WASHINGTON — The Summer Games are bidding adieu to Paris after two weeks full of captivating competitions, moments and medals.
With the final event over, it's time to tally up the hardware earned in the French capital. Once again, the U.S. dominated the field with the most Olympic medals throughout the Games — clinching 126 total wins.
The final count was followed by China who won 91 overall. Great Britain placed third with 65 overall and host country France rounded out the 4th place with 64.
It was yet another strong showing for the U.S. at the Summer Games, but especially for the women of Team USA who bested their previous total with 67 total medals – a record that would place them third among all countries in the medal table for the fourth straight Games.
Who won the most gold medals at the Olympics?
The U.S. and China were in a tense back-and-forth for the top golden spot during the Games.
For the first time in Olympic history, the gold count at the end of the Olympics was tied. The U.S. and China each ended the Paris Games with 40 gold medals, a sign of dominance from two of the countries who regularly stand at the top of the sports world.
The Americans were trailing behind China by one medal until the women's basketball team secured the final gold of the Paris Games.
It was the eighth straight gold for the women, who broke a tie with the American men’s program that won seven in a row from 1936-68.
There were actually a couple opportunities for the U.S. to have edged out China for most gold.
The U.S. women's volleyball team were defending their Olympic title on Sunday but fell to the Italians who clinched gold. Team USA settled for silver.
American Shelby McEwen and Hamish Kerr of New Zealand could have decided to tie in high jump and both get a gold medal on Saturday, but instead they went to a jump-off. McEwen wound up with silver.
Track and field events added quite a bit of golden hardware to the final count with 34 medals and 14 gold. It was the Americans' best showing in the category in a non-boycotted Games since early 20th century, when there were more events and fewer countries.
Despite an underwhelming performance in the pool, Team USA racked up a total of 28 medals and 8 gold during swimming events. It was the fewest number of golds since the 1988 Seoul Games.
China's most dominant sport was diving, where it swept with eight gold medals. It has now won more diving gold medals than any other country, passing the one-time powerhouse United States for the top spot on the table.
Overall, women won 26 of the U.S. gold medals and men won 13. One gold medal was from a mixed relay event.
When was the last time the US didn't win the most gold medals at the Olympics?
The last Summer Olympics in which the United States did not top the gold-medal table was in 2008 in Beijing.
During the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics, the United States and China finished 1-2 in both medal categories.
Gold medal winners for Team USA: Full list
Gymnastics
- Women’s Gymnastics Team Event
- Women’s Gymnastics All-Around – Simone Biles
- Women’s Gymnastics Vault – Simone Biles
Track and Field
- Men’s 100m – Noah Lyles
- Men’s 400m – Quincy Hall
- Men’s 1500m – Cole Hocker
- Men’s 110m Hurdles – Grant Holloway
- Men’s 400m Hurdles – Rai Benjamin
- Men’s Shot Put – Ryan Crouser
- Men’s 4x400m Relay
- Women’s 200m – Gabby Thomas
- Women’s 100m Hurdles – Masai Russell
- Women’s 400m Hurdles – Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
- Women’s Long Jump – Tara Davis-Woodhall
- Women’s Discus Throw – Valarie Alman
- Women’s 4x100m Relay
- Women’s 4x400m Relay
Basketball
- Men’s Basketball
- Women’s Basketball
Cycling
- Women’s Road Race – Kristen Faulkner
- Women’s Team Pursuit
- Women’s Omnium – Jennifer Valente
Fencing
- Women’s Foil Individual – Lee Kiefer
- Women’s Foil Team
Soccer
- Women’s Soccer
Golf
- Men’s Individual Stroke Play – Scottie Scheffler
Rowing
- Men’s Four
Shooting
- Skee Men – Vincent Hancock
Surfing
- Women’s Surfing – Caroline Marks
Swimming
- Women's 800m Freestyle – Katie Ledecky
- Women's 1500m Freestyle - Katie Ledecky
- Women's 200m Breaststroke – Kate Douglass
- Women's 100m Butterfly – Torri Huske
- Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay
- Men's 1500m Freestyle – Bobby Finke
- Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay
- Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay
Weightlifting
- Women’s 71Kg – Olivia Reeves
Wrestling
- Women’s Freestyle 50Kg – Sarah Ann Hildebrandt
- Women’s Freestyle 68Kg – Amit Elor
The Associated Press contributed to this report.