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The following medal table is a list of National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and one non-NOC team ranked by the number of gold medals won by their athletes during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, from 5 to 21 August 2016.
Contents
Vietnam, Kosovo, Fiji, Singapore, Puerto Rico, Bahrain, Jordan, Tajikistan and Ivory Coast won their first Olympic gold medals. They were also Kosovo's, Fiji's, and Jordan's first Olympic medals of any kind. Kuwaiti shooter Fehaid Al-Deehani became the first independent athlete to win a gold medal, though gold medals have been won under the Olympic flag by other entities, such as countries that competed under the flag at 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow or the Unified Team in 1992.
For the fourth time in five Games, the United States led the medal table both in number of gold medals won (as the medals are listed on the official website of the Games, and internationally by tradition), and in overall medals (the traditional method by which the table is listed in the United States). Behind the United States, Great Britain were second on the medal table by golds (27), and third by overall medals (67) – their highest finish under either count since the home games of 1908, while China were third by golds (26), but second by overall medals (70). Both countries were significantly behind the United States tally (46 golds, 121 medals), but well clear of a group of challengers for fourth in the table including Russia, Germany, France and 2020 hosts Japan.
Athletes from 87 nations earned medals at the 2016 Summer Olympics, breaking the record of most nations winning a medal at a single edition of the Olympics. However, following reallocation due to doping sanctions, an 87th country was later awarded a medal at the 2008 Olympics, tying the record. Athletes from 59 nations earned gold medals at these games, also breaking the record for the most number of nations winning gold at a single games. Great Britain became the first country in the history of the modern Olympics to increase their tally of medals in the subsequent games after being the host nation – winning 67 total medals (with 27 golds) at these games compared to the 65 (with 29 golds) won in London four years previously. Host country Brazil won seven gold medals, their most at any single Summer Olympics.
Medals
The design for the Olympic medals for the 2016 Summer Olympics featured the largest medals in terms of diameter of any medal presented at the Olympics. The golds are purer than any presented at all preceding Olympics. The silvers were made from recycling mirrors, solder, and X-ray plates. Much of the copper used in the bronzes came from recycling waste from the mint that minted the medals. The obverse of the medals features Nike, the Greek goddess of victory.
Medal table
This is the table of the medal count of the 2016 Summer Olympics, based on the medal count of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). These rankings sort by the number of gold medals, earned by a National Olympic Committee (NOC). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If, after the above, countries are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically by IOC Country Code. Although this information is provided by the IOC, the IOC itself does not recognize or endorse any ranking system.
The 2016 Summer Olympic program featured 28 sports with 41 disciplines, and a total of 306 events, tentatively resulting in 306 medal sets to be distributed. Athletes from 87 countries won medals, and 59 of them won at least one gold medal. Both of these categories set new records. 120 countries did not win a medal.
Two gold medals were awarded for a first-place tie in the women's 100 metre freestyle swimming event. No silver medal was awarded as a consequence.
Three silver medals were awarded for a second-place tie in the men's 100 metre butterfly swimming event. No bronze medal was awarded as a consequence.
In boxing (13 disciplines), judo (14), taekwondo (8), and wrestling (18), two bronze medals are awarded in each event (53 additional bronze medals total). Additionally, two bronze medals were awarded for a third-place tie in the women's 100 metre backstroke swimming and in the men's K-1 200 metres canoeing events.
* Host nation (Brazil)