Plus ça change: after more than two weeks of frenetic competition across 32 sports involving more than 10,000 athletes, the US finished the Paris Olympics top of the medal table once again, although they required victory in the final event of the Games to do so.
The US entered Sunday with 38 golds, one behind China’s tally of 39, although they were heavy favourites for victory in women’s basketball, an event the Americans have won at every Olympics since 1996. The US also had chances for gold in track cycling, wrestling and volleyball, while China could add to their tally in weightlifting.
Li Wenwen did her part for China, winning gold in the women’s +81kg weightlifting, while the USA’s women’s volleyball team and the wrestler Kennedy Blades had to settle for silver. But the US had a reigning Olympic champion, Jennifer Valente, in the omnium and she came through to leave the US one gold behind China with the final event of the Games, women’s basketball, to come.
Few in the American camp would have been nervous about the outcome, though: the US were on a 60-game winning streak at the Olympics and seeking their seventh straight title. They beat then France in the final seconds of a thrilling contest, leaving the US and China level on 40 golds each, with the Americans edging into first on total medals won, 126 to 91.
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Japan were in third place with 20 golds, the same position they finished in 2021 in Tokyo. Australia, who enjoyed their best-ever medal haul, finished fourth with 18 golds. Host France were fifth with 16 golds, their best result since they topped the table in 1900, when Paris also hosted the Games.
Ireland were 19th in the medal table with four golds, the country’s best in its history, up from 64th position in Sydney 24 years ago. Ireland’s position in the medals table makes it just one of three countries, along with New Zealand and Norway, in the top 20 ranking countries to have a population of fewer than six million people. When comparing gold medals per capita, Ireland ranks sixth, with Dominica, Saint Lucia and New Zealand taking the top three spots.
It was a mixed Games for Team GB, who finished seventh, their lowest finish since 2004. However, Britain’s total medal count of 65 is good for third in terms of most medals and is also one more medal than they won in Tokyo.
The US will be expected to top the medal table in four years’ time, when Los Angeles hosts the Games. Nations traditionally have strong performances in the medal table when they are on home soil and the US, used to domination in the Summer Olympics, will be especially keen to make an impact. – Guardian
