First Olympic Medal Winners from Each Country
Over 200 countries have won at least one medal at the Summer Olympics. We have compiled a list of the first medal winners (male or female) from each country (see also our list of the first gold medal winners from each country). Only nations currently part of the IOC have been included.
For some countries, there were numerous medallists 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 (sometimes we list both, sometimes we make an educated guess, sometimes we might get it wrong).
2024 Update:
Which countries will we be adding to this list in 2024?
- Julien Alfred of St Lucia won the women's 100 meters, the nation's first medal of any color to date.
- Cape Verde boxer David De Pina clinched his island nation's first Olympic medal with a quarter-final victory in the flyweight division.
- 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.
- Boxer Cindy Ngamba is the Refugee Olympic Team's 1st medalist.
List of First Medalists for Each Country (up to 2021)
| Country | Year of medal | medal type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | 2008 | bronze | Rohullah Nikpai took the bronze in Taekwondo (58 kgs.). In 2012, Nikpai again won the bronze for the same sport. |
| Algeria | 1984 | bronze | Mustapha Moussa won bronze in the Men's Light Heavyweight boxing event. Another Algerian Mohamed Zaoui also won bronze medals in Men's Light Heavyweight on the same day. |
| Argentina | 1924 | silver | Luis Brunetto finished second in the men's tripple jump. On the same day the Argentinian team won gold in the men's polo tournament |
| Armenia | 1996 | gold | Armen Nazaryan won the men's flyweight Greco-Roman wrestling |
| Australia | 1896 | gold | Athletics 1500m for men, won by Teddy Flack |
| Austria | 1896 | silver | Otto Herschmann was second in the 100 m Freestyle on April 11. Shortly after, Paul Neumann won the 500m Freestyle event, and later that day Adolf Schmal won two bronze medals in track cycling. |
| Azerbaijan | 1996 | silver | Namik Abdullayev Wrestling Men's freestyle 52 kg |
| Bahamas | 1956 | bronze | Sloane Farrington and Durward Knowles finished third in the Sailing Star Class |
| Bahrain | 2012 | gold | Athletics 1,500m, Women, Maryam Jamal |
| Barbados | 2000 | bronze | Obadele Thompson finished 3rd in the men's 100m sprint in 2000. Earlier, at the 1960 Olympics, two Barbados athletes competed as part of the combined West Indies team, with Jim Wedderburn winning bronze as part of the men's 4×400 meter relay. |
| Belarus | 1996 | bronze | Many medals were won by Belarus athletes at the 1996 Games. The earliest was on July 21, when three greco-roman wrestlers won medals, all at the same afternoon session. The first may have been Valery Tsilent (as he particpated in the bronze medal match) finishing 3rd in the men's Greco-Roman 82 kg clas. It may also have been Aleksandr Pavlov as he was participating in the lighter 48 kg class, finishing 2nd. Sergey Lishtvan also finished 2nd in the 100 kg class. |
| Belgium | 1900 | gold | The first of many medals at the 1900 Games for Belgium was a gold to Aimé Haegeman in the Individual Equestrian Jumping event. Georges Van Der Poele also came second in the same event. |
| Bermuda | 2021 | gold | Triathlete Flora Duffy won the women's triathlon at Tokyo 2020 |
| Botswana | 2012 | silver | Nijel Amos, Athletics, 800 meters, Men |
| Brazil | 1920 | bronze | The Brazil team finished 3rd in the Men's 50 meter team pistol. Later in the day, Afrânio da Costa (who was part of the team) won silver in the individual Men's 50m free pistol. |
| Bulgaria | 1952 | bronze | Boris Nikolov, in Boxing Men's Middleweight |
| Burkina Faso | 2020 | bronze | Hugues Zango, Athletics, Triple Jump, Men |
| Burundi | 1996 | gold | Athletics 5,000m, Men, Vénuste Niyongabo |
| Cameroon | 1968 | silver | Joseph Bessala, Boxing Welterweight |
| Canada | 1900 | gold | 2500m Steeplechase, George Orton. The next day he also win bronze in the 4000m steeplechase. |
| Chile | 1928 | silver | Manuel Plaza, Men's Marathon |
| China | 1984 | gold | Shooting Free Pistol, 50 meters, Men, Xu Haifeng. China won 32 medals at the 1984 Olympics, though the first medal of the Games went to Xu Haifeng. |
| Chinese Taipei | 1960 | silver | Yang Chuan-kwang — athletics, men's decathlon |
| Colombia | 1972 | silver | Helmut Bellingrodt — Shooting, Men's Running Game Target |
| Costa Rica | 1988 | silver | Silvia Poll Swimming Women's 200 meter freestyle |
| Croatia | 1992 | bronze | Goran Ivanišević & Goran Prpić, Men's doubles Tennis |
| Cuba | 1900 | gold | Fencing Épée, Individual, Men, Ramón Fonst |
| Cyprus | 2012 | silver | Pavlos Kontides, Sailing, One Person Dinghy, Men |
| Czechia | 1996 | bronze | Miroslav Januš Shooting Men's 10 m running target July 26 |
| Denmark | 1896 | gold | Viggo Jensen won a gold medal in the weightlifting two-hand lift. Soon after, he also won silver in the men's one-hand lift competition. |
| Djibouti | 1988 | bronze | Ahmed Salah, Athletics, Marathon, Men |
| Dominican Republic | 1984 | bronze | Pedro Nolasco, Boxing Men's bantamweight |
| Ecuador | 1996 | gold | Athletics men's 20 km walk, Jefferson Pérez |
| Egypt | 1928 | gold | Weightlifting Light-Heavyweight, Men, El Sayed Nosseir |
| Eritrea | 2004 | bronze | Zersenay Tadese, Athletics, 10,000 meters, Men |
| Estonia | 1920 | silver | Jüri Lossmann Athletics Men's Marathon |
| Ethiopia | 1960 | gold | The men's marathon was won by Abebe Bikila |
| Fiji | 2016 | gold | Rugby Sevens, Men, Fiji |
| Finland | 1908 | bronze | The men's gymnastics team finished 3rd. There were 26 athletes in the team. |
| France | 1896 | silver | Alexandre Tuffère, Men's triple jump |
| Gabon | 2012 | silver | Anthony Obame, Taekwondo, Heavyweight, Men |
| Georgia | 1996 | bronze | Soso Liparteliani Judo Men's -78 |
| Germany | 1896 | gold | Germany won the men's team parallel bars competition, the first of many medals for Germany in gymnastics. |
| Ghana | 1960 | silver | Ike Quartey, Boxing, Light-Welterweight, Men |
| Great Britain | 1896 | gold | Launceston Elliot won gold in the weightlifting One-Hand Lift. This is belived to the first medal for GB. The one hand lift was the first weight lifting event of the day. Charles Gmelin came 3rd in the 400m sprint the same day, but that event was held during the afternoon session (after 2.30pm) |
| Greece | 1896 | bronze | Ioannis Persakis Athletics Men's triple jump |
| Grenada | 2012 | gold | Athletics 400 meters, Men, Kirani James |
| Guatemala | 2012 | silver | Érick Barrondo, 2nd in the men's 20km Race Walk. |
| Guyana | 1980 | bronze | Michael Parris, Boxing, Bantamweight, Men |
| Haiti | 1928 | silver | Sylvio Cator, Athletics, Long Jump, Men |
| Hong Kong | 1996 | gold | Sailing Windsurfer, Women, Lee Lai Shan |
| Hungary | 1896 | silver | Nándor Dáni Athletics Men's 800 meters |
| Iceland | 1956 | silver | Vilhjálmur Einarsson, Athletics, Triple Jump, Men |
| India | 1900 | silver | Norman Pritchard, Men's 200m hurdles. A few days later he also won silver in the 200m sprint. |
| Indonesia | 1988 | silver | The women's archery team from Indonesia finished 2nd: Lilies Handayani, Nurfitriyana Saiman and Kusuma Wardhani. |
| IOA | 1992 | silver | Jasna Šekarić, Shooting, Air Pistol, 10 meters, Women |
| Iran | 1958 | bronze | Jafar Salmasi Weightlifting Men's 60 kg |
| Iraq | 1960 | bronze | Abdul Wahid Aziz, Weightlifting, Lightweight, Men |
| Ireland | 1928 | gold | Athletics Hammer Throw, Men, Pat O'Callaghan |
| Israel | 1992 | silver | Yael Arad Women's Judo 61 kg |
| Italy | 1900 | silver | Gian Giorgio Trissino, Equestrian Long jump |
| Ivory Coast | 2016 | gold | Taekwondo Welterweight, Men, Cheick Sallah Cissé |
| Jamaica | 1948 | silver | Athletics 800m, Men, Arthur Wint. Wint won the 400m a week later. |
| Japan | 1920 | siver | Ichiya Kumagae Tennis Men's singles |
| Jordan | 2016 | gold | Taekwondo Featherweight, Men, Ahmad Abughaush |
| Kazakhstan | 1996 | gold | Wrestling Bantamweight, Greco-Roman, Men, Yury Melnichenko |
| Kenya | 1964 | bronze | Wilson Kiprugut Athletics Men's 800m |
| Kosovo | 2016 | gold | Judoka Majlinda Kelmendi won the women's 52kg division |
| Kuwait | 2000 | bronze | Fehaid Al-Deehani Shooting Men's double trap |
| Kyrgyzstan | 2000 | bronze | Aidyn Smagulov Judo Men's 60 kg |
| Latvia | 1932 | silver | Jānis Daliņš Athletics Men's 50 km Walk |
| Lebanon | 1952 | silver/bronze | Two Lebonese Greco-Roman wrestlers won medals on the same day, Zakaria Chihab finished 2nd in Bantamweight, and Khalil Taha finished 3rd in the Men's Greco-Roman Welterweight. |
| Lithuania | 1992 | gold | Athletics Discus Throw, Men, Romas Ubartas |
| Luxembourg | 1900 | gold | In 1900, an athlete from Luxembourg Michel Théato won the gold in the marathon but the win has been credited to France. The next medalist was Joseph Alzin, who was 2nd in eightlifting Men's Heavyweight in 1920. |
| Malasia | 1992 | bronze | Razif Sidek & Jalani Sidek finished 3rd in the Badminton Men's doubles |
| Mauritius | 2008 | bronze | Bruno Julie, Boxing, Bantamweight, Men |
| Mexico | 1900 | bronze | The mexican riders Eustaquio Escandón, Manuel de Escandón, and Pablo de Escandón came 3rd in the Polo Men's tournament. As there was a US rider also in the team, this medal is not credited to Mexico. In 1932, two mexican athletes won silver medals in boxing and shooting. |
| Moldova | 1996 | bronze | Sergei Mureiko — Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman Super Heavyweight |
| Monaco | 1924 | bronze | Julien Médécin, Art Competitions, Architecture, Open |
| Mongolia | 1968 | silver/bronze | Jigjidiin Mönkhbat (middleweight, 2nd), Chimedbazaryn Damdinsharav (flyweight, 3rd), Danzandarjaagiin Sereeter (lightweight, 3rd), Tömöriin Artag (welterweight, 3rd) |
| Montenegro | 2012 | silver | Montenegro, Handball, Handball, Women |
| Morocco | 1960 | silver | Rhadi Ben Abdesselam Athletics Men's marathon |
| Mozambique | 2000 | gold | Athletics 800m, Women, Maria Mutola |
| Namibia | 1992 | silver | Frankie Fredericks, Athletics, 100m sprint. Fredericks also came second in the 200m a few days later. |
| Netherlands | 1900 | silver | Sailing (3 to 10 ton): Henri Smulders, Chris Hooijkaas, Arie van der Velden. |
| New Zealand | 1920 | bronze | Competing as a separate country, the first medal for NZ was a bronze by Darcy Hadfield in Rowing Men's single sculls in 1920. In previous Olympiads, New Zealanders have competed in other teams. New Zealander Victor Lindberg represented Great Britain and won gold in water polo in 1900, and several athletes from NZ won medals competing for the Australasia team in 1908 and 1912. |
| Niger | 2016 | silver | Razak Alfaga, Taekwondo, Heavyweight, Men |
| Nigeria | 1964 | bronze | Nojim Maiyegun - Boxing, Men's Light Middleweight |
| North Korea | 1972 | gold | Shooting Small-Bore Rifle, Prone, 50 meters, Open, Li Ho-Jun |
| North Macedonia | 2000 | bronze | Wrestler Mogamed Ibragimov won bronze in men's freestyle 85 kg in 2000. He is officially the country's first Olympic medalist, though many Macedonians won medals representing Yugoslavia, the first was possibly Shaban Tërstena who won silver playing in goals for the Yugoslavia football team in 1956. |
| Norway | 1900 | bronze | Carl Albert Andersen in the pole vault |
| Pakistan | 1956 | silver | Men's hockey team |
| Panama | 2008 | gold | Irving Saladino won Panama's first and only gold medal at the Olympics in the athletics' long jump event. |
| Paraguay | 2004 | silver | Paraguay, Football, Football, Men |
| Peru | 1948 | gold | Edwin Vásquez won the men's 50-m pistol event. |
| Philippines | 2021 | gold | Hidilyn Diaz won gold in the women's 55kg weightlifting |
| Poland | 1924 | silver/bronze | Two medals were won on the same day, a silver by cycling men's team pursuit team, and a bronze in equestrian Individual jumping by Adam Królikiewicz. |
| Portugal | 1924 | bronze | António Borges, Hélder de Souza and José Mouzinho finished 3rd in the equestrian team jumping event. |
| Puerto Rico | 1948 | bronze | Juan Evangelista Venegas - Boxing Bantamweight |
| Qatar | 1992 | bronze | Mohammed Suleiman - Athletics Men's 1500m. |
| Romania | 1924 | bronze | The Romainian Rugby Union team came 3rd. |
| Russia | 1908 | silver | Aleksandr Petrov representing the Russian Empire team finished 2nd in wrestling Men's Greco-Roman super heavyweight |
| Samoa | 2008 | silver | Ele Opeloge, Weightlifting, Super-Heavyweight, Women |
| San Marino | 2020 | silver | Alessandra Perilli / Gian Marco Berti, Shooting, Trap, Team, Mixed |
| Saudi Arabia | 2000 | silver | Hadi Soua'an Al-Somaily, Athletics, 400 meters Hurdles, Men |
| Senegal | 1988 | silver | Amadou Dia Bâ, Athletics, 400 meters Hurdles, Men |
| Serbia | 2008 | silver | Milorad Čavić Swimming Men's 100m butterfly |
| Singapore | 2016 | gold | swimmer Joseph Schooling in the men's 100 meter butterfly, beating a trio of tied second place getters which included Michael Phelps. |
| Slovakia | 1996 | bronze | Jozef Gönci Shooting Men's 50 meter rifle prone |
| Slovenia | 1992 | bronze | Iztok Čop and Denis Žvegelj - Rowing Men's coxless pair |
| South Africa | 1908 | gold | The winner of the men's 100 sprint, South African Reggie Walker |
| South Korea | 1948 | bronze | Kim Sung-Jip - Weightlifting Men's Middleweight |
| Spain | 1900 | gold | Francisco Villota and José de Amézola won gold in Basque pelota |
| Sri Lanka | 1948 | silver | Duncan White, Athletics, 400 meters Hurdles, Men |
| Sudan | 2008 | silver | Ismail Ahmed Ismail, Athletics, 800 meters, Men |
| Suriname | 1988 | gold | Swimming 100 meters Butterfly, Men, Anthony Nesty |
| Sweden | 1900 | bronze | Ernst Fast came third in the men's marathon. Also in 1900, a few days earlier 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 | silver | Gymnast Louis Zutter came second in the men's vault, and a short time later won gold in the Pommel Horse. |
| Syria | 1996 | gold | Ghada Shouaa won gold in the Women's heptathlon |
| Tajikistan | 2016 | gold | 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. |
| Tanzania | 1980 | silver | Filbert Bayi Athletics - Men's 3000 m steeplechase. The only other medal won by a Tanzanian athlete was a silver by Suleiman Nyambui in the men's 5000m the next day. |
| Thailand | 1976 | bronze | Payao Poontarat - Boxing Light Flyweight |
| Togo | 2008 | bronze | Benjamin Boukpeti, Canoe Slalom, Kayak Singles, Slalom, Men |
| Tonga | 1996 | silver | Paea Wolfgramm, Boxing, Super-Heavyweight, Men |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1948 | silver | Rodney Wilkes — Weightlifting, Men's Featherweight |
| Tunisia | 1964 | silver | Mohammed Gammoudi — Athletics, Men's 10.000 meters |
| Türkiye | 1936 | bronze | Ahmet Kireççi Wrestling Men's freestyle wrestling middleweight category. |
| Turkmenistan | 2020 | silver | Polina Guryeva, Weightlifting, Lightweight, Women |
| Uganda | 1968 | bronze | Boxer Leo Rwabdogo won bronze in the flyweight division. Two days later, Eridadi Mukwanga won silver in the bantamweight division. |
| Ukraine | 1996 | bronze | Of the 23 medals won by Ukraine in 1996, the first is believed to be by Andriy Kalashnykov — Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman Flyweight (52 kg) on July 20. |
| United Arab Republic | 1960 | silver | Osman El-Sayed, Wrestling, Flyweight, Greco-Roman, Men |
| United Arab Emirates | 2004 | gold | 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 | gold | The men's triple jump, won by James B. Connolly. The first gold medal at the modern Games for any country. |
| United States Virgin Islands | 1988 | silver | Peter Holmberg, Sailing, One Person Dinghy, Open |
| Uruguay | 1924 | gold | Uruguay's gold medal in football in 1924 Paris Olympics is the nation's first medal of any kind.. |
| Uzbekistan | 1996 | silver | Armen Bagdasarov - Judo Men's Middleweight (86 kg). Also, Uzbek athletes may have won medals previously when competing as part of the Soviet Union from 1952 to 1988. |
| Venezuela | 1952 | bronze | Asnoldo Devonish finished 3rd in the triple jump |
| Vietnam | 2016 | gold | Shooter Hoàng Xuân Vinh won gold medal in the men's 10m air pistol event. |
| Zambia | 1996 | silver | Samuel Matete, Athletics, 400 meters Hurdles, Men |
| Zimbabwe | 1980 | gold | The 1980 women's hockey tournament in Moscow was won by Zimbabwe. |
Related Pages
- List of first gold medal winner 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)
- Countries and the year they first competed at the Summer Olympic Games
- First Winter Olympic Gold Medal Winners from Each Country
- About Olympic Medals
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