First Olympic Gold Medal Winners from Each Country
Over 100 countries have won at least one gold medal at the Summer Olympics. We have compiled a list below of the first gold medal winners (male or female) from each country (check out our similar list of the first medal winners - of any color - from each country).
For some countries, there were numerous gold medalists at the same Olympiad, and in these cases, we have looked closely at the events and dates and tried to determine which of the athletes won their medal first.
In Tokyo 2020, Bermuda, the Philippines, and Qatar won their first-ever Olympic gold medals.
2024 Update:
Which countries will we be adding to this list in 2024? Here is the list so far ...
- Guatemala won their first gold medal when Adriana Ruano won the women’s trap with an Olympic-record score of 45 out of 50.
- Julien Alfred of St Lucia won the women's 100 meters, the nation's first medal of any color to date.
- Dominica’s triple jumper Thea LaFond won the Olympic gold with a national record jump of 15.02m, the country's first medal of any color.
- Botswana's first Olympic gold medal came in Paris 2024, sprinter Letsile Tebogo finished first in the Men's 200m sprint.
List of First Gold Medalists for Each Country (up to 2021)
| Country | Year of 1st gold | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | - | Afghani Sayed Yusuf won a gold medal in 1928 as a member of the Indian field hockey team. No athlete has won gold representing Afghanistan. |
| Algeria | 1992 | Hassiba Boulmerka won gold in the womens 1,500 meters run. The winner of the 1928 Olympic marathon was Ahmed Boughèra El Ouafi, an Algerian athlete who represented France |
| Argentina | 1924 | The Argentinian team won the men's polo tournament |
| Armenia | 1996 | Armen Nazaryan won the men's flyweight Greco-Roman wrestling |
| Australia | 1896 | Athletics 1500 meters for men, won by Teddy Flack |
| Austria | 1896 | Swimming 500 meters Freestyle, Men, Paul Neumann |
| Azerbaijan | 2000 | Shooting Skeet, Women, Zemfira Meftəkhətddinova |
| Bahamas | 1964 | Sailing Two-Person Keelboat, Durward Knowles and Cecil Cooke |
| Bahrain | 2012 | Athletics 1,500 meters, Women, Maryam Jamal |
| Belarus | 1996 | Rowing Single Sculls, Women, Katsiaryna Khadatovich |
| Belgium | 1900 | Equestrian Jumping Individual, Aimé Haegeman |
| Bermuda | 2021 | Triathlete Flora Duffy won the women's triathlon at Tokyo 2020 |
| Brazil | 1920 | Shooting Military Pistol, 30 meters, Men, Guilherme Paraense |
| Bulgaria | 1956 | Wrestling Middleweight, Freestyle, Men, Nikola Stanchev |
| Burundi | 1996 | Athletics 5,000 meters, Men, Vénuste Niyongabo |
| Cameroon | 2000 | The Cameroon men's football team won gold in 2000. |
| Canada | 1900 | 2500m Steeplechase, George Orton |
| Chile | 2004 | Tennis Doubles, Men, Fernando González and Nicolás Massú |
| China | 1984 | Shooting Free Pistol, 50 meters, Men, Xu Haifeng |
| Chinese Taipei | 2004 | Taekwondo Flyweight, Men, Chu Mu-Yen and Flyweight, Women, Chen Shih-Hsien (both finals were on at the same time) |
| Colombia | 2000 | Weightlifting Heavyweight, Women, María Isabel Urrutia |
| Costa Rica | 1996 | Claudia Poll won the, women's 200 meters Freestyle |
| Croatia | 1996 | Croatia won the men's handball tournament in 1996. |
| Cuba | 1900 | Fencing Épée, Individual, Men, Ramón Fonst |
| Czechia | 1996 | Canoe Slalom Kayak Singles, Slalom, Women, Štěpánka Hilgertová |
| Czechoslovakia | 1924 | Artistic Gymnastics Rope Climbing, Men, Bedřich Šupčík |
| Denmark | 1896 | Viggo Jensen was Denmark's first Olympic champion, winning a gold medal in the two hand lift weightlifting division at the inaugural Games in 1896. |
| Dominican Republic | 2004 | Athletics 400 meters Hurdles, Men, Félix Sánchez |
| East Germany | 1968 | Athletics men's 50 km walk, Christoph Höhne |
| Ecuador | 1996 | Athletics men's 20 km walk, Jefferson Pérez |
| Egypt | 1928 | Weightlifting Light-Heavyweight, Men, Sayed Nosseir |
| Estonia | 1920 | Weightlifting Lightweight, Men, Alfred Neuland |
| Ethiopia | 1960 | The men's marathon was won by Abebe Bikila |
| Fiji | 2016 | Rugby Sevens, Men, Fiji |
| Finland | 1908 | Wrestling Light-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman, Men, Verner Weckman |
| France | 1896 | Fencing Foil, Individual, Men, Eugène Henry Gravelotte |
| Georgia | 2004 | Judo Middleweight, Men, Zurab Zviadauri |
| Germany | 1896 | Germany won the men's team parallel bars competition, the first of many medals for Germany in gymnastics. |
| Great Britain | 1896 | Weightlifting, One Hand Lift, Men, Launceston Elliot |
| Greece | 1896 | Fencing Foil, Masters, Individual, Men, Leon Pyrgos |
| Grenada | 2012 | Kirani James won the men's 400 meters track event. |
| Guatemala | 2024 | Adriana Ruano won the women’s trap with an Olympic-record score of 45 out of 50. |
| Hong Kong | 1996 | Sailing Windsurfer, Women, Lee Lai Shan |
| Hungary | 1896 | Swimming 100 meters Freestyle, Men, Alfréd Hajós |
| India | 1928 | Men's Hockey (British India team) |
| Indonesia | 1992 | Badminton Singles, Women, Susi Susanti |
| Iran | 1956 | Emam Ali Habibi won gold in men's Freestyle Lightweight Wrestling (on the same evening, Gholam Reza Takhti won gold too in the Light-Heavyweight freestyle event) |
| Ireland | 1928 | Athletics Hammer Throw, Men, Pat O'Callaghan |
| Israel | 2004 | Sailing Windsurfer, Men, Gal Fridman |
| Italy | 1900 | Equestrian Jumping High Jump, Open, Gian Giorgio Trissino |
| Ivory Coast | 2016 | Taekwondo Welterweight, Men, Cheick Sallah Cissé |
| Jamaica | 1948 | Athletics 400m, Men, Arthur Wint |
| Japan | 1928 | Athletics Triple Jump, Men, Mikio Oda |
| Jordan | 2016 | Taekwondo Featherweight, Men, Ahmad Abughaush |
| Kazakhstan | 1996 | Wrestling Bantamweight, Greco-Roman, Men, Yury Melnichenko |
| Kenya | 1968 | Athletics 10,000 meters, Men, Naftali Temu |
| Kosovo | 2016 | Judoka Majlinda Kelmendi won the women's 52kg division |
| Kuwait | 2016 | Kuwait shooter Fehaid Al-Deehani won a gold medal in the men's Double Trap, though he competed as Independent Olympic Athletes under the Olympic flag due to Kuwait being suspended. |
| Latvia | 2000 | Artistic Gymnastics Floor Exercise, Men, Igors Vihrovs |
| Lithuania | 1992 | Athletics Discus Throw, Men, Romas Ubartas |
| Luxembourg | 1900 | In 1900, an athlete from Luxembourg Michel Théato won the gold in the marathon but the win has been credited to France. In 1924 Jean Jacoby won gold in the painting Olympic art competition. In 1952, Josy Barthel won Luxembourg's first-ever official Olympic gold medal in a sporting event when he narrowly won the men's 1500 meters. |
| Mexico | 1948 | Mexico's first-ever gold came in 1948 when Humberto Mariles (Equestrian) and the equestrian team of Humberto Mariles, Rubén Uriza, and Alberto Valdés both won gold medals in their events in London, England |
| Mongolia | 2008 | Judo Half-Heavyweight, Men, Naidangiin Tüvshinbayar |
| Morocco | 1984 | Athletics 400m Hurdles, Women, Nawal El-Moutawakel |
| Mozambique | 2000 | Athletics 800m, Women, Maria Mutola |
| Netherlands | 1900 | Men's Rowing Coxed Pairs, François Brandt and Roelof Klein, plus an unknown french boy. As the team included a French boy, the team is classified as mixed, and officially the medal is not credited to the Netherlands. The next gold to be won was in 1920, when the Netherlands won four gold medals. |
| New Zealand | 1928 | New Zealander Victor Lindberg was part of the Osborne Swimming Club representing Great Britain which won gold in water polo in 1900. Competing for Australasia, New Zealander Malcolm Champion was part of the gold medal winning swimming 4 x 200 meters freestyle relay. Their first-ever Olympic gold for NZ whn competing as a separate country was in 1928 when boxer Ted Morgan took the top spot in the men's welterweight division. |
| Nigeria | 1996 | Athletics Long Jump, Women, Chioma Ajunwa |
| North Korea | 1972 | Shooting Small-Bore Rifle, Prone, 50 meters, Open, Li Ho-Jun |
| North Macedonia | 1960 | Macedonian Blagoje Vidinić won gold playing as goalkeeper for the Yugoslavia team. No athlete has won Olympic gold while competing under the North Macedonia banner. |
| Norway | 1908 | Men's team in Shooting Free Rifle, Three Positions at 300 meters, |
| Pakistan | 1960 | Hockey, Men, Pakistan |
| Panama | 2008 | Irving Jahir Saladino Aranda won Panama's first and only gold medal at the Olympics in the athletics' long jump event. |
| Philippines | 2021 | Hidilyn Diaz won gold in the women's 55kg weightlifting |
| Peru | 1948 | The first gold medal for Peru was won by Edwin Vásquez who won the men's 50-m pistol event. |
| Poland | 1928 | Women's discus winner, Halina Konopacka |
| Portugal | 1984 | Marathoner Carlos Lopes (1984) |
| Puerto Rico | 2016 | Puerto Rico won a gold medal with tennis player Monica Puig |
| Qatar | 2021 | Weightlifter Meso Hassona finished well clear of his rivals in the men's 96 kilograms category |
| Romania | 1952 | Shooting Small-Bore Rifle, Prone, 50 meters, Men, Iosif Sîrbu |
| Russia | 1908 | Figure Skating Special Figures, Men, Nikolay Panin |
| Serbia | 2012 | Taekwondo Heavyweight, Women, Milica Mandić |
| Serbia and Montenegro | 1996 | Shooting Small-Bore Rifle, Three Positions, 50 meters, Women, Aleksandra Ivošev |
| Singapore | 2016 | swimmer Joseph Schooling in the men's 100 meter butterfly, beating a trio of tied second place getters which included Michael Phelps. |
| Slovakia | 1996 | Michal Martikán who won the men's C-1 slalom event in the canoeing in 1996. |
| Slovenia | 2000 | Many Slovenians won gold while representing Yugoslavia. Competing as an independent nation, the first gold medal was won by Rajmond Debevec in the 50m 3 position Small-Bore Rifle event in 2000. The pair Luka Špik and Iztok Čop also won gold on the same day in the men's double sculls rowing event. |
| South Africa | 1908 | The winner of the men's 100 sprint, South African Reggie Walker |
| South Korea | 1976 | Wrestling Featherweight, Freestyle, Men, Yang Jeong-Mo |
| Soviet Union | 1952 | Athletics Discus Throw, Women, Nina Romashkova |
| Spain | 1900 | Francisco Villota and José de Amézola won gold in Basque pelota |
| Suriname | 1988 | Swimming 100 meters Butterfly, Men, Anthony Nesty |
| Sweden | 1900 | A combined Sweden/Denmark team in the tug of war, made up of three competitors from each country, defeated the French team to win the title. |
| Switzerland | 1896 | Artistic Gymnastics Pommelled Horse, Men, Louis Zutter |
| Syria | 1996 | Ghada Shouaa won gold in the Women's heptathlon |
| Tajikistan | 1972 | The first gold medal for an athlete competiing for Tajikistan was Dilshod Nazarov, who won the men's hammer throw at the 2016 Rio Games, though Yury Lobanov won gold in the 1000m sprint canoe event with Lithuanian Vladas Česiūnas, though they were competing for the Soviet Union. |
| Thailand | 1996 | Boxing Featherweight, Men, Somluck Kamsing |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1976 | The 100m sprint was won by Hasely Crawford in 1976 |
| Tunisia | 1968 | Athletics 5,000 meters, Men, Mohamad Gammoudi |
| Türkiye | 1936 | Yasar Erkan - men's Greco-Roman wrestling featherweight class. |
| Uganda | 1972 | John Akii-Bua captured the nation's first-ever gold medal when he won the men's 400-meter hurdles event in athletics at the 1972 Munich Games. |
| Ukraine | 1996 | Of the many gold medals won by Ukraine in 1996, the first is believed to be by V'iacheslav Oliynyk in the Light-Heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestling. 12 Ukrainians won gold medals at the 1992 Olympics representing Unified Team, and many more previously representing USSR. Interestingly, the first Ukraine-born gold medal winner was Canadian athlete Bobbie Rosenfeld who won gold in the 4x100m sprint relay at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. |
| United Arab Emirates | 2004 | UAE won their first medal, a gold won by by Ahmed Al Maktoum, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece in men's double trap shooting. |
| United States | 1896 | The men's triple jump, won by James B. Connolly. The first gold medal at the modern Games for any country. |
| Uruguay | 1924 | Uruguay's gold medal in football in 1924 Paris Olympics is the nation's first. |
| Uzbekistan | 2000 | Mahammatkodir Abdoollayev went undefeated in the men's lightweight category in boxing at the 2000 Olympics. Uzbek athletes may have won medals previously when competing as part of the Soviet Union from 1952 to 1988. |
| Venezuela | 1968 | Francisco Rodríguez won the men's light flyweight category in boxing at the 1968 Mexico City Games. |
| Vietnam | 2016 | Shooter Hoàng Xuân Vinh won gold medal in the men's 10m air pistol event. |
| West Germany | 1968 | Athletics Pentathlon, Women, Ingrid Becker |
| Yugoslavia | 1924 | Artistic Gymnastics Individual All-Around, Men, Leon Štukelj |
| Zimbabwe | 1980 | The 1980 women's hockey tournament in Moscow was won by Zimbabwe. |
Related Pages
- List of the First medal winners (any color) from each country
- See also the top-ranked athletes from each sport
- Medal Tally Leaders from each Olympiad
- Top Olympic Medal Winners — who has won the most medals?
- All Olympic medal tallys
- All-time medal table (all years combined)
- First Winter Olympic Gold Medal Winners from Each Country
- Countries and the year they first competed at the Summer Olympic Games
- About Olympic Medals
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