5 Nations Which Have Won The Most Medals In Sprints At The Summer Olympics

The Summer Olympics is the grandest sporting spectacle where world-class athletes from different nations lock horns against each other in the ultimate bid to become an Olympic champion.

The thirty-second edition of the Summer Olympics at Tokyo will once again have the best-in-class athletes competing against each other to get onto the podium and bring laurels to their nations.

The Summer Olympics have witnessed some intense rivalries between dominant powerhouses in athletics and the US sprinters will once again be tested to the hilt by their Jamaicans, British and Canadian counterparts in the upcoming 2021 Tokyo Games.

A look back at the Summer Olympics has shown the United States and Jamaica battling it out hard to win the bragging rights to be the Olympic champions in the blue riband events.

Nations With Most Medals In 100 and 200m Sprints At Summer Olympics

Summer Olympics: Nations With Most Medals In Individual Sprint Events

So let's rewind the clock and look at the nations which have been the most successful at the sprinting events at the Summer Olympics.

#5 Trinidad and Tobaggo (Total Medals: 7)

Ato Boldon Competing In Lane 3 In 100m Event At 1996 Summer Olympics

Trinidad and Tobaggo have been a force to be reckoned with in the sprints at the Summer Olympics. In an era dominated by American and Canadian sprinters, Ato Boldon proved his prowess by medaling consistently at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics.

Richard Thompson added another sprint medal to the Caribbean nation's kitty with a silver in 100m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Trinidadian sprinters had their moments under the sun at the 4*100m relays, medaling in the 2008 and 2012 editions of the Olympic Games.

#4 Canada (Total Olympic Sprint Medals - 9)

Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse posing with his 200m silver medal at the Rio Olympics

Canada boasts an impressive list of sprinters who went onto bag podium places at the Summer Olympics. One of Canada's most cherishable moments at the Olympics happens to be sprinter Donovan Bailey clinching 100m gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

The Canadian 4*100m relay team pipped their North American rivals, the United States, to win gold in the 4*100m event at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Amidst the dominance of the Americans and the Jamaicans, Canada medaled at the 2016 Rio Olympics with Andre De Grasse finishing inside the top three in both the 100m (bronze) and 200m (silver) sprints.

#3 Britain (Total Olympic Sprint Medals - 14)

British Sprinter Linford Christie who won gold medal in 100m sprint at 1992 Barcelona Games

Great Britain has been the numero uno sprinting nation from amongst the Europeans at the Summer Olympics. The British sprinters have been the biggest foes to the ever-dominant US sprinters at the Olympic sprints in the 90s.

Linford Christie brought glory to the United Kingdom by clinching gold at the 100 mtrs in the 1992 Barcelona Games. Darren Campbell added more Olympic silverware by clinching silver in 200m at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

#2 Jamaica (Total Sprint Medals - 15)

Usain Bolt biting his gold medal won at the 100m sprints at 2016 Rio Games

Jamaican sprinters have offered the stiffest challenge to American sprinters at the Summer Olympics. The Caribbean nation has etched its name on the grandest sporting spectacle with a plethora of world class sprinters.

Leading the pack has been none other than legendary sprinter Usain Bolt. Bolt headlined Jamaica's hegemony at the Olympics with a hat-trick of Olympic titles in both the 100m and 200m (2008-2016 Summer Olympics).

It has not just been a one-man show for Jamaica as the likes of Yohan Blake (100m and 200m silver at the 2012 London Olympics) and Asafa Powell made the nation a sprinting powerhouse at the Olympics in the decade gone-by.

Jamaica had plenty of trailblazers like Nickel Ashmeade and Michael Frater, who played a pivotal role in making the relay teams unconquerable at the recent editions of the Olympics.

Going back into history, it was Lennox Miller who made the world take note of Jamaica's prowess with a silver medal in 100m at the 1968 Olympic Games. More success followed with Don Quarrie clinching the 200m gold at the 1976 Montreal Games, followed by a bronze at the 1980 Summer Olympics.

#1 United States Of America (USA) - Total Sprint Medals - 85

Justin Galtin competing at the 100m at the 2016 Rio Olympics

USA has been the dominant force in the men's sprint events at the Summer Olympics. The Americans have a glorious legacy of producing sprinting greats, most of whom went on to become Olympics champions.

Almost every decade, the Americans had one formidable male sprinter who medaled consistently at the Olympics.

Going back into Olympics history, notable American sprinters like Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, Bob Hayes and Bobby Morrow went on to become Olympic champions in the 100m sprints.

If Olympic great Carl Lewis was the poster boy of American sprinting in the 80s and 90s, bagging a plethora of medals across four Olympics, Maurice Greene took over the reigns in the 2000s and followed his illusturous countryman's footsteps with a 100m gold at the 2000 Olympics and bronze in the same event at the 2004 Athens Games.

When Greene faded away after tasting Olympic success, it was the perennial workhorses Justin Gatlin, Michael Johnson and Shawn Crawford who spearheaded America's sprinting challenge at the Olympic Games when Usain Bolt was at the peak of his prowess.