Katie Ledecky won two of the United States’ forty Olympic gold medals at the Paris Summer Olympics. The U.S. and China are tied for first place in the gold medal standings, but the U.S. dominates the medal total with 126 medals.
Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
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Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
PARIS — The United States leads the Paris Olympics with 126 medals, including 40 golds.
The gold medal is considered the most coveted award by many countries, and the fight for national bragging rights entered its final moments, with China and the United States ultimately tied at forty points each.
China cemented its position as the United States’ main rival at the Summer Olympics with a total of 91 medals.
Meanwhile, Russia, once a world power at the Summer and Winter Olympics, all but disappeared in Paris, fielding only about fifteen athletes and barely registering in the medal total.
How did the United States do it? swimming and athletics
In Paris, America’s Olympic engine is again firing on two cylinders: swimming and track and field.
In the pool competition, U.S. swimmers, led by Katie Ledecky and Torri Huske, won a total of 28 medals, including eight gold medals.
In track and field competition, American athletes were even more dominant, winning a total of 34 medals, including 14 gold medals.
Those two sports alone account for about half of the U.S. medal total.
In comparison, most of China’s gold medals came in diving (eight golds), shooting (five golds), table tennis (five golds) and wrestling (five golds).
So while the two countries are evenly matched in terms of medals, they often do so in different sports.
Some other highlights: France did well, Australia did better
It’s common for Olympic host countries to do well at the Summer Games, and France is no exception.
Young French swimmer Léon Marchand was one of the rising stars at the Games, winning four gold medals and a bronze.
France won a total of 64 medals, including 16 gold.
Another country that outperforms is Australia. Australia, with a relatively small population of 26 million, has won 53 medals, 18 of which were gold.
On a per capita basis, this puts Australia at the top of the list for medals.
One final point. The International Olympic Committee this year sent a team of refugee athletes to represent displaced people around the world.
Cindy Djanjeu Ngamba, a woman from Cameroon, won a bronze medal in individual boxing for the team.
