Which country is the most successful at the Olympic Games? Here you will find the top-ranked countries in terms of total medals won, taking into consideration all of the summer Games that have been held.

We've presented two tables on this page: the first table lists the top countries based on the total medals won, and the second table factors in how many Olympic Games the country appeared, averaging the total number of medals per Olympiad. A victory in a team sport is counted as one medal.

The USA Has Won the Most Medals

The USA has clearly won the most gold medals and the most medals overall. As of the Paris 2024 Games, the USA has accumulated 2,761 total medals including 1,101 gold medals. At the Paris 2024 Games, the USA and China tied for the most gold medals

Second-placed Soviet Union/USSR had fewer appearances at the Olympics, and actually won more medals on average (see the 2nd table).

China continues a rapid rise up the ranks, moving from 11th (in 2008) to 9th (2012) to 7th (2016) to 6th after the Paris 2024 games. The country that has attended the most games without a medal is Monaco (33 appearances accross Summer and Winter Olympics). Malaysia has won the most medals without winning a gold medal. As of the Paris 2024 Games, Malaysia has accumulated 15 medals (0 gold, 8 silver, 7 bronze).

Rank Team Total Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 United States 29 1101 880 780 2761
2 Soviet Union # 9 440 357 325 1122
3 Great Britain 30 299 338 344 981
4 Germany * 26 450 468 498 1416
5 France 30 238 279 296 813
6 China 12 302 226 197 725
7 Italy 29 228 201 228 658
8 Australia 30 185 196 229 610
9 Japan 41 189 162 191 542
10 Hungary 28 183 157 179 519

# combining the results of USSR and the 1992 Unified Team (but Russia is separate)
* combining the results of Germany, West Germany, and the United Team of Germany (but not East Germany)

The USSR was the Most Successful on Average

It seems unfair to rank countries on total medals won when some countries have appeared at the Olympic Games many more times. The following list averages the medals won per Olympiad, allowing for a more direct comparison of countries' success. Based on this calculation, the former Soviet Union was the most successful country with 112.2 medals per appearance compared to the US with 95.2 medals per appearance. However, to be fair, the USSR can be considered a combination of many countries.

East Germany has been listed separately from Germany's results, highlighting how much more successful the East Germans were compared to the rest of the country. It is not surprising what a state-sponsored doping program can accomplish.

The ranking in this table is based on the average total medals per Olympiad, though whether using the figure of total gold medals or total all medals, the list order is essentially the same. At the Paris 2024 Games, the USA and China tied for gold medals with 40 each, though the USA won the overall medal count with 126 total medals to China's 91.

Rank Country No. of Games Gold Total Medals Gold Per Olympiad Total Per Olympiad
1 Soviet Union # 9 440 1122 44.0 112.2
2 United States 29 1101 2761 38.0 95.2
3 East Germany 5 153 409 30.6 81.8
4 China 12 302 725 25.2 60.4
5 Russia 11 177 527 16.1 47.9
6 Germany * 26 297 1013 11.4 39.0
7 Great Britain 30 299 981 10.0 32.7
8 France 30 242 828 8.1 27.6
9 Italy 29 229 658 7.9 22.7
10 Japan 24 189 542 7.9 22.6
11 Ukraine 8 38 151 4.8 18.9
12 Hungary 28 183 519 6.5 18.5
13 Sweden 29 151 517 5.2 17.8
14 South Korea 19 109 319 5.7 16.8
15 Australia 30 185 610 6.2 20.3

# combining the results of USSR and the 1992 Unified Team (but Russia is separate)
* combining the results of Germany, West Germany, and the United Team of Germany (not East Germany)