United States of America topped the overall medal table at the Olympic Games that ended at the Stade de France in Paris on Sunday. Team USA won 40 gold, 44 silver and 42 bronze medals to finish ahead of China who also collected 40 gold medals but had 35 gongs less in the overall tally.
Two of the most closely contested gold medals were in the men and women’s basketball finals which both featured games between USA and France. Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry was the difference in the men’s final with eight three pointers to guide USA to a 98-87 victory in front of a partisan crowd that included French president Emmanuel Macron.
China led the medal table until the very final contest of Paris 2024 when USA women’s team out-dueled their French counterparts 67-66. It was third time unlucky for France which had also lost the men’s football final 3-5 in extra time to Tokyo 2020 losing finalists Spain.
There was no fairytale ending to great Marta Vieira da Silva’s career when women’s team gold also went to USA for the first time since 2012 after they outlasted Brazil 1-0 in the final courtesy of a Swanson Mallory strike. It was the fifth consecutive time Marta has lost a final to USA following defeats in two World Cup finals and Olympics (2004 and 2008).
Kenya was Africa’s top performing country with four gold medals, two silvers and one bronze. Middle distance star Faith Kipyegon made history by becoming the first athlete to win three consecutive Olympic Games 1500m gold medals.
Overall, African athletes brought home 13 gold medals including one from Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei who won the men’s 10,000m final. Another Ugandan, Peruth Chemutai finished second in the women’s 5,000m (silver).
The continent’s most celebrated gold medal came in the 200m finals when Botswana’s Lestlie Tebogo beat a star studded line up, prompting his country’s president to declare a national holiday. It was Africa’s first ever Olympic Games gold in a sprint race, improving on the two silver medals won by Namibia’s Frankie Fredericks.
Final Paris 2024 medal table
USA = 40 golds (126 total medals)
CHN = 40 golds (91 total medals)
JPN = 20 golds
AUS = 18 golds
FR = 16 golds
NED = 15 golds
GBR = 14 golds
Uganda = 1 gold (2 medals) 55 position
