Top five Olympic sports where USA have never won a medal ft. Badminton & Handball

USA has won a total 2667 medals across 43 different sports at the Summer Olympics

The United States are by far the most successful nation at the Summer Olympics, winning 2667 medals in Olympic history, including 1061 gold medals! Their domination in the sport’s arena is parallel to none and they will hope to keep up the tradition at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The sports where the nation has won most of their medals are athletics, swimming, wrestling, shooting, diving, artistic gymnastics and boxing. The USA will have opportunities to secure its first medals in breaking, the sole new event debuting at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Despite their tremendous success across various disciplines, there are certain traditional sports where the country is yet to secure a podium finish. Based on their recent performances in these sports, it seems unlikely that this record will change in the upcoming 2024 Games.

Here are the five Summer Olympic sports where the USA have never managed to reach the podium:

5. Trampoline

Trampoline made its Olympic debut at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and will be making its seventh Olympic appearance during the Paris Games. 19 countries have combined to win the 36 medals awarded since 2000, but America has not claimed any of them.

Savannah Vinsant and Nicole Ahsinger had the best finishes amongst all Americans in the discipline’s history, placing sixth in 2012 and 2020 respectively.

Aliaksei Shostak and Jessica Stevens will be representing the country in the 2024 Olympics as they look to break their medal drought in the sport.

4. Rhythmic gymnastics

Rhythmic gymnastics made its Olympic debut as an individual event in 1984 and added a team event in 1996. Europe has completely dominated the sport since the beginning, with China, Canada and Israel as the only three countries from other continents to claim a medal across 10 Olympics.

The United States’ highest finish in the event is 11th place, achieved by Valerie Zimring during the boycotted 1984 Games in Los Angeles, Laura Zeng during the 2016 Games in Rio and the US team in Tokyo. The team’s appearance in the 2016 Games was its first since 1996. In Rio, the team finished last out of 14 teams, but improved to 11th out of 14 teams at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The country’s performance in rhythmic gymnastics might come as a surprise to many, given its excellence in artistic gymnastics. However, their prowess in rhythmic gymnastics does not match that of the finalists in the sport. At the 2024 Paris Games, the States will have only a single athlete competing in the individual discipline: Evita Griskenas.

3. Handball

For a country with over 1000 gold medals, it’s hard to believe that the United States has not even qualified for the men’s and women’s Olympic handball events since 1996, when it was the host nation for the Atlanta Games. Currently, France, South Korea and Norway hold the record for most medals in handball Olympic history.

The men’s squad has competed in the discipline six times, with their highest finish being sixth place in 1936—when there were only six teams in the competition. Across their six Olympic appearances, the men’s team has won a total of only four games.

The women’s squad has made it to the Olympics four times, all between 1984 and 1996. Their best finish was fifth place out of six teams in 1984. The USA handball team has failed to qualify for the 2024 Paris Games, ensuring that their poor record in the sport will continue for a while.

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2. Table Tennis

America has not won a medal in table tennis since it was introduced as an Olympic sport in 1988, despite being one of 16 countries to participate in the sport at each of the last 10 Olympics.

It’s a discipline which has been dominated by China, who have won 16 medals. Despite sending six athletes in TT, in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the country fell well short of winning a single medal.

Chen Wang owns the best American finish in Olympic table tennis history after reaching the women’s singles quarter-finals in 2008 Beijing. Juan Liu had the most successful run in Tokyo amongst all other American table tennis players, advancing to the women’s singles fourth round as the No. 68 seed.

In the 2024 Paris Games, the USA will be sending four athletes: Kanak Jha, Amy Wang and Lily Zhang, and Rachel Sung,

1. Badminton

America has struggled to advance in the five badminton events at the Olympics. men’s and women’s singles and doubles have been full-medal events since 1992, with mixed doubles added in 1996.

In eight Olympics featuring the sport, the country has never reached a final, with their best performance being a quarter-final appearance. The men’s doubles team of Howard Bach and Bob Malaythong reached the quarter-finals at the 2008 Beijing Games, marking the team’s highest achievement.

Beiwen Zhang got two wins in women’s singles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics before losing in the Round of 16. Timothy Lam (singles) and brothers Phillip Chew and Ryan Chew (doubles) went winless on the men’s side.

Seven United States badminton players have qualified for the Olympics based on the BWF Race to Paris Rankings: Howard Shu, Vinson Chiu, Joshua Yuan, Beiwen Zhang, Annie Xu, Kerry Xu and Jennie Gai.

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