Team USA has a big lead for the most medals won in Paris, but the gold medal race could come down to the very last event.
PARIS, France — The last gold medals will be awarded on Sunday as the 2024 Paris Games come to a close. And with just a handful of events left, the United States and China remain neck and neck for the title of most gold medals this year.
Here’s what to watch on Day 16 of the Paris Olympics
Which country has the most Olympic medals?
Heading into the final day of competition, the United States has 122 medals overall – 38 gold, 42 silver, and 42 bronze. China is the closest with 90 medals overall, but based on the remaining events there’s no w ay for them to catch the United States.
This is the eighth consecutive time the United States has won the most overall medals at the Summer Games. The Unified team topped the overall count in 1992 at Barcelona, composed of athletes from the former Soviet Union just after it broke up as a sovereign state.
The gold medal contest is a different story.
Who has the most gold medals at the Paris Olympics?
Heading into Day 16, China leads the gold medal fight over the U.S., 39-38.
China could pick up another gold medal or two on Sunday, while the U.S. has a chance at gold medals in women’s volleyball and women’s basketball.
The contest could come down to women’s basketball, which is the very last event of the Summer Olympics.
The United States and China finished 1-2 in both medal categories in 2021 in the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics.
The last Summer Olympics in which the United States did not top the gold-medal table was in 2008 in Beijing.
Key Olympic events Sunday
The women’s marathon will officially wrap up the track and field competition starting at 2 a.m. Eastern.
The U.S. men’s water polo team have a chance to win a bronze medal starting at 4:30 a.m. Eastern.
The defending champion U.S. women’s volleyball team looks to repeat in the gold medal match starting at 7 a.m. Eastern.
The last event of the entire Summer Games will be the women’s basketball final starting at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.
The Americans are trying to become the first team — in any sport — to win eight consecutive Olympic gold medals, breaking a tie with the U.S. men’s program that won seven in a row from 1936-68.
After all the events are done, it’s time to celebrate with the Closing Ceremony.
When is the Closing Ceremony?
It’s expected to be another star-studded celebration that features the handover from Paris 2024 to Los Angeles 2028.
The closing ceremony is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday. It’s expected to last until 5:15 p.m. EDT.
The Stade de France, home of the Paris Olympics track and field competition, will be the site of Sunday’s closing ceremony.
Once Paris wraps up hosting, attention turns to Milano Cortina for the next Winter Games in just a year and a half.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.