United States (USA)

The United States has competed at every Olympic Games with the exception of the 1980 Moskva Olympics and has never failed to be represented at the Olympic Winter Games. In addition, it had skaters present in both 1908 and 1920 when those events were held with the summer celebration.

It has been the dominant country in terms of medals won since the inception of the Games, with a total of 2,975, including 1,178 gold medals. However, in the era from 1952-1988, the Soviet Union won slightly more medals, and the German Democratic Republic threatened this dominance prior to its merger with West Germany in October 1990.

Unsurprisingly, many of the most successful Olympians have come from the United States. Swimmer Michael Phelps is the most successful Olympian ever, leading the gold medal count, with 23, and the overall medal count, with 28 medals. In the gold medal count, he is followed by swimmer Mark Spitz, and by track & field athlete Carl Lewis (both with nine golds). In the overall medal count, Phelps is followed by four other swimmers, each with a total of 12 medals: Jenny Thompson, Ryan Lochte, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin.

The United States has competed at every Olympic Winter Games, and had skaters present at the 1908 and 1920 figure skating and ice hockey events, held at the Summer Olympics. They have won 324 Winter Olympic medals, with 110 golds (adding two medals in 1920). Their top Winter Olympians have been Apolo Anton Ohno, with eight medals in short-track speedskating; Bonnie Blair, with six medals and five golds in speedskating; Bode Miller, with six medals in Alpine skiing; and Eric Heiden, who uniquely won five gold medals in five speedskating events at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympic Winter Games.

Heiden’s Lake Placid heroics were somewhat overshadowed by the biggest moment in the United States’ Winter Olympic history. Its ice hockey team, composed of young players, many of them in college, defeated the vaunted Soviet Union team, which was heavily favored, by 4-3. Termed the “Miracle on Ice”, it was punctuated by announcer Al Michaels asking the USA television audience, in the last few seconds of the game, “Do you believe in miracles?”. This “miracle” came 20 years after another USA ice hockey team also upset the Soviet Union to win the gold medal, that one coming at Squaw Valley / Palisades Tahoe in 1960.

The United States has also been host to the Olympic Games more than any other country. Four times the Games of the Olympiad have been held in the United States: 1904 in St. Louis, 1932 in Los Angeles, 1984 in Los Angeles, and 1996 in Atlanta. The Olympic Winter Games have also been held in the United States four times: 1932 in Lake Placid, 1960 in Squaw Valley, 1980 in Lake Placid, and 2002 in Salt Lake City, with the 2028 Olympics also scheduled for Los Angeles.