We’ve all seen iconic photos of athletes biting into their Olympic gold medals, an age-old tradition at medal ceremonies. Think of Simone Biles, Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt. Although Olympic gold medals are not made out of actual gold – pure gold medals haven’t been awarded since 1912 – there’s no higher prize in sports.
Team USA dominated the medal count at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 with 113 total, but the Americans narrowly came out on top of the gold medal count with 39, only one more gold medal than China (38). Team USA has led the gold medal count at five of the past six Summer games, including Rio 2016 (46), London 2012 (48), Athens 2004 (36) and Sydney 2000 (37).
As the 2024 Summer Games get underway in Paris, USA TODAY Sports will keep track of just how many gold medals each nation has earned throughout the competition.
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2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
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Total gold medals by country at Paris Olympics
Totals will be updated as medals are awarded.
China — 2
