United States in the Olympics
Kyla Park and Essie Cheng
What's the secret to success?
The United States has won the most medals in every Summer Olympics since
1996. Will they end up on top once more in the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics?
Get ready to hit the ground running
and jump into the thrilling world of the
Olympics. Using a dataset on the Summer Olympics from 1976-2008, we’ll
tackle
the question of what has fueled the United States’s legacy of success and
dive into the dynamics of their
dominance. Then we'll take a shot
at providing a recommendation on their key to continuous and long lasting
Olympic success.
Data Exploration
A comprehensive overview of the Olympics: click bar to drill down into further detail, click background to go back up. Select/deselect medal buttons to filter type of medal.
No matter the sport or year, the United States frequently appears. They seem to consistently be a dominant force, and maybe even be the best in the world. A look at the overall medal tally can confirm if this is true. ↓
Country Medal Leaders
The top 3 countries of all time: each point represents a medal won, hover over points for more details
1. United States
1992 medals
2. Soviet Union
1021 medals
3. Australia
798 medals
Team USA is indeed a dominant force in the Olympics, winning the most medals out of all countries. What puts the U.S. on top of all others though? It is known teams generally have a home court advantage in sports... can that be applied to a larger scale of the Olympics? ↓
Home Advantage
Medal count history for each country that has hosted the Olympics: use dropdown menu to select location. Red dot indicates that the country hosted the Olympics that year
It looks like home advantage could possibly exist. For many countries, their best performing year is when the year they host, or there's a drop in medal count the year after they host. The U.S. seems less affected by home advantage however. When they hosted 1984, their medal count is inflated due to the fact that the Soviet Union and other socialist countries declined to attend for political reasons. The Soviet Union, previously the United State's biggest competition, essentially cleared the way for the U.S. to dominate. The U.S. hosted again in 1996, but their top medal counts don't come from that year. Nonetheless, there is possible evidence of home advantage contributing to greater success for a country for that year. Additionally, the U.S. has hosted twices whereas other countries have hosted just once. What if the extra home advantage is what fuels its continuous dominance? Can home advantage be extended past success during the hosting year to overall long term success? ↓
Home Advantage
A broader look at the connection between home advantage and overall Olympic success: light blue countries have hosted the Olympics and are in the top ten for number of medals won overall. Purple countries have hosted the Olympics but are not in the top ten. Orange countries have not hosted the Olympics but are in the top ten. Hover the markers for host city and year.
Out of the top 10 most winning countries, only 4 of them have hosted an Olympics. The other 4 countries that have hosted an Olympics aren't in the top 10. Therefore, there doesn't seem to be much of an advantage to hosting the Olympics when it comes to long term consistent success. This makes sense as the world's greatest athletes on the world’s greatest sporting stage are expected to perform well no matter the location or amount of support. What puts the U.S. above others then? Perhaps they're not only a jack of all trades, but a master of some too. ↓
Team USA Best Performing Sports
Top 5 sports for Team USA each year: scroll through slider to change between years or click button for automated transitions.
Team USA is noticably a powerhouse in aquatics and athletics. They have performed best in those two sports in every single Olympics, racking up countless medals in those areas. In fact, more than half its golds come from those 2 sports. Thus, what seems to be driving Team USA's high medal counts is being exceptionally good in certain sports, which allows them to dominate and snatch up medals. What's behind the phenomenal success in those sports though? ↓
Top Olympic Athletes
Top 3 Olympic athletes of all time: click the button to reveal each athlete. Then scroll the timeline on the right for more details about their feats.
Of the top 3 athletes in the history of the Olympics, 2 of them are from
Team USA and earned their medals in aquatics, aligning with the fact
that Team USA’s best sport is aquatics. This indicates that consistent
dominance in sports can be linked to superstar athletes who consistently
perform well. The extraordinary athlete is what pushes the team above
the rest. Therefore it’s the combination of dominance in sports and
exceptional athletes that propel the U.S. to the top.
But how long can the U.S. enjoy this success? Nothing lasts forever, as the
composition of sports is always evolving and athletes emerge and retire.
Since exceptionality in both sports and athletes is necessary for success,
it’s important to identify the next generation of sports and athletes to
focus on and invest in in order to continue the United States's Olympic glory.
↓
Team USA Rising Sports
Select the checkbox to reveal the performance trends for sports that haven't been in the top 5 for Team USA (yet...)
Then scroll to the next section to reveal the 5 sports, and the corresponding athletes, that show the most potential and make the best candidates for the U.S. to focus on and invest in in the future. Scroll mouse to middle of the page and click the links for more information.
