United States at the Olympics

United States at the Olympic Games

Flag of the United States
IOC code  USA
NOC United States Olympic Committee
Olympic history
Summer Games
Winter Games
Intercalated Games
1906

The United States of America has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern Olympic Games, except the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott. The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is the National Olympic Committee for the United States.

U.S. athletes have won a total of 2,400 medals at the Summer Olympic Games and another 281 at the Winter Olympic Games. Most medals have been won in athletics (track and field) (767, 32%) and swimming (520, 22%). Thomas Burke was the first athlete to represent the United States at the Olympics. He took first place in both the 100 meters and the 400 meters of the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. U.S. athlete Michael Phelps is the most-decorated Olympic athlete of any nation, with 22 Olympic medals (including 18 golds).

The United States has won more gold and overall medals than any other country in the Summer Games and also has the second-most gold and overall medals at the Winter Games, trailing only Norway. From the mid-20th century to the late 1980s, the United States mainly competed with the Soviet Union at summer Games and with the Soviet Union, Norway, and East Germany at the Winter Games. However, it now primarily contends with China at the summer Games for both the overall medal count and the gold medal count and with Norway at the winter Games for the overall medal count. The United States has topped the total medal count at two winter Olympics: 1932 in Lake Placid and 2010 in Vancouver. At the 2010 games, the United States set a record for most total medals (37) of any country at a single Winter Olympics.

Hosted Games

The United States have hosted the Games on eight occasions, more than any other country:

Games Host city Dates Nations Participants Events
1904 Summer Olympics St. Louis, Missouri 1 July – 23 November 12 651 91
1932 Winter Olympics Lake Placid, New York 7 – 15 February 17 252 14
1932 Summer Olympics Los Angeles, California 30 July – 14 August 37 1,332 117
1960 Winter Olympics Squaw Valley, California 2 – 20 February 30 665 27
1980 Winter Olympics Lake Placid, New York 13 – 24 February 37 1,072 38
1984 Summer Olympics Los Angeles, California 20 July – 18 August 140 6,829 221
1996 Summer Olympics Atlanta, Georgia 18 July – 4 August 197 10,318 271
2002 Winter Olympics Salt Lake City, Utah 8 – 24 February 77 2,399 78

Medal tables

*Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Medals by Summer Games

Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank
Greece 1896 Athens 14 11 7 2 20 1
France 1900 Paris 75 19 14 14 47 2
United States 1904 St. Louis 526 78 82 79 239 1
United Kingdom 1908 London 122 23 12 12 47 2
Sweden 1912 Stockholm 174 25 19 19 63 1
Belgium 1920 Antwerp 288 41 27 27 95 1
France 1924 Paris 299 45 27 27 99 1
Netherlands 1928 Amsterdam 280 22 18 16 56 1
United States 1932 Los Angeles 474 41 32 30 103 1
Germany 1936 Berlin 359 24 20 12 56 2
United Kingdom 1948 London 300 38 27 19 84 1
Finland 1952 Helsinki 286 40 19 17 76 1
Australia 1956 Melbourne 297 32 25 17 74 2
Italy 1960 Rome 292 34 21 16 71 2
Japan 1964 Tokyo 346 36 26 28 90 1
Mexico 1968 Mexico City 357 45 28 34 107 1
West Germany 1972 Munich 400 33 31 30 94 2
Canada 1976 Montreal 396 34 35 25 94 3
Soviet Union 1980 Moscow did not participate
United States 1984 Los Angeles 522 83 61 30 174 1
South Korea 1988 Seoul 527 36 31 27 94 3
Spain 1992 Barcelona 545 37 34 37 108 2
United States 1996 Atlanta 646 44 32 25 101 1
Australia 2000 Sydney 586 37 24 32 93 1
Greece 2004 Athens 613 36 39 26 101 1
China 2008 Beijing 596 36 38 36 110 2
United Kingdom 2012 London 530 46 28 29 103 1
Brazil 2016 Rio de Janeiro
Japan 2020 Tokyo
Total 976 757 666 2399 1

Medals by Winter Games

Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank
France 1924 Chamonix 24 1 2 1 4 5
Switzerland 1928 St. Moritz 24 2 2 2 6 2
United States 1932 Lake Placid 64 6 4 2 12 1
Germany 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 55 1 0 3 4 8
Switzerland 1948 St. Moritz 69 3 4 2 9 4
Norway 1952 Oslo 65 4 6 1 11 2
Italy 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 67 2 3 2 7 6
United States 1960 Squaw Valley 79 3 4 3 10 3
Austria 1964 Innsbruck 89 1 2 4 7 8
France 1968 Grenoble 95 1 5 1 7 9
Japan 1972 Sapporo 103 3 2 3 8 5
Austria 1976 Innsbruck 106 3 3 4 10 3
United States 1980 Lake Placid 101 6 4 2 12 3
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1984 Sarajevo 107 4 4 0 8 3
Canada 1988 Calgary 118 2 1 3 6 9
France 1992 Albertville 147 5 4 2 11 5
Norway 1994 Lillehammer 147 6 5 2 13 5
Japan 1998 Nagano 186 6 3 4 13 5
United States 2002 Salt Lake City 202 10 13 11 34 3
Italy 2006 Turin 211 9 9 7 25 2
Canada 2010 Vancouver 216 9 15 13 37 3
Russia 2014 Sochi 230 9 7 12 28 4
South Korea 2018 Pyeongchang
China 2022 Beijing
Total 96 102 84 282 2

Medals by summer sport

   Leading in that sport
   Dropped from the current Olympics program
Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total
Athletics 320 250 196 766
Swimming 230 164 126 520
Shooting 53 29 25 107
Wrestling 50 43 32 125
Diving 49 42 44 135
Boxing 49 23 38 110
Gymnastics 33 36 32 101
Rowing 32 31 24 87
Basketball 21 2 3 26
Tennis 20 5 11 36
Sailing 19 23 17 59
Weightlifting 16 16 11 43
Cycling 14 18 20 52
Archery 14 10 8 32
Equestrian 11 20 18 49
Beach volleyball 6 2 1 9
Canoeing 5 5 6 16
Synchronized swimming 5 2 2 9
Football 4 2 1 7
Golf 3 3 4 10
Volleyball 3 3 2 8
Softball 3 1 0 4
Fencing 2 7 12 21
Taekwondo 2 2 4 8
Rugby union 2 0 0 2
Water polo 1 5 4 10
Judo 1 3 8 12
Roque 1 1 1 3
Tug of war 1 1 1 3
Baseball 1 0 2 3
Jeu de paume 1 0 0 1
Modern pentathlon 0 6 3 9
Polo 0 1 1 2
Lacrosse 0 1 0 1
Field hockey 0 0 2 2
Triathlon 0 0 1 1
Total* 972 757 660 2389

Updated on March 1, 2014

*This table does not include two medals – one silver awarded in the ice hockey and one bronze awarded in the figure skating events at the 1920 Summer Olympics.

Medals by winter sport

   Leading in that sport
Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total
Speed skating 29 22 16 67
Alpine skiing 16 19 9 44
Figure skating 15 16 18 49
Snowboarding 10 5 9 24
Freestyle skiing 8 7 6 21
Bobsleigh 7 7 10 24
Short track speed skating 4 6 9 19
Ice hockey 3 11 2 16
Skeleton 3 4 1 8
Nordic combined 1 3 0 4
Luge 0 2 3 5
Cross country skiing 0 1 0 1
Ski jumping 0 0 1 1
Curling 0 0 1 1
Total* 96 103 85 284

Updated on March 1, 2014

*This table includes two medals – one silver awarded in the ice hockey and one bronze awarded in the figure skating events at the 1920 Summer Olympics.

Flagbearers

Summer Olympics
Games Athlete Sport
United Kingdom 1908 London Ralph Rose Athletics
Sweden 1912 Stockholm George Bonhag Athletics
Belgium 1920 Antwerp Pat McDonald Athletics
France 1924 Paris Pat McDonald Athletics
Netherlands 1928 Amsterdam Bud Houser Athletics
United States 1932 Los Angeles Morgan Taylor Athletics
Germany 1936 Berlin Al Jochim Gymnastics
United Kingdom 1948 London Ralph Craig Sailing
Finland 1952 Helsinki Norman Armitage Fencing
Australia 1956 Melbourne Norman Armitage [1] Fencing
Italy 1960 Rome Rafer Johnson Athletics
Japan 1964 Tokyo Parry O'Brien Athletics
Mexico 1968 Mexico City Janice Romary [2] Fencing
West Germany 1972 Munich Olga Fikotova Connolly Athletics
Canada 1976 Montreal Gary Hall, Sr. Swimming
Soviet Union 1980 Moscow USA did not participate
United States 1984 Los Angeles Ed Burke Athletics
South Korea 1988 Seoul Evelyn Ashford Athletics
Spain 1992 Barcelona Francie Larrieu-Smith Athletics
United States 1996 Atlanta Bruce Baumgartner Wrestling
Australia 2000 Sydney Cliff Meidl Canoeing
Greece 2004 Athens Dawn Staley Basketball
China 2008 Beijing Lopez Lomong Athletics
United Kingdom 2012 London Mariel Zagunis Fencing
Winter Olympics
Games Athlete Sport
France 1924 Chamonix Clarence Abel Ice hockey
Switzerland 1928 St. Moritz Godfrey Dewey
United States 1932 Lake Placid Billy Fiske Bobsleigh
Germany 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Rolf Monsen Cross Country Skiing
Switzerland 1948 St. Moritz Jack Heaton Skeleton & Bobsleigh
Norway 1952 Oslo Jim Bickford Bobsleigh
Italy 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Jim Bickford Bobsleigh
United States 1960 Squaw Valley Don McDermott Speed skating
Austria 1964 Innsbruck Bill Disney Speed skating
France 1968 Grenoble Terry McDermott Speed skating
Japan 1972 Sapporo Dianne Holum Speed skating
Austria 1976 Innsbruck Cindy Nelson Alpine skiing
United States 1980 Lake Placid Scott Hamilton Figure skating
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1984 Sarajevo Frank Masley Luge
Canada 1988 Calgary Lyle Nelson Biathlon
France 1992 Albertville Bill Koch Cross Country Skiing
Norway 1994 Lillehammer Cammy Myler Luge
Japan 1998 Nagano Eric Flaim Speed Skating
United States 2002 Salt Lake City Amy Peterson Short track
Italy 2006 Turin Chris Witty Speed skating
Canada 2010 Vancouver Mark Grimmette Luge
Russia 2014 Sochi Todd Lodwick Nordic combined

See also

References

  1. Warren Wofford was the flagbearer in the (Equestrian) parade in Stockholm for the Olympics Equestrian Sports Association events held there because a quarantine imposed on horses prevented equestrian events from taking place in Australia
  2. First woman to carry the flag at the Olympics for USA

External links

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