The grandest sporting event of the world, the Olympics, are just weeks away from us. (More Sports News)
Sportspersons toil all their life to just represent their countries in Olympics. Just being an Olympian is a massive achievement but then to go a step further and win a medal is the stuff of dreams of every single athlete who competes across sports.
Winning an Olympic medal is a herculean task. For a sportsperson an Olympic medal is a culmination of years of blood, sweat and tears. The value of an Olympic medal is such that for many top athletes just missing an Olympic medal is their biggest sporting achievement.
The 2024 Summer Olympics kick off on July 26 in the iconic French capital of Paris. This will be the 33rd edition of the Olympic Games that have been the definition of sports glory since 1896 when the first of such event took place in Athens, the capital of Greece.
All-Time Olympic Medal Tally
The Olympics medal tallies over the years have reflected the changing nature of world politics.
The Western powers of France, Great Britain and United States dominated the early Games but after World War 2 the world order changed. Now, the Cold War enemies United States and Soviet Union were the countries competing to come back with the best medal haul.
When Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, United States again started ruling Olympics.
The rise of China saw the Asian giant beat USA to be the best team in the 2008 Olympics held in Beijing but after that United States have been at the top.
| Ranking | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States | 1061 | 836 | 739 | 2636 |
| 2 | Soviet Union | 440 | 357 | 325 | 1122 |
| 3 | Germany | 285 | 326 | 363 | 974 |
| 4 | Great Britain | 285 | 315 | 315 | 915 |
| 5 | China | 262 | 199 | 173 | 634 |
| 6 | France | 226 | 258 | 280 | 764 |
| 7 | Italy | 217 | 188 | 213 | 618 |
| 8 | Hungary | 181 | 154 | 176 | 511 |
| 9 | Russia | 170 | 157 | 178 | 505 |
| 10 | Japan | 169 | 150 | 178 | 497 |
| 52 | India | 10 | 9 | 14 | 35 |
India's Olympic story moves alongside its hockey dominance. From 1928 to 1956, Indian hockey team won six straight gold medals. They won two more in 1964 and 1980. One this gold rush ended, it was a story of near misses.
Medals started trickling in the 1990s. The gold, however, refused to come until it came in 2008.
In 2008 the gold, first by an Indian individual, finally came from Abhinav Bindra's rifle. Again, India had to wait 12 years to finally see Neeraj Chopra become the first track and field athlete to bring gold for the country.
In total, India have won 35 Olympic medals. 10 of them are gold, 9 silver and 16 bronze. They are the 52nd best side in Summer Olympics medal tally.
