Summer Olympics: Top 20 Countries with the Most Gold Medals in a Single Year

The 1984 U.S. Olympic Team Won the Most Gold Medals

So what’s the best way to win a mongo trove of gold medals?

Eliminate the competition.

In 1980 and 1984, the Cold War led to tit-for-tat superpower boycotts. After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in late 1979, the US and several other countries boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The Soviets and 13 of their satellite nations returned the favor in 1984, skipping Los Angeles.

The result?

The top two gold medal hoards in history, with the US minting 83 in ’84, and the Soviet Union 80 in ’80.

The third biggest looting occurred back in St. Louis in 1904, when the US grabbed a solid 76 gold medals. Then again, only 15 countries participated that year, the lowest number since the first games in 1896 Athens.

Those three tallies are on the right end of the Olympic gold medal bell curve.

In the middle, though, most of the best gold medal years fall in the 40-55 range, and it looks like the same thing is happening again at the 2012 London Games.

The USA and China, who came on strong in Beijing, are sitting at 41 and 37 gold medals apiece as of this posting with more than a handful of tin to still give out.

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Photo: vh1.com