Who won the Olympics? While the United States came out on top of the medal count at the 2024 Paris Olympics, there is no true individual winner. Instead, as the Summer Olympics demonstrated, this is about athletes across the country who either rose to the occasion or fell flat.
When we talk about winners of the Paris Olympics, the focus is on performers who took home multiple medals or those who shocked the world. As for losers, it’s not hard to spot some teams and countries who will leave Paris feeling disappointed. Let’s dive into our list.
Winner: Simone Biles
It’s Simone Biles’ world and we’re all just fortunate to live in it. The 27-year-old never could’ve shown up for the Paris Olympics and she still would’ve been considered one of the best Olympians ever. Of course, Biles is always looking to put on a show and support her teammates. She delivered again. Biles won three gold medals (artistic individual all-around, artistic team all-around and women’s vault). She also left Paris with a silver in the women’s floor artistic gymnastics. Biles is now just the third gymnast in Olympic history to win 7-plus gold medals. We can only hope she decides to do it one last time in 2028, where she could break the record (9 gold medals, Larisa Latynina) at home.
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Loser: United States’ men’s swim team and relay team
The United States dominated the Summer Olympics in 2024, winning more than 30 more medals than the second-best country (China) and taking home more medals than Japan, Italy and Germany combined. With that said, Team USA’s swim team and men’s relay team were massive disappointments. In track, the 4×100 men’s relay team was disqualified due to a botched handoff. If that sounds familiar, it happened at the last Summer Olympics to Team USA, too. Since 1995, the United States has now had 11 dropped batons, bans or disqualifications in the Olympics and World Championships. (USA Today)
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The swim team wasn’t much better. The United States has seemingly been passed up by multiple countries in the sport that Phelps once owned. With the all-time great gone, having last competed in 2016, USA Swimming was essentially carried by the women’s team. The men representing the United States just fell short in many individual events. It might be France’s show moving forward.
Winner: Lêon Marchand, French swimmer
France has its version of Michael Phelps. Léon Marchand arrived for the Paris Olympics with big expectations and his home country expecting gold medals. Winning any event in the Summer Olympics is wildly difficult, but Marchand had the added pressure of this all taking place in front of friends and family. He delivered. The 22-year-old won four gold medals (200M breaststroke, 200M butterfly, 200M medley, 400M medley) and added a bronze (4x100M medley) for good measure. The new protege of coach Bob Bowman, who worked with Phelps, Marchand has a golden opportunity to become just the seventh swimmer in Olympic history to win double-digit medals in his Olympic career. He might also become just the second to win double-digit gold medals.
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Loser: Paris’ efforts to clean up the Seine River for Olympic swimming
It’s well-known that hosting the Summer Olympics is usually far more costly than it’s worth. Paris added to the costs for 2024 by spending $1.5 billion (Bloomberg) on efforts to clean up the Seine River so swimmers could swim in it for events. Organizers have since said the data determined the bacteria levels were ‘acceptable‘, but practice sessions for the triathlon were canceled because the water was too polluted. It’s not hard to imagine other ways Paris could’ve used that money and doing so probably would’ve made its residents and even visiting Olympians feel a lot better.
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Winner: Paris Olympics introduces the world to new sports
Everyone knew the sports they were excited about heading into the Paris Olympics, with many looking forward to gymnastics, swimming and basketball. Fans also were introduced to new sports this summer. Break dancing took over social media, with millions of people delighting in the incredible and even hilarious moments. We were introduced to the very competitive sport climbing and even skateboarding made its way in. Looking ahead, we can’t wait to see flag football, baseball, lacrosse and cricket in the 2028 Summer Olympics.
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Loser: United States’ future in 3×3 basketball
The United States still owns basketball and the all-time great Team USA roster that won the gold medal over France showcases that. However, don’t expect the United States to win 3-on-3 basketball anytime soon. It might even be intentional if you believe one NBA insider. With NBA players seemingly barred from representing USA, we’ll be stuck sending former NBA Draft busts and guys who didn’t even make it into the league. It could get even worse in the years ahead, with other countries closing the talent gap in basketball.
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Winner: Katie Ledecky
Katie Ledecky would be one of the most decorated Olympians in US history even if you take out the margin of victory. What separates her as an all-time great is how easily she beats her competition. Ledecky leaves Paris with 14 medals (9 golds), the most of any female swimmer in Olympics history. What makes Ledecky stand out is her ability to keep breaking her own records, including the 20 fastest times in the women’s 1500-meter race. It’s an event in itself to see just how many seconds she beats second place by, relaxing against the wall already having won a gold medal while other swimmers are still on the other side of the pool. The best part of this? Ledecky already confirmed she’ll be back for the 2028 Summer Olympics.
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