The Olympic bell is placed in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
Athletes who win gold are allowed to ring a bell in the Stade de France. It will soon hang in Notre Dame.
PARIS – If the U.S. women were a separate nation, their results at the 2024 Paris Olympics would make them one of the most dominant sporting nations in the world.
The US women’s soccer team’s thrilling victory over Brazil on Saturday night was another highlight of what was already a fantastic American women’s Olympic Games.
They are winning medals at such a rapid pace that if they were to knock the men off their feet, they would be third in the overall medal standings, behind only the entire U.S. team and China.
This means that half of the US team at the Paris Olympics will perform better than the entire teams of about 200 other nations, including 85 countries that have won at least one medal.
The U.S. women are playing better at the Olympics than the full teams from Australia, Japan, host country France, Great Britain, Korea, the Netherlands and Germany – and everyone else.
And that was without medals from some of the traditional American Olympic heavyweights in the women’s competition. The USA went completely medalless in water polo, golf and beach volleyball, in addition to some of the disappointments that always come when stars don’t win gold or perhaps even go completely medalless in the three major sports of swimming, track and field and gymnastics.
For the fourth consecutive Summer Olympics, the U.S. women will win more medals than the U.S. men. As of early Saturday evening, the American women had won 58 percent of all U.S. medals.
“The 2024 Paris Olympic Games were nothing short of extraordinary, showcasing the incredible talent, determination and confidence of Team USA athletes,” Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said in a text message earlier this week.
“Seeing young stars dominate their sports is inspiring and a testament to the impact of Title IX. Their accomplishments remind us how far we have come and the limitless potential that still lies ahead. We couldn’t be prouder of their accomplishments and the example they are setting for future generations of athletes.”
It’s no secret why this happens in the United States. It happens when a country passes a law — Title IX — that requires all children and young adults in the country to participate in sports, not just half of them, but the male half. When President Richard Nixon signed Title IX into law in June 1972, he opened the floodgates for women and girls to participate in sports.
Look at the results after all these years.
