Final Standings of the 2024 Olympic Games: USA Edges Out China in a Thrilling Finish
The United States secured the top spot in the final standings of the Paris 2024 Olympics, but this victory was decided only in the last moments of the women’s basketball final against host nation France. After 16 days of intense competition, the USA finally overtook China in a nail-biting race for the top.
Before the women’s basketball final on the evening of August 11, China had temporarily taken the lead in the medal standings, thanks to a gold medal won by weightlifter Li Wenwen. She brought home China’s 40th gold medal after leading the women’s 81kg weightlifting final with a total lift of 309kg, a full 10kg ahead of the second-place finisher. This was also China’s final gold medal on August 11.
On that day, the U.S. team was trailing with 38 gold medals, two behind China, but still had hope with four events left in the finals: track cycling, wrestling, volleyball, and basketball. However, the U.S. missed out on gold in wrestling and volleyball. Nonetheless, a victory in track cycling narrowed the gap, leaving the U.S. just one gold medal short of China.
In this scenario, the U.S. women’s basketball team had to defeat France to tie China with 40 gold medals and secure the top spot by surpassing China in silver and bronze medals.
The women’s basketball final between the USA and France was incredibly tense, as France led during the first two quarters, at one point pulling ahead by as much as 10 points. However, the resilience of the U.S. team helped them level the score in the third quarter and gain a slim 2-point advantage heading into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter saw a fierce back-and-forth between the two teams. With just about three seconds left in the game, France was only three points behind the USA. In the last second, a French player made a shot that seemed to tie the game, but the referee ruled that one foot of the player had touched the line, resulting in only two points instead of three. This left France just one point behind the USA (66-67), narrowly missing out on the gold medal.
This victory propelled the U.S. to the top of the 2024 Olympic medal standings with 40 gold medals, tying with China but leading due to a higher count of silver and bronze medals (the U.S. had 44 silver and 42 bronze, while China had 27 silver and 24 bronze).
On the final day of competition, August 11, Japan surprised many by finishing third overall with 20 golds, 12 silvers, and 13 bronzes. Australia took fourth place, while host nation France finished in fifth. The remaining top 10 positions were claimed by the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Italy, and Germany.
