USA: Decoding their medal haul at Summer Olympics
What's the story
No nation is anywhere near the United States when it comes to medal tally at the Summer Olympics. According to Wikipedia, the country has tallied as many as 2,629 medals at the event. USA would want to enhance their medal tally at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which gets underway on July 26. Let's decode their medal tally ahead of the gala event.
Tally
USA miles ahead of other nations
As mentioned, USA has recorded 2,629 medals at the Summer Olympics. With 1,010 medals, Soviet Union is next in terms of most medals. While it boasts 1,061 gold medals, no other nation has even 500. USA's tally of 830 silver and 738 bronze medals is also the most for any country. Over 1,300 of their medals have come in athletics and swimming combined.
Events
Over 500 medals in two events
Athletics has been USA's most prolific sport at the Summer Olympics. It has accounted for a total of 827 medals (344 gold, 269 silver, and 214 bronze). The nation has also been brilliant in swimming as the event has brought 578 medals to the USA (257 gold, 178 silver, and 143 bronze). Notably, no other nation has even 400 medals in a particular event.
100-plus medals
100-plus medals in these events
There are five other disciplines in which USA has tallied over 100 medals. Diving (141), and wrestling (138) has brought a lot of laurels to the country. Shooting (116), boxing (117), and artistic gymnastics (117) follow suit. No other country has tallied 100-plus medals in five or more events (Summer Olympics).
Phelps
Michael Phelps owns this record
Legendary swimmer Michael Phelps is the only athlete in Olympics history to have accounted for over 20 medals. He has 28 medals at the mega event, out of which 23 have been gold (3 silver, 2 bronze). Jenny Thompson, Ryan Lochte, Dara Torres, and Natalie Coughlin are other American swimmers with laurels at Olympics. All five have claimed 12 medals apiece.
DYK
Do you know?
A total of 18 Olympic Games have seen USA top the medal tally. Soviet Union (6) is the only other nation to accomplish this feat multiple times. USA's best campaign came at the third Olympic Games, held in St Louis, Missouri, USA, in 1904. They returned with 231 medals that year out of which 76 were gold.