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USA at the Olympics

The United States has won more medals at the Summer Olympic Games than any other country (see the total medal tally). They attended the first Olympic Games in 1896, and have participated in all of the Summer Olympic Games except in 1980 in Moscow when the nation spearheaded a boycott which was joined by numerous countries especially its allies. The USA have also hosted the Olympic Games on several occasions: St Lois in 1904, Los Angles in 1932 and 1984, and Atlanta in 1996, and they will host the event again in LA 2028.



The US is a dominant force in the Olympics in the overall medal tally, athletics, swimming, shooting, wrestling, diving, gymnastics, rowing, basketball, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, cycling, tennis, archery and equestrian.

The first athlete to represent the US was Thomas Burke, who clinched the gold medals in the 100-m sprint and 400-meter run events. In the inaugural 1896 Athens Olympic Games, James Connolly became the first modern Olympic champion when he captured the triple jump in athletics during the opening day of the Games. Swimmer Michael Phelps is the most bemedalled athlete in the history of Summer Olympic Games as he pocketed 28 medals (23 of which are gold) from 2000 to 2016.

The US athletes has won gold medal at every games at which it has participated and captured more gold and overall medals than any other nation in the Olympiad. From the 1950’s to the late 1980s, the United States was closely rivaled by the Soviet Union at the Summer Games in medal-rich sports and in overall medal tally. But after the USSR has disintegrated, China has emerged as the new chief rival of the United States.

The US 2016 Olympics were the third most productive for the United States in terms of medals won.

1896

1900

1906

1908

1912

1920

1948

1956

1968 Mexico City

1972 Munich

1976

1984

1988

1992

1996 Atlanta

2000 Sydney

2008 Beijing

2012 London

2016 Rio

2020 Tokyo



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