The world stops every four years when the biggest sporting event takes center stage. The Summer Olympic Games gather the best athletes from all over the world, offeringfans a couple of eventful weeks with traditionandcompetition.
Paris 2024 has been a special edition of the Olympics with the return of spectators after an atypical edition at Tokyo 2020 that took place behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Summer Games are constantly evolving, adding new sports to the program as the years go by and more events claim their right to be part of the Olympics. What seems to remain unchanged is the all-time medal table, with pretty much the same countries leading the list.
Which country has won the most Olympic medals?
The United States haveindisputablywon the most gold medals and the most medals overall, almost double the second-placedRussian in all its forms. Russian Athletes have so far appeared at the Olympic Games for five different teams, as the Soviet Union, Russia, Unified Team, Russian Empire, and Olympic Athletes from Russia. At Paris 2024, their athletes competed as “Individual Neutral Athletes,” referred to as AIN from the French term, Athlètes Individuels Neutres, followingRussia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The US can take pride in boasting more than2,600 medalsthroughout Olympic Games history. Over 1,000 were gold, over 800 silver, and more than 700 bronze. The former Soviet Union , which earned440 golden and more than 1,100 total medals in 10 Olympic Games between 1952 and 1992, is the second most successful team in the Summer Olympic history. When the Soviet Union, Russia, and the Russian Empireadd their total medal carriers, over 1000 medals still remain below the USA’s record.
The third most successful Olympic team in the world is that of the United Kingdom,China arefourth, followed byGermany –West Germany, and East Germanyare added together. Take a look at the complete list, as countries asordered by the number of gold medals won.
| Position | Team | Gold medals | Silver medals | Bronze medals | Total medals |
| 1. | United States | 1065 | 835 | 738 | 2638 |
| 2. | Combined Russian total | 589 | 486 | 296 | 1010 |
| 3. | Great Britain | 285 | 319 | 314 | 918 |
| 4. | China | 262 | 199 | 173 | 634 |
| 5. | France | 223 | 251 | 277 | 751 |
| 6. | Italy | 217 | 188 | 213 | 618 |
| 7. | Germany | 201 | 207 | 247 | 655 |
| 8. | Hungary | 181 | 154 | 176 | 511 |
| 9. | Japan | 169 | 150 | 178 | 497 |
| 10. | Australia | 164 | 173 | 210 | 547 |