Here is a summary of statistics and results from the Summer Olympics over the course of history (last 128 years). The first table is the historical medal count for all Modern Summer Olympics prior to Paris 2024:
| Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States | 1061 | 830 | 738 | 2629 |
| 2 |  Russia | 608 | 515 | 501 | 1624 |
| 3 |  Germany | 438 | 457 | 491 | 1386 |
| 4 |  Great Britain | 284 | 318 | 314 | 916 |
| 5 |  China | 263 | 199 | 174 | 636 |
| 6 |  France | 223 | 251 | 277 | 751 |
| 7 |  Italy | 217 | 188 | 213 | 618 |
| 8 |  Hungary | 181 | 154 | 176 | 511 |
| 9 |  Japan | 169 | 150 | 178 | 497 |
| 10 |  Australia | 164 | 173 | 210 | 547 |
Pre-Paris historical number of medals per million of population for the top countries (Russia includes former USSR, Germany includes former East and West):
Finland - 55
Hungary - 50
Sweden - 48
Bulgaria - 35
Denmark 35
Jamaica - 31
Norway - 30
NZ - 27
Swiss - 23
Aus - 21
Cuba - 21
Holland - 18
Romania - 17
Germany - 17
France -12
Italy - 10
US - 8
UK -7
Rus/USSR - 6
Japan - 4
China - less than 1
The largest numbers of athletes competing in 2024 are from the following countries:
US - 594
France - 572
Aus - 460
Germany - 427
Japan - 404
Italy - 403
China - 388
Spain - 382
UK - 327
Canada - 316
Brazil - 277
Holland - 276
Poland - 214
NZ - 195
Hungary - 169
Belgium - 165
Egypt - 149
Sth. Korea - 141
Ukraine. -140
South Africa - 138
How many total athletes usually compete in the Olympics? The number of athletes fluctuates each year, and depends on whether it's they're competing in the Summer or Winter Games. The Olympic Winter Games typically have around 2,900 athletes from 80 national committees, according to Olympics.com, while the Summer Games tend to amass a larger crowd. Over the years, the number of athletes in the summer games has steadily increased. Since the 1996 Atlanta Games, the number of participants has surpassed 10,000. That's a big jump from the 1924 Paris Olympics, when just over 3,000 people competed.The Rio Olympics in 2016 holds the record for the most athletes at the Summer Games: 11,238. Around 10,500 athletes are set to take part in the Paris Games, plus coaches and team officials.These athletes compete not as countries, but as members of "National Olympic Committees." This year, there are 206 committees. Russia and Belarus were banned from competing due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, but athletes from those countries will still compete as "Individual Neutral Athletes" under a neutral flag. Thirty-seven athletes will compete as part of the Refugee Olympic Team.
But, which country has the most athletes per capita in the 2024 Olympics you may wonder? Here is a list of the number of Olympic athletes in Paris per million population (as of 2023):
Slovenia 42.9
New Zealand 37.8
Ireland 25.4
Jamaica 22.3
Denmark 20.6
Estonia 20.1
Norway 19.1
Lithuania 19.0
Croatia 17.6
Australia 17.2
Hungary 17.1
Puerto Rico 16.9
Serbia 16.8
Latvia 16.1
Netherlands 15.5
Switzerland 14.3
Belgium 13.8
Trinidad and Tobago 12.1
Cyprus 11.4
Sweden 11.0
France 8.4
Canada 8.1
Italy 6.2
Poland 5.5
UK 4.8
Ukraine 3.9
Japan 3.3
Sth. Korea 2.7
Sth. Africa 2.3
US 1.7
China 0.3
