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With 103 medals, the U.S. eclipsed its totals in Sydney (97), Atlanta (101) and Seoul (94), and got close to Barcelona (108).But Olympic historian David Wallechinsky looks at the gold medal count and sees a not-so-rosy picture.
“If you judge success by gold medals won, this will be our worst performance in history,” Wallechinsky said.
The U.S won 35 gold medals in 301 events at the Athens Olympics, placing its gold-medal percentage at 11.6 percent. The U.S. came in at 13.3 percent in Sydney.
“About half of our gold medals have been won by athletes in two sports–men’s track and field and men’s swimming,” he said. “That kind of concentration is quite unusual in large countries.”
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Edited by the sports staff of RedEye.
