Americans Who Won Big at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Athletes like Simone Biles and LeBron James may have been the media darlings of the 2024 Paris Olympics, but they weren’t the only Americans to take home medals. Even as the event fades into history, there are a number of American names who won big that shouldn’t be forgotten, some of whom will be stars of the 2028 LA Games. Some readers will want to follow the careers of these rising stars in the years ahead to make witnessing their next victories even sweeter or to help you make decisions about investing in collectibles that are likely to increase in value.

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• The United States topped the list for total medals at the Paris Games, with 126 total. The US and China tied for gold medals, with 40 each.
• Some Americans won multiple medals, others achieved astonishing victories and took home a well-deserved medal.
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14. Noah Lyles (track and field)

American sprinter Noah Liles is the fastest American in the 200 meters with a personal best of 19.31 seconds, making him the third fastest in the world in this event. The six-time world champion has now added Olympic gold to his accolades. He took first place in the 100 meters on August 4, 2024, the 9th day of the Olympic Games, in Stade de France. It was the first time in 20 years that an American has won the men’s 100 meters.

13. Lee Kiefer (fencing)

Lee Kiefer of Cleveland, Ohio, entered the 2024 Olympics having already won a gold medal in fencing at the 2020 Tokyo Games. In Paris, she won two more golds in the women’s foil and women’s team foil.

12. Ryan Crouser (Shot Put)

Athlete Ryan Crouser won his third gold medal in the shot put at the Stade de France. His previous gold medals in the sport came in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and 2020 in Tokyo.

11. Olivia Reeves (Weightlifting)

On August 9, 2024, day 14 of the Olympic Games, Olivia Reeves won the first American gold in weightlifting since 2000. Her category was the women’s 71 kg. She had previously won bronze in that event at the World Weightlifting Championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and gold in the women’s 81 kg competition at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.

10. Kristen Faulkner (cycling)

On Day 9 of the Olympic Games, August 4, 2024, Kristen Faulkner became the first American cyclist in history to win gold in both track and road cycling. It was also the first time in 40 years that an American woman has won the road race. She races for the UCI Women’s Continental Team EF-Oatly-Cannondale.

9. Scottie Scheffler (golf)

Scottie Scheffler of Team United States plays on the PGA Tour. He has been ranked No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking for more than 100 weeks and won the Masters Tournament in 2022 and 2024. Scheffler took gold in Paris in the men’s individual tournament at Le Golf National in Paris.

8. Quincy Hall (athletics)

On August 7, day 12 of the Games, Quincy Hall took gold in the men’s 400 meters at the Stade de France, beating Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith by just 0.04 seconds. Hall had previously won gold in the 4x400m relay and bronze in the 400m at the 2023 World Championships.

7. Amit Elor (Wrestling)

The youngest wrestling champion in U.S. Olympic history is now 20-year-old Amit Elor. She defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Meerim Zhumanazarova 3-0 in the 68-kilogram final to win gold at the Champs-de-Mars Arena on August 6, 2024.

6. Vincent Hancock (Clay pigeon shooting)

Vincent Hancock won gold in the men’s skeet shooting event on August 3, 2024 at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre. He is only the sixth Olympic athlete to win four gold medals in the same event.

5. Bobby Finke (Swimming)

On the final night of the Olympic swimming competition, Bobby Finke set a record and won gold in the 1,500-meter freestyle at Paris La Defense Arena on August 4, 2024 in Nanterre.

4. Stephen Curry, Lebron James, Kevin Durant (Basketball)

Three of the biggest names in NBA basketball, Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant, took home the gold as part of the U.S. Olympic basketball team at Bercy Arena on August 10, 2024. They had all won NBA Most Valuable Player Awards. Team USA defeated France for the second consecutive Olympic Games in the event, making it the fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal for the Americans in the sport.

3. Diana Taurasi (Basketball)

The record for the longest streak of gold medals in a ball sport in Olympic history goes to the U.S. women’s basketball team, which won its 8th consecutive Olympic gold medal (and 10th overall). On the team, Diana Taurasi won the most medals in Olympic basketball history, with her 6th gold medal.

2. Simone Biles (Gymnastics)

The name that everyone had in mind at the Olympics was Simone Biles. She won 3 gold and 1 silver medal at the end of the Games in Paris. This brings her career total to 11 Olympic medals, 7 of which are gold, making her the second most decorated female Olympic gymnast in history.

1. Katie Ledecky (Swimming)

One of the biggest American stars of the Olympics was undoubtedly Katie Ledecky. In Paris, she won the 800-meter freestyle, earning her ninth Olympic gold medal. This record ties Larisa Latynina, a Russian gymnast from the 1950s and 1960s, for the most Olympic gold medals won by a woman. This is only the seventh time that an Olympic athlete has won four consecutive gold medals in the same event. And she is only the second swimmer to do so, after Michael Phelps.

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