Simone Manuel-Led Relay Team Secures USA's 1,000th Gold

When the Team USA women’s 4x100m relay team anchored by Simone Manuel won gold Saturday night in Rio, it marked a milestone for the United States.

It was the U.S.’s 1,000th gold medal in its Summer Olympics history.

Let the record show that the team who secured No. 1,000 was: Kathleen Baker, Lilly King, Dana Vollmer and Manuel.

The United States is the first country to rack up 1,000 gold medals.

According to the U.S. Olympic Committee, that’s more than the next three countries combined. Headed into the Rio Games, the USOC said that the Soviet Union was second with 395, followed by Great Britain (235) and France (203).

James Connolly won the first for the U.S. in 1896, and of course no one has added more to the total than Michael Phelps, a 23-time gold medalist.

Illustrating how not-so-simple this medal-counting business is, the official info portal for the Rio Games even has a different number than the USOC, saying the one the Americans will recognize as No. 1,000 is really No. 1,001.

Whatever the real number, the U.S. is the first to reach four figures — in a landslide.

"Here's the significance: The next four best nations had 1,004 gold medals coming into Rio," said Bill Mallon, an Olympic historian. "You add up the next four and they barely have more than we do." 

At its current rate, China wouldn't reach 1,000 golds until 2100. Germany wouldn't get there until 2204.

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