Fun Fact About The Last Summer Olympics Edition

The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics hosted the opening ceremony on the Seine River, as the first-ever stadium-free ceremony.

329 EVENTS
1 SPORT ADDED
10,174 Athletes attended
🥇 Top Performers 📊 Complete Table 📝 Important Notes 🔬 Analysis 🔗 Related Pages ❓ FAQ

The world's top multi-sport competition, the Summer Olympic Games, was originally staged in Athens in 1896 and brings together thousands of participants from all over the world every four years.

Important Data Notice

This list may not stay up to date, as medal winners can change due to athletes retrospectively being banned after doping violations.

The Summer Olympic Games began as a small tournament with 241 participants from 14 countries and have since become a huge international event with over 11,000 athletes from more than 200 countries. Throughout the tournament's history, nations have competed not only for sporting pride but also for the prestige that comes with winning gold, silver, and bronze at the Olympics. 

Top Summer Olympic Gold Medal Nations

🥇 FIRST PLACE

United States
1,105 Gold Medals
Silver: 879 | Bronze: 781
29 Olympic Games

🥈 SECOND PLACE

Soviet Union
395 Gold Medals
Silver: 319 | Bronze: 296
9 Olympic Games

🥉 THIRD PLACE

China
303 Gold Medals
Silver: 226 | Bronze: 198
12 Olympic Games

All-Time Medal Data for All Countries

Complete Olympic Medal Rankings (Summer Games)
Rank Nation (NOC) Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 United States 29 1105 879 781 2765
2 Soviet Union 9 395 319 296 1010
3 China 12 303 226 198 727
4 Great Britain 30 298 339 343 980
5 France 30 239 278 299 816
6 Italy 29 229 201 228 658
7 Germany 18 213 220 255 688
8 Japan 24 189 162 191 542
9 Hungary 28 187 161 182 530
10 Australia 28 182 192 226 600
11 East Germany 5 153 129 127 409
12 Sweden 29 151 181 182 514
13 Russia 6 147 125 150 422
14 Netherlands 28 110 112 134 356
15 South Korea 19 109 100 111 320
16 Finland 27 101 85 119 305
17 Romania 23 93 101 123 317
18 Cuba 22 86 70 88 244
19 Canada 28 80 117 156 353
20 Poland 23 73 93 142 308
21 Norway 28 65 53 53 171
22 New Zealand 25 63 40 54 157
23 Bulgaria 22 57 89 85 231
24 West Germany 5 56 67 81 204
25 Switzerland 30 54 81 79 214
26 Spain 25 53 76 58 187
27 Denmark 29 50 80 84 214
28 Czechoslovakia 16 49 49 45 143
29 Belgium 28 47 57 63 167
30 Unified Team 1 45 38 29 112
31 Turkey 24 41 29 41 111
32 Brazil 24 40 49 81 170
33 Kenya 16 39 44 41 124
34 Ukraine 8 38 41 72 151
35 Greece 30 36 46 47 129
36 South Africa 21 28 36 31 95
37 United Team of Germany 3 28 54 36 118
38 Jamaica 19 27 39 28 94
39 Iran 18 27 29 32 88
40 Yugoslavia 16 26 29 28 83
41 Ethiopia 15 24 16 22 62
42 Austria 29 22 35 44 101
43 Argentina 26 22 27 31 80
44 Czech Republic 8 22 22 28 72
45 ROC 1 20 28 23 71
46 Uzbekistan 8 18 8 23 49
47 North Korea 11 16 18 27 61
48 Croatia 9 16 15 17 48
49 Ireland 23 15 10 17 42
50 Kazakhstan 8 15 25 38 78
51 Mexico 25 13 27 37 77
52 Georgia 8 13 15 19 47
53 Belarus 7 13 30 42 85
54 Thailand 18 11 11 19 41
55 Mixed team 3 11 6 8 25
56 India 26 10 10 21 41
57 Indonesia 17 10 14 16 40
58 Estonia 14 10 9 17 36
59 Slovenia 9 10 10 11 31
60 Slovakia 8 10 14 9 33
61 Egypt 24 9 12 20 41
62 Chinese Taipei 16 9 11 23 43
63 Azerbaijan 8 9 16 31 56
64 Serbia 6 9 8 12 29
65 Bahamas 18 8 2 6 16
66 Morocco 16 8 5 13 26
67 Algeria 15 7 4 9 20
68 Portugal 26 6 11 15 32
69 Tunisia 16 6 4 8 18
70 Lithuania 11 6 9 15 30
71 Colombia 21 5 16 17 38
72 Uganda 17 5 5 3 13
73 Pakistan 19 4 3 4 11
74 Hong Kong 18 4 3 6 13
75 Israel 18 4 6 10 20
76 Dominican Republic 16 4 5 6 15
77 Ecuador 16 4 4 2 10
78 Latvia 13 4 11 6 21
79 Bahrain 11 4 3 1 8
80 Chile 25 3 8 4 15
81 Philippines 23 3 5 10 18
82 Venezuela 20 3 7 9 19
83 Trinidad and Tobago 19 3 5 11 19
84 Nigeria 18 3 11 13 27
85 Cameroon 16 3 1 2 6
86 Zimbabwe 15 3 4 1 8
87 Kosovo 3 3 1 1 5
88 Australasia 2 3 4 5 12
89 Luxembourg 26 2 1 0 3
90 Uruguay 23 2 2 6 10
91 Puerto Rico 20 2 2 8 12
92 Fiji 16 2 1 1 4
93 Mongolia 15 2 12 17 31
94 Qatar 11 2 2 5 9
95 Armenia 8 2 11 9 22
96 Serbia and Montenegro 3 2 4 3 9
97 Bermuda 20 1 0 1 2
98 Peru 20 1 3 1 5
99 Panama 19 1 1 2 4
100 Singapore 18 1 2 3 6
101 Costa Rica 17 1 1 2 4
102 Vietnam 17 1 3 1 5
103 Ivory Coast 15 1 1 3 5
104 Guatemala 15 1 1 1 3
105 Syria 15 1 1 2 4
106 Suriname 14 1 0 1 2
107 Botswana 12 1 2 1 4
108 Jordan 12 1 2 1 4
109 Mozambique 12 1 0 1 2
110 Grenada 11 1 1 3 5
111 United Arab Emirates 11 1 0 1 2
112 Burundi 8 1 1 0 2
113 Dominica 8 1 0 0 1
114 Saint Lucia 8 1 1 0 2
115 Tajikistan 8 1 1 5 7
116 Russian Empire 3 1 4 3 8
117 Independent Olympic Athletes 3 1 0 1 2
118 Individual Neutral Athletes 1 1 3 1 5
119 Iceland 22 0 2 2 4
120 Guyana 19 0 0 1 1
121 Lebanon 19 0 2 2 4
122 Liechtenstein 19 0 0 0 0
123 Sri Lanka 19 0 2 0 2
124 Haiti 17 0 1 1 2
125 Afghanistan 16 0 0 2 2
126 Ghana 16 0 1 4 5
127 Iraq 16 0 0 1 1
128 San Marino 16 0 1 2 3
129 Senegal 16 0 1 0 1
130 Malaysia 15 0 8 7 15
131 Tanzania 15 0 2 0 2
132 Zambia 15 0 1 2 3
133 Barbados 14 0 0 1 1
134 Kuwait 14 0 0 3 3
135 Niger 14 0 1 1 2
136 Paraguay 14 0 1 0 1
137 Sudan 14 0 1 0 1
138 Virgin Islands 14 0 1 0 1
139 Netherlands Antilles 13 0 1 0 1
140 Saudi Arabia 13 0 2 2 4
141 Cyprus 12 0 2 0 2
142 Gabon 12 0 1 0 1
143 Togo 12 0 0 1 1
144 Burkina Faso 11 0 0 1 1
145 Mauritius 11 0 0 1 1
146 Samoa 11 0 1 0 1
147 Tonga 11 0 1 0 1
148 Albania 10 0 0 2 2
149 Djibouti 10 0 0 1 1
150 Namibia 9 0 5 0 5
151 Cape Verde 8 0 0 1 1
152 Kyrgyzstan 8 0 5 8 13
153 Moldova 8 0 3 7 10
154 North Macedonia 8 0 1 1 2
155 Turkmenistan 8 0 1 0 1
156 Eritrea 7 0 0 1 1
157 Montenegro 5 0 1 0 1
158 Bohemia 3 0 1 3 4
159 Refugee Olympic Team 3 0 0 1 1
160 British West Indies 1 0 0 2 2
161 Independent Olympic Participants 1 0 1 2 3
162 Olympic Athletes from Russia 1 0 0 0 0

Table Notes

  • The Australasia team medals were split between Australia and New Zealand based on which athlete won the medals.
  • Germany includes the unified team, West Germany, and East Germany results combined.
  • Russia data includes the Russian Empire results, ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) team from 2020 and 2021, and OAR (Olympic Athletes from Russia) from 2018.
  • Soviet Union data includes the Unified Team results from 1992.

Participation Records

Australia, France, Great Britain, Greece, and Switzerland are the only nations to have participated in all Summer Olympics.

Learn More →

Efficiency Champions

East Germany averaged 81.8 medals per Olympics (409 medals in just 5 Games), the highest efficiency rate of any major nation.

Learn More →

Recent Success

China's rapid rise since 1984 has seen it climb to 5th place overall with 727 medals from just 12 Olympic Games.

Learn More →

The medal distribution also takes into account shifts in geopolitics over time. Since attaining independence in the 1990s, emerging countries like Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Belarus have rapidly established themselves, but Germany's total comprises the outcomes of several German governments throughout history.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which country has won the most Olympic gold medals?

The United States has won the most Olympic gold medals with 1105 golds.

How many countries have never won an Olympic medal?

Approximately 70 National Olympic Committees have never won an Olympic medal.

Why does the Soviet Union rank so high despite not competing anymore?

The Soviet Union competed from 1952 to 1992 and dominated during this period, winning 1010 medals in just 9 Olympics.

Which small country has won the most medals relative to its population?

Countries like Jamaica (87 medals) and the Bahamas (14 medals) have exceptional medal tallies relative to their small populations.

How often is this medal tally updated?

The medal tally is updated after each Summer Olympics and may be revised if medals are stripped due to doping violations. The current data includes results through the Paris 2024 Olympics.

References

  1. International Olympic Committee. (2025). "All-Time Olympic Games Medal Count by Country." Olympic.org Official Database. Updated after Paris 2024.

  2. Olympic Studies Centre. (2025). "Historical Medal Rankings: Summer Olympic Games 1896-2024." IOC Statistical Archives. Lausanne, Switzerland.

  3. Paris 2024 Organizing Committee. (2024). "Paris 2024 Olympic Games Official Results and Statistics." Paris 2024 Olympic Database. Updated post-Games analysis.

  4. International Olympic Committee. (2025). "National Olympic Committee Medal Performance Analysis." Olympic World Library. Comprehensive historical statistics 1896-2024.

  5. Topend Sports. (2025). "Olympic Medal Analysis and Statistics." Topend Sports Database. Comprehensive Olympic statistics resource.

  6. Olympic Broadcasting Services. (2025). "Complete Olympic Medal Tables and Country Rankings." OBS Statistical Reference. Madrid: Olympic Broadcasting Services.