American women dominated the Summer Olympics, bringing home more than half of the U.S. team’s medals.
The USA won a total of 126 medals, more than any other country, with 67 of them going to women.
Of that total, one medal is still in contention: Olympic officials ordered gymnast Jordan of Chile to return her bronze medal from the floor exercise final after a score reversal, but the United States has appealed that decision.
That controversy aside, the American women won so many medals in Paris that, if they were their own nation, they would rank third in the overall medal count, behind the entire U.S. team’s 126 medals and China’s total of 91 medals, and ahead of Great Britain’s 65 medals.
China and the USA are tied for gold medals with 40 each. The US women owe 26 of these to the team.
The medal count is one of many historic achievements for American women at the Olympics, which organizers have celebrated as the first gender-equal Olympics.
The U.S. women won the country’s first medal in rugby sevens, 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 the Games with a win against France on their home soil, claiming their eighth consecutive gold medal.
Swimmer Torri Huske won five medals, the most of any athlete on the US team. Swimmers Gretchen Walsh, Katie Ledecky and Regan Smith and gymnast Simone Biles each won four medals.
Ledecky won her ninth Olympic medal – and 14th overall – and extended her title as the most decorated U.S. Olympian.
Biles won four medals in Paris, giving her a total of 11 medals, making her the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast of all time. She helped the U.S. team win gold in the women’s all-around final in a highly anticipated comeback.
The American women also won several important victories on the track. Among other things, an all-star team of runners secured first place in the 400-meter relay. It was the eighth consecutive gold victory for the American women.
Hurdles phenom Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone beat her own world record in the 400-meter hurdles to become the only woman to win the event at consecutive Games. Tara Davis-Woodhall and Jasmine Moore took two long jump medals (gold and bronze) for the USA, while sprinter Gabby Thomas won three gold medals.
Even some lesser-known sports have received more attention and promotion due to their dominance at the Olympics.
Even though the women’s water polo team fell short of its historic fourth consecutive gold medal win, it still made headlines and landed a multi-year sponsorship deal with its celebrity hypeman, rapper Flavor Flav.
Rugby and TikTok star Ilona Maher has helped put her sport on many people’s radars – including American businesswoman Michele Kang, who announced a $4 million donation to the U.S. women’s rugby sevens team following her Olympic victory.
There were many notable team and individual victories. The U.S. synchronized swimmers won silver in the team event, their first Olympic medal since 2004. The U.S. women’s foil team became the first U.S. team to win gold in team fencing.
Olivia Reeves won the first U.S. gold medal in weightlifting since 2000, while Evy Leibfarth won the country’s first medal in canoe slalom since 2004. Jenn Valente became the most successful U.S. Olympic cyclist of all time, while Kristen Faulkner became the first American cyclist to win gold in both track and road cycling.
While Olympic organizers boast about their progress in achieving full gender equality in Paris, athletes and researchers say more needs to be done when it comes to giving women the same quality of resources, opportunities and media exposure, to name just a few areas.
And sexism was a constant theme throughout the Games, from a Eurostar commentator being thrown out for comments he made about female swimmers to an international controversy over the participation of two female boxers.
According to British charity Women in Sport, the United States ranked eighth in terms of medal parity between men and women at this year’s Games, noting that the top 10 countries in the United Nations Gender Inequality Index performed above average, “showing that there is a direct link between women’s sport and overall social equality.”
According to USA Today, this is the fourth Summer Olympics in which U.S. women have won more medals than their male teammates, and also the fourth in which the country has sent more women than men. Team USA was represented in Paris by 314 women and 278 men.
Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, told the outlet earlier this week that the athletes’ achievements were a testament to Title IX, which prohibits gender discrimination in federally funded school programs.
“Their achievements remind us how far we have come and the limitless potential that still lies ahead,” she said. “We couldn’t be prouder of their accomplishments and the example they set for future generations of athletes.”
Copyright: NPR
Load…
