United States at the Olympics
The United States of America has sent many athletes to the celebrations of the Olympic Games, starting with the first modern Olympics held in 1896. Athletes representing the United States have participated in 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 Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee for the United States.
See also: United States at the Summer Olympics and United States at the Winter Olympics
United States at the
Olympics
USA
- Gold
- 1,175
- Silver
- 951
- Bronze
- 833
- Total
- 2,959
American athletes have won a total of 2,629 medals (1,061 of them gold) at the Summer Olympic Games, and another 330 (114 of them gold) at the Winter Olympic Games. This makes the United States the most prolific medal-winning nation in the history of the Olympics. The United States remains one of the only major teams in the world to receive no government funding.[1][2][3][4]
Prize money[edit]
When a US athlete wins an Olympic medal, as of 2016, the USOPC paid the winner $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver, and $10,000 for bronze.[49] The USOPC increased the payouts by 25% to $37,000 for gold, $22,500 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze beginning in 2017.[50] These numbers are significantly lower than in other countries, where Olympic gold medalists receive up to $1 million from their governments for a gold medal.[51][52] Since 2018, payouts to Paralympic athletes have been the same as to the Olympians. The International Paralympic Committee noted that "'Operation Gold Awards' for [American] Paralympic athletes [would] be increased by as much as 400 percent."[53]