Olympic 2016 Medal Count: Updates on Thursday's Medal Standings for Each Nation
The United States has built an insurmountable lead in the overall medal count at the 2016 Summer Olympics with four days of competition left in Rio de Janeiro. Team USA entered Thursday's action leading the standings with 93 total medals, 39 more than second-place China.
American athletes have also claimed the most gold medals during the Games. They have reached the top of the podium 30 times. China and Great Britain started the day tied for second in that set of rankings with 19 gold medals apiece.
Let's check out the complete medal standings, which will be updated through Thursday's events. That's followed by a recap of the action from Brazil as the Olympics wind toward a Sunday conclusion.
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Current Medal Count
Canoeing: Men's 1,000-Meter K-2
| Gold | Germany | 3:10.781 |
| Silver | Serbia | 3:10.969 |
| Bronze | Australia | 3:12.593 |
Germany's Max Rendtschmidt and Marcus Gross held off a ferocious rally by Marko Tomicevic and Milenko Zoric of Serbia to win gold in the men's 1,000-meter kayak double.
The German tandem appeared poised to cruise to victory after leading at each of the race's first three checkpoints. That included an edge of more than two seconds at 750 meters. But the Serbians nearly completed a memorable comeback over the final 250 meters.
Tomicevic and Zoric, who sat in sixth place at the halfway mark, gained nearly two full seconds on the leaders during the final segment of the race. It wasn't enough, however, as they finished about two tenths of a second behind the winners in the silver-medal position.
The race for bronze was equally intense as Australia and Portugal were separated by less than three tenths of a second at the finish line. The Aussie duo of Ken Wallace and Lachlan Tame did just enough to make the jump into third to secure a spot on the podium.
All of the other finalists ended up more than two seconds out of medal contention.
Canoeing: Men's 200-Meter C-1
| Gold | Iurii Cheban | UKR | 39.279 |
| Silver | Valentin Demyanenko | AZE | 39.493 |
| Bronze | Isaquias Queiroz dos Santos | BRA | 39.628 |
Ukraine's Iurii Cheban emerged victorious in the intense men's 200-meter canoe single, which seen all eight finalists finish within a second of each other.
The sheer unpredictably of the sprint is evidenced by the fact just one of the three medalists, bronze winner Isaquias Queiroz dos Santos of Brazil, won his semifinal heat. Cheban actually ranked seventh out of the eight athletes to qualify for the final in the previous round.
Planet Canoe noted it took a new Olympic best result to score the victory:
Valentin Demyanenko of Azerbaijan finished between Cheban and Queiroz dos Santos for silver. It marks the first Olympic medal for the 33-year-old former world champion in the event, who represented Ukraine earlier in his career before switching his athletic allegiance.
Meanwhile, Spain's Alfonso Benavides Lopes de Ayala finished fourth, just two-hundredths of a second of a second from getting on the podium. The result illustrated the extremely small margin of error in the high-drama event.
Canoeing: Men's 200-Meter K-2
| Gold | Spain | 32.075 |
| Silver | Great Britain | 32.368 |
| Bronze | Lithuania | 32.382 |
Saul Craviotto and Cristian Toro of Spain couldn't match their terrific time from the preliminary rounds in the men's 200-meter kayak double championship race, but they still did enough to capture gold by a comfortable margin.
The Spanish team won by nearly three-tenths of a second, which is quite a bit in a true sprint, as evidenced by the day's prior C-1 competition. It's quite a jump for the nation after not even having a team qualify for the Olympics in the event four years ago.
Great Britain's Liam Heath and Jon Schofield reached the podium for the second consecutive Games by earning the silver medal. They finished third during the London Games and improved on their time by more than two seconds to move up a spot this time around.
Aurimas Lankas and Edvinas Ramanauskas of Lithuania completed the podium. The bronze medalists edged out the Hungarian team of Sandor Totka and Peter Molnar by three-hundredths of a second at the finish line in another fine example of sprint canoeing.
Canoeing: Women's 500-Meter K-1
| Gold | Danuta Kozak | HUN | 1:52.494 |
| Silver | Emma Jorgensen | DEN | 1:54.326 |
| Bronze | Lisa Carrington | NZL | 1:54.372 |
Thursday's final canoeing competition ended with Danuta Kozak of Hungary winning the gold medal in the women's 500-meter kayak single in dominant fashion.
Kozak, who also won the event during the London Games four years ago, finished 1.8 seconds ahead of silver medalist Emma Jorgensen of Denmark. For perspective, the difference between Jorgensen and seventh place was less than a second.
It's rare to see an athlete win a sprint with such ease, but she's now done it on the Olympic stage twice in a row. She also owns two other gold medals at the distance as part of the country's K-2 and K4 teams.
New Zealand's Lisa Carrington claimed bronze after a terrific comeback over the second 250 meters. She found herself in last place at the halfway mark, but surged down the stretch to get back into medal contention and eventually secure a spot on the podium.
That said, Jorgensen, Carrington and the rest of the women's field has a lot of work to do if they want to seriously challenge Kozak at the Tokyo Games in 2020.
Athletics: Men's 400-Meter Hurdles
| Gold | Kerron Clement | USA | 47.73 |
| Silver | Boniface Mucheru Tumuti | KEN | 47.78 |
| Bronze | Yasmani Copello | TUR | 47.92 |
The United States' Kerron Clement outpaced a field weakened by the disqualification of Puerto Rico's Javier Culson to win gold in the men's 400-meter hurdles.
Clement looked ready to pull away from the field as they turned for home, but he lost his burst over the final 100 meters. He'd built a big enough lead to prevent the hard-charging Boniface Mucheru Tumuti of Kenya from chasing him down, though.
MileSplit US noted he even got a special congratulations from an American teammate:
Turkey's Yasmani Copello rounded out the podium by narrowly edging out Thomas Barr of Ireland for the bronze medal. It's been a breakout campaign for the 29-year-old former Cuban competitor, who took home gold in the event at the European Championships.
Culson, who won a bronze medal in the 400-meter hurdles in London, was a strong contender before getting disqualified because of a false start.
Triathlon: Men's Race
| Gold | Alistair Brownlee | GBR | 1:45:01 |
| Silver | Jonathan Brownlee | GBR | 1:45:07 |
| Bronze | Henri Schoeman | RSA | 1:45:43 |
Great Britain's Alistair Brownlee beat out his brother, Jonathan Brownlee, to score his second straight Olympic triumph in the triathlon.
It was an all-Brownlee affair by the time the race reached the 10-kilometer run. The brothers traded the lead a couple times during the four laps, but Alistair showcased the better finishing kick to earn another trip to the top of the podium.
NBC Olympics spotlighted the celebration:
Although Henri Schoeman of South Africa couldn't keep pace with the Brownlees, he beat out countryman Richard Murray by seven seconds to earn bronze. It's by far the most notable result of the 24-year-old triathlete's career so far.
Joe Maloy was the highest American finisher in 23rd place.
Badminton: Women's Doubles
| Gold | Japan vs. Denmark | 2-1 JPN |
| Bronze | South Korea vs. China | 2-0 KOR |
Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi of Japan completed an undefeated run through the women's doubles badminton tournament to claim the gold medal.
The dominant tandem actually dropped the first set of the final to the Danish pair of Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl. They bounced back strong, however, winning the second game 21-9 before closing it out with a hard-fought 21-19 victory.
Matsutomo and Takahashi are enjoying a tremendous 2016. The Olympic gold is one of several high-profile victories, including the Asian Championships and the Indonesia Open Super Series.
In the bronze-medal match, Kyung Eun Jung and Seung Chan Shin of South Korea set the tone with a lopsided 21-8 victory in the opening game.
China's Yuanting Tang and Yang Yu were far more competitive in the second contest, but they still came up short, as the Koreans secured a podium spot with a 21-17 win.
It's the first Olympic medal for both members of Team South Korea. Shin previously won bronze at the 2014 World Championships with former partner Sohee Lee.
Sailing: Women's 470
| Gold | Great Britain | 44 |
| Silver | New Zealand | 54 |
| Bronze | France | 62 |
Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark of Great Britain finished eighth in the final race of the women's 470 dinghy, but it was still enough to ensure their place atop the podium. The team's gold medal comes after they won bronze in London four years ago.
New Zealand's Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie bounced back from getting disqualified in the first race of the competition in order to win the silver medal. Putting together that type of performance with their backs against the wall is just as impressive as winning gold.
Finally, France won the hotly contested battle for the bronze. The difference between the duo of Camille Lecointre and Helene Defrance in third and the seventh-place team (United States) was just seven points, showcasing the tight battle for a podium spot.
Sailing: Men's 470
| Gold | Croatia | 43 |
| Silver | Australia | 58 |
| Bronze | Greece | 58 |
Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic of Croatia won two of the first four races in the men's 470 dinghy and never looked back en route to the gold medal. It's the first Olympic medal for the tandem, which did claim gold together at the 2009 World Championships.
Mathew Belcher earned his second consecutive trip to the podium for Australia in the event. This time he teamed with William Ryan for the silver. He won gold with former partner Malcolm Page at the 2012 Summer Games in London.
Greece's Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis rounded out the podium by earning bronze. It matches their best result in a major competition after previously winning bronze at the World Championships in both 2013 and 2014.
Sailing: Men's 49er
| Gold | New Zealand | 35 |
| Silver | Australia | 78 |
| Bronze | Germany | 83 |
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke of New Zealand reached the pinnacle of men's 49er sailing competition at the Olympics by completing their run in Rio with a fourth victory and a gold medal. The tandem had won silver in London four years ago.
The event was really no contest as the Kiwis easily outpaced their challengers. It left everybody else to battle for the final two spots on the podium. Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen of Australia, the 2012 Olympic champions, won that fight for silver.
Germany's Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel had an up-and-down journey during the 13 races. But they ended up having more good ones than bad ones, including six top-four finishes, which was enough to land them in bronze-medal position.
Sailing: Women's 49erFX
| Gold | Brazil | 48 |
| Silver | New Zealand | 51 |
| Bronze | Denmark | 54 |
Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze of the host nation of Brazil came up big in the clutch with a victory in the final race to secure a gold medal in the women's 49erFX. That win paired with a second-place finish in the penultimate race turned the tide to the Brazilians after a closely contested competition.
New Zealand picked up its third sailing medal of the day courtesy of the team of Alex Maloney and Molly Meech. They were the most consistent team in the event with only one result outside of the top six in the 13 races.
Jena Hansen and Katja Steen Salskov-Iversen earned the bronze medal for Denmark. They had a flag disqualification in their first race and finished 16th in Race 8, but a series of other strong results, led by seven top-two finishes, was enough to earn a berth on the podium.
Boxing: Men's Light-Heavyweight
| Gold | Julio Cesar La Crus | Cuba |
| Silver | Adilbek Niyazymbetov | Kazakhstan |
| Bronze | Joshua Buatasi | Great Britain |
| Bronze | Mathieu Bauderlique | France |
Adilbek Niyazymbetov sought to move up a place on the podium after capturing silver in the light-heavyweight division at the 2012 Olympics, but a stiff test from Cuba's Julio Cesar La Cruz denied him of that dream.
"When you win the silver medal for the second time, it can be emotional," Niyazymbetov said, per the Associated Press' Dan Gelston. "I've been training for four years, preparing myself for the gold medal. Now, I've got silver. I think my feelings are much more stronger, more emotional than the London Games."
La Cruz put together a thorough performance to secure Cuba's first light-heavyweight gold, and the judges scorecards reflected his strong outing.
All three judges scored the fight 29-28 for La Cruz, who simply looked like the sharper fighter throughout the gold-medal proceedings.
Diving: Women's 10-Meter Platform
China reasserted its dominance in platform diving on Thursday afternoon.
Not only did Ren Qian post a stellar score of 439.25 to take home gold, but her compatriot, Si Yajie, secured a score of 419.40 to give the Chinese a one-two finish on the podium.
Canada's Meaghan Benfeito took home bronze, but she finished a whopping 30 points behind Yajie and 50 points behind Qian.
The win for Qian means that China has now won platform gold in three straight Olympics dating back to the 2008 games in Beijing. China has also captured gold in seven of the last nine Olympic Games.
However, the gold-silver finish for China represented the first in country history.
Field Hockey: Men's Final
With Germany in bronze-medal action, the door was open for Argentina or Belgium to claim the men's field hockey throne on Thursday in Rio.
And as it turns out, history was made.
Argentina fell behind 1-0 within the game's first three minutes, but three goals in a 10-minute span between the 11th and 21st minute gave the South American side a comfortable cushion.
Belgium's Gauthier Boccard drew his squad to within a goal of the lead in the 44th minute when he found the back of the net, but Argentina put things away for good in the 59th minute thanks to a tally from Agustin Mazzilli.
With that, Argentina found its way onto the podium's top spot in men's field hockey for the first time in Olympic history.
Belgium, meanwhile, captured its first medal in field hockey since winning bronze in 1920.
In other action, two-time defending champion Germany edged out the Dutch 4-3 in a penalty shootout after playing to a 1-1 draw in regulation.
Wrestling: Women's 53-Kilogram
The stunner of the day came in the women's 53-kilogram final, when the United States' Helen Maroulis defeated three-time Olympic gold medalist Saori Yoshida of Japan for gold.
According to the Orange County Register's Jeff Miller, the gold medal is the first for any American in women's wrestling.
Yoshida won gold in women's lightweight freestyle wrestling at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics, but Maroulis got the best of her in a 4-1 victory after she made a surprise appearance in the finals.
Bronze medals were awarded to Sweden's Sofia Mattsson and Azerbaijan's Natalya Sinishin.
Wrestling: Women's 63-Kilogram
While Japan fell short in the 53-kilogram freestyle, it achieved gold-medal status in the 63-kilogram final when Risako Kawai defeated Belarus' Maryia Mamashuk.
Kawai was fairly flawless in the championship showdown, as she beat Mamashuk in convincing fashion, 3-0.
Poland's Monika Ewa Michalik and Kazakhstan's Yekaterina Larionova nabbed third-place honors in their respective bronze-medal bouts.
Wrestling: Women's 75-Kilogram
Canada tallied its fourth gold medal of the 2016 Olympics on Thursday when 75-kilogram freestyle wrestler Erica Wiebe defeated Kazakhstan's Guzel Manyurova to assume her place as one of the top female wrestlers in the world.
"I've never had this much fun wrestling," Wiebe said, according to CBC Sports' Benjamin Blum. "I just wanted to go out there, not think about what match it was or who I was wrestling."
Manyurova may have lost by a score of 6-0, but she made her country proud with a silver-medal finish.
Bronze medals were awarded to Russia's Ekaterina Bukina and China's Zhang Fengliu. Wiebe defeated Fengliu as part of her march toward gold.
Track and Field: Men's Shot Put
With the exception of short sprints, Americans have asserted their dominance on the track in recent days.
That didn't change Thursday in the men's shot put final.
Ryan Crouser was in elite form, and he set an Olympic record with a throw of 22.52 meters to take home gold over compatriot Joe Kovacs (21.78 meters) and bronze medalist Tomas Walsh of New Zealand.
"It's an amazing experience," Crouser said, per USA Today's Paul Myerberg. "I can't even describe it. To have my friends and family here, it could not have been better. My family is so supportive and appreciative. It's been a month since I have seen them, I am so excited about that — a gold medal is just a bonus."
Track and Field: Women's Javelin Throw
The Czech Republic's Barbora Spotakova trotted into Thursday's javelin throw final looking to capture her third straight gold in the event, but Croatia's Sara Kolak had other ideas.
Although Kolak is 14 years the junior of Spotakova, she came up with a superlative display that culminated in a gold-medal winning throw of 66.18 meters.
Spotakova ended up with bronze as she just failed to edge out South Africa's Sunette Viljoen—who finished .12 points higher for silver.
Taekwondo: Women's 57-Kilogram
Four years after she won her first Olympic gold medal in London, Jade Jones defended her title with a resounding 16-7 win over Spain's Eva Calvo Gómez on Thursday night.
But just because Jones entered with one gold medal to her name didn't mean she had peace of mind entering the final.
"I obviously knew I'd feel some pressure as the reigning Olympic champion but I didn't realise how much it would be," she said, according to BBC Sport.
Bronze-medal action was highlighted by a pair of wins from Egypt's Hedaya Wahba and Iran's Kimia Alizadeh Zenoorin.
According to Yahoo Sports' Jay Busbee, Alizadeh Zenoorin became the first Iranian woman to win an Olympic medal thanks to her unexpected triumph.
Taekwondo: Men's 68-Kilogram
In the men's 68-kilogram class final, Ahmad Abughaush of Jordan won his country's first Olympic gold medal behind a 12-7 win over Russia's Alexey Denisenko.
Joel Gonzalez, who won gold at the 2012 Olympics, was forced to settle for bronze after he was bested during his quest to repeat as champion.
Along with Gonzalez, a bronze medal was awarded to South Korea's Lee Dae-hoon thanks to their respective victories over Venezuela's Edgar Contreras and Belgium's Jaouad Achab.
Track and Field: Men's Decathlon
Ashton Eaton reaffirmed his status as the world's greatest athlete on Thursday when he wrapped up the decathlon with an Olympic record 8,993 points to repeat as champion in the grueling multi-day affair.
Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch put Eaton's achievement in perspective:
France's Kevin Mayer can also be proud of his effort.
Although Mayer was unable to dethrone Eaton, he did finish with a silver medal around his neck four years after failing to crack the top-10 in London.
The story was the same for bronze-medalist Damian Warner. The Canadian decathlete finished fifth in the event in London, and he improved across the board en route to capturing a coveted place on the podium Thursday night.
Track and Field: Women's 400-Meter Hurdles
Dalilah Muhammad cemented her status as a breakout star in the American sphere of track and field Thursday night when she flew past her competitors and won the women's 400-meter hurdle final in a time of 53.13 seconds.
With the win, Muhammad became the first American woman in Olympic history to capture gold in the event.
Denmark's Sara Petersen pushed Muhammad and came in second after crossing the finish line in 53.55 seconds, while American Ashley Spencer finished in third to give the U.S. two medals in the 400 hurdles for the first time in 20 years.
Track and Field: Men's 200-Meter Dash
As if it wasn't clear already, Usain Bolt resides in a class of his own every time he steps on the track.
That much was clear on Thursday, when Bolt inched closer toward capturing the famed triple-triple when he won gold in the 200-meter dash after doing so in Beijing and London.
Bolt burned past the competition in a time of 19.78 seconds, and he separated himself from the pack down the back stretch as Canada's Andre De Grasse and France's Christophe Lemaitre were left to watch in awe as the Jamaican made the difficult feat look sublime.
And yet, Bolt wasn't completely satisfied with his run despite the dominant nature of it:
Consider his upcoming run in the 4x100-meter relay final must-see TV.
Beach Volleyball: Men's Finals
In the evening's final event, Brazil captured a clean sweep of beach volleyball gold when Bruno Oscar Schmidt and Alison Cerutti posted a decisive 2-0 with over Italy.
The gold represented Brazil's first in men's beach volleyball since 2004. However, that's not to say Brazil hadn't experienced success on the sand in the interim.
The host nation has now medaled in beach volleyball in every Olympics dating back to the 2000 Games that descended upon Sydney.
Elsewhere, the Netherlands defeated Russia for the first beach volleyball medal in the country's history.
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