United States at the Olympics

The United States of America has sent many athletes to the celebration of the Olympic Games, starting with the first modern Olympics held in 1896. The United States has sent athletes to every Olympic Games with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee for the United States. American athletes have won a total of 2,629 medals (1,061 of them gold) at the Summer Olympic Games, and another 330 (113 of them gold) at the Winter Olympic Games. This makes the United States the most prolific medal-winning nation in the history of the Olympics. The United States remains one of the only major teams in the world to receive no government funding. Hosted Games The United States has hosted or was the designated host of the modern Olympic Games on nine occasions, more than any other nation: