How Many Gold Medals Have Coloradans Won for Team USA in History?

People across the globe are getting hyped for the 2024 Olympic Games, which are now just weeks away from kicking off in Paris. During the thrilling two-week period, the world will watch as the greatest athletes gather and compete in various sports to win the gold. It's exciting to watch Team USA rack up the medals, but even cooler if the athlete hails from our home state of Colorado.

Quite a few Coloradans are competing in this year's Summer Olympics, including a cyclist from Fort Collins, a soccer player from Windsor, and a triathlete from Boulder. In past Olympics, Coloradans have brought back a collection of gold, bronze, and silver medals after competing against the best athletes worldwide.

Since the start of the Olympic Games in 1896 to Tokyo in 2020, Colorado has had a total of 10 gold medalists in the Summer Olympics (the Winter Games/athletes were not included in this ranking).

Two recognizable names are Missy Franklin and Amy Van Dyken, who both won gold medals in swimming and both grew up in Colorado. In 2021, 18-year-old Anastasija Zolotic of Colorado Springs made history when she became the first American woman to win a taekwondo gold medal on day 2 of the competition. During those same Olympic games, Valarie Allman of Longmont, won a gold medal when she threw the discus for 68.96 meters on her first attempt.

According to the Sports Geek, this puts Colorado 21st on the list for states with athletes to produce the most gold medals. The Centennial State shares this spot with Minnesota and Oklahoma. With 127 individual gold medals, California has, by far, the most successful all-time Olympic medals by a US state.

As July 26 nears, the all-time Olympic medal count in the US is about to change and more Coloradans have the chance to bring home the gold and add to the count.

USA USA USA!