By MIKE HERNDON

“If I were asked,” Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in Democracy in America, “to what the singular prosperity and growing strength of that people ought mainly to be attributed, I should reply: To the superiority of their women.”

Two centuries later, America’s women proved him right again – in his own homeland.

As the 2024 Olympics ended this week in Paris, the United States closed another Games atop the leaderboard in both gold medals (tied with China) and total medals. And the main reason is its female athletes.

The American men had their share of successes. Rai Benjamin beat the world-record holder to win the 400 hurdles.  Steph Curry went nuclear in the last two games of the basketball tournament, sealing America’s fifth straight gold with an insane 3-pointer over two defenders. Stephen Nedoroscik became a cult hero when he took off his glasses and clinched the first U.S. medal in men’s gymnastics in 16 years.

And Cole Hocker patiently waited his turn while the two favorites in the 1,500 jawed at each other leading up to the race, then stole the gold with a furious kick on the home stretch.

But for dominance, look to the women. As ESPN noted, their 26 gold medals are the most ever by a women’s team in a single Olympics, and represent 65 percent of America’s gold medal total.

But it wasn’t necessarily it was the number of medals they won that was the most impressive. It was the way they won them. They coasted to the finish line on the track and the wall in the pool. They set records. They took what they went to Paris for.

The five most dominant U.S. performances of these games were all by women:

5. Torri Huske, swimming

She won three gold medals – including the 100 butterfly, where she edged out fellow American Gretchen Walsh, who had set a world record in the prelims. But the highlight was the 4×100 medley relay, where she anchored a world-record performance.

4. Gabby Thomas, track and field

She won three gold medals at three different distances, helping the 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams pull away to victory and then crushing the field in the 200.

3. Katie Ledecky, swimming

The queen of the pool was her usual dominant self, winning the 800 freestyle for the fourth straight Olympics and literally leaving all challengers out of the picture in the 1,500 to set an Olympic record. She is now the most decorated female athlete in Olympic history.

2. Simone Biles, gymnastics

After the disappointment of Tokyo, the greatest gymnast we’ve ever seen was back to doing what only she can do, flipping, twisting and tumbling her way to gold-medal performances in the all-around and vault with a degree of difficulty that only she can reach. And oh yeah, she led the U.S. women to a team victory as well.

1. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, track and field

How is Biles not No. 1 on this list? The sheer dominance of McLaughlin-Levrone in the 400 hurdles, where she broke the world record for the sixth time at 50.37. She was the first woman to go under 51 seconds in 2022.

We have grown accustomed to celebrating dominant American athletes like Biles and Ledecky, who are widely renowned as the greatest ever in their respective sports. But in these Games, the American women may have outdone themselves.

They’ve certainly set the bar high for L.A. in 2028.

Categories: Mystery Punch

Tags: Olympics