Katie Ledecky, Simone Biles and Torri Huske (left to right) are female athletes who have won multiple medals for Team USA.
Naomi Baker and Christy Sparrow/Getty Images
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Naomi Baker and Christy Sparrow/Getty Images
U.S. women dominated the Summer Olympics, winning more than half of the medals for Team USA.
The United States has won a total of 126 medals, making it the most decorated country. Among them, 67 are women.
One medal remains in dispute: Olympic officials ordered gymnast Jordan Chiles to return his bronze medal from the floor exercise final after the score was reversed, but the United States is appealing the ruling.
That controversy aside, the U.S. women’s soccer team won so many medals at the Paris Olympics that if they were their own country, they would be third in medal totals, behind the U.S.’s 126 medals and China’s of 91 medals total, and leads Team GB.
In terms of the number of gold medals, China and the United States each won 40 gold medals. Team USA has 26 such results to thank to women.
The medal tally is one of many historic achievements for U.S. women at the Games, which organizers are calling the first gender-equal Games.
The U.S. women’s team captured the nation’s first rugby sevens medal, a bronze. The U.S. women’s soccer team won Olympic gold, their fifth gold medal in less than three decades (and first since 2012). The U.S. women’s basketball team defeated France at home to win its eighth consecutive gold medal.
Swimmer Torri Huske won five medals, the most of any Team USA athlete. Swimmers Gretchen Walsh, Katie Ledecky and Regan Smith and gymnast Simone Biles won four medals each.
Ledecky won her ninth Olympic medal and 14th ever, extending her title as the most decorated U.S. female Olympian.
Biles won four medals in Paris, bringing her medal total to 11, making her the most decorated American gymnast in history. She helped Team USA pull off a much-anticipated comeback by winning the gold medal in the women’s all-around gymnastics final.
U.S. women also had several key victories on the track and field. Among them: The all-star running team won first place in the 4×400 meter relay, marking the eighth consecutive gold medal for American women.
Hurdle phenom Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone broke her own world record in the 400m hurdles, becoming the only woman to win the event consecutively. Tara Davis-Woodhall and Jasmine Moore earned two long jump medals (gold and bronze) for Team USA, while sprinter Gabby Thomas won three gold medals.
Even lesser-known sports receive more attention and more funding because of their dominance at the Olympics.
While the women’s water polo team failed to achieve a historic four-peat, it earned headlines and secured a multi-year sponsorship deal from high-profile rapper Flavor Flav.
Rugby and TikTok star Ilona Maher has helped bring her sport to the attention of many, including American businesswoman Michele Kang, who won the Olympics with the U.S. women’s rugby sevens team After the victory, he announced a donation of US$4 million to it.
There were many noteworthy team and individual wins. U.S. synchronized swimmers won silver in the team event, their first Olympic medal since 2004.
Olivia Reeves wins the U.S. its first weightlifting gold medal since 2000, while Evy Leibfarth gives the U.S. its first since 2004 Canoe slalom gold medal. Winning gold medals in both the race and road cycling events.
While Olympic organizers are in Paris touting their progress toward full gender equality, athletes and researchers say more needs to be done to provide women with the same quality of resources, opportunities and media coverage.
Sexism was an ongoing issue throughout the Olympics, first with a Eurostars commentator being kicked off for comments about female swimmers, and then with the inclusion of two female boxers sparking international controversy.
At this year’s Olympics, the U.S. team ranked eighth in terms of medal parity between men and women, according to the British charity Women’s Sport. The report noted that the top 10 countries ranked above average on the United Nations Gender Inequality Index, “suggesting a direct correlation between women’s sport and equality in wider society.”
According to USA Today , this is the fourth Summer Olympics where U.S. women have won more medals than their male teammates, and the fourth time the U.S. has fielded more female athletes than male athletes. The U.S. roster in Paris has 314 women and 278 men.
Olympic and Paralympic CEO Sarah Hirshland told media earlier this week that the athletes’ achievements justified Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded school programs.
“Their performances remind us of how far we have come and the limitless potential of the future,” she said. “We are incredibly proud of their accomplishments and the example they set for future generations of athletes.”
