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Americans will attempt to lead the overall medal table for the fourth Summer Olympics in a row next month in Beijing, but hosts China and Russia will challenge for supremacy in golds and total medals.
US teams had the greatest medal haul for a record fourth Games in a row at Los Angeles in 1932. While Soviet Union talent topped the table eight times from 1956 to 1992, it never equalled that mark.
US squads have led the medal charts at Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000 and Athens four years ago. But this time, the Chinese are going for the medal crown as hosts and with a formidable squad backed by throngs of cheering supporters.
“Russia, China and the US are vying with the most legitimate shot at the top medal count at the Olympics,” said Steve Roush, chief of sport performance for the US Olympic Committee (USOC).
“This is going to be a highly competitive field. It has created an excitement around these Olympics that has been missing for a while.”
In 2004, Americans claimed 102 medals, 36 of them gold. Russians took 92 overall, 27 gold, while China had 63 overall but most, 32, were gold.
China’s challenge figures to be formidable. Could the US team hit the wall?
“China has an incredibly strong team. Host nations generally have home field advantage. There’s a job to be done,” Roush said.
“They’ve infused large numbers of people behind their sports program. We probably pale in comparison in terms of the level we’re able to give support to our athletes.
“They’ve hired the world’s best coaches to come in and not only coach their athletes but coach their coaches so they can improve for future generations.”
But don’t count on the Americans handing over the crown without a fight.
“We have a strong team. We’re making no allusions about thinking the Chinese have the strongest team,” USOC chief executive Jim Scherr said.
The 2004 US team won 28 medals in swimming and 25 in athletics, more than half the total American medal haul from Athens. But no one wants to toss out a medal goal for Beijing.
“We hope to do much better than the team in Athens,” US swim coach Mark Schubert said.
“We want to win as many medals as possible,” US women’s athletics coach Jeanette Bolden said.
After US medal totals of 101, 92 and 102 at the past three Olympics, that is likely to be the range needed this time.
“I’ve never talked about numbers. It’s one of those pressures you don’t need,” said US men’s Olympic track coach Bubba Thornton.
“I don’t think it really matters where we are. Who wins the medal count? That’s what (reporters) always ask about, put the graphic up there with the medal table.
“That’s why we’re going – to show our competitiveness, sportsmanship, how we do things.”
Americans had 97 medals at Sydney before athletics star Marion Jones admitted being a dope cheat and was stripped of three golds and two bronzes, but USOC chairman Peter Ueberroth has vowed to send a “clean team” to Beijing.
Watch the stars who will give back medals in eight years is not exactly a great marketing slogan for the US-based corporate sponsors who greatly finance the Olympic movement.
“This will be a clean team,” Ueberroth said. “We’re proud of the progress we’ve made in doping. We don’t have a guarantee but we’re pleased. The things you are hearing about are from a previous era. We’re in a new era.”
Ueberroth thinks the US system of talent development will not be humbled by products of China’s intense youth sport development programs.
“I think our system will be competitive and I think it will work,” he said.
Swimmer Michael Phelps will be the top US star as he chases Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals in a single Olympics.
Phelps took six golds and two bronzes at Athens, where US swimmers led the way with 12 gold, nine silver and seven bronze medals and Australia next with seven gold, five silver and three bronze. US men won nine golds overall.
Phelps is the world record-holder in four of his five individual events – the 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly and 200m and 400m individual medleys and is a former world record-holder in the 100 fly, where US teammate Ian Crocker has the world record.
“We have a very strong men’s team. We’re proud of that. But we have to go to the Olympics and perform,” Schubert said. “A lot of our challenge on the men’s side will come from the Australians, from the Japanese, from the Europeans.”
The US Olympic lineup also features the reigning women’s world gymnastics champions and all-around champion Shawn Johnson and a National Basketball Association squad set to reclaim the throne after slumping to a bronze in Athens.
Final medal table from Athens 2004 Olympics
Gold Silver Bronze Total
1. United States 36 39 27 102
2. China 32 17 14 63
3. Russia 27 27 38 92
4. Australia 17 16 16 49
5. Japan 16 9 12 37
6. Germany 13 16 20 49
7. France 11 9 13 33
8. Italy 10 11 11 32
9. South Korea 9 12 9 30
10. Britain 9 9 12 30
11. Cuba 9 7 11 27
12. Ukraine 9 5 9 23
13. Hungary 8 6 3 17
14. Romania 8 5 6 19
15. Greece 6 6 4 16
16. Brazil 5 2 3 10
17. Norway 5 0 1 6
18. Netherlands 4 9 9 22
19. Sweden 4 2 1 7
20. Spain 3 11 5 19
21. Canada 3 6 3 12
22. Turkey 3 3 4 10
23. Poland 3 2 5 10
24. New Zealand 3 2 0 5
25. Thailand 3 1 4 8
26. Belarus 2 6 7 15
27. Austria 2 4 1 7
28. Ethiopia 2 3 2 7
29. Iran 2 2 2 6Slovakia 2 2 2 6
31. Taiwan 2 2 1 5
32. Georgia 2 2 0 4
33. Bulgaria 2 1 9 12
34. Jamaica 2 1 2 5Uzbekistan 2 1 2 5
36. Morocco 2 1 0 3
37. Denmark 2 0 6 8
38. Argentina 2 0 4 6
39. Chile 2 0 1 3
40. Kazakhstan 1 4 3 8
41. Kenya 1 4 2 7
42. Czech Republic 1 3 4 8
43. South Africa 1 3 2 6
44. Croatia 1 2 2 5
45. Lithuania 1 2 0 3
46. Egypt 1 1 3 5Switzerland 1 1 3 5
48. Indonesia 1 1 2 4
49. Zimbabwe 1 1 1 3
50. Azerbaijan 1 0 4 5
51. Belgium 1 0 2 3
52. Bahamas 1 0 1 2Israel 1 0 1 2
54. Dominican Republic 1 0 0 1Cameroon 1 0 0 1
United Arab Emirates 1 0 0 1
57. North Korea 0 4 1 5
58. Latvia 0 4 0 4
59. Mexico 0 3 1 4
60. Portugal 0 2 1 3
61. Finland 0 2 0 2Serbia-Montenegro 0 2 0 2
63. Slovenia 0 1 3 4
64. Estonia 0 1 2 3
65. Hong Kong 0 1 0 1
India 0 1 0 1
Paraguay 0 1 0 168. Colombia 0 0 2 2
Nigeria 0 0 2 2
Venezuela 0 0 2 271. Eritrea 0 0 1 1
Mongolia 0 0 1 1
Syria 0 0 1 1
Trinidad and Tobago 0 0 1 1