Australian Corn Flakes

I do not understand why the Olympics are a contest between countries. It is, of course, a contest between the best athletes from around the world - as it should be. But does it matter if the best athlete comes from the USA or Australia? The medals should go to the athlete and not the country the athletes are from. I think the counting of the medals by country is silly. And, I don't think it would matter if we had an Australian on the box of corn flakes either.