In the Rio 2016 Olympics, the United States no doubt has outnumbered the world with a solid 121 medals, 46 of them being gold. The U.S. Olympic swim team brought out their best performances in the pool, with the track and field team following. American swim star, Michael Phelps, brought home 5 gold and 1 silver in his final Olympics, ending his record breaking career with 28 total medals: 23 gold, 3 silver, and 2 bronze. Along with Phelps, Simone Manuel, known as “Swimone”, from Sugar Land, Texas and an Austin High School graduate in the year 2014, made history as the first African-American woman to win a gold in an individual swim event. Manuel, a previous member of the First Colony Swim Team, ultimately won 2 golds and 2 silvers to bring home to Sugar Land. Katie Ledecky, another swimmer on the U.S. team, dominated in her swim events with a world record in the 800m freestyle, completing her event 11.38 seconds before the silver medalist.

With an amazing 32 medals, track and field dominated in the Olympics beating other countries, including Kenya, by 19 medals. With the many different races and events for the track and field stars, the most memorable were undoubtedly by Olympians Allyson Felix, Tianna Bartoletta, Tori Bowie, and  LaShawn Merritt with the top number of medals for Team USA. The fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt, still had the most fame in the games for winning his third straight gold in the 100m, while making his meme go viral. Continuously beating his own records, Bolt finished his last 100m in an amazing 9.81 seconds, bolting across that track faster than any man ever to live.

The U.S. gymnastics team won the third most medals in the games for America with 12 medals. The women’s team had Houston-area Simone Biles, who is a three time World-all round Champion and a 5 time Olympic medalist. Biles, having her own routine named after her, was also named the most decorated American gymnast of all time, beating Shannon Miller who has had the title since 1996. The Final Five, including Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, and Gabby Douglas, won the gold for the women’s team all round. Dominating on the uneven bars, floor exercise, vault, and beam, the girls brought home a total of 13 medals. Way to go girls!

Go Team USA! With a total of 121 medals, winning the most medals for the Rio 2016 Olympics, Team USA had a very memorable performance at the games. Time for the next round in 2020 in Tokyo!