Virginia Thrasher (USA) won the women’s air rifle gold medal this morning for the first gold medal of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The USA has also won the first gold medal at the Summer Olympics in 1896, 1904, 1924, 1952, 1956, 1984, and 2000.

Thrasher is the third USA woman to win the first gold medal of a Summer Olympics, after Connie-Carpenter Phinney, in the 1984 women’s cycling road race; and Nancy Napolski-Johnson, also in the women’s air rifle, in 2000.

Sometime during the coming fortnight, a United States athlete will win a gold medal and it will be the 1,000^th gold medal won by a US Olympian at the Summer Olympic Games. The problem comes in knowing which one that will be, and we’re not talking about predicting who it will be.

I compile Olympic statistics and do work for the US Olympic Committee at each Olympic Games. I am always asked to compile various lists for the USA Media Guide, and that always includes the list of most medals won by nations. In the list for 2016 I ran the query thru our database and came out with 975 gold medals for the US at the Summer Olympics since 1896. (This did not include 1906, considered unofficial by the IOC, but not the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH), which would add another 12 gold medals.)

Then a few days later Infostrada / Gracenote came out with their similar list and had 977 gold medals for the USA. Oops! So I know the guys at the former Infostrada and asked for their data and we compared our lists.

I had a mistake of 1 gold medal, where in a counting field what should have been a 1 was listed as a 0. So my count became 976, which still did not agree with Infostrada / Gracenote. So now what?

Looking at their data, I also noted that InfoGrace had a mistake when they did not include the 1904 women’s team archery event, which the USA won. It is listed as a competition in the Spalding Official Athletic Almanac for 1905, which is considered the 1904 Official Report (except for athletics [track & field], where there was a second report).

Further, InfoGrace had two gold medals I did not list – one in 1904 gymnastics all-around, won by Julius Lenhart, and one in 1904 gymnastics team all-around, won a team from the Philadelphia Turngemeinde, which included Lenhart.

Here is the problem. Lenhart was Austrian, and this has been known since the early 1970s and was discovered by Austrian Erich Kamper, the doyen of Olympic historians and statisticians. We credit the individual all-around gold to Lenhart and to Austria, which is correct. InfoGrace is wrong on that one, I feel, for certain.

The gold medal open to interpretation is the 1904 team all-around. My data credits it to a mixed team, not Austria, and not the United States. In 1900 and 1904, there were several events with teams composed of athletes from various nations. There were no national teams in that era, and athletes basically competed for themselves.

Infostrada / Gracenote conceded on the 1904 women’s archery event, bringing their total to 978, but would not yield on the Lenhart question. This is despite the fact that their results for the 1904 individual all-around also listed Lenhart as Austrian, as he was.

Now, I will admit that the team all-around gold is open to interpretation and somewhat controversial. However, I still think 978 is wrong. I’m sticking with 976 gold medals, although I would concede 977, if somebody wants to use that.

The problem then is who will win the 1,000^th gold medal for the USA? Depends on if you use 976 or 977 (or if you use InfoGrace’s data, 978).

Here’s my # – 976 gold medals to date. I’ll go with that and let the race to 1,000 begin.

• Saturday, 6 August – Courtney and Kelly Hurley will compete for the USA in individual épée fencing. Its a long shot but if they were to both make the podium, they would become the first sisters to finish on the podium in an individual event at the Summer Olympics. Sisters have only done this twice before – both at the Winter Olympics. Here are all the siblings who have finished 1-2 at the Olympics in an individual event.

[table]

Brothers

John / Sumner Paine,pistol shooting,1896
Platt / Ben Adams,standing high jump,1912
Nedo / Aldo Nadi,sabre,1920
Jennison / Jack Heaton,skeleton,1928
Edoardo / Dario Mangiarotti,épée,1952
Raimondo / Piero D’Inzeo,jumping,1960
Phil / Steve Mahre,slalom,1984
Philipp / Simon Schoch,snowboard PGS,2006
Sisters
Christine / Marielle Goitschel,slalom / giant slalom,1964
Doris / Angelika Neuner,luge,1992
Justine / Chloe Dufour-Lapointe,moguls,2014

[/table]

• If the Hurley sisters do not do that, and it would be an upset if they did, two Australian swimming sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell, have a strong chance to do this in the 100 freestyle (11 August) or 50 freestyle (13 August). Cate is favored to win in both events, and Bronte has a good chance for a medal in either event.
• In shooting, the Georgian mother-son combo of Nino Salukvadze and Tsotne Machavariani will compete at Rio. This will make them the first mother-son to compete at the same Olympic Games. More on this can be found at https://olympstats.com/2016/05/03/mother-and-son-shooters-to-compete-in-rio/.
• In athletics, Ashton Eaton will compete in the decathlon, looking to defend his title from 2012. His wife, Brianne Theisen-Eaton will compete in the heptathlon, and has a good shot at a gold medal in that event, although she is not the overwhelming favorite that her husband is. Eaton competes for the United States, while Theisen-Eaton represents Canada – they met in school at the University of Oregon. Should they both win gold medals, they will become the first husband-wife to win gold medals at the same Olympics, while representing different nations. See more on this at https://olympstats.com/2016/01/09/married-couples-winning-olympic-gold-medals/.

Sports lists for Rio – today we’ll present you 5 record lists for sports on the 2016 Olympic Program – table tennis, taekwondo, trampoline, golf, and rugby sevens. Please refer to a previous post https://olympstats.com/2016/07/29/sports-files-for-rio/ for information about these lists. This completes the presentation of the sports statistical files in preparation for Rio.

• Table Tennis – Table Tennis Lists
• Taekwondo – Taekwondo Lists
• Trampoline – Trampoline Lists
• Golf – Golf Lists
• Rugby Sevens – Rugby Football Lists

Sports lists for Rio – today we’ll present you 6 record lists for sports on the 2016 Olympic Program – archery, badminton, handball, modern pentathlon, rhythmic gymnastics, and synchronized swimming. Please refer to a previous post https://olympstats.com/2016/07/29/sports-files-for-rio/ for information about these lists.

• Archery – Archery Lists
• Badminton – Badminton Lists
• Handball – Handball Lists
• Modern Pentathlon – Modern Pentathlon Lists
• Rhythmic Gymnastics – Rhythmic Gymnastics Lists
• Synchronized Swimming – Synchro Swimming Lists

So how does Rio stack up against other Summer Olympic host cities in terms of population, climate, location, and other geographic factors. It is known that is the first South American city to host an Olympics. It is only the third city from the Southern Hemisphere to host an Olympics, following Melbourne in 1956 and Sydney in  2000. Attached is a small file that compares all the Olympic Summer hosts to see how Rio ranks among them.

Costs are also usually analyzed for Olympic host cities and we will do that as well, but usually full data on that is not announced until after the Olympics end.

Summer City Stats

Sports lists for Rio – today we’ll present you 10 record lists for sports on the 2016 Olympic Program – canoeing, equestrian, fencing, hockey, judo, sailing, shooting, water polo, weightlifting, and wrestling. Please refer to a previous post https://olympstats.com/2016/07/29/sports-files-for-rio/ for information about these lists.

• Canoeing – Canoeing Lists
• Equestrian – Equestrian Lists
• Fencing – Fencing Lists
• Hockey – Hockey Lists
• Judo – Judo Lists
• Sailing – Sailing Lists
• Shooting – Shooting Lists
• Water Polo – Water Polo Lists
• Weightlifting – Weightlifting Lists
• Wrestling – Wrestling Lists

Sports lists for Rio – today we’ll present you five record lists for sports on the 2016 Olympic Program – boxing, diving, football, rowing, and triathlon. Please refer to a previous post https://olympstats.com/2016/07/29/sports-files-for-rio/ for information about these lists.

• Boxing – Boxing Lists
• Diving – Diving Lists
• Football (Soccer) – Football Lists
• Rowing – Rowing Lists
• Triathlon – Triathlon Lists

Sports lists for Rio – today we’ll present you five record lists for sports on the 2016 Olympic Program – gymnastics, basketball, cycling, tennis, and volleyball. Please refer to a previous post https://olympstats.com/2016/07/29/sports-files-for-rio/ for information about these lists.

• Basketball – Basketball Lists
• Cycling – Cycling Lists
• Gymnastics – Gymnastics Lists
• Tennis – Tennis Lists
• Volleyball – Volleyball Lists

After yesterday’s blitz of articles prepping for Rio, we will now start releasing files containing Olympic records and bests for each of the sports / disciplines on the Olympic Program. These will be released gradually over the next week but today we’ll start with the two best known sports – athletics (track & field) and swimming. For details about what is in, and is not in, the sports lists, please see the previous post at https://olympstats.com/2016/07/29/sports-files-for-rio/

• Athletics – Athletics Lists
• Swimming – Swimming Lists