Countries With The Most Summer Olympic Medals

The coveted medals of Olympic Games. Editorial credit: kovop58 / Shutterstock.com
The coveted medals of Olympic Games. Editorial credit: kovop58 / Shutterstock.com

Since 1896 when the Summer Olympics or more commonly “The Olympic Games” was first held, the event has grown to be the most popular athletics event globally. It has grown from a simple affair consisting of only 14 events to a majestic showcase of more than 300 disciplines involving competitors from more than 200 countries and territories. Starting 1904, the top three in any event are awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in that order of finishing position. Since then, the United States, Russia, and Germany have won the highest number of medals in the Olympic Games.

Over the course of history, a total of 15,683 medals have been issued to competitors in the Summer Olympics. However, the tradition of giving the medals was not always as we now know it. During the very first Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, the winner was awarded two items: A silver coin and an olive wreath. The runner-up was given a copper coin and a laurel branch. The 1900 Summer Games were even more peculiar as winning competitors were awarded trophies! In the early years of the Olympics, gold was considered too precious to be given out in its purest form.

The table at the end of the article lists Olympic teams (including present and former countries, territories, international teams, etc.,) by the number of medals covering all Olympic Games from 1896 to 2018.

The United States Occupies The Top Spot

The United States of America leads the all-time Summer Olympics medals table with 2,523 medals won. The 1904 Olympic Games were held in St. Louis, Missouri and ended up having the host nation scooping 239 of the available 280 medals. This anomalous feat was accomplished because many countries could not send athletes on the Trans-Atlantic trip for the Summer Games. The most decorated sportsman in this event was American swimmer Charles Daniels who got three gold medals, and one of silver and bronze.

Russia

The Soviet Union and its legal successor, Russia, comes second with 1,556 Summer Olympic medals to its credit. This number includes the sum of total number of medals won by the Soviet Union (1010), Russia (426), Russian Empire (8), and Unified Team (112).

Germany

With a total medal count of 1,346, Germany ranks third in the table below. Over the years, Germany competed in the Games under 5 different designations. In some Games, the country was also represented by separate teams. For example, in the 1952 Summer Olympic Games, Saar representing only a part of Germany participated as an individual team but did not win any medals. In the table below, the medal count of Germany includes the medals won by Germany (615), United Team of Germany (118), East Germany (409) and West Germany (204).

Factors Affecting Medal Scores

Sporting culture in different countries has a profound effect in the ability to score medals at Games. India, for example, is a cricket mad country. However, this is a sport with origins from its time as a British colony. Athletics and other sports that require physical prowess are almost unheard of in the subcontinent. Despite being the second most populous nation, India has won only a handful of Olympic medals. The Asian society also views sport as an exhibition of elegance rather than a contest. This perhaps explains why China has won most medals in diving, weightlifting and gymnastics.

In the Olympic Games, highly talented athletes focus on winning multiple medals in different events. Michael Phelps, an American swimmer, holds the record for the most Gold medals won at a single Summer Olympics. He won 6 Gold in 2004 and 8 medals in 2008. In the most recent 2016 Rio Olympics, Phelps won 5 Gold and a Silver medal. Presently, the US continues to maintain its rank as the number one performer in the Olympics after winning the highest number of medals in the 2016 Summer Olympics (121 total; 46 Gold). China (70) and Great Britain (67) won the second and third highest number of medals at the Rio Olympics.

Summer Olympic Winners By Total Medals

RankCountryTotalGold SilverBronze
1 United States (USA)2,5231,022795706
2 Russia (RUS)1,556590486480
3 Germany (GER)1,346428444474
4 Great Britain (GBR)851263295293
5 France (FRA)716212241263
6 Italy (ITA)577206178193
7 China (CHN)546224167155
8 Australia (AUS)497147163187
9 Sweden (SWE)494145170179
10 Hungary (HUN)491175147169
11 Japan (JPN)439142136161
12 Romania (ROU)3048994121
13 Finland (FIN)30310185117
14 Canada (CAN)30264102136
15 Netherlands (NED)2858592108
16 Poland (POL)2846884132
17 South Korea (KOR)267908790
18 Cuba (CUB)226786880
19 Bulgaria (BUL)218518780
20 Denmark (DEN)194457475
21 Switzerland (SUI)192507567
22 Norway (NOR)152564947
23 Spain (ESP)150456441
24 Belgium (BEL)148405355
25 Czechoslovakia (TCH)*143494945
26 Brazil (BRA)129303663
27 Ukraine (UKR)120343056
28 New Zealand (NZL)117462744
29 Greece (GRE)116334340
30Serbia110314039
31 Kenya (KEN)103313834
32 Turkey (TUR)91392428
33 Austria (AUT)87183336
34 South Africa (RSA)86263129
35 Jamaica (JAM)78223521
36 Belarus (BLR)78122739
37 Argentina (ARG)74212528
38 Iran (IRI)69212127
39 Kazakhstan (KAZ)64152128
40 Mexico (MEX)59132422
41 Czech Republic (CZE)56151724
42 Ethiopia (ETH)54221121
43 North Korea (PRK)54161622
44 Azerbaijan (AZE)4271124
45 Estonia (EST)349916
46 Croatia (CRO)33111012
47 Thailand (THA)339816
48 Egypt (EGY)3271015
49 Georgia (GEO)328717
50Indonesia (INA)3271312
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