As we come to the conclusion of what was supposed to be the Summer Olympics of 2020, we recap and analyze how the top five countries in the Olympics did.
Before the commencement of the Tokyo Summer Olympics, Coronavirus had threw the 2020 sporting calendar into complete disarray, with even the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo being postponed to 2021.
Coming into this Olympics, many athletes were fatigued, out of shape, and seemingly less motivated due to the lockdown regulations their respective countries had put in place to reduce the spread of the virus.
Now, in accordance to the World Population Review, the following are five countries with the most Olympic medals:
- United States (2827 medals)
- United Kingdom (883 medals)
- Germany (855 medals)
- France (840 medals)
- Italy (701 medals)
First commencing in the year 1896, the Olympics have seen new delegations and omissions over the years, making it hard to conclude as to what country is the best. The likes of USA, UK, Germany and France were the first delegations, whereas the likes of China, Russia, and Canada were added later.
Over the years, we have seen some dominance from China and Russia in the previous editions of the Olympics, and although Italy still has more medals than Russia and the People’s Republic of China, it can be argued that the two have now since overtaken Italy. Nevertheless, we will still be using the above mentioned ranking system.
5. Italy
Whilst I start this list in an ascending order, Italy comes first at number five. Widely known for their gold medal overhauls in fencing, Italy ironically went home with no gold medal in fencing.
This however doesn’t mean that they didn’t give it their all, Italy won three bronze medals in the aforementioned competition bringing their overall medal count to 40. Most of those were bronze(20) and the rest were equally gold(10) and silver(10).
Italy stole the show when two of their star athletes caught grasp of gold medals in fashionable ways. Italian High-jumper Gianmarco Tamberi and 100m sprinter Lamont Marcell Jacobs all won Gold medals in their respective categories.
Tamberi, who at the 2016 Monaco Diamond League meeting tore a ligament in his left ankle, agreed to share the gold medal with friend, foe, rival, Mutaz Barshim. Jacobs moments later won the 100m sprint, becoming the first athlete to win gold in the 100m post-Usain Bolt era.
4. France
Ranked 8th in this years Olympics edition, France had a rather quiet journey as they went home with 10 Gold Medals and 33 in total.
France, who got this years medal haul kicked off by Romain Cannone, dipped in form when compared to the previous edition. Whilst they got the same amount of Gold medals as last time, they left Tokyo 9 medals lower than the previous edition in Rio.
Their U-23 football team which had excluded their best young sensations disappointed the most, as they exited the tournament early in the group stages. Led by the experienced Cignac, they lost to Japan, Mexico, and narrowly won against South Africa in a match they should’ve lost.
3. Germany
Appearing at the summer post-reunification Olympic games for the 8th consecutive time, the German team went home with an unwanted record.
Competing in all sports except artistic swimming, baseball, rugby sevens, softball and water polo, Germany went home with a medal of 37 medals. This is the lowest number of medals won by Germany at a Summer Olympics post-reunification.
Coming into Tokyo, there wasn’t much heat around them but nonetheless, their favorites did as expected. Most notable favorite being Malaika Mihambo. The 27 year old German athlete won Gold in her Long Jump event.
2. Great Britain
Considered a friendly rival of the United States in the Olympic games, United Kingdom once more could not get the better of their rivals as they finished fourth in the Gold medal count tally.
Racking home a total 65 medals, United Kingdom got bested by USA, the Russian Olympic Committee, and the People’s Republic of China, an Olympic team seemingly not to be reckoned with nowadays.
Whilst their Olympic team might be confusing for some, it simply can be defined as follows; Athletes from the United Kingdom, all but three of its overseas territories, and the three Crown dependencies, can compete in the Olympic Games as part of Team GB.
Athletes from Northern Ireland (part of the UK) can choose to compete as part of Team Ireland instead (though most sports in NI are organized on an all-Ireland basis).
Nonetheless, the event in which Team GB excelled the most was aquatics, as they accumulated a total 17 medals from Swimming, Canoeing, Sailing, and Rafting.
1. United States Of America
Deemed the most successful nation in the Olympic games history, USA did not disappoint in this years Olympic edition. The US roster finished with 39 gold, 41 silver and 33 bronze medals, with their overall tally of 113 medals the largest number achieved by a nation at Tokyo 2020.
Coming into this edition, the United States of America (USA) has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern Olympic Games with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Over that time, American athletes have won a total of 2,673 medals (1,075 of them gold) at the Summer Olympic Games and another 307 (105 of them gold) at the Winter Olympic Games, making the United States the most prolific medal-winning nation in the history of the Olympics.
The US is ranked first in the all-time medal table even if all the incarnations of Russia and Germany are combined, leading the second-placed Russians by 429 gold and 981 total medals, despite being the only team in the world to receive no government funding.
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