Estados Unidos es el auténtico dueño y señor del medallero histórico de los Juegos Olímpicos, por cuanto acumula más de dos mil podios, el doble que la delegación de la extinta Unión Soviética, que supera ligeramente el millar. Medallero general de los Juegos Olímpicos de verano antes del inicio de Pekín 2008:
| PAIS | ORO | PLATA | BRONCE | TOTAL |
| 1. Estados Unidos | 898 | 692 | 604 | 2.194 |
| 2. Unión Soviética | 395 | 319 | 296 | 1.010 |
| 3. Gran Bretaña | 188 | 242 | 238 | 668 |
| 4. Francia | 184 | 196 | 216 | 596 |
| 5. Italia | 182 | 148 | 164 | 494 |
| 6. Hungría | 156 | 135 | 157 | 448 |
| 7. Alemania Democrática-RDA | 153 | 129 | 127 | 409 |
| 8. Alemania | 147 | 153 | 188 | 488 |
| 9. Suecia | 142 | 156 | 172 | 470 |
| .10. Australia | 117 | 122 | 147 | 386 |
| .11. Japón | 114 | 106 | 115 | 335 |
| .12. China | 112 | 96 | 78 | 286 |
| .13. Finlandia | 100 | 82 | 113 | 295 |
| .14. Rusia | 86 | 80 | 85 | 251 |
| .15. Rumanía | 82 | 88 | 113 | 283 |
| .16. Cuba | 65 | 53 | 52 | 170 |
| .17. Holanda | 64 | 74 | 92 | 230 |
| .18. Polonia | 59 | 74 | 118 | 251 |
| .19. Alemania Federal-RFA | 56 | 67 | 81 | 204 |
| .20. Canadá | 55 | 85 | 102 | 242 |
| .21. Corea del Sur | 55 | 64 | 65 | 184 |
| .22. Noruega | 51 | 43 | 41 | 135 |
| .23. Bulgaria | 50 | 83 | 74 | 207 |
| .24. Checoslovaquia | 49 | 49 | 45 | 143 |
| .25. Equipo Unificado | 45 | 38 | 29 | 112 |
| .26. Suiza | 43 | 70 | 61 | 174 |
| .27. Dinamarca | 39 | 61 | 63 | 163 |
| .28. Bélgica | 36 | 50 | 51 | 137 |
| .29. Turquía | 36 | 19 | 19 | 74 |
| .30. Nueva Zelanda | 33 | 14 | 30 | 77 |
| .31. Grecia | 30 | 40 | 34 | 104 |
| .32. España | 29 | 40 | 27 | 96 |
| .33. Equipo Unido Alemania | 28 | 54 | 36 | 118 |
| .34. Yugoslavia | 28 | 31 | 31 | 90 |
| .35. Ucrania | 21 | 17 | 31 | 69 |
| .36. Sudáfrica | 20 | 23 | 26 | 69 |
| .37. Austria | 18 | 32 | 33 | 83 |
| .38. Kenia | 17 | 24 | 20 | 61 |
| .39. Brasil | 17 | 21 | 38 | 76 |
| .40. Argentina | 15 | 23 | 22 | 60 |
| .41. Etiopía | 14 | 5 | 12 | 31 |
| .42. México | 10 | 18 | 24 | 52 |
| .43. Irán | 10 | 15 | 21 | 46 |
| .44. Corea del Norte | 8 | 11 | 16 | 35 |
| .45. Estonia | 8 | 7 | 14 | 29 |
| .46. Irlanda | 8 | 6 | 6 | 20 |
| .47. Equipo mixto | 8 | 5 | 4 | 17 |
| .48. India | 8 | 4 | 5 | 17 |
| .49. Jamaica | 7 | 21 | 14 | 42 |
| .50. Kazajistán | 7 | 12 | 7 | 26 |
| .51. República Checa | 7 | 9 | 11 | 27 |
| .52. Egipto | 7 | 7 | 9 | 23 |
| .53. Bielorrusia | 6 | 15 | 26 | 47 |
| .54. Marruecos | 6 | 4 | 9 | 19 |
| .55. Indonesia | 5 | 8 | 7 | 20 |
| .56. Tailandia | 5 | 2 | 10 | 17 |
| .57. Eslovaquia | 4 | 6 | 4 | 14 |
| .58. Lituania | 4 | 2 | 5 | 11 |
| .59. Argelia | 4 | 1 | 7 | 12 |
| .60. Portugal | 3 | 6 | 11 | 20 |
| .61. Croacia | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 |
| .62. Australasia | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 |
| .63. Uzbekistán | 3 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| .64. Pakistán | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| .65. Bahamas | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| .66. Azerbaiyán | 3 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| .67. Nigeria | 2 | 8 | 9 | 19 |
| .68. Taiwán | 2 | 6 | 7 | 15 |
| .69. Chile | 2 | 6 | 4 | 12 |
| .70. Eslovenia | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| .71. Georgia | 2 | 2 | 8 | 12 |
| .72. Uruguay | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 |
| .73. Camerún | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| .74. Zimbabue | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| .75. Letonia | 1 | 10 | 3 | 14 |
| .76. Trinidad y Tobago | 1 | 3 | 8 | 12 |
| .77. Uganda | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| .78. Perú | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| .79. Venezuela | 1 | 2 | 7 | 10 |
| .80. Colombia | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 |
| .81. Túnez | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| .82. Israel | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| .83. Costa Rica | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| .84. Armenia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| .85. Siria | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| .86. Luxemburgo | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| .87. Hong Kong | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| .88. R. Dominicana | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| .89. Mozambique | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| .90. Surinam | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| .91. Burundi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| .92. Ecuador | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| .93. Emiratos Arabes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| .94. Mongolia | 0 | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| .95. Namibia | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| .96. Filipinas | 0 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| .97. Líbano | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| .98. Moldavia | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| .99. Serbia y Montenegro | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 100. Tanzania | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 101. Puerto Rico | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 102. Bohemia | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 103. Ghana | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 104. Islandia | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 105. Particip. Independiente | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 106. Malasia | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 107. Haití | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 108. Arabia Saudí | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 109. Sri Lanka | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 110. Zambia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 111. Costa de Marfil | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 112. Antillas Holandesas | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 113. Paraguay | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 114. Senegal | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 115. Singapur | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 116. Tonga | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 117. Vietnam | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 118. Islas Vírgenes | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 119. Indias Britán. Orientales | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 120. Panamá | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 121. Qatar | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 122. Barbados | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 123. Bermudas | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 124. Yibuti | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 125. Eritrea | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 126. Guayana | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 127. Iraq | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 128. Kuwait | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 129. Kirgizistán | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 130. Macedonia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 131. Níger | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |