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Does the United States always win the medal count?

Team USA is on the fast track to winning the Paris Olympic medal count by a wide margin, but the most dominant performance of all time happened over 120 years ago.

PARIS, France — As the Olympic Games ended and the medal count was finalized, the United States emerged victorious, dominating the competition in the pool, on the track and in the arena.

Team USA finished with dozens of medals more than second-place China. 

Here is a look at the medal count for the Paris Olympic games, as of Aug. 11 (total, gold, silver, bronze).

Paris 2024 Olympic Medal count

  • United States – 126 (40,44,42)
  • People's Republic of China (China) – 91 (40,27,24)
  • Great Britain – 65 (14,22,29)
  • France – 64 (16,26,22)  
  • Australia – 53 (18,19,16)

You may be wondering, is the United States always this dominant? Recent history shows, yes, Team USA has been the best nation in the medal count by a significant margin. But does the USA always win the medal count? In the last seven Summer Olympics, yes. But the United States has been a fixture of the top medal count throughout the Games history, dating back to 1896. 

The United States also had the most dominant Olympics medal count totals of all time more than a century ago (but there is much more to this story than meets the eye).

Here are some fun facts from the list below:

  • The United States has won the Olympic medal count 16 times
  • The United States has won the Olympic medal count in seven straight Olympic games
  • The United States has hosted the Summer Olympic Games four times. Los Angeles 2028 will be the fifth time in the U.S. and the city's third. Paris and London are the only other cities in history to have hosted the Summer Olympics three times

Summer Olympic Games medal count history

Here is a look at the final medal count for every Summer Olympic Games (total, gold, silver, bronze):

Tokyo 2020

  • United States – 113 (39,41,33)
  • People's Republic of China (China) – 89 (38,32,19)
  • ROC (Russia) – 71 (20,28,23)

Rio 2016 

  • United States – 121 (46,37,38)
  • People's Republic of China (China) – 70 (26,18,26)
  • Great Britain – 67 (27,23,17)

London 2012

  • United States – 104 (48,26,30)
  • People's Republic of China (China) – 92 (39,31,22)
  • Great Britain – 65 (29,18,18)

Beijing 2008

  • United States – 112 (36,39,37)
  • People's Republic of China (China) – 100 (48,22,30)
  • Russian Federation (Russia) – 60 (24,13,23)

Athens 2004

  • United States – 101 (36,39,26)
  • Russian Federation (Russia) – 90 (28,26,36)
  • People's Republic of China (China) – 63 (32,17,14)

Sydney 2000

  • United States – 93 (37,24,32)
  • Russian Federation (Russia) – 89 (32,28,29)
  • People's Republic of China (China) – 58 (28,16,14)

Atlanta 1996

  • United States – 101 (44,32,25)
  • Germany – 65 (20,18,27)
  • Russian Federation (Russia) – 63 (26,21,16)

Barcelona 1992

  • Unified Team (a joint team consisting of twelve of the fifteen former Soviet republics) – 112 (45,38,29)
  • United States – 108 (37,34,37)
  • Germany – 82 (33,21,28)

Seoul 1988

  • USSR (Russia) – 132 (55,31,46)
  • German Democratic Republic (Germany) – 102 (37,35,30)
  • United States – 94 (36,31,27)

Los Angeles 1984* (Boycotted by 14 Eastern Bloc countries, including USSR and East Germany)

  • United States – 174 (83,61,30)
  • Federal Republic of Germany – 59 (17,19,23)
  • Romania – 53 (20,16,17)

Moscow 1980* (United States boycotted this Olympic Games)

  • USSR (Russia) – 195 (80,69,46)
  • German Democratic Republic (Germany) – 126 (47,37,42)
  • Bulgaria – 41 (8,16,17)

Montreal 1976

  • USSR (Russia) – 125 (49,41,35)
  • United States – 94 (34,35,25)
  • German Democratic Republic (Germany) – 90 (40,25,25)

Munich 1972

  • USSR (Russia) – 99 (50,27,22)
  • United States – 94 (33,31,30)
  • German Democratic Republic (Germany) – 66 (20,23,23)

Mexico City 1968

  • United States – 107 (45,28,34) 
  • USSR (Russia) – 91 (29,32,30)
  • Hungary – 32 (10,10,12)

Tokyo 1964

  • USSR (Russia) – 96 (30,31,35)
  • United States – 90 (36,26,28)
  • Germany – 50 (10,22,18)

Rome 1960

  • USSR (Russia) – 103 (43,29,31)
  • Unites States – 71 (34,21,16)
  • Germany – 42 (12,19,11)

Melbourne 1956

  • USSR (Russia) – 98 (37,29,32)
  • United States – 74 (32,25,17)
  • Australia – 35 (13,8,14)

Helsinki 1952

  • United States – 76 (40,19,17)
  • USSR (Russia) – 71 (22,30,19)
  • Hungary – 42 (16,10,16)

London 1948

  • United States – 84 (38,27,19)
  • Sweden – 46 (17,11,18)
  • France – 32 (11,6,15)

Berlin 1936

  • Germany – 101 (38,31,32)
  • United States – 57 (24,21,12)
  • Italy – 27 (9,13,5)

Los Angeles 1932

  • United States – 110 (44,36,30)
  • Italy – 36 (12,12,12)
  • Finland – 25 (5,8,12)

Amsterdam 1928

  • United States – 56 (22,18,16)
  • Germany – 39 (11,9,19)
  • Finland – 25 (8,8,9)

Paris 1924

  • United States – 99 (45,27,27)
  • France – 41 (14,15,12)
  • Finland – 37 (14,13,10)

Antwerp 1920

  • United States – 95 (41,27,27)
  • Sweden – 64 (19,20,25)
  • Great Britain – 43 (14,16,13)

Stockholm 1912

  • Sweden – 65 (23,25,17)
  • United States – 64 (26,19,19)
  • Great Britain – 41 (10,15,16)

London 1908

  • Great Britain – 146 (56,51,39)
  • United States – 47 (23,12,12)
  • Sweden – 25 (8,6,11)

St. Louis 1904

  • United States – 231 (76,78,77)
  • Germany – 15 (4,5,6)
  • Canada – 6 (4,1,1)

Paris 1900

  • France – 102 (27,38,37)
  • United States – 48 (19,14,15)
  • Great Britain – 32 (15,8,9)

Athens 1896

  • Greece – 47 (10,18,19)
  • United States – 20 (11,7,2)
  • Germany – 13 (6,5,2)

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