The 2024 Paris Olympics were packed with unforgettable milestones and first-time accomplishments.
Simone Biles , Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone , Katie Ledecky and other American athletes made 2024 a year to remember. Before the United States pivots to the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games and 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games , here's a look at some notable firsts for Team USA at the 2024 Summer Games .
Katie Ledecky becomes first female Olympian with nine career gold medals for Team USA
Katie Ledecky is the most decorated woman in U.S. Olympic history . The 27-year-old won four medals in Paris, bringing her career Olympic medal count to 14. Ledecky defended her Olympic titles in both the women's 1500-meter freestyle (Olympic-record 15:30.02) and the women's 800-meter freestyle, propelling her to nine career Olympic gold medals. No. 9 passed Jenny Thompson for the most among U.S. women and tied former Soviet Union gymnast Larisa Latynina for the most of all time.
Kevin Durant passes Lisa Leslie for first on Team USA basketball scoring list at Olympics
Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant scored with 3:06 left in the third quarter of the U.S. men's basketball team's quarterfinal win against Brazil . The basket gave Durant six points in the game and 489 in his four career Olympic appearances. The total passed Lisa Leslie's 488 career points over her four Olympic appearances with Team USA's women's basketball team. Durant became the first U.S. player to eclipse 500 career Olympic points in Team USA's semifinal win over Serbia .
Annette Echikunwoke wins first U.S. women's hammer throw medal
Annette Echikunwoke was set to represent Nigeria at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but was disqualified due to an error by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria. In Paris, the former University of Cincinnati standout changed her allegiance, represented the U.S., and won silver in the women's hammer throw. Echikunwoke's toss of 75.48 meters secured the first-ever U.S. Olympic medal in the women's hammer throw event.
U.S. track and field star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone becomes first woman to win 400-meter hurdles twice
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone once again broke her own world record, leaping through the 400-meter hurdles in 50.37 seconds and defending her Olympic title. With her latest triumph, McLaughlin-Levrone became the first woman to win the 400-meter hurdles twice at the Olympics, and the first woman to repeat. The only man to repeat at the Olympic Games is the late Glenn Davis (1956 and 1960).
Team USA wins first team fencing Olympic gold in women's foil
Two-time individual gold medalist Lee Keifer teamed up with individual silver medalist Lauren Scruggs, Jacqueline Dubrovich and Maia Weintraub to achieve a 45-39 win over Italy and give the U.S. its first-ever team fencing Olympic gold medal in women's foil. The win was redemption for the U.S. after losing the bronze-medal match to Italy at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
U.S. women's rugby sevens team wins first Olympic medal
Alex Sedrick ran the length of the field, dove under the posts as time expired, and finished the game-winning conversion kick to give the U.S. women's rugby sevens team a come-from-behind win over Australia in the bronze-medal game. The victory earned the U.S. their first women's rugby sevens medal in Olympic history.
Simone Biles becomes first U.S. gymnast to win eight career Olympic medals
Simone Biles clinched the eighth Olympic medal of her storied career when the U.S. women's artistic gymnastics team won the team final . The victory crowned Biles the most decorated U.S. Olympic (male or female) gymnast in history. Biles won four total medals in Paris, bringing her career total to 11 Olympic medals (including seven gold).
Scottie Scheffler achieves gold medal for Team USA in Olympic debut
Prior to the Paris Olympics, World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler had amassed a wide collection of titles in 2024: Travelers Championship, Memorial Tournament, RBC Heritage, Masters Tournament, PLAYERS Championship, and Arnold Palmer Invitational. Throughout his storied golf career, he had never competed at a Summer Games. After an impressive comeback in the final round, he won the top prize in his first swing at Olympic competition .
Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles take part in first all-Black Olympic gymnastics podium
The U.S. contributed to a history-making moment during the final of the women's artistic gymnastics floor exercise. Simone Biles (silver) and teammate Jordan Chiles (bronze) joined Brazil's Rebeca Andrade (gold) on the podium, marking the first time in Olympic history that three Black women made up the gymnastics medal stand.
U.S. becomes first nation in Olympic history to surpass 3,000 medals across Summer and Winter Games
Swimmers Regan Smith (57.66 seconds) and Katharine Berkoff (57.98) captured the silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the women's 100-meter backstroke , to win the 2,999th and 3,000th career medals for the U.S. The feat marked a first for any nation in Olympic history.
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