USA continues dominance; Great Britain overtakes China at number two in best showing in over a century

Before the experts pitch in with their analysis of the medal count, we bring you a comparison of the medal count between this year’s and the London 2012 Olympics. Medal tables are not just descending numbers of the Olympics – they also tell stories of a country on the rise – or on the decline as the case may be – and point to trends that go beyond flaunt figures.

The United States crossed yet another landmark – reaching a 1000 gold medals all-time. They finished with 46 Gold, 37 Silver, and 38 Bronze medals. Michael Phelps, Simone Biles, Ryan Murphy added to the Gold count and also left an astonishing mark at the Games. They dominated athletics, swimming as well as the gymnastics events.

Read | At Olympics, it remains ‘US vs Them’ for United States of America

European countries did good to take the lead in other events such as shooting, fencing, Boxing, tennis, wrestling, and golf among others.

Here is a percentage wise comparison of medal count among the Continents.

Great Britain improved from their last Olympics’ standings as they moved to the number two spot from number three, secured at London 2012 Olympics. Great Britain won 67 medals in total, including 27 Gold, 23 Silver and 17 Bronze.

China’s didn’t have the perfect Olympics as they would have expected after a brilliant run over the past two decades in the Olympics. China sent 410 athletes, their biggest team at a foreign Olympics, at this year’s Olympics but at the end of the day they had won just 26 gold medals, their fewest since Atlanta 1996. China promised to examine their shortcomings as they slumped to their “worst Olympic performance” in the last 20 years, stated the reports.

“There are a few problems we cannot overlook. In the Rio Games we didn’t win so many medals… we didn’t assess objectively the challenges we might face at these Games,” said Chinese Olympic committee chief Liu Peng.

“In recent years more countries have attached importance to the Olympic Games, so the level of play internationally has come up and the competition has become fierce.

“We need to employ a new mentality and new understanding how to improve our performances and ability. We need more experiences and learning.”

Here is the London 2012 Olympics medal count.

Russia kept their number four spot in the rankings. After all the chaos and uncertainty surrounding them, Russia managed 19 Golds, 18 Silver and 19 Bronze medals which summed to 56 medals. After their entire track and field Olympic contingent got banned, Russia did surprisingly well to keep the medal count moving. Though their numbers dipped from 77, at the London Olympics, to 56, we should keep in mind the effects of doping bans on the country’s athletics contingent.

The 2020 Games’ host, Japan, moved to number 6th from the 11th spot at 2012 London Olympics. Japan took away 41 medals in total with 12 Gold, 8 Silver and 21 Bronze medals.

Germany moved to fifth in this year’s standings with a total of 42 medals including 17 Gold, 10 Silver, and 15 Bronze medals. France with 42 medals stood at seventh with 10 Gold medals.

South Korea and Italy finished on number eight and nine, respectively, while Australia narrowly made it to the number 10 spot with 8 Golds and a total of 29 medals.

India, who had finished their London 2012 Olympic campaign with 2 Silver and 4 Bronze medals, slumped to 67th spot with just two medals (1 Silver, 1 Bronze) in this year’s Olympics.