A detail of the Eiffel Tower featuring the Olympic rings during the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, on July 26, 2024.
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The United States and China each have 40 gold medals in the first-ever Summer Olympics draw, with the Americans tying the title on Sunday by winning the final event, women’s basketball.
The United States tied with China for the women’s basketball gold medal with a shocking 67-66 win over France.
On Sunday, China came out on top 39-38 over the United States, which appeared to have a slight lead as the U.S. was seeking its eighth straight gold medal in women’s basketball and its second straight title in women’s volleyball.
By mid-afternoon, many results had been released. Determine the final ranking.
- China’s Li Wenwen won gold in the women’s heavyweight weightlifting event, which may have been the death knell for America’s hopes of winning an all-around gold medal.
- Chicago native Kennedy Blaydes made a surprise appearance in the gold-medal wrestling competition, but America’s hopes were further dented when she lost to her 76kg rival, Japan’s Yuka Kagami.
- Italy knocked the United States out of the gym with a crushing volleyball win, 25-18, 25-20, 25-17.
- San Diego cyclist Jennifer Valente saved the United States by winning gold in the women’s omnium.
Team USA’s gold medalist Noah Lyles celebrates on the podium during the men’s 100m medal ceremony at the Paris Olympics on Monday.
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This resulted in the American women’s players, who enjoyed great popularity, barely achieving an eight-peat, but
“I didn’t realize it until after the game that someone was telling me, but I’m happy we won for ourselves and for USA Basketball, and I’m happy we won for Team USA, so I think we can tie the game,” WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart told reporters after the gold medal game.
U.S. head coach Cheryl Reeve smiled wryly, suggesting she knew what the outcome of the game against France would be but didn’t tell her players.
“I saw the medal count in advance, I did,” she said with a smile. “That’s what we need, more pressure.”
The last time the U.S. failed to win the most gold medals in a summer was in Beijing in 2008, when the hosts defeated the Americans 48-36 in a top-tier away game.
There has never been a tie for gold medals in Summer Olympic history, but there have been three ties in Winter Olympics.
The most recent draw was between Norway and Germany, who each won 14 gold medals at PyeongChang 2018.
The United States won the most medals in Paris this year, with 126.
The United States hasn’t had the most medals since 1992, when the “United Team” of athletes from the former Soviet republics won 112 medals, including 45 gold. The U.S. has made 108 podium appearances in Barcelona, 37 of them on the top step.
Team USA’s gold medalist Simone Biles poses during the medal ceremony for the women’s rhythmic gymnastics all-around final on August 1.
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Of the 329 events, 40 gold medals would give them a 12.1% chance of taking home the top honors, up slightly from Tokyo (11.4%) but down from Rio (15%) and London (15.8%).
The American effort in Paris was best reflected in the fact that American swimmers won the most medals and gold medals, but they left the Games feeling like they had left the hardware on deck.
France’s silver medalist Anastasia Kirpychnikova, USA’s gold medalist Katie Ledecky and Germany’s bronze medalist Isabelle Goget stand on the podium in the women’s 1500m freestyle swimming event at the Olympics on July 31.
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Veteran Katie Ledecky became the star of the U.S. with two golds, a silver and a bronze, while France’s Leon Marchand won four golds, a bronze and a new Olympic record four, and Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh won three golds and a silver.
Despite their athletic rivalry, the United States and China don’t match up in many sports. One of the few places where they are evenly matched is in the swimming pool.
One of the most important moments in the 40-40 draw came a week ago on Sunday, when China won the 4x100m medley relay, led by 100m freestyle ace Pan Zhanle, who narrowly beat the United States, which took silver.
“It wasn’t a bad race at all,” U.S. swimmer Caleb Dressel said of his team.
“When you go to the Olympics and the World Championships, the goal is to win gold. Other countries are becoming very dominant. Australia and the United States are the most well-known. But at this tournament, we saw a lot from Italy, China and France. So the wealth just spread. I don’t think we’re getting any worse.”
Lee Kiefer (center) of the United States, Lauren Scruggs (left) of the United States and Eleanor Harvey of Canada celebrate on the podium during the women’s foil medal ceremony on July 28.
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Many countries that normally wouldn’t win a medal in javelin throw alone have had multiple medalists in the past two weeks.
Before landing in Paris, Israel had only 13 Summer Olympic medals, but here it has won seven.
Ecuador won five medals. That’s more than double the entire summer total.
Kyrgyzstan has reached the podium six times, an impressive feat considering the Central Asian nation arrived in Paris with just seven Olympic medals in its history.
Before Paris 2024, Moldova had won the title six times in the country’s history. The small former Soviet republic I’ve had 4 podium trips In Paris.
— NBC News’ David K. Lee reported from Paris and Sean Nevin reported from London.
