All-time medal count winners

2020 (Tokyo, 2021):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	39	41	33	113
2	China	38	32	19	89
3	Japan	27	14	17	58

This was the closest gold race ever, with China holding a large lead in golds for much of the Games, before the USA came back to catch them and surpass them on the final day. Victories in women’s cycling and women’s volleyball on the last day of the Games put the USA over the top.

2016 (Rio de Janeiro):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	46	37	38	121
2	Great Britain	27	23	17	67
3	China	26	18	26	70

China had an extremely disappointing Games in Rio. With the return of the dominance of Michael Phelps and the sensational Simone Biles, the USA ran away with the title in Brazil.

2012 (London):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	48	26	30	104
2	China	39	31	22	92
3	Great Britain	29	18	18	65

The UK got a huge boost from being at home. Nevertheless, it still came down to the USA and China, and the U.S. recaptured the top spot while China faded down the stretch.

2008 (Beijing):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	48	22	30	100
2	United States	36	39	37	112
3	Russia	24	13	23	60

NBC made sure the entire Games to list the medal count by total medals instead of golds. That was because China was dominating at home, and not even Michael Phelps’s eight golds could catch them. Sports Illustrated predicted 50 golds for China and the title for years to come; as of 2021, they have not won the race again.

2004 (Athens):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	36	39	26	101
2	China	32	17	14	63
3	Russia	28	26	36	90

With the USA blowing the men’s basketball tournament, it felt like this was a down Games for them, but that wasn’t true at all. China began to close the gap, though, and Russia began to fade into obscurity.

2000 (Sydney):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	37	24	32	93
2	Russia	32	28	29	89
3	China	28	16	14	58

The Tape Delay Games. The USA held off Russia for the title, but that actually happened yesterday and you’re only finding out today. Also, the Steroid Games. The USA’s lead would have been larger if Marion Jones hadn’t gotten caught.

1996 (Atlanta):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	44	32	25	101
2	Russia	26	21	16	63
3	Germany	20	18	27	65

The Games I went to! I saw Charles Austin, Michael Johnson, and Carl Lewis win golds in person. This one was never in doubt. For the first time since 1968, the USA won a non-boycotted Olympics.

1992 (Barcelona):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Unified Team	45	38	29	112
2	United States	37	34	37	108
3	Germany	33	21	28	82

The Soviet Union had collapsed, but it managed to defeat the USA from beyond the grave. It was one final shot the USSR was able to land on the U.S. in their 40-year sparring match.

1988 (Seoul):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	55	31	46	132
2	East Germany	37	35	30	102
3	United States	36	31	27	94

When the U.S. doesn’t even get into the gold medal game in men’s basketball, you know it’s a bad Games. The USA didn’t just lose, they got topped by East Germany and its stable of steroid-enhanced swimmers. Maybe in today’s drug testing world, the U.S. gets the second spot here.

1984 (Los Angeles):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	83	61	30	174
2	Romania	20	16	17	53
3	West Germany	17	19	23	59

The McDonald’s Games! McDonald’s had a promotion that would give you free food every time the USA won a medal in the sport on the sticker you got on your Big Mac. When the Soviet Union and East Germany boycotted, suddenly the Americans were winning every sport in sight, and lots of free Big Macs were given away. This remains the all-time gold medal mark.

1980 (Moscow):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	80	69	46	195
2	East Germany	47	37	42	126
3	Bulgaria	8	16	17	41

Cue up the Orange Juice track! These forgotten Games saw the USSR set the all-time gold record (to be broken an Olympiad later) as the USA and half the world stayed at home. The Soviets were competing with the East Germans and not many others. But hey, they had cool card stunts!

1976 (Montreal):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	49	41	35	125
2	East Germany	40	25	25	90
3	United States	34	35	25	94

Are Canadians still paying for Olympic Stadium, a.k.a. “The Big Owe”? The USA put forward one of its worst performances in Olympic history, allowing even East Germany to crush them in the standings. A “crisis in confidence,” indeed.

1972 (Munich):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	50	27	22	99
2	United States	33	31	30	94
3	East Germany	20	23	23	66

Obviously a hard Olympics to talk about, as the terrorist attack on Israeli athletes obscures everything else that happened at these Games. So while this wasn’t of prime importance in Germany – to put the USSR’s victory in perspective, without Mark Spitz the Soviets nearly double up the USA in golds.

1968 (Mexico City):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	45	28	34	107
2	Soviet Union	29	32	30	91
3	Japan	11	7	7	25

The high altitude Olympics! The USA must have been training in the Rocky Mountains for months, because they handled the thin air while the Soviets were left gasping for air. Japan wouldn’t be in the top three again until 53 years later.

1964 (Tokyo):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	36	26	28	90
2	Soviet Union	30	31	35	96
3	Japan	16	5	8	29

The USA finally back on top in the Happy Games. Rumor has it that one of the grandfathers of a NBC employee first worked in Russian television in 1964, and that’s where their idea for counting total medals instead of golds came from.

1960 (Rome):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	43	29	31	103
2	United States	34	21	16	71
3	Italy	13	10	13	36

The Soviets won in Rome, and it wasn’t particularly close. Italy had a great Olympiad at home, but it would be their last time in the top three (as of 2021).

1956 (Melbourne):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	37	29	32	98
2	United States	32	25	17	74
3	Australia	13	8	14	35

The Soviets’ first crown of many. As in 1960 and 1964, the home country made it into the top 10. For the USA, they had finally met their match, and the only way of knocking them out of that top spot was to bankrupt them. Mission accomplished.

1952 (Helsinki):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	40	19	17	76
2	Soviet Union	22	30	19	71
3	Hungary	16	10	16	42

The Soviets arrived in Finland and began this tradition that we are doing right here. They set up a medal board in their own village, then claimed victory at the end of the Games, even though they were only best in being second or third. The USA got the first win over their new archrivals; wins would be come to hard by in the Olympiads to come.

1948 (London):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	38	27	19	84
2	Sweden	16	11	17	44
3	France	10	6	13	29

For once, I will say that it really didn’t matter who won the medal count in 1948. It was just great to have the world back in one piece again, and to have the Olympics again. It was also the last Olympics without the Soviets in some sort or form for another half century.

1936 (Berlin):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Germany	38	31	32	101
2	United States	24	21	12	57
3	Hungary	10	1	5	16

Jesse Owens won 1/6th of the USA’s golds in an Olympics known more for the Hitler and the Nazis’ attempt to show off their new society. It was the last Olympics for 12 years, and it was those Nazis’ fault for that long gap.

1932 (Los Angeles):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	41	32	30	103
2	Italy	12	12	12	36
3	France	10	5	4	19

Italy holds the record for most medals exactly the same in all three colors at one Games. But these were the Americans’ games, and even out of the Great Depression, L.A. was able to put on a great show.

1928 (Amsterdam):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	22	18	16	56
2	Germany	10	7	14	31
3	Finland	8	8	9	25

The U.S. more than doubled up on everybody else, with Finland making their final appearance in the top three.

1924 (Paris):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	45	27	27	99
2	Finland	14	13	10	37
3	France	13	15	10	38

Utter domination by the USA in Paris. Finland had its finest performance in ranking ever.

1920 (Antwerp):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	41	27	27	95
2	Sweden	19	20	25	64
3	Finland	15	10	9	34

Sweden went back-to-back in second place, and Scandinavia claimed two of the top three spots. Of course, there was no topping the USA.

1912 (Stockholm):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	25	19	19	63
2	Sweden	23	25	17	65
3	Great Britain	10	15	16	41

At home in Stockholm, the Swedes came the closest to toppling the USA by any nation for 24 years. They came up just short, though I’m sure the great-grandfather of the NBC producers was probably Swedish and claimed victory by total medals.

1908 (London):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Great Britain	56	51	39	146
2	United States	23	12	12	47
3	Sweden	8	6	11	25

The last non-American winners until 1936, Britain cleaned up at home and dominated in total medals, beating out the USA by nearly 100 medals. In the category that counts, they were still over double the Americans.

1904 (St. Louis):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	76	78	77	231
2	Germany	4	5	6	15
3	Canada	4	1	1	6

The joke Olympics. This one doesn’t count. The St. Louis organizers had all kinds of cruel experiments, such as the so-called “Anthropology Days,” while putting together the worst-organized Games ever. The Olympics nearly died thanks to these Games.

1900 (Paris):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	France	27	38	37	102
2	United States	19	14	15	48
3	Great Britain	15	8	9	32

Also a joke Olympics. Most people who competed in these Games didn’t even know they were Olympians. These Games set the stage for the even-worse St. Louis Games.

1896 (Athens):

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	11	7	2	20
2	Greece	10	18	19	47
3	Germany	6	5	2	13

It is fitting that in the first Olympics, the United States came away with the win, on their way to the most gold medal championships ever. But Greece was so close! One more gold and they would have been able to claim a medal count championship for all time. Thank you Pierre de Coubertin for the Olympics!

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