Which Countries Have The Most Olympic Medals Of All-Time?
This summer, 10,500 athletes will compete at the peak of their careers in the Paris Olympics.
In more than half of the Olympic Games, the U.S. has claimed the most medals out of any country. This success is partly due to substantial sports funding, with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee directing over $750 million to national sports federations since 2000.
This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, shows the countries with the highest Olympic medal count of all-time, based on data from the International Olympic Committee.
The Top 20 Countries by Olympic Medal Count
Here are the countries with the most medals in history, spanning from the first modern Olympic Games in 1896:
As of July 5, 2024
With a total of 2,959 medals, the U.S. surpasses the second-highest country, the former USSR, by more than twofold.
Overall, Team USA has won 827 medals in track and field events - more than the total medal counts of nearly all other countries. Going further, track and field has received more funding than any other summer sport by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, bringing in $54.1 million between 2003 and 2019.
Notably, the U.S. has also won 578 medals in swimming, outpacing runner-up Australia, which has 213 medals. It is the second-highest funded summer sport, receiving $49.2 million over the period.
The former Soviet Union, which existed between 1922 and 1991, won 1,204 medals. Despite competing in just 18 Olympics beginning in the 1950s, the country had the most medals in 13 of these games. During communist rule, state-run athletic programs became increasingly important as competition between the U.S. and the USSR dramatically intensified as a means of displaying ideological dominance.
Like the USSR, China first briefly competed in the Olympics in the 1950s, but then did not compete for the next 30 years. Even with this absence, it ranks fifth in the world by Olympic medal count, excelling in gymnastics, diving, and badminton.
From a regional perspective, European countries comprise 13 of the top 20 countries in combined Olympic medals, led by Germany, Great Britain, and France. On the other hand, over 60 countries, including Bolivia and Bangladesh, have yet to win an Olympic medal.