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Which country is the most successful at the Olympic Games? Here are the top-ranked countries in terms of total medals won when all of the summer Games are considered (including results from the Tokyo 2020 Games). There are two tables presented, the first table just lists the top countries based on the total medals won, and the second table factors in how many Olympic Games the country appeared, averaging the total number of medals per Olympiad. A victory in a team sport is counted as one medal.

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The USA Has Won the Most Medals

The USA has clearly won the most gold medals and the most medals overall, more than doubling the next ranked country (these figures include medals won in Tokyo 2020, updated August 2021). Why are they so successful? Second-placed Soviet Union/USSR had fewer appearances at the Olympics, and actually won more medals on average (see the 2nd table). This top 10 includes one country no longer in existence (the Soviet Union), so their medal totals will obviously not increase, however, China is expected to continue a rapid rise up the ranks. With the addition of the 2021 data, China has moved up from 11th (in 2008) to 9th (2012) to 7th (2016) to 6th (2021). The country that has attended the most games without a medal is Monaco (21 Olympic Games), and the country that has won the most medals without winning a gold medal is Malaysia (0 gold, 8 silver, 5 bronze).

# combining the results of USSR and the 1992 Unified Team (but Russia is separate)
* combining the results of Germany, West Germany, and the United Team of Germany (but not East Germany)

The USSR was the most successful on average

It seems unfair to rank countries on total medals won when some countries have appeared at the Olympic Games many more times. The following list averages the medals won per Olympiad, so the success of countries can be compared more directly. Based on this calculation, the former Soviet Union was the most successful country with 112 medals per appearance compared to the US with 94 medals per appearance. However, also to be fair, the USSR can be considered a combination of many countries.

East Germany has been listed separately from the Germany's results, highlighting how much more successful the East Germans were compared to the rest of the country. It is not surprising what a little state-sponsored doping program can do.

The ranking in this table is based on the average total medals per Olympiad, though whether using the figure of total gold medals or total all medals, the list order is essentially the same.

# combining the results of USSR and the 1992 Unified Team (but Russia is separate)
* combining the results of Germany, West Germany, and the United Team of Germany (not East Germany)

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Related Pages

• You can see the medal list of all countries from which the above data is extracted.
• Medal tables from all Olympic Games
• A comparison of different ranking systems
• Medals per Country Size — comparing medals with country size (both land size and population)
• First Olympic Gold Medal Winners from Each Country.
• List of the First medal winners (any color) from each country

Old Comments

Commenting is closed on this page, though you can read some previous comments below which may answer some of your questions.

• Just heard that the IOC banned Russia from the Olympics. So much for the idea of "fair play". I intend to completely boycott all Olympic games forever. When you are so corrupt that you are willing to use sports for political purposes, especially when you are already the undisputed leader in that arena, and the majority of people are dumb enough to allow it, the end of your civilization is at hand. How good can a sport be when the second place team is eliminated from competition, accused of wrongdoing, that the established winner has been caught doing in the past. I suspect that the US, under ownership of the pharmaceutical companies, not only has more of, and more sophisticated drugs, but has probably used the doping rules themselves to discriminate against other nations. If I was an Olympic athlete and I was told I couldn't wear the flag of my home country and that our national anthem could not be played, I would not participate. If I was an American athlete, I would boycott on moral principals, what value is there in participating in a rigged game? Of course it would be hard to pass up the payday that comes with the medals. I predict the US will make a clean sweep of the medals (statistically speaking) and the games themselves will be BORING. BOYCOTT the Olympics. (from Jon, 2017)
  • You can boycott if you like and you can cry if you like but politics played no part in them being banned. It's called more than half of your athletes tested came up positive for roids. (Aurelius72 , 2017)
• Pete, what county's children are there that can name more than 40 countries? Almost none, please stop making yourself look like an idiot. What interests me, is the subtleness of your USSR compilation of medal earnings. How many countries did the USSR include during it's rule? What was it's population under that ruling? Well it had a population of around 293 million people in 1991 and ecompassed over a DOZEN different countries. Just as you said, a higher population will lead to a higher medal count, it seems they were merely on par if not below the USA's standards of medal earnings. To be fair. David (2013)
• Higher population is meaningless. India has almost one billion people and Michael Phelps has almost as many medals as India has won combined. Arizona65 David (2016)
  • Correction, he now has more than India has ever won at a single olympic games. Go Phelps! He is consistently better than the average of 1.3 billion swimmers. That is worth somethin. Jacob Sawyer arizona65 (2016)
• Dude you are still not comparing apples with apples. You have to look at the amount of funding, infrastructure, coaching etc. Can the 1.3 billion in India get the same facilities that the Americans can avail? Anuj Jacob Sawyer (2016)
• You cannot get through to American folk my friend. The Americans have always thought that they are better than everyone else on the planet, I just laugh at them. William Alexander Plumbasket Anuj (2017)
  • I'm American and I laugh at them too. Party on! Black 'Mericuh William. Whites Are Victims William Alexander Plumbasket (2017)
  • Because we so obviously are.... Fedex Routes William Alexander Plumbasket (2017). You laugh because it makes you nervous that we are... I want to appologize for that.Sorry. - Lee Jones William Alexander Plumbasket (2020) Not as hard as we laugh at you. Alexander Plumbasket (2017)
• Man you're thick. It is down to funding - GDP, that breeds success, not the gene pool, population, you moron. Unless of course, some American people think that they are a superior race (lol). Another certain country had similar ideas in the last century, it did not finish too well for them - did it now. American exceptionalism springs to mind. It is common knowledge, that a percentage of the American population suffer from 'Delusions Of Grandeur' - You're just one of those ignorant statistics. William Alexander Plumbasket Jacob Sawyer (2017)
• There is not a singular American race is you have not been up to date with American news (Which you dont need to be)there is still a lot of racism and things that divide the different races of America. Chase Sam William Alexander Plumbasket (2018)
• William, genetics totally matter for sports. Why do you think blacks always dominate any track related sports? But go ahead and ignore science and brag about how wonderful the crumbling unites kingdom and storm yourself off to your own ethnicity. Gary Johnson William Alexander Plumbasket (2017)
• He did it with Chinese traditional cupping. Is that banned? GuanKim Jacob Sawyer (2016)
  • Clearly not. But, he did do it without the Chinese traditional state-funded doping. Grossman GuanKim (2016)
• ok americans are good at sports,we get it,but you live in a fool's world if you think you're a superior race or something just cuz you have more medals. A fish will live his whole life believing it's a moron if you judge his intelligence by climbing trees. And why can't USA produce enough scientist to run NASA and stop hiring indian brains? just saying... Rahul Biswas Jacob Sawyer (2016)
• For being from such an intelligent stock of people, I thought you would have already known that American is not a race, it's a nationality. Americans are comprised of many different races of people (including Indians). Also, the "Indians" you claim run NASA, are actually Americans. You see, except for rare cases of exception, you have to be a U.S. citizen to work at NASA. Etesvous stupide? Rahul Biswas (2016)
• Well that last point also comes down to the school system and how the government doesn't fund schools as much as they should Asian and Indian parents tend to push their kids way harder than Americans because there are ways to be successful other than doing good in school and being smart. Americans dont end up in poverty when they do not do well in school lol. Chase Sam Rahul Biswas (2018)
• india is a filthy mess. They need the British to come back and clean the place up again. Rmclarkjr . Rahul Biswas (2017)
• Most of these "Indians" are American. America isn't even close to just white people you know... Da Dude Rahul Biswas (2017)
• USA is the ONLY superpower for a reason. just saying. Rahul Biswas (2016)
• The rest of the world should know when they have been conquered either directly or indirectly... Rmclarkjr . (2017)
• WOW... 300 years as a superpower and there is the "REASON" behind it... imagine what Greeks, Egyptians, Mongolians, Persians (yes that's Iran), Ottomans, Chinese and a dozen others can say given that they run at one point or another empires for 1000's of years. They must have had a bigger "REASON" to say the least. :) Georgios Kappos (2016)
• Georgios, times have changed. Things move very much faster. These old civilizations and cultures would not have lasted as long in a modern era. To find fault without thinking before posting is a sign of envy. Typical of people critical who lash out using any subject. The U.S is like the gentle giant in a schoolyard full of punks. There are times when the gentle giant kicks butt. It seems that the U.S is always under attack. The U.S has far less than 300 years as a "superpower" but it is holding on in a universe that is moving at least 100 times faster than a thousand years ago if not 2000 or 3000 years ago. No one is perfect but the U.S has done a lot of good and it is disappointing to see all the criticism. Americans can dig heels just like anyone else and they are more self reliant than anyone else. You should never forget that. It is what made this country. You would be more appreciative if you had a sense of the size, complexity and efficiency of the American infrastructure which you do not and cannot interpret in a short visit or two. It takes years to understand the phenomenon America is. Paul Homsy Georgios Kappos (2017)
• Not even 300 years as a 'superpower' - more like about 100 years. American people suffer from Delusions Of Grandeur, they always have done. I do agree with some of what you are saying though. William Alexander Plumbasket Georgios Kappos (2017)
• Exactly I guess the rise of both USSR and USA was 1918 the end of first world war, 3 superpowers woth UK which lost the status in 1945 and USSR in 1991 now with China rise as superpower in 2020. America may celebrate but they now have a tough competitor and they will use India here for the benfit. Abhishek Srivastava William Alexander Plumbasket (2020)
• Mr. Plumbasket. The Brits have won many wars and battles because they are disciplined loyal troops but they invariably always lost in parliament because of their own "delusions of grandeur", the disdain they harbored all over the world for those they had battled who weren't exactly like them. A sense of pride bordering on insane provinciality. The distance they kept. Never mingling and always thinking of England as "home". Very commendable but clearly showing at the time of the colonies the inability to truly leave your shores with an open mind. As for the great cultures that lasted thousands of years, times were different and nothing traveled as fast as things do today. Your put down attitude towards the U.S is the purest reflection of your lack of gratitude. The U.S saved Europe twice. At least take the high road and show the class you think you have by being thankful. You're a silly poser. Bar stool prophets are a dime a dozen. The majority of the last two or three generations have been more open minded, better traveled, it isn't the miles you log but the eyes you use to actually see, the new generations in general see the world with a very different optic than the old era colonialists of which you seem to be a vestige without much of a rudder. Luckily the newer generations of your country and most others have evolved well beyond your current capabilities which they show by being far more citizens of the world than the likes of you ever were regardless of what distant moons you traveled under. They have joined the world while those who wallow in their past perceived glory do a disservice to their country in their boorish inability to see beyond their local beaches. Paul Homsy William Alexander Plumbasket (2017)
• You just did the same thing, assuming that NASA only hires Indian brains? You correct about assuming their a superior race, because countries all over the world play different sports. The olympics are very western, most of the sports are popular among westerners. And if Indians are apparently so smart, how come they haven't started their own space program? Batman Georgios Kappos (2016)
• Though I agree with your first line but just for your knowledge an answer for your last line Batman .. either you don't read news apart from Western world or you were asleep for last 5 years otherwise you would not have undermined India and India do have a space Agency called ISRO just google and has their own indigenous space programs too including chandrayaan-1 (moon mission) in 2008 and Mangalyaan (Mars mission ) in 2014 became Asia's first country to successfully reach Mars orbit and at cheapest cost so pls correct your facts. Gyan Batman (2017)
• NASA have people working from all over the world - it would be a no brainer to suggest otherwise. If it was just Americans, well, I would not like to imagine that outcome. William Alexander Plumbasket Batman (2017)
• Without British colonisation - well, you'd still be wiping your bottoms of leaves.
  I hate to say this, but I really wish that my ancestors had not colonised America at all, you'd still be a nice & quiet country then. Only a complete idiot would even imagine that they are superior human beings, oh look, only an American would think that. It was only last Century that certain individuals from another country, thought that they were 'superior human beings' - it didn't finish too well for them, according to the history books ;-) Maybe there is a lesson to be learned by you American folk. Have a nice day :-) William Alexander Plumbasket (2017)
• Oh, and we did kind of kick your butts in the revolutionary war. MattTempco William Alexander Plumbasket (2017)
• what would you have done without America in the world wars? MattTempco William Alexander Plumbasket (2017)
  • Speaking German lol. Fedex Routes MattTempco (2017)
• Bro the U.S is made up of many nationalities. More than almost every country in the world. And yea the U.S is better at sports except soccer. But we do lack in other areas. We dont think we're the best in everything. We just take pride in what we do. Eric William Alexander Plumbasket (2018)
• No, no, no, the British, France, and Spanish colonized America. YOYOYO William Alexander Plumbasket (2017)
• Now who's the arrogent fool suffering from "delusions of grandoure" as you so called it, quoting some other probably arrogent fool. Da Dude William Alexander Plumbasket (2017)
• And who thinks of themselves as s**t hot now? When you say "some Americans think they're a superior race". Unlike many Europeans and you in particular, hardly any American thinks of himself or herself as part of a superior race. I believe you cornered the market on that one. You're projecting your own feelings. Big fail. Americans are far easier to get along with than a stuck up jerk thinks. You impose your own self-limitations with your narrow views and actual feelings of superiority. Stop gathering your information from tabloids. We didn't invent them...You did. Paul Homsy William Alexander Plumbasket (2017)
• Ignorance is Bliss. Do you have any data on how many indians are working for NASA? Dont go by the pesudeo patrotic-social posts. Swagat Rath Rahul Biswas (2016)
• 22% of the people in India are in poverty. Only dedicated athletes can try to make the olympics and a lot of people have to work their butts off to stand a chance at living.This proves that india actually has a smaller percent of people who actually can compete and want to. William Huang arizona65 (2019)
• I will make this simple for you, being as you are an American. There is a few determining factors that makes America a leading medal winner, are you ready? GDP/ funding/ academies" - it really is as simple as that. Now, some American people will claim that they are superior human beings (arrogance/ignorance) or whatever you want to call it. Now, certain individuals, from another country, had similar ideas last Century. As I am sure that you will appreciate, it did not finish too well for them. Maybe there is a lesson for you folk. It seems that a moderate percentage of Americans suffer from 'Delusions Of Grandeur' - It is noticeable, especially after reading your comments.
  Have a nice day :-). William Alexander Plumbasket arizona65 (2017)
• i just want to add one logical perception regarding the medal tally. why there are so many number of medals in some sports like swimming and only one gold in team sports like hockey and football. i think there should be some kind of parity between these medals. in the sports which require the contribution of whole team, they give only one gold while some sports like swimming, they are giving many golds. i think there should be some parity regarding weightage of gold medals so that one gold in football or hockey will not be compared with one gold of any particular kind of swimming sport. because the efforts which the whole team has made to win a team sport gold is much more than a single athlete's effort in sport like swimming. Skandh soni arizona65 (2016)
• i disagree....being that football/soccer, basketball, hockey, or whatever it may be is a weighed team sport swimming and track takes more because there are different regions within it or categories. you don't get a medal for best header in football or best dunk or best check in hockey. However best 100m best butterfly swimmer and best javelin all require different skills and isn't played in a game format. Kut Thomas skandh soni (2016)
• Funding counts more then population something the US does in abundance.... Others obviously can't compete if they don't having means for funding. Ricardo arizona65 (2016)
• It's not meaningless - but its one important variable (there are others - such as money invested in sport - and whether you are a rich democracy). India is not a rich democracy so doesn't have much money to spend on sport. A gold medal typically costs around $1m of investment. Niico100 arizona65 (2016)
• India do have money. If they took some of the money spent on cricket and invested it in sport acadamies, who knows what the results may be. BrilliantIdiot niico100 (2019)
• omg... i keep on seeing your comments... hey mate... Greek here and of course broke as a nation! Imagine what... we are named broke by your american -ups international- institutions, yet we own less that 1% that you do. So let's be honest, there is only one thing you are clearly better... weapons and willingness to use them on innocent children in order to secure your economic interests. From there the equations are really easy to be followed... and yes they lead to superpowers!!! Georgios Kappos (2016)
• while your point is made clearly, you have mis-spoke. If you are referring to the US for comparison to India... Neither country is a Democracy. The US is a Republic and always has been. Read the Pledge of Allegiance. " To the Republic for which it stands" Brian Holland niico100 (2016)
• There isn't a true democratic country in the world, a actual Democracy is where every civilian of that said Democracy votes and decides policy of the government, which if it were in place today it would literally be impossible to accomplish hardly anything because of the vast different number of opinions which would make the political process impractical and almost impossible, the United States is a Democratic Rebuplic which is the same and is a base from which all Democratic governments use, it's neither a true Democracy nor a true Republic it takes the best parts of both to create a government with the ability to have the people participate like a democracy and have the most simplicity and efficiency of a republic. AMERICAN WORKER Brian Holland (2016)
• The USA took lands off the Indians so we don't know how things might have panned out in that territory if one culture had not subjugated another. Pix042 David (2014)
• Us Cherokee Indians are extremely good at Javelin throw and Ping Pong. Watch out.... 2020.... for the Native American team of athletes! LOL (yes im Cherokee) Jacob Sawyer pix042 (2016)
• If you were Cherokee you'd call yourself just Cherokee or native not an Indian. Alexander DeLarge Jacob Sawyer (2016)
• oh I Know Thorpe still holds records in American Football too and he was Native American.. Can you Imagine if the native American had not been conquered by the Europeans.. imagine 7 foot tall man wrestling in the olympics.. Yes the native Americans were tall people. All along the eastern seaboard from Hudson bay to Florida. to the Gulf of Mexico down to Mexico were these Giants. Talmadge Williams pix042 (2016)
• My maternal great grandmother was full-blooded Choctaw, and she was very short, under 5'. Choctaws were generally short people. Quite a few Native American tribes were short people. My family is from the coast of the Gulf Of Mexico, all branches of it. Melanie Talmadge Williams (2016)
• If everyone has the idea a larger population gives you a better chance of getting Olympics medals, please explain how the top few populous countries India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh did so badly perennially. Gillette00 David (2016)
• Population is important, but GDP is more important. Taking these 2 things together, you can easily come up with a formula to predict (at least explain) the differences in medal tallies in different countries. Francis Gillette00 (2016)
• Agree that GDP should be looked at more favorably than population. Something to consider though, many medalists from poorer nations train in the US or attend US universities. Therefore, they have access to the same training and facilities as the US athletes. Grossman Francis (2016)
• soooooo what happens when you add the fact that team usa is not sponsored by its govt, while many of its competitors are? Badd_KungFu Francis (2016)
• The individuals such as those in Team USA not sponsored by states are rewarded financially far more handsomely. Pluses and minuses in both system. Francis Badd_KungFu (2016)
• There are many countries where people can't name countries. Just because you don't know doesn't mean nobody knows. You Americans didn't even know Vietnam until the war 😂Ankush Sawant David (2016)
• Lmao why did we need to, it's like a king knowing the names of all the peasants in the kingdom, and then out of nowhere the peasant threatens to move to another kingdom which threatens the size of our kingdom and by that we take notice of him. Eli Ankush Sawant (2016)
• Why do you include West Germany in the German totals but not East Germany? This seems arbitrary. East Germany was unified with West Germany into Germany, so if you accept West German medals, you logically have to accept East German medals. Ian (2016)
• Ian, I can see an argument for including West Germany's medals with those of the united Germany as in effect the continuing German state between 1945-89. However, to include those of East Germany as well would be unfair as in many events East and West Germany together would have had twice as many competitors as other countries so distorting the results, e.g. athletics - six German competitors per event compared with three from the USA or USSR. In any event East Germany's medal success is so completely tainted by systemic drug abuse I'm certain Germany wouldn't wish to be credited with these medals. Many ex-East German athletes, particularly women, are still paying the price for the state sponsored abuse of their bodies. Nick ian (2016)
• Just because you are given the privilege of posting does not meant you also get the privilege of posting false accusations.... First dont compare kenya with any of the countries you mentioned.... KENYA does not have the financial muscle that the others have to have a sophisticated doping system.... But whats more important is each of the mentioned countries have had medals stripped from their athletes for doping at the olympics.... Now read this NOT A SINGLE KENYAN HAS BEEN STRIPPED OF THEIR OLYMPIC MEDAL EVER.... as for doping yes kenyan athelets of no particular value in athletics or recognition have dopped.... And also every other country has but non of our medal winners.... So pleaee watch what you say about our athletes. Mohamed Benjamin Hoffmeister (2016)
• Very odd including Australia as a 'bigger nation using doping'. We have less than 1/10th of the population of the US at around 25 million compared to 350 million and I believe we have only ever had 3 IOC doping charges. Historically, Australia is one of the cleanest nations when it comes to doping, as well as being one of the most successful medal winning nation per capita of population at 7th in the world overall and number 1 in the world for nations with populations over 10 million. USA is 36th in the world for medals won per capita of population out of a total of 64 nations. Russian Federation is 41st and China is in 56 place. Beau Ravn Ap Gwyddon Benjamin Hoffmeister (2016)
• Someone tell me why Russia is listed as the soviet union. TunaSalad (2017)
  • they are not, USSR/Soviet Union and Russia are listed separately. You can see them both on the complete list which has been recently updated Rob Admin TunaSalad (2017)
• I think there is a problem with the AVERAGE chart in that there were far less possible medals to win in the early Olympics prior to the USSR participating. You'd need to weigh the number of possible medals into each olympics before calculating the average. DarkHorseSki(too many upvotes) (2016)
  • I agree, factoring the number of available medals would improve this analysis .. I've just got to find the info and do the calculations. Rob Admin DarkHorseSki (2016)
• Yeah, you'll need a total medals awarded number per Olympics. And that has to be actual results because trying to shortcut things would throw off the numbers thanks to the early Olympics not having the Gold/Silver/Bronze... and some sports, like Judo, awarding 2 bronzes... DarkHorseSki(too many upvotes) Rob (2016)
• You forgot to mention that during the 70s and 80s the United States was not allowed to have professional athletes. The Soviet Union did allow them and that drastically affected the medal haul for the USA. That skewed the results, So the USA still has the most impressive haul. Why didn't you mention this? Are you Canadian or something? World Rob (2019)
• Very interesting your web page. I agree with you in considering the ex-USSR ( Soviet Union ) as the best ever team taking in mind they only attended in 10 Olympic editions. On the other hand, why don't consider Germany as an unique team after its re-unification, if so they are the third ever successful country with 400 gold medals. Congratulations again and greetings from Lima - Peru. Carlos Mendoza (2015)
• Keep in mind USSR's success had partly to do with the commandeering of about 15 or so countries through force, and state sponsored doping/forced drug use. Not to downplay their success to be disrespectful, but yes, their stats are nowhere comparable to the stable and consistent success of countries like USA and China. Jacob Sawyer Carlos Mendoza (2016)
• Oh the irony. Just reading through all the comments and one must chuckle. Instead of comparing one country with another. Look at the years in which the global climate has been anything but peaceful and yet as a group we are able to come together on a world stage and enjoy the ideals of the best man has to offer in spirit and in physical abilities. Granted many have "cheated" and standards of what is acceptable has changed. So much so that many athletes of 50 years ago would have not passed doping regs of today if used back then. Stop looking with a finite mindset, but rather seeing the showcase of mankind simplified and unified under one roof regardless of race, region, creed, religion or anything else that may drive us a part. We are human and we can cohabitate that's the beauty of these games. Regardless of medal counts. We all win when we strive as one race in the greatest race of all...the human race. Jon Carson (2016)
• omg this is so cool i never knew this because i am learning about this in socialology. Brool (2020)
• Thank you for the nice article. I went ahead and searched for the medals per capita because countries with 10 or a hundred times the population of my country have fewer medals. I was born in Bulgaria and I am proud of how high they rank with a population of only 7 million people. This is pretty embarrassing for countries like the States, Russia, France, and Germany. Vlad Rangotchev (2019)
• Good job coming up with a completely random statistic to put Russia on top. USA is the most athletic country on Earth by a large margin. Get over it. Good Krypollo (2019)
• The USSR athletes were aided by goverment sponsored performance enhancement programs and their athletes were basically profesional athletes they were given goverment jobs that allowed them to get payed to practice for their olympic events all year round. Drizzt228 (2018)
• the men who built america started the entire world motivated. who invented cars? who started the rail road? who built refineries? who invented the television? who invented pc's/ which led to a battle over who's was better... now hand held computers? we [usa] may not have been the first, but we definitely started the world we live in today!!!!! Joker (2017)
• railroad: the Brits, automobil: germany, TV; US, Radio: Italy, Marconi. Polish pharmacist and inventor Ignacy Łukasiewicz established an oil refinery in Jasło, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Poland) in 1854. electricity: Ben franklin. BrilliantIdiot joker (2019)
• America is obviously the best y'all morons. Stats prove that. Hahahaha USA USA USA. Dalton Corbin (2017)
• Can we even count the USSR? I mean it's 2018 and these guys are still trying to get away with doping. Imagine what they got away with back then. Hank W (Sypher117) (2017)
• Whoa,so many people were angered by my previous comment months back. No wonder Trump is your President. Anyways,going back to how intelligent Indians are,ISRO,the Indian Space Research Organisation sent an orbiter to Mars at the cost of 1/10th of what Nasa did. Oh that burns,I'm sorry. And to the ignorant Brits,who don't even know that we do have a space program,let me ask you one question,do you have your own space program? And colonisation of India,yes,I'm coming to that,aren't you even ashamed of directly causing the famines in Bengal and what not. Oh and please come and talk to me when you have the heart to return our kohinoor diamond back. Yes the mighty Queen's Kohinoor diamond was stolen from India. So thats the history of Great Britain...Apply Burnol to burned areas please. 😅😅 Rahul Biswas (2017)
• Medals from Olympic events from years ago are all tainted by the possibility of drug use. Even today everyone is aware of the cheating that goes on and not only by the athletes themselves but by coaches, drug checkers and even Nations. People like the great Paavo Nurmi, winner of 10 Olympic gold medals in the 1920s, used a drug containing the male hormone testosterone to boost his performance and right up to today's latest drug takers, the need to 'win at all costs' will mean that some athletes will stoop to drug taking if available. The East German Olympic team and also I suspect most of the Soviet Union teams of the past were certainly using drug enhancement, so to use gold/ silver/ bronze medal count as some sort of sporting league table is to be taken with a BIG pinch of salt. Mal (2016)
• Nice table, a much fairer comparison. You just need to update the numbers for Russia, it has won 149 gold medals in total and not 147. Manuel Falla (2016)
• Wow!!! How did reading this article turn into a pointless comments about race. You all going to add religion and politics next?!? AMW (2016)
• If life wasn't a competition why did god call us The Human Race? Arizona65 (2016)
• This is what it comes down to....America it's the shiznit and all other countries suck...shouldn't qatar have the most medals because that's the richest county in the world ship money doesn't mean anything cause they never win so what it comes down too is every country sucks except America.....MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!!!!! Justin Dismore (2016)
• The unfair advantage that USA, Great Britain, Australia, Canada and a lot of western countries have (but these in particular) is the greatest mixture of races which produces the best athletes. Add to that the superior funding and infastructure, stable environment and there's no comparison. They(predominatly white north European) just take credit for what a mixture of African, South American, Asian and East European genes contribute. When you take all this into account they should be even more dominant. It still doesnt match the achievements of Soviet Union/Russia (which was a mixture of far more similar people),China and many other countries for that matter. Jillimy Jilikers (2016)
• The US is one of the most cosmopolitan places in the world. yes, they have serious racial issues. So do other countries. BrilliantIdiot Jillimy Jilikers (2019)
• Wow. Two sentences in and it goes political. Nice. Why bother with the Olympics or even a song by Coke. No one really cares anymore. If they ever did. How do we go from naming countries to subjugating Native Americans? Geez... Mmotherday (2016)
• what about medals per capita?n Would not that be a more accurate measurement of success? Godisalljust (2016)
  • On this site I analysed the total medals won all time relative to population size, while that site you referenced only compares for each Olympiad. Rob Admin Beau Ravn Ap Gwyddon (2016)
• so Germany is #3 (GER+FRG+UTG) AND #11 (East-Germany) in your list (East-Germany would still be #9 in Gold-Ranking) // by the way, some athletes won medals for East-Germany AND Germany -> so why split them? -> if you add them up there will be 3 nations with each more than 1000 medals... Benjamin Hoffmeister (2016)
• Weighted Medals per Capita All Time: So Finland is the best :) lol Vargaati79 (2016)
• There is no country in the world called GB. I presume you are all thinking of the UK. The ignorance of the morons who organized the UK's team is mind-blowing. I am embarrassed that the good people of Northern Ireland have been so shoddily treated. Nick (2016)
  • The British Olympic Association and the IOC both refer to the team from the United Kingdom as Great Britain, even though it is the team of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The team also represents the Crown dependencies (Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) and all but three of the British overseas territories. Rob Admin nick (2016)
• Being such small nation in comparison to USA and Soviet union team GB is in fourth place so Britain is great. Sabin Bhattarai (2015)
• I am an American and am proud of our success, I am also proud of all the people of the world for doing well. GB for being much smaller, Australia for being even smaller in population than GB, wow some impressive totals. Brian (2015)
• please make a top ten medals winner not country a athlete man or woman (im danish i need it at school) Please (2015)
• Hehe, Sweden and Hungary here is very great success to these nations, because comparing to the 50-100 million inhabitants "superpowers" (I didn't talk about China), Sweden and Hungary is around 10 million people, and the last century their population moved between 7-10 million. This is what we can call real sport nations! Congratulation to Hungary and Sweden for this brathtaking accomplishments!!!!!! Aleks (2013)
• Medals per athlete REALLY shows which nation is most committed!! Remember: NOVEMBER! (2016)
• Rank Country Medals Population Population per Medal
  1 Finland 303 5,407,040 17,845
  2 Sweden 491 9,490,683 19,329
  3 Hungary 489 9,962,000 20,372
  4 Denmark 191 5,580,516 29,217
  5 Bahamas 12 353,658 29,471
  6 Norway 152 5,005,700 32,932
  7 Bulgaria 215 7,364,570 34,253
  8 Jamaica 73 2,705,827 37,066
  9 Estonia 34 1,318,005 38,764
  10 New Zealand 113 4,432,620 39,226
  11 East Germany 409 16,111,000 39,391
  12 Switzerland 189 7,870,100 41,640
  13 Australia 494 22,880,619 46,317
  14 Cuba 217 11,241,161 51,802
  15 Grenada 2 110,821 55,410
  16 Netherlands 281 16,731,770 59,543
  17 Romania 305 19,042,936 62,435
  18 Bermuda 1 64,237 64,237
  19 Czechoslovakia 143 10,318,000 72,153
  20 Trinidad and Tobago 18 1,317,714 73,206
  21 Belgium 148 10,951,266 73,995
  22 Great Britain 836 62,262,000 74,476
  23 Iceland 4 319,575 79,893
  24 Slovenia 23 2,057,540 89,458
  25 France 702 65,350,000 93,091
  26 Greece 115 10,787,690 93,806
  27 Austria 87 8,452,835 97,159
  28 Tonga 1 103,036 103,036
  29 Mongolia 26 2,736,800 105,261
  30 Italy 573 60,776,531 106,067
  31 Virgin Islands 1 106,405 106,405
  32 Latvia 19 2,070,371 108,966
  33 Belarus 84 9,461,400 112,635
  34 Netherlands Antilles 2 227,049 113,524
  35 Yugoslavia 90 10,348,473 114,983
  36 Canada 294 34,771,400 118,270
  37 United States 2,496 313,382,000 125,553
  38 Lithuania 25 3,192,800 127,712
  39 Germany 605 81,831,000 135,257
  40 Poland 279 38,501,000 137,996
  ATL (2016)

• Average per Olympiad is stupid. 2016 awards over 900 medals. As example. 1936 Olympics awarded about 300 total. If someone wanted to bother with a more true comparison then do percentages of total awarded. Bill (2016)
  • Comparing the average number of medals per Olympiad was better than just total medals, your suggestion of using the percentage of total is even better. I will be updating these tables after Rio so I can do that analysis too. Rob Admin bill (2016)
• Yes the USSR were the most successful - largely to their widespread use of banned drugs. Just like Russia & China today - drug cheats. Niico100 (2016)
• From the last couple of Olympics 11 gold medalists from Russia lost their gold medal because they have been proven dopers. Guess who they share that number rank one with? The US of A.... Chris_Frost1979 niico100 (2016)
• So yeah Russians dope and cheat, but historically no other (successful) country, was really honest either and the US is way up there with Russia and the late east Germany when it came to the use of performance enhancing drugs.
• Usa has 300 million more people then Australia! Fair enough you have 2400 medals which is 5 times as many as us but you have 13.5 times the population. Clearly Australia is the best! Matthew (2016)
• sweden has less inhabitants and more medals won. Benjamin Hoffmeister Matthew (2016)
• The secret is kangaroo steak and Fosters Beer! GuanKim Matthew (2016)
• Clearly? The gold medal stats don't go up just based on the population rising. What is wrong with you. You had a flash of an idea and then you post it as fact even though there is zero evidence, zero chance to prove it and zero actual information that you just provided. All you did was put some black pixels on my white screen in a certain formation, that's all I can really give you credit for on that one. Jacob Sawyer Matthew (2016)
• Considering our climate, the distinct lack of facilities, that's pretty impressive ... I hope the poorer countries with their athletes who are struggling to achieve their aim every day ... start to come up the ladder ... make it much more interesting - maybe it's wishful thinking but sport can change things!! Gbgb Jakey (2016)
• how is gb the best, when clearly the US leads he pack with 1000's of medals, 3x the number of medals in less games than gb.. the US RULES everything - superiority! Daryl Jakey (2016)
• I think that you are being delusional Daryl. If you pro-rata the medals vis head of population, the team USA is doing very badly. It is fairly typical of an American not to recognize anyone from out side of their country. They only know where Iraq is as the invaded it. When i lived in the US, kids knowledge of geography was both shameful and incredible as they could name but less than 15 % of the countries on a world map. Need I say more. Pete daryl (2016)
• While population size does provide you with a potential for more talent, it is not some guarantee that you'll win more medals. Otherwise China and India would be untouchable, no? GDP, and a sport's popularity in the country in question, are far more potent factors in medal counts, if you ask me. Having your country able (GDP), and willing (sport's popularity), to support their athlete's daily & training needs, without them having to cut massive chunks of time out of preparation efforts to support themselves or their families, is far more important in winning medals than having another 1/1,000,000,000 type talent residing in a person with no access to proper training or equipment/facilities. Phelps wouldn't be who he is without the people around him, that not only taught him, but allowed him to live a life that didn't require he give up swimming to help support his family. Pretty ironic how you try to paint someone as delusional and myopic, while using a method of determination that amounts to just about nada. The kids where you come from must not be taught critical thinking skills, I'm sure if I visited only 15% would be able to parse out that you're full of it. Need I say more? James Willey Pete (2016)
• Sport's popularity is an important factor that I do believe people ignore. I can't speak for many other countries, but in the United States, many of our very best athletes you will find in the NBA and NFL, not utilizing their abilities for the Olympics (except for Olympic basketball which we have dominated throughout history). For example, the US once did extremely well in Olympic boxing. This is not the case anymore. With the sport dying in the United States, I think many who could box at an elite level are taking the football/basketball route. Grossman James Willey (2016)
• The US has over 4 times the gold medal ratio of GB which is close to the population ratio. And the reason why Americans world geography knowledge is lacking is due to the fact that the country is so large they seldomly need to concern them self with other countries. Compared to most others where a trip through multiple countries would be the equivalent of going through a couple states. As well as our surrounding countries being places most Americans want to avoid. Tellis Pete (2016)
• Your argument for lack of knowledge about other countries itself shows how Americans are ignorant. Ankush Sawant Tellis (2016)
• Americans are ignorant? Aren't you using websites like Facebook, YouTube and Gmail/Google? Those are American creations. And even if you don't use those websites, you are using the internet right now, which was invented by the US military back when it was called the ARPANET. Have you ever seen a Hollywood movie? Your name Ankush makes me think you're of Indian decent, are you not? So even your own "Bollywood" scene is simply a copycat to Hollywood...yet we are the ignorant ones? Why are we so damn influential if we are ignorant? BTW, the airplane. Ever heard of that one? Yeah....the Wright brothers did that one too, in North Carolina. Ever heard of that? We have, it's in the USA. How come we are completely dominating the olympics every time if we are missing something major in our brains? How come? Oh, and the computer you're using...probably American. We created Apple corporation (not the most ignorant people are they?). Do you use iPhones or iPads or anything? I bet you do or someone you care about does, and I bet they benefit from it too! Ohh, that must hurt. The reason why people like you think that Americans are stupid is because of something you saw on television or some little clip of something. If you actually come to the USA, and speak to the people, you will find a different story. We know how to build strong communities of happy and successful people, we know how to throw our trash in the garbage, we know how to say "hi" to people as we pass by on the sidewalk, we know how to focus our minds and create great things without massive corruption and widespread chaos. Try that out for size in your country, and then lets talk about whose ignorant. Try getting your average Indian person to put their trash away, or respect a woman as equal to a man. Does your country innovate? Do you create things that help and change the world? Do you? Even if you do, so do we. I've been to Madras and Cochin, and I know that's not even the half of the terrors of Indian culture and city life. Come visit USA. We won't lick our lips and look you up and down to decide how much your outfit is worth and how much of your stuff we can steal. Jacob Sawyer Ankush Sawant (2016)
• The US is made up of best brains from other countries that they enticed. I daresay the US Americans are poached people. GuanKim Jacob Sawyer (2016)
• Lol! Why do they come here, Guan? If we're all so ignorant and stupid why should they. There are plenty of ignorant people here, but if you think that holds true for "Americans" as Ankush does, and not the Chinese & Indians, you're a bigger fool than the people you're imagining. come to get the higher education we offer? James Willey GuanKim (2016)
• America is a great country, and easily the best one to live in. I laugh when all of you talk about usa's medals compared to the population when China and India are doing much worse in that matter. I don't care what country you live in, America is still much greater. It is a blessing to live in America. Spencer Bringhurst Ankush Sawant (2016)
• Ankush, as an american and someone who has lived in multiple countries; Scotland, France, India, Singapore and the argument laid out by Tellis is not all that far fetched. It is completely illogical to assume that an American would know the geographical or political make up of every country. Just because someone from one country knows something about the US that is not reciprocated is not an equal comparison. People learn and remember things that are important to their way of life and their surroundings. Tyler Kaye Ankush Sawant (2016)
• All I know is that my country CUBA ROCKS, we are ranked higher in the All-Time Olympic Games Medal Tally (Summer Olympics) against ALL the Spanish speaking country of the word including MEXICO-ARGENTINA- COLOMBIA- VENEZUELA even though our population is very small compare to theirs, Plus i don't agree that a gold medal costs around $1m of investment bcz i was a Cuban national champion at one point in my youth years and i trained ( track and field ) with regular shoes and home made shorts for years before i was able to get one set by the communists party, the only advantage was being in a school for medal contender athletes where i had three meals a day guarantee, (Now i'm and USA citizen). What is your opinion on this..... E. aja Ankush Sawant (2016)
• China is even larger in population and land mass. Her people are well-travelled and can beat the US hands down in geography. GuanKim Tellis (2016)
• Well traveled? Less than 3% of Chinese citizens have passports. And more than 35% of Americans have passports. I am an American, and I have personally been to 72 countries. I know tons of Americans that travel. Anyway, there's no need to have a competition but since you've shared false facts like everyone else on this comment area, I have no choice to show you some stats to prove you are completely mistaken. 3% Chinese passport holders and 35% American passport holders. NOT EVEN CLOSE. Jacob Sawyer GuanKim (2016)
• About 40,710,000 Chinese passport holders. About 111,615,000 US passport holders. Philly Rampardson Jacob Sawyer (2016)
• GuanKim Jacob Sawyer (2016)
  Some twenty-million Chinese travel as tourists round the world. Europe welcomes them. The US welcomes them. The Nihonjin welcomes them. Many countries rolled their red carpets to woo the Chinese. It is common knowledge not many US Americans travel outside North America.
• Michael Phelps (an American) currently has 3X as many gold medals as GB does right now as a whole. In his career, he has 25 medals, 21 of them gold. Making up stats on countries' abilities to know geography? It would seem silly to someone like me that you have no actual data, but I suppose when you are so ignorant that you don't even know what you don't know, then you're kinda stuck in a trap. Anymore questions guys? Jacob Sawyer Pete (2016)
• Germany has not that much more population, but a lot more medals :p Benjamin Hoffmeister Jacob Sawyer (2016)
• It's kinda wrong to include separate entries for Russia, the USSR and to omit Russian Empire's results. The USSR was the official successor of Russian Empire, and Russian Federation (Russia) is the official successor of the USSR, even in the IOC, if I'm not mistaken. But certainly in the UN and FIFA. Dant (2015)
• East Germany and the Soviet Union (much like Russia today) were under a state sponsored testosterone and steroid doping program during those "Golden Years". I don't see how you can count any of those medals that were gained through cheating? Joss (2016)
• The same way you count USA medals when 80% of proven doping scandals are directly attributed to the great country of Basketball Dreamteam that in 2004 threaten to withdraw from competition when a doping control was requested. Georgios Kappos Joss (2016)
• The USA is the country that pushed for doping tests. The IOC is corrupt and is only interested in making money for their own individual executive board. They bankrupt countries that hold the games and support and legitimize totalitarian regimes that murder and jail their own people. Like oh, Let's say Russia and China for example. The USA stops police's their athletes and tried to prevent doping. If an athletes in the USA cheats it is their own individual decision. In Russia and China the cheating is 100% run and sponsored by their government. Their athletes have no choice. Joss Georgios Kappos (2016)
• China and Russia is not for the USA to legitimise. They do not owe their your existence to the US. You have made accusations based on your Cold War mentality. Really, only orangutans make such kind of noise. GuanKim Joss (2016)
• The IOC is the international Olympic Committee not the USA. You should read what is being said before you respond. The IOC dangerously validated Adolph Hither's regime in 1936. Flash forward to February, 2014 when they did the same to Putin's regime that prior to that was starting to fail. He then proceeded to attack and annex the Ukraine. China used their recent Olympic games to jail all of their civil rights attorneys. Most are now missing completely missing. China also involuntarily displaced hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed their homes to build their Olympic venues. Joss GuanKim (2016)
• I'm sorry GuanKim, but after reading your comments I must say - an orangutan would embarrass you. Your comments are extremely dimwitted. Ignorance is bliss though, buddy! Ignorance is bliss. Jeremy GuanKim (2016)
• "bankrupt countries that legitimize totalitarian regimes that murder and jail their own people" I guess as opposed to "bankrupt USA that legitimize totalitarian regimes (worldwide) that murder and jail their own people (and when they can't we give a hand.. or two... or 10.000 long live the US army). Georgios Kappos Joss (2016)
• Wondering if you wish to change your comment after the latest WADA and USADA revelations of "good" doping. By the way it is interesting that health issues that allow such a "good" doping arise only in US, Britain, German teams... Georgios Kappos Joss (2016)
• Oh please, the USA dream team could be anyone any time, even other American NBA teams! Doping or not has nothing to do with their success. Doping doesn't help accuracy or teamwork or attitude, which our players excel at. Jacob Sawyer Georgios Kappos (2016)
• hmmm... okay... so as long as you do have the best team in talent or strategy or anything... a little doping is ok. Interesting idea! Georgios Kappos Jacob Sawyer (2016)