dict.items() gives you this:
[ ("KOR", [4, 6, 3]), ("JPN", [5, 2, 1]), ...

convert to this format:

[ ("KOR", 4,6,3), ("JPN", 5, 2, 1), ...

4 sorts with itemgetter:
countries
bronze   reversed
silver   reversed
gold     reversed

def mystery(num)

   if num > 8: 
       return 2
   else:
       return mystery(num+2) + 3

mystery(1)

M(1) = M(3) + 3 = 11 + 3 = 14
M(3) = M(5) + 3  = 8 + 3 = 11
M(5) = M(7) + 3  = 5 + 3 = 8
M(7) = M(9) + 3  = 2 + 3 = 5
M(9) = 2

A few of the RegEx's I typed in:

^z*
^z+
^e.*on$
^e.*nd$
^e.*i(ng)?$