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American women dominated the summer Olympics, bringing home more than half of Team USA’s medals.
The U.S. won 126 total medals, the most of any country. Of those, women were responsible for a whopping 67.
Of that total, one medal remains in contention: Olympic officials have ordered gymnast Jordan Chiles to return her bronze medal from the floor exercise final after a score reversal, but the U.S. is appealing that ruling.
That controversy aside, American women have won so many medals in Paris that if they were their own nation, they would place third in the overall medal count, behind the 126 won by the full U.S. squad and China’s 91 total medals and ahead of Great Britain’s 65.
When it comes to gold medals, China and the U.S. tied with 40 apiece. Team USA has women to thank for 26 of those.
The medal count is one of many historic accomplishments by American women at what organizers have hailed as the first gender-equal Olympics.
U.S. women brought home the country’s first-ever rugby sevens medal, a bronze. The U.S. women’s soccer team won Olympic gold, their fifth in less than three decades (and their first since 2012). And the U.S. women’s basketball team closed out the games by beating France on their home turf, for their eighth consecutive gold medal.
Swimmer Torri Huske took home five medals, the most of any Team USA athlete. Swimmers Gretchen Walsh, Katie Ledecky and Regan Smith, as well as gymnast Simone Biles, each won four medals.
Ledecky won her ninth Olympic medal — and 14th ever — to extend her title as the most-decorated U.S. female Olympian.
Biles won four medals in Paris, bringing her total to 11 and becoming the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast in history. She helped lead Team USA to gold in the women’s all-around gymnastics final in a much-anticipated comeback.
American women also blazed their way to several key victories on the track. Among them: An all-star team of runners cruised to first place in 4-by-400m relay, the eighth in a row in which U.S. women have claimed gold.
Hurdle phenom Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone beat her own world record in the 400-meter hurdles, becoming the only woman to win the event in consecutive Games. Tara Davis-Woodhall and Jasmine Moore earned the U.S. two long jump medals (gold and bronze), while sprinter Gabby Thomas won three gold medals.
Even some lesser-known sports have gotten more attention — and more funding — as a result of their Olympic dominance.
While the women’s water polo team fell short in its quest for a historic fourth consecutive gold medal, it won headlines and a multi-year sponsorship deal from its
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