Will America Dominate The Olympics On Home Soil In 2028?

Well, that’s a wrap on the 2024 Paris Olympics, and it’s been quite the show.

The USA won the overall medal count and tied for the most golds with China.

Have a look at the final medal count right here.

Something I enjoy looking at when it comes to medal counts is the total population of each country.

The USA has 331 million people, while China has a population of around 1.4 billion. Japan's population stands at about 125 million, and Australia has roughly 26 million people. France is home to approximately 67 million individuals, and the Netherlands has a population of around 17 million. Great Britain, which includes England, Scotland, and Wales, has a population of about 67 million, and South Korea's population is approximately 52 million.

I think the most remarkable thing is that the Netherlands got 15 gold medals with such a small population. The won the 3×3 men’s basketball gold, some track events and then they dominated in the most Dutch way possible. They captured three golds in men’s cycling and four golds in rowing. Not surprising for a country that is known for its canalways and bicycle friendly cities.

Now that you've got the quick rundown, let’s see what I missed since the last time we talked.

USA in Paris

Here’s the beauty of the Olympics. Did the USA want to beat China in total gold? Hell yes. Did we miss out on a few golds? Definitely. But did we grab a few unexpected golds as well? There's no doubt about it.

Noah Lyles didn’t get the 200m gold, Sha’carri Richardson only won silver in the 100m, and Katie Ledecky didn’t get gold in all her swim meets. But you know what else happened?

Ryan Crouser won gold in shot put, Cole Hocker randomly squeezed out a 1500m win with a crazy finishing “sprint”. THE US GOT TWO GOLDS IN FENCING. Where do we even have fencing? Olivia Reeves even won America’s first weightlifting gold after she snatched over 250 pounds and cleaned & jerked over 300. YES, she’s stronger than you (and me). Get over it.

So for every gold that we may have missed by .001 seconds or we feel like a judge wasn’t fair by ½ a point, just know that we also snuck by with a few golds that no one expected.

Here’s my question. Can we do this all again when we host in Los Angeles in 2028? Think about it. The Women’s soccer team will be older, and Katie Ledecky will be four years older. I don’t think Simone Biles is coming back, and we definitely won’t have LeBron James playing for Team USA, right?

What happened this weekend?

We had some epic games this weekend.

⚽️ The USWNT won the Gold Medal with a 1-0 win over Brazil. Mallory Swanson scored the games only goal in the 56th minute.

🏀 The Women’s basketball just narrowly escaped France with a 67-66 win. A’ja Wilson was the star of the show as she scored 21 for Team USA. France had an opportunity to tie the game with 1 second left but Gabby Williams’ hit a 2 pointer that was just half a shoe away from tying the game. Very reminiscent of a KD shot against the Bucks in the playoffs a few years ago. By the way, the Women’s basketball team hasn’t lost in the Olympics since 1992. That’s crazy.

🏀 After a very close 4th quarter that got busted open by Stephy Curry, Team USA pulled away from France in their gold medal game on Saturday and won 98-87. LeBron had 14 points and 10 assists, KD and Devin Booker both finished with 15, and Steph Curry tucked France in, read them a bedtime story, and put them to sleep with his epic 24-point performance.

That’ll do for today. We’ll be back soon with football, football, and more football.

See you soon!

-The DB