2012 summer olympic medal totals professional#

After 20 years of competition on the Olympic stage, the USSR convincingly topped the medal chart at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

2012 summer olympic medal totals professional#

The rapid rise of the Soviet Union to challenge the United States as a leading Olympic power raised questions and suspicion about the means used to achieve this, including the pretense of professional athletes having amateur status and allegations of state-sponsored doping. In 1952, the Soviet Union made its Olympic debut, initiating a state-sponsored approach to international sport focused on projecting socio-political superiority. The next summer Olympics were held in 1948 following World War II. enjoyed its greatest success, topping both gold and total medal counts at four straight Summer Games, before falling short in the 1936 Berlin games. achieved its largest medal haul in history, a record that still stands today. The nation performed inconsistently in the pre- World War-I period, primarily due to fielding considerably fewer athletes than host countries, with the exception being the 1904 Olympics in St. The United States made its Olympic debut in 1896 in Athens, the very first edition of the modern games. Louis, Missouri were the first Olympic Games held outside of Europe. See also: All-time Olympic Games medal table Francis Olympic Field of Washington University in St. The United States has hosted or was the designated host of the modern Olympic Games on nine occasions, more than any other nation: Phelps is the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time. Bush on August 10, 2008, at the National Aquatic Center in Beijing. Hosted Games Swimmer Michael Phelps and President George W.

The United States remains one of the only major teams in the world to receive no government funding. This makes the United States the most prolific medal-winning nation in the history of the Olympics. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee for the United States.Īmerican athletes have won a total of 2,629 medals (1,061 of them gold) at the Summer Olympic Games, and another 330 (113 of them gold) at the Winter Olympic Games. The United States has sent athletes to every Olympic Games with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. The United States of America has sent many athletes to the celebration of the Olympic Games, starting with the first modern Olympics held in 1896.