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The United States won 46 gold medals at the 2016 Olympics, followed by Great Britain and China. Nine nations won their first gold medals, including Vietnam, Kosovo, and Fiji. Kuwait was suspended, and Puerto Rico competed independently, with Monica Puig winning gold in tennis. A record 59 countries won gold medals.
For some nations, winning gold medals at the Olympics has become a routine event every four years. For others, however, it is an occasion that will always be remembered in the national conscience. At the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the United States took home 46 gold medals, for a total of 121 medals. Great Britain and China won 27 and 26 gold medals, respectively, followed by Russia, Germany, Japan and France, who earned at least 10. These results weren’t particularly surprising, considering the Olympic success those countries have had in past. On the other hand, nine nations have brought home gold medals for the first time in their history. Vietnam, Kosovo, Fiji, Singapore, Puerto Rico (which compete independently in the Olympics), Bahrain, Jordan, Tajikistan and the Ivory Coast all boasted gold medals in 2016, in wide-ranging events such as wrinkle seven, taekwondo , steeplechase, swimming, judo, shooting, hammer throwing and tennis. Of the more than 200 nations that took part in the Games, 59 of them won gold medals in 2016, setting a new record for the most countries to win gold medals in a single Olympic Games.
Looking for gold in Rio:
Fehaid Al-Deehani became the first Kuwaiti to earn a gold medal when he won the double trap shooting event, but was competing as an independent athlete due to Kuwait’s suspension by the International Olympic Committee.
Kosovo sent athletes to the Olympics for the first time in 2016, with Majlenda Kelmindi winning the women’s 52kg judo.
Monica Puig, an unseeded tennis player from Puerto Rico, became a surprise Olympic champion in women’s singles by defeating Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the gold medal match.
