This article is part our 2020 Summer Olympics series.American opulence can be expected at the Olympics. Even though the U.S. was winning medals at the Tokyo Olympics Olympics, most of the discussion seemed to focus on why we were not winning more. According to FiveThirtyEight's medal tracker, Team USA was expected to win 16 more medals than what it actually did. Its gold medal total of 39 came in seven less than the previous two Summer Games.The U.S. remained at the top of the medal stands for seven consecutive Summer Games, even though the flame had been extinguished in Tokyo. There was an historic, gendered basis for this strong showing. The 2020 Olympics, by volume, was the best performance of any single Summer Games by U.S. female athletes.American women won 66 out of the country's total medals (58.4 per cent). These figures, both in percentage and total, are unheard of since American women competed in the first Olympics in 1900. Women were responsible for 23 of America's 39 gold medals at Tokyo. This was their fourth-highest total and their second-highest historical share (59%)This was the first ever gender-balanced Olympic Games. Nearly half of all the athletes were women, according to the International Olympic Committee. The 2020 Olympics saw a record female participation, with a large portion of it being red, white, and blue as has been the case at every Olympiad since 1960. The largest ever female contingent was brought to Tokyo by the United States team, which included a record 329 athletes.The performance of the U.S. male athletes was extraordinary by almost every other country's standards. Caeleb Dressels five won the most total gold medals of all the Olympic Games, while the U.S men won more total medals and gold medals than any other nation. Tokyo did not do as well as Tokyo in the men's 4x100-meter relay. According to Olympedia the men's 16 gold medals won by Dressel again are the fewest since 1928. The 41 total medals for the men are the fewest among any Summer Games since 1896 when there were only 43 events.It was also the third consecutive Summer Olympics where the U.S. women won more medals than the men. If the U.S. women had been a sovereign nation, they would be second only to the Russian Olympic Committee or China in total medal count. This is quite a feat for a contingent which, in 1988, brought home only a third of the country's medals.What should the next Summer Olympic sport be? FiveThirtyEight Debate ClubAmerican women saw dominance over the usual suspects. Katie Ledecky was still able to set record times in the pool. The water polo team also won three consecutive gold medals. Dawn Staley became the first Black coach to lead the women's national team to the Olympic gold. There was also dominance by new faces in Olympic sports, including American women winning gold in surfing and 3-on-3 basketball. Both of these Olympic sports were first introduced in Tokyo.The first U.S. gold Medal for women's volleyball was awarded, as well as the first U.S. individual foil and taekwondo medals. This is also the first U.S. gold gold medal in women's golf since 1900. It also marks the third time that Americans have won gold in pole vault and discus. Molly Seidel won a bronze medal in her 3rd marathon.The Games had many memorable moments: Allyson Felix surpassing Carl Lewis as the most decorated U.S. female track and field athlete; Tamyra M. Stock becoming the first Black woman to win freestyle wrestling gold and only the second American woman to do so; Suni Lee and American artistic gymnastics team prospering without the greatest gymnast ever.Even more significant was the impact that American women made outside of the play field. Simone Biles rekindled the discussion about mental health. Felix promoted equity with her first-of its-kind program for moms of athletes. Raven Saunders, a track athlete, and the U.S. women's soccer team used protest as a way to highlight the oppressed or marginalized.It is easy to exaggerate the achievements of the past, especially when it involves the spectacle of the Olympics. The American women achieved a record-breaking performance at the Tokyo Olympics in terms of hardware. This collective success will continue until 2024 when the Paris delegation will slash these numbers and reset the country's ever-rising high water mark. This would be the trend.FiveThirtyEightFiveThirtyEight
