How does a medal tally work in Olympics? Confusion looms massive as USA pips China in Paris

At the Paris Olympics 2024, it was China who was leading USA in the medals tally for majority of the duration of the Games. But on the last day, it was the latter who finished on top of the Paris Olympics medals tally. That too when both the nations had equal number of gold medals. So, why did that happen?

Let’s look at the medals table closely. USA had 40 golds, 44 silvers and 42 bronze medals. On the other hand, China had 40 golds, 27 silvers and 24 bronze medals.

How does medals tally work in Olympics?

The answer is pretty simple. Firstly, the number of gold medals is counted. If that miraculously comes out to be same, then the number of silver medals is counted. And it was here that USA pipped China — in the number of silver medals they had.

Let’s understand this with another example. India won one silver and five bronze medals at the Olympics 2024. They finished 71st in the medals table, nine spots beneath arch-rivals Pakistan. The latter only went on to win one medal. But what really separated the two nations was — the gold medal by Arshad Nadeem, where he went past India’s Neeraj Chopra.

That medal alone ensured that India finished below Pakistan. We did came close to winning a gold, but could not eventually. So, that sums it up. Win more golds, and finish better on the Olympic medals table. Let’s understand with another example. Serbia had five medals in all. They finished on 27th. But then the only differentiating factor was the gold medals they won. They had three golds, one silver and a bronze.

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