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A Look at Olympic Medal Counts by Country

While the origins of the Olympic Games extend back more than 3,000 years, to ancient Greece, the modern event started in Athens in 1896. The international athletic competition has been held consistently since this time, though individual events have been canceled or delayed due to wars and other global incidents. Since 1994, the Summer and Winter Olympic Games have been held as alternating events, taking place every two years. More than 200 countries have sent at least one athlete to a Summer or Winter Olympics, winning thousands of combined medals.

When looking at the Olympics as a single event, combining sports from the Summer and Winter programs, the five most successful countries are the United States, the Soviet Union, Germany, Great Britain, and France. While hundreds of nations have increased their medal count over the years, just over 100 countries have managed to secure a gold medal.

The United States leads both the overall and gold medal counts, at 2,976 and 1,180, respectively, prior to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Unlike many nations’ medal tables, America’s medal count decreases from gold to silver to bronze, with 959 silver medals and 837 bronze medals. Other nations, which competed at the Olympics between 1952 and 1991, have similar tables. In contrast, most countries have more bronze than silver, and more silver than bronze.

As the Olympics’ most accomplished nation, America has dominated several programs. The country has excelled at track and field events, though as the largest Summer Olympics program, track and field often makes up the majority of a nation’s medal count at the Summer Games. Behind track and field, wrestling and shooting each add 15 medals, including three golds each. That said, basketball is America’s most dominant sport, with a combined men’s and women’s record of 218-9.

America, and Germany are two of the only nations with more than 1,000 Olympic medals, followed by Great Britain at 966 and France at 909. France has a significant lead on Italy, the sixth most successful nation at the Olympics, with 139 additional medals. However, the gold medal gap is just nine.

For some fans, analysts, and athletes, gold is all that matters. America maintains a healthy lead of more than 700 gold medals. The gap between No. 3, Germany, and No. 4, Great Britain, is less than 50 medals, while the People’s Republic of China has 16 more gold medals than Italy, despite trailing Italy’s total medal count by 68. Canada ranks No. 13 overall but would fall to No. 18 based on gold medals.

In some cases, particularly with smaller nations that excel in one or two specific programs, a country’s medal table is heavily weighted toward gold medals. The Bahamas, for example, has won eight gold medals, 50 percent of the nation’s 16 total medals. All but one of the country’s golds have come from track events.

National medal tables look different when separating the Summer and Winter Games. The United States falls to No. 2 when considering only the Winter Games. Norway edges out the United States in both total medals, 404 to 321, and gold medals, 147 to 111. Germany retains its No. 3 position, followed by Austria and Canada.

The Summer Olympics are more indicative of the overall medal count, though Great Britain edges out Germany with 53 more golds and 78 more medals overall.