It’s no secret that Team USA usually wins a lot of medals at the Olympics, and this year was no exception.
The United States was the country that left Paris with the most medals from the 1,039 Olympic Games medals.
A full 40% of American Olympians will take home medals after they competed in Paris having the most bronze, silver, and gold medals total, tied with China for the most.
China and the United States tied for first place in the final count, which awards one medal for each event, with 40 gold medals apiece and 44 competitors earning multiple medals.
Athletes including Simone Biles, Sha’Carri Richardson, Twanisha Terry, Gabrielle Thomas, and Melissa Jefferson contributed to the United States’ record-breaking 110 gold medal haul at the Paris Olympics.
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The nation’s triumph in team competitions was largely responsible for the victories.
Women’s athletes, including five swimmers, gymnast Simone Biles, and top-ranked American Regan Smith, earned at least four medals.
The athletes and their States of Origin
As America is made up of different states, so too are the different athletes that have represented the nation.
The men’s water polo team that won bronze included twelve Californian athletes among its ranks.
At the end of the Games, Montana and Alaska had the highest medals in total, with athletes from both states winning at least three.
The D.C. metropolitan area contributed more to the U.S. medal count than any other region.
Eleven athletes from the D.C. region, which included sprinter Noah Lyles from Alexandria, swimmers Katie Ledecky from Bethesda, and Torri Huske from Arlington, won 19 medals in 18 events.
Ledecky and Erin Gemmell from Potomac were part of the team that claimed a silver medal in the women’s 4×200-meter freestyle.
Other smaller cities included Reno, Nevada, where three competitors brought home four medals and the Indianapolis region, which produced eight from six participants.
Although the United States led the world in medals won, when population is factored in, the country came in 47th place.
Larger nations like Australia, New Zealand, and Hungary also outperformed in Paris, but smaller nations—which occasionally win just one medal—usually rank close to the top of these per capita rankings.
