Azerbaijan : 5.57 (39, 7)
Georgia : 5.83 (35, 6)
Cuba : 6.21 (149, 24)
China : 6.39 (639, 100)
Russia : 6.49 (467, 72)
Tajikistan : 6.50 (13, 2)
Great Britain : 6.62 (311, 47)
Mongolia : 7.25 (29, 4)
Sudan : 8.00 (8, 1)
France : 8.08 (323, 40)
Turkey, Norway : 8.50 (T: 68, 8; N: 85, 10)
South Korea : 8.61 (267, 31)
Kenya : 8.79 (123, 14)
Ukraine, Australia : 9.41 (U: 254, 27; A: 433, 46)
Bahamas, Slovakia : 9.50 (B: 19, 2; S: 57, 6)
Belarus : 9.53 (181, 19)
Uzbekistan : 9.67 (58, 6)
Kazakhstan : 10.15 (132, 13)
Jamaica : 10.45 (115, 11)
Kyrgyzstan, North Korea : 10.50 (K: 21, 2; N: 63, 6)
Germany : 11.29 (463, 41)
Mauritius, Moldova, Denmark : 12.00 (M,M: 12, 1; D: 84, 7)
Italy : 12.29 (344, 28)
Slovenia : 12.40 (62, 5)
Dominican Rep. : 12.50 (25, 2)
Thailand, Romania : 12.75 (T: 51, 4; R: 102, 8)
Switzerland, Japan : 14.00 (S: 84, 6; J: 350, 25)
Lithuania : 14.20 (71, 5)
Bulgaria : 14.40 (72, 5)
Finland : 14.50 (58, 4)
Bahrain, Trinidad & Tobago : 15.00 (B: 15, 1; T: 30, 2)
Netherlands : 15.31 (245, 16)
Spain : 15.89 (286, 18)
Latvia : 16.67 (50, 3)
Hungary : 17.10 (171, 10)
Ireland : 18.00 (54, 3)
Canada : 18.44 (332, 18)
Brazil : 18.47 (277, 15)
India : 19.00 (57, 3)
Sweden : 19.40 (97, 5)
Chinese Taipei : 20.00 (80, 4)
New Zealand : 20.22 (182, 9)
Nigeria : 20.75 (83, 4)
Vietnam, Croatia : 21.00 (V: 21, 1; C: 105, 5)
Czech Rep. : 22.33 (134, 6)
Argentina : 22.83 (137, 6)
Estonia : 23.50 (47, 2)
Austria : 24.00 (72, 3)
Ecuador, Singapore : 25.00 (E,S: 25, 1)
Poland : 26.80 (268, 10)
Chile : 27.00 (27, 1)
Iran : 27.50 (55, 2)
Mexico : 28.33 (85, 3)
Morocco : 28.50 (57, 2)
Iceland : 29.00 (29, 1)
Serbia : 30.67 (92, 3)
Algeria : 31.00 (62, 2)
Tunisia, Colombia : 32.00 (T: 32, 1; C: 64, 2)
Cameroon, Malaysia : 33.00 (C,M: 33, 1)
Portugal : 38.50 (77, 2)
Greece : 39.75 (159, 4)
Israel : 43.00 (43, 1)
Belgium : 48.00 (96, 2)
Egypt : 103.00 (103, 1)
Venezuela : 109.00 (109, 1)
South Africa : 136.00 athletes for every one medal won (136 athletes sent, 1 medal won)
The following countries participated (number of athletes in brackets) but failed to win any medals:
Albania (11)
American Samoa (5)
Andorra (5)
Angola (32)
Antigua & Barbuda (5)
Aruba (2)
Bangladesh (5)
Barbados (6)
Belize (3)
Benin (5)
Bermuda (6)
Bhutan (2)
Bolivia (6)
Bosnia & Herzegovina (5)
Botswana (12)
British Virgin Islands (2)
Burkina Faso (2)
Burundi (3)
Cambodia (4)
Cape Verde (3)
Cayman Islands (4)
Central African Republic (3)
Chad (2)
Comoros Islands (3)
Dem. Rep. Congo (5)
Congo (3)
Cook Islands (4)
Costa Rica (4)
Cote D'Ivoir (20)
Cyprus (17)
Djibouti (2)
Dominica (1)
El Salvador (11)
Equatorial Guinea (3)
Eritrea (9)
Fed. States Micronesia (15)
FYR Macedonia (7)
Gabon (4)
Gambia (3)
Ghana (9)
Grenada (1)
Guam (5)
Guatemala (12)
Guinea (5)
Guinea-Bissau (3)
Guyana (5)
Haiti (10)
Honduras (25)
Hong Kong China (34)
Iraq (4)
Jordan (7)
Kiribati (2)
Kuwait (6)
Laos (4)
Lebanon (5)
Lesotho (4)
Liberia (3)
Libya (7)
Liechtenstein (2)
Luxembourg (12)
Madagascar (4)
Malawi (4)
Maldives (4)
Mali (17)
Malta (6)
Marshall Islands (5)
Mauritania (2)
Monaco (5)
Montenegro (31)
Mozambique (5)
Myanmar (6)
Namibia (9)
Nauru (1)
Nepal (8)
Netherlands Antilles (3)
Nicaragua (6)
Niger (5)
Oman (5)
Pakistan (21)
Palau (6)
Palestine (4)
Papua New Guinea (7)
Paraguay (7)
Peru (12)
Philippines (15)
Puerto Rico (22)
Qatar (22)
Rwanda (4)
St. Kitts & Nevis (4)
Saint Lucia (6)
St. Vincent & The Grenadines (2)
Sao Tome e Principe (3)
Samoa (6)
San Marino (4)
Saudi Arabia (16)
Senegal (12)
Seychelles (8)
Sierra Leone (3)
Solomon Islands (3)
Somalia (2)
Sri Lanka (8)
Suriname (4)
Swaziland (5)
Syria (8)
Tanzania (1)
Timor-Leste (2)
Tonga (3)
Turkmenistan (10)
Tuvalu (3)
Uganda (15)
United Arab Emirates (8)
Uruguay (12)
Vanuatu (3)
Virgin Islands (5)
Yemen (5)
Zambia (8)
...