Tokyo Olympics: All About The Medal Table

Traditionally, the medal table at all Olympic Games prioritises the number of gold medals won by countries or teams.

On this basis, the 2016 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad and commonly known as Rio 2016, held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, saw the United States leading the field with 46 golds, with Great Britain second on 27 and China third with 26.

However, if countries have the same number of gold medals, the order is then dictated by which has the most silver medals, and finally, bronze medals if the numbers are still identical.

In Rio, the United States won 121 medals overall, while China had more medals overall than Britain, 70 to 67.

Japan, the host country at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Games, placed sixth on the medal table in 2016 with 12 gold medals. Before the pandemic broke out, the Japanese were targeting 30 golds at these Games, but its Olympic committee says it no longer has a target.

Australia came 10th at Rio, with eight gold medals, equal on golds with Italy, Hungary, and the Netherlands.