If you ever wondered which are the countries that have the most gold medals, our article gives a definitive answer. Athletes from these countries showed exceptional abilities and deservedly have their names written in the history books.
Awarding medals for the best athletes at the Olympics is a modern thing. Back in ancient Greece, the winners were not given medals, but the olive wreath instead. Medals were introduced in 1896 when the first modern Olympics took place in Greece. However, the winners of the first modern Olympics didn’t receive a gold medal. They received a silver medal and an olive wreath.
The gold, silver and bronze medal for first three places was introduced in 1904 when the Olympics were held in the United States. The International Olympic Committee later rewarded gold, silver and bronze medals to the first three places for 1896 and 1900 Olympics. When Winter Olympic Games were introduced in 1924, they’ve continued the practice of awarding gold, silver and bronze medals. Throughout the years, some countries have shown that they have better athletes and accumulated a bigger number of medals. If you like to read about top countries, check out our list of Country by Country Life Expectancy: The World’s 15 Healthiest Countries.
To get the list of the 10 countries that have the most gold medals, we decided to take into consideration both Summer and Winter Olympic Games. We summed up the gold medals using data from Top End Sports that shows all time medal count for Summer and Winter Olympics per country. Let’s check out the most successful ones.
10. East Germany
Number of Gold Medals: 192
Although it only existed as a separate country for around 50 years, East Germany still managed to achieve admirable success in winning gold medals – 153 gold medals from Summer Olympics and 39 gold medals from Winter Olympics.
9. Sweden
Number of Gold Medals: 195
Sweden’s total medal count at Summer Olympics is 494, with 145 of them being gold. Out of total 144 medals won at Winter Olympics, athletes from Sweden grabbed 50 gold medals.
8. Russia
Number of Gold Medals: 197
Russia competed at the first 3 modern Olympic Games and then didn’t compete until 1952. In 1952 however, the country was a part of the Soviet Union. Under the name Russia, the country has competed since 1994 Winter Olympic Games. Russia has 148 gold medals from Summer Olympics and 49 gold medals from Winter Olympics.
7. China
Number of Gold Medals: 239
Under the name Republic of China, country participated at the Olympics from 1932 to 1948 without winning any medals. The first official participation of China at Olympic Games happened in 1980 at Winter Olympic Games held in The United States. Since then, China has won 227 gold medals at Summer Olympics and 12 at Winter Olympics.
6. Italy
Number of Gold Medals: 243
The curiosity about Italy’s gold medals is that the most of them are won in fencing. Out of 206 gold medals at Summer Olympics, fencing brought 49 of them. When it comes to Winter Olympics, alpine skiing brought 13 out of Italy’s 37 gold medals.
5. France
Number of Gold Medals: 243
We continue our list of the 10 countries that have the most gold medals with a country that also has to thank their fencing and alpine skiing athletes for Olympic Games success. France has won 212 gold medals at Summer Olympics, 42 of them came from fencing. 15 out of France’s 31 Winter Olympics gold medals came from alpine skiing.
Samot/Shutterstock.com
4. Germany
Number of Gold Medals: 269
As a unified country, Germany competed until 1952 and then again from 1992. The country has a total of 824 medals won at both Olympics. The Summer Olympics gold medal count is 191, while the Winter Olympics count is 78.
3. Great Britain
Number of Gold Medals: 273
Up next in our list of countries that have the most gold medals is Great Britain that holds the title as the only national team that has managed to win gold medals at every Summer Olympics ever held. The total count of Great Britain’s Summer Olympic Games gold medals is 263. Great Britain’s Olympic team of was far less successful when it comes to Winter Olympics, managing to win only 10 gold medals.
2. The Soviet Union (USSR)
Number of Gold Medals: 473
Although the Soviet Union doesn’t exist for 25 years now, it still firmly holds the second place when it comes to both gold and overall medals won. The total count of country’s Olympics medals is 1,204. The Soviet Union competed at 9 Summer Olympic Games winning 395 gold medals and 9 Winter Olympics winning 78 gold medals.
1. The United States
Number of Gold Medals: 1,118
The most successful country on our list of the 10 countries that have the most gold medals is the US. The country has won 1,022 gold medals at Summer Olympics and 96 gold medals at Winter Olympics. The total count of all medals won is 2,802. The interesting thing is that although the US has won the most gold medals at Summer Olympics and has the most overall gold medals, the country is second when it comes to gold medals and overall medals won at the Winter Olympic Games. Norway is more successful with 118 gold medals and 329 total medals won.
