The era of American sports dominance is ending, and that's alright

The Olympics are usually the best opportunity for the United States to show out and prove it's the dominant sports power in the world.

Especially when there is open criticism over domestic leagues crowning their winners as "world champions."

However, the 2024 Paris Games were just the latest example of how the rest of the world is starting to catch up to American prowess, and that may not be such a bad thing.

While Team USA won the most total medals for the eighth consecutive Summer Games, it was the first time that there's been a tie for most gold medals (USA 40, China 40).

Paris also marked the worst gold-medal showing for the U.S. since the 2008 Beijing Games when China won a whopping 51 golds on home soil, 15 more than the second-place Americans.

It's not just the medal table that reflects progression in the rest of the world's competitive abilities, sports where the U.S. has traditionally dominated are showing cracks as well.

On Sunday, Team USA women's basketball barely escaped with the gold medal after a one-point victory over France — which could have gone to overtime had Gabby Williams' foot not been on the three-point line.

The men's team isn't as invincible as it used to be, either. Countries like France, Lithuania and even South Sudan gave it a run for its money leading up to and during the Olympics.

That kind of growth in global parity is also appearing on domestic soil where more and more of the NBA is reflecting international talent.

Since the 2013-2014 season, six of the 11 league MVPs were foreign players. You have to go back to Dirk Nowitzki in 2006-2007 to find the last foreign MVP before that span.

Basketball is just a prime example but, like the U.S. in soccer, the rest of the world has been slowly and surely encroaching on what are now near-universal sports like swimming .

In the Winter Olympics, Team USA has only topped the medal count once (1932) , but the competition is good and is needed.

Of course, American exceptionalism will always exist but the aspiration to be the best can't be maintained if there isn't a challenge to overcome.

The 2026 Winter Games in Milan-Cortina and the next Summer Games in Los Angeles will be the next opportunities for the U.S. to either reestablish its dominance or realize the rest of the world is here and ready to compete.