The next time Olympians grace our TV screens isn’t until next year, but that doesn’t mean the next Olympic Games aren’t already on people’s minds.
Amid the war in Ukraine, the country’s sports minister threatened to boycott the 2024 Paris Olympics if Russia and Belarus are allowed to compete.
And the International Olympic Committee announced in December it was postponing its 2030 Winter Olympics host selection because of climate change concerns – temperatures are getting warmer and lack of snow proves difficult for winter sports.
In the meantime, here’s what to know about global medal standings.
Which country has the most Olympic medals?
The United States has won the most Olympic medals of any country, claiming 3,105 as of the 2022 Beijing Olympics. This includes 1,229 gold medals, 1,000 silver and 876 bronze, according to Olympedia, a database created by members of the International Society of Olympic Historians.
After that is Germany with 1,211 total medals. Germany took the second place spot from the Soviet Union last year when they won 142 medals in the winter games. The Soviet Union now is now third with a close 1,204 medals. The Soviet Union disbanded in 1991 and its former republics now compete as independent countries.
Here are the top 10 countries with the most Olympic medals as of 2023:
- United States: 3,105
- Germany: 1,211
- Soviet Union: 1,204
- France: 1,039
- Great Britain: 1,036
- People’s Republic of China: 899
- Italy: 885
- Russian Federation: 779
- Sweden: 740
- Japan: 690
Despite the U.S. leading in all-time medals, several countries outranked them in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics medal count. Norway earned the most overall medals with 16 gold, eight silver and 13 bronze – 37 in total. Russia was banned from the 2022 Olympics because of involvement in a doping scandal, but Russian athletes were allowed to compete under the organization Russian Olympic Committee rather than for their country. ROC athletes won 32 medals in the latest games. Germany took home 27 and Canada 26. The U.S. won 25 medals last year – eight gold, 10 silver and seven bronze.
Who has the most Olympic medals?:Champions who brought home the gold
Bans and boycotts:Olympics controversy goes back a century
Which country has the most gold medals?
The U.S. has the most gold medals – 1,229 and counting. The Soviet Union is second with 473 gold medals, followed by Germany and China with 384, Olympedia reports.
The U.S. has also won the most silver medals of any country by a large margin. The U.S. has 1,000 silver medals and the next highest is Germany with 419.
Why does the U.S. win so many Olympic medals?
There are plenty of countries whose medal counts don’t reach double digits, much less thousands. And there are many who have never won a medal in the history of the Games.
The U.S. is the third most populous country in the world behind China and India. As of March 2023, India’s population was nearly 1.4 billion, while the U.S. is a much smaller 335 million. So why does India have 58 medals compared to the 3,105 won by U.S. athletes?
It could have to do with an “effectively participating population,” one journal article argues, or the unequal political, economic and athletic opportunities from country to country. The study argues life expectancy and overall health, literacy, education, exposure to public information and interconnected cities can indicate a country’s ability to produce and send successful athletes to the Olympics.
How many people are in the world?:Global, national population breakdown
When are the next Olympic Games?
The next Olympic Games are the summer games in 2024, which involve sports like volleyball, water polo, cycling, golf, diving, rhythmic gymnastics, skating and sailing. The 2024 games will be held in Paris, France from July 26 to August 11.
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