How Many Countries Have Won Medals at Each Olympic Games?
At the first Modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, the only countries represented in the swimming competition were Greece, Austria, Hungary and the United States. Only the U.S. was locked out of the medals. Fast forward 128 years, to the 2024 Games in Paris. In the French capital, 19 nations sent at least one athlete to the podium, led by Team USA with 28 medals.
Over the past 10 Summer Games, spanning 1988 in Seoul through the 2024 Games in Paris, the number of countries claiming at least one swimming medal has ranged from 18 to 22. Those figures indicate consistency over the past three-plus decades, with 21 medaling nations the total in 2008 (Beijing), 2016 (Rio de Janeiro) and 2020 (Tokyo).
The first two Games of the 1980s featured boycotts, the United States leading opposition of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow and the Soviet Union fronting an Eastern-Bloc denial of the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. When the world got back together for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, a record was set with 22 countries appearing on the podium. That mark has not been eclipsed, even with the number of events growing.
The addition of the 50-meter stroke events to the 2028 Games in Los Angeles will bring the number of events to 41. It will be interesting to see if this latest growth promotes a higher number of medal-winning countries, or if that figure will remain in recent range due to same-nation dominance.
Here is a year-by-year look at how many countries have medaled at each Olympic Games:
1896-3
1900-8
1904-5
1908-8
1912-7
1920-7
1924-6
1928-12
1932-10
1936-7
1948-7
1952-12
1956-8
1960-8
1964-8
1968-11
1972-11
1976-8
1980-11
1984-13
1988-22
1992-18
1996-19
2000-18
2004-20
2008-21
2012-19
2016-21
2020-21
2024-19
