It’s no secret that Americans are really, really good at the Olympics. That’s not even an opinion, the facts bear it out. Americans have taken home 2,638 medals from the Games since their modern iteration came to be, and 1,065 of those are gold medals. Here are the ten sports America has dominated in the most.
Athletics
For those out of the loop, “athletics” refers to everything from track and field events to road running and race walking. America has absolutely cleaned up this category, earning 344 gold medals in the process. Admittedly there are a lot of medals available in this sport, but Americans still have the most gold medals here.
Swimming
Swimming is another Olympic sport with tons of events and, thus, tons of medals up for grabs. Like with the athletics category, America is really good at sweeping swimming, with 257 gold medals in total. Incredibly, 23 of those belong to Michael Phelps, nearly 9% of the country’s total gold medals in swimming.
Shooting
Is anyone surprised that Americans are exceptional at marksmanship? American sharpshooters have taken home 57 gold medals in shooting sports, easily beating out every other country in the world. That’s more medals than some countries have won in all events combined.
Boxing
Americans have an international reputation for being tough, mean, and downright vicious. That’s all on clear display during Olympic boxing matches, where American athletes have taken home 50 gold medals over the years. They’re just really good in a fight, apparently.
Diving
While the popular conception of Olympic diving is that it’s often swept by China, it’s important to keep track of the cold, hard facts. America has actually taken home 49 gold medals in diving, making it the most successful national team in the sport.
Rowing
Rowing might seem like a sport the UK would absolutely dominate, but that’s not the case, it turns out. Americans are the best there is at rowing, having bagged some 33 gold medals in the sport throughout the history of the Olympics.
Basketball
Don’t act too surprised: Americans are really, really good at basketball. Like, hilariously good. Yes, they send NBA players to the Olympics every year. And yes, it’s fair. If other countries wanted to win and overtake America’s 25 gold medals in basketball, they’d just practice as hard as NBA players do.
Tennis
Here’s another surprising one: Americans have brought home 21 gold medals in tennis. Notably, eight of those medals belong to the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, who each earned three gold medals as a doubles pairing and one singles medal apiece.
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Figure Skating
Figure skating might not sound like the most American sport, but the country has historically cleaned up in this category. They’ve won a total of 17 gold medals in the category, more than any other country in history of the games.
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Snowboarding
Americans are pretty good at snowboarding, too. Or, at least, Shaun White is! Of the 17 gold medals the US has taken home in the sport, three belong to Shaun White. He’s the only triple gold medalist in the entire sport, and is still seen as an icon of snowboarding.
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