Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images
Who runs the world?
On Sunday we reached the close of the 2024 Paris Olympics, and the United States of America were the winners of the games. A duel with China for much of the games over gold medals resulted in a tie, with both nations finishing with 40 — although the USA easily took home the tiebreaker with 44 silver and 42 bronze to China’s 27 and 24 respectively.
While the medal count tells the story of the United States’ sporting dominance on the world stage, the subplot to this is that women were the single biggest reason Team USA ended up winning the games. When we dive into the medal splits it becomes clear that the United States would have been at a mammoth disadvantage without the contributions of its sporting women.
Not only did women contribute to 27 of Team USA’s 40 gold medals, but they were pivotal in winning 76 of the nation’s 126 medals, including both “open” medals in equestrian and artistic swimming, which do not split competitors by gender.
In the head-to-head battle with China it’s clear women were the difference. China out-medaled USA 17-to-13 in golds among men, while women closed the gap by winning seven more golds than the Chinese women.
The biggest disparity in medals for Team USA came in swimming, and artistic gymnastics, where women competed in an equal number of events as men, but to much stronger final results.
Men’s swimming: 2 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze (9 total)
Women’s swimming: 5 gold, 9 silver, 4 bronze (18 total)
Men’s artistic gymnastics: 2 bronze (2 total)
Women’s artistic gymnastics: 3 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze (7 total)
This is a testament to how dominant United States women have been in global sport. Not just on an Olympic level, but globally. USA led all nations in the 2023 Gymnastics World Championships, and the 2024 World Track and Field Championship on the back of women, as well as winning the Women’s World Cup in 2015 and 2019.
The 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles will represent a major shift in the women’s side of Team USA. It’s unclear whether Simone Biles or Katie Ledecky will compete, but even if they do, both would be veterans of the team. However, with a strong pipeline of young athletes there’s no sign of Team USA’s dominance coming to an end — even without two major icons reaching retirement.
