The 2024 Paris Olympics belonged to women. These were the first Games in history to achieve gender parity in terms of having an equal number of women and men compete. Women shone on the world stage, beating many records along the way. Perhaps most impressive is the sheer number of medals won by U.S. women.
They took 67 out of Team USA’s 126 total — outdoing the men by seven medals (though one of those medals, Jordan Chiles’ bronze, has been called into question after the International Olympic Committee asked her to cede it to Romania). If American women were their own nation, they would have won the third-most medals, behind only the U.S. and China — and that would be true even without Chiles’ bronze. The country in fourth place, with the closest number of medals to the American women, is Great Britain, with 65.
Sixty-seven medals is a record for U.S. women and a record for any country’s women in general, beating the U.S. total of 66 in Tokyo. The American men did well for themselves, too — their 60 medals would be the fifth most if they were a country. Katie Ledecky won her ninth gold medal and her 14th overall these Games, becoming the most decorated U.S. female Olympic swimmer of all time. Simone Biles and the women’s gymnastics team — the so-called “Golden Girls” — had a successful redemption tour, bringing home gold in the team competition. Biles and Suni Lee went 1-2 on the all-around and became the first two all-around women gold medalists to go head-to-head in an all-around final. Meanwhile, Chiles and Biles bowed down to Brazil’s floor gold medalist, Rebeca Andrade, in a heartwarming moment on the podium.
Amit Elor became the U.S.’ youngest wrestler to compete and win a gold medal, and Lauren Scruggs made history as the first openly out and Black woman to medal in fencing, bringing home an individual silver and a team gold. The U.S. women’s basketball team won its eighth Olympic gold in a row, earning a shoutout from former President Barack Obama on X. The star-studded women’s 4×400-meter relay team rushed to gold Saturday, closing the track and field events for the Games and beating all its competitors by almost four whole seconds. During the closing ceremony, the women’s marathon podium winners were given their medals and honored in front of all their fellow Olympians and the spectators at the Stade de France.
The wins of these athletes have inspired many across social media, with some citing it as “empowering,” and showcased role models for younger generations. Although there were a lot of triumphs for women, there was also backlash against two athletes whose gender was wrongly called into question. Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who won a gold medal in the women’s welterweight division, and featherweight Lin Yu-ting, representing Chinese Taipei, had clouds cast over them after Khelif’s opening victory against Italian Angela Carini.
Khelif defeated Carini in only 46 seconds. Carini refused to shake Khelif’s hand after the bout and fell to the floor crying. Her rapid defeat brought to light allegations last year by the Russian-led International Boxing Association, which removed Khelif and Lin from a competition in New Delhi last year for having failed to pass a “gender eligibility test.” False claims about Khelif’s gender erupted online, triggering a storm of online harassment, which is now the source of a legal battle. Khelif filed a legal complaint Sunday alleging she was the target of “aggravated cyber-harassment.” Her lawyer described it as a “misogynist, racist and sexist campaign.”
The IOC defended her and denounced those peddling misinformation. Khelif said the spread of misconceptions about her “harms human dignity.” Khelif’s home country rallied around her, defending her from the misconceptions about her gender and celebrating her as she boxed her way to a gold medal in a decisive win Tuesday. She was named Algeria’s flag bearer Sunday and led the delegation during the closing ceremony.
