Why does the United States dominate the world of sports?

For

Eduardo Lopez

There are universal truths.

The gravity.

The movements of translation and rotation of the earth.

The imminence of death.

And that the United States is the great global sports power.

The virtuous circle of a system that directly links physical activity with competitive tension, scientific research and academia, coupled with a contextual culture of sports as entertainment and social construct, explains the remarkable performances of American athletes in any field throughout of the times.

Sport is education and education is excellence.

The foundations are solidified from the immense social mass that enters the sports programs offered by communities, schools, universities. According to a study prepared by the NGO Physical Activity Council in 2019,

218.5 million people (almost 66% of the total population of the country) perform some type of physical activity, both as a hobby and as a professional occupation

; The thesis was sponsored by organizations such as the United States Tennis Association and the Sports and Fitness Industry Association.

In 2019, the NFSHSA (National Federation of State High School Associations) registered 7,937,491 participants on its sports teams

; outdoor track and field events attract the most students (1,093,621).

In addition, the latest annual report from the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) revealed that 505,233 students were enrolled in the official representatives of their institutions in 30 disciplines.

The fabric of American sports is solid because it is protected by its renowned educational system.

The top 3 of the current World University Classification (QS) is made up of three institutions of the 'American Union': Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford and Harvard. The variety of educational and sports offers, the quality of the facilities, a virtuous financing scheme consisting of private resources (sponsors and television rights) and the distribution of scholarships for sports merit as a pillar; all this explains the operation of a machinery for the production of medals and records.

The United States is the country with the most summer Olympic medals in history (2,520): it commands the historical sum in 15 sports that at some point were part of the Olympic program;

he fully dominates the two central disciplines of the Games

(swimming and athletics) and only in three that are currently included in the IOC calendar (with the exception, of course, of those that will be released in Tokyo 2020) has he not won medals or world championships (handball, rhythmic gymnastics and rugby 7).

As if that were not enough, the United States is the second power in the Winter Olympics, only behind Norway.

Yes, there are universal truths.

The kings of athletics and swimming

Outdoor track and field events second only to football in the number of registered NCAA entrants in 2018-2019: 59,240 total

; 28,914 are men, among whom is the second most practiced sport; 30,326 are women, who have a predilection for soccer (28,310) and softball (20,419). Ray Ewry, multi-time long jump, triple and high jump champion from Paris 1900 to London 1908, and

Carl Lewis, a University of Houston scholarship recipient, repeated gold medalist in 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump and 4x100 relays

, are the top laureates of American athletics (10 medals).

The 'Team USA' has hung 798 medals in athletics from Athens 1896 to Rio de Janeiro 2016.

The figure does not include the 21 metals won in the Intercalated Games of 1906, held in Athens and without recognition from the International Olympic Committee. Of the total, 131 are women and 667, men.

In only 10 tests of the 76 that have been carried out (51 men, 27 women), the American delegation did not get any medals; currently, the Olympic athletics program includes 48 events in total

; 31, like the 1,500-meter walk, were removed from the calendar.

In the 100-meter dash, the queen test of the Olympics, the United States commands the medal table, with 57 podiums and 25 first places (men and women added).

Hegemony has been extended to the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) World Cups.

In the biannual jousts, the contingent of 'The Bars and the Stars' also leads the honor table. In total, there are 381 medals; 169 gold, 118 silver and 94 bronze.

Its best harvest occurred in the last edition, Doha 2019: 14 first places, 11 seconds and 4 third.

In 19 championships, the United States ranked first on the medal table 13 times; the delegation lost the lead only two times in the last 15

: Russia conquered the 2001 World Cups in Edmonton and Kenya, those in Beijing 2015. The eternal Allyson Felix is ​​the highest decorated (16, 13 golds), thanks to her feats in all versions of the 400 meters (flat, 4x100, 4x400 and 4x400 mixed) and in the 200 planes.

The 'American Union' also rules in swimming pools.

No other nation boasts greater conquests in the Olympic pools: 553, 314 for men and 239 for women;

247 gold, 172 silver and 135 bronze.

The record does not include the silver of Francis Gailey, Australian athlete for the International Olympic Committee, in the 220 yards back of St. Louis 1904.

And no one collects more Olympic medals than Michael Phelps: 28 (23 golden).

The King of the Games.

He participated in 30 tests and only fell short in two: his worst final ranking was 5th, in Sydney 2000, his first appearance in the fair maximum.

'The Baltimore Shark' endorsed the butterfly competitions (9 medals) and the freestyle relays (8), although it did not appear in the favorite test of the USA: the 100 meters backstroke (37 total and 15 gold).

The absolute government of the United States in swimming and athletics does not end at the Olympics and the World Championships.

The record books also present proof.

Team USA has 17 current world records in athletics and 26 in swimming.

Indestructible seem the 10.49 seconds of Florence Griffith-Joyner in the 100 meter dash, a record dating from July 16, 1988, achieved in Indianapolis.

The top record holder is Katie Ledecky, a Stanford student, considered, at just 22 years old, one of the greatest swimmers of all time.

Your records in the 400, 800 and 1,500 meters freestyle (the last two, in Rio de Janeiro) will take a long time to break.

Michael Phelps also has his name on the list of the WR (400 meters combined, at the Beijing Olympics). 

Current world records held by the US (athletics, outdoors)

Name	Date	Test (gender)	Brand	Place
Aries Merritt	10/07/12	110 flat meters with obstacles (v)	12.80	Brussels
Kevin Young	08/06/92	400 flat meters with obstacles (v)	46.78	Barcelona
Mike powell	08/30/91	Long jump (v)	8.95	Tokyo
Randy barnes	05/20/90	Shot put (v)	23.12	Westwood
Male team	03/22/93	4x400 meter dash relay (v)	02:54:29	Stuttgart
Male team	05/03/15	Combined distance relay (v)	09:15:50	Nassau
Mixed team	09/29/19	400 meter sprint mixed relay	3: 09.34	Doha
Florence Griffith-Joyner	07/16/88	100 meters flat (f)	10.49	Indianapolis
Florence Griffith-Joyner	09/29/88	200 flat meters (f)	21.34	Seoul
Kendra harrison	07/22/19	100 flat meters with obstacles (f)	12.20	London
Delilah muhammad	07/28/19	400 flat meters with obstacles (f)	52.20	Des moines
Jackie Joyner-Kersee	09/24/88	Heptathlon (noun)	7291	Seoul
Female team	08/10/12	4x100 meter dash relay (f)	40.82	London
Female team	04/29/00	4x200 meter dash relay (f)	1: 27.46	Philadelphia
Female team	05/02/15	Combined distance relay (f)	10: 36.50	Nassau
Sydney MacLaughlin	06/27/21	400 meters with obstacles (f)	51.90 **	Eugene
Ryan crouser	06/18/21	Shot put (v)	23.37 **	Eugene

* Source: World Atheltics

** To be confirmed

Current world records held by the USA (swimming)

Name	Date	Test (gender)	Brand	Place
Ryan murphy	08/13/16	100 meters back (v)	51.85	Rio de Janeiro
Aaron Peirsol	07/31/09	200 meters back (v)	1: 51.92	Rome
Caeleb Dressel	07/26/19	100 meters butterfly (v)	49.50	Gwangju
Ryan lochte	07/28/11	200 meters combined (v)	01: 54.00	Shanghai
Michael Phelps	08/10/08	400 meters combined (v)	4: 03.84	Beijing
Male team	08/11/08	4X100 freestyle relay (v)	3: 08.24	Beijing
Male team	07/31/09	4X200 freestyle relay (v)	6: 58.55	Rome
Male team	08/02/09	4X100 medley relay (v)	3: 27.28	Rome
Katie ledecky	08/07/16	400 meters freestyle (f)	3: 56.46	Rio de Janeiro
Katie ledecky	08/12/16	800 meters freestyle (f)	8: 04.79	Rio de Janeiro
Katie ledecky	05/16/19	1,500 meters freestyle (f)	15: 20.48	Indianapolis
Regan Smith	07/28/19	100 meters back (f)	57.57	Gwangju
Regan Smith	07/26/19	200 meters back (f)	2: 03.35	Gwangju
Lilly king	07/30/17	50 meters chest (f)	29.4	Budapest
Female team	07/28/19	4X100 combo relay (f)	3: 50.40	Gwangju
Mixed team	07/27/19	4x100 medley mixed relay	3:19.40	Gwangju
Caeleb Dressel	11/21/20	50 meters freestyle (v)	20.16 **	Budapest
Caeleb Dressel	11/21/20	100 meters butterfly (v)	47.78 **	Budapest
Caeleb Dressel	11/22/20	100 meters combined (v)	49.28 **	Budapest
Ryan lochte	12/14/12	200 meters combined (v)	1: 49.63 **	Istanbul
Male team	12/14/18	4x50 freestyle relay (v)	1: 21.80 **	Guangzhou
Male team	12/11/18	4x100 freestyle relay	3: 03.03 **	Guangzhou
Rebecca soni	12/18/09	200 meters breaststroke (f)	2: 14.57 **	Manchester
Female team	12/12/18	4x50 combo relay	1: 42.38 **	Guangzhou
Female team	11/21/20	4x100 medley relay	3: 44.42 **	Budapest
Mixed team	12/12/18	4x50 freestyle relay	1: 27.89	Guangzhou

* Source: FINA

** In short section (25 meter pool)

Other conquered territories: tennis, diving ...

Another area of ​​American dominance is tennis.

In the men's division, Pete Sampras was for nine years (2000-2009) the top Grand Slams winner of all time.

13 different Grand Slam champions in the Open Era are from the United States, more than from any other country (the closest being Spain, with seven): Sampras, Jimmy Connors, Iván Lendl, André Agassi, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Brian Teacher, Vitas Gerulaitis, Roscoe Tanner, Michael Chang, and Andy Roddick. No one has more Grand Slam titles for men than the United States in the Open Era (52), or women (81; Germany is second, with 25). Dictatorship.

In the professional era, Serena Williams commands the ranking, with 23 of the 'Big Four' in her showcases, one more than the German Steffi Graff

;

In all of history, Williams is only one title behind the mythical Australian Margaret Court, the highest historical winner including the amateur era.

Enlarge

Martina Navratilova, one of the best tennis players in history

Mike Bryan (18) and Martina Navratilova, a Czechoslovak nationalized American (41; 10 in mixed) are the tennis players, each of their gender, with the most Grand Slam titles in doubles.

The yoke is even more evident at the US Open, which has fallen into American hands 177 times: 85 men's singles and 92 women's singles.

379 editions of the four Grand Slam have as winners couples (male, female and mixed) made up exclusively of players from the 'American Union'.

The expansion reaches other latitudes.

In boxing and diving, the United States is also the top Olympic power. On the ring, he has achieved 113 medals: 110 for men and 3 for women (women's boxing was introduced to the Olympic program in London 2012)

. The 'bantamweight' is the favorite division of American boxing, with 14 medals: 6 gold, 2 silver and 6 bronze. The record includes the conquests in 'featherweight' and 'super welterweight', already withdrawn from competition.

In the jumps, the total of metals is 135: 73 men and 62 women; 48 first places, 43 seconds and 44 third

. The 'American' jumpers are the undisputed kings of the three-meter springboard, from which 37 medals have been hung, including two golden Greg Louganis.

The universities, the pillars

According to the statistical portal

Sports Reference

,

a total of 7,929 athletes have represented the United States in all the Summer Olympic Games, not counting the Intercalated Games of 1906.

Of the total, approximately 50% went through one of the universities of the national sports system , according to information from the NCAA.

Division I of the NCAA, precisely, is made up of several conferences, such as Pacific-12, which brings together 12 universities located in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

According to a study by

OlympicStats.com,

published in 2017, the Pac-12 has produced 1,279 US Olympians (more than any other conference) for all the Summer and Winter Games that the IOC has organized since 1896.

Stanford (289) , UCLA (277), USC (251) and Berkley are the four most represented universities in the Olympic Games. UCLA leads the production of female athletes (119) and Stanford, that of men (187).

Since 1924, always a Pac-12 institution contributes the largest number of athletes for each edition of the Games.

American universities are authentic Olympic medal factories. University of Southern California is the most awarded, with 288 medals, followed by Stanford, with 280, according to the recognized

Best Colleges

ranking

(bestcolleges.com)

. The numbers include the achievements of non-American athletes, such as the Hungarian Katinksa Hosszu, an alumnus of the University of Southern California, winner of four medals in the 2016 Rio pool, including three golds.

The US delegation that competed in the 2016 Olympic Games was made up of 555 athletes, of which 415 (75%) had some relationship with the NCAA system: they were current students, alumni or future students

.

Of the 555, 117 came from Pac-12 schools (21%), who contributed 55 medals in 12 sports.

If the conference production counted as that of a country, it would have finished in fifth place on the medal table, behind Russia.

The University with the most gold medalists in Rio 2016 was Stanford, with 11 golden athletes, followed by UCLA, Simone Biles' alma mater, with 7.

Enlarge

Katie Ledecky is a product of Stanford Universitygostanford.com

Worldwide, 1,020 athletes from 107 countries that participated in Rio 2016 were products of the NCAA universities:

831 had already completed their passage through them, 168 were active in the institutions at the time of the fair and 21 were registered although they had not yet started his higher studies.

951 competed in Division I (where the Pac-12 is framed), 57 in Division II and 12 in Division III.

378 appeared on the athletic tracks, 196 in swimming and diving and 81 in basketball; the three most represented collegiate sports in the most recent Olympic Games.

According to official NCAA data, according to its medal award parameters, the most winning universities in Rio 2016 were Stanford (26), Berkley (18) and USC (17).

The glories of the American sports system are summarized in four main axes: recruitment, high performance, scholarships and financing.

“The recruitment of talent at the state level is very important. There is such a high level of organization that it allows an important selection to be made for the regional, state and national championships

. Based on this, we will see athletes who reach a very high level as a result of many tournaments, many championships, which take place at a private level ”, explains to AS Juan José Sayago, a journalist specialized in sports policy and federated sports.

“As sport in the US is private, funding reaches organizations in a very high way so that talents are made known.

This is how the United States Olympic Committee, which also manages its own resources, begins to form the national teams ”, he deepens. In fact, the

United States does not invest a penny of public money in its sports programs

. There is not even a Ministry of Sports or a government agency that legally regulates professional sports practice.

The body closest to fulfilling this function is the Presidential Council of Sports, Health and Nutrition,

an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services that recommends actions to the president aimed at promoting physical activity among US citizens.

On a per capita level, the United States is the 38th nation with the best results in the Summer Olympics, with one medal for every 124,259 inhabitants (2,522 medals per 313,382,000 people), according to data from

medalspercapita.com

, updated as of February 23, 2018

.

In 2016, the most recent full Olympic year, the NCAA had 492,531 participants (214,086 women) and (278,445 men), which, averaged among 121 medals won by the USA at the Rio Games,

generates a ratio of one metal for every 4,070 college athletes and 10,707 for a gold

.

The schools are pillars and the Olympics are the best proof of the functionality of the gear:

"Talent is polished in a gigantic league system, in which the athlete is granted the possibility of

receiving a

scholarship,"

says Sayogo, who also , rescues another very important detail of the mechanism: the feeling of belonging, pride:

“In the United States, the university is your home, because you live there, it is your region, it is what represents you.

Being part of an elite team at a university gives you status.

And possibilities to go to professionalism.

This system, almost perfect, does a lot for the development of the athlete ”.

Enlarge

Stanford, one of the most prestigious universities in the world, also stands out for its sports program

The fuel of the system is financing, which comes from corporate donations and income from television rights and marketing agreements.

In 2010, the NCAA sold the television broadcast rights to the college basketball tournament (including, of course, the 'March Madness' and the 'Final Four') to CBS and Turner for $ 10.8 billion

; the agreement was extended until 2032 for a final value of 19,000 million dollars. The money is distributed among the 32 conferences of Division I.

Of course, the bonanza does not reach the athlete who, until October 2019, could not receive any economic compensation for image rights

. The 'amateurism' and the income of the athletes is a debate still current.

A 2016 chart published by

Business Insider

magazine

, citing data from the Department of Education, revealed that football is the top-grossing sport in Division I schools in the NCAA, averaging $ 29,635,946 annually.

In a distant second is men's basketball, with $ 7,880,290, followed by ice hockey, which produces $ 2,544,337.

Part of that profit also includes sponsor deals, like the one Under Armor signed to dress UCLA teams from 2018-2032 for $ 280 million.

"All this is a very big plus to be a power in multidisciplinary events", Sayogo adds.

Places without dominion ...

Despite the supremacy, American sport still has fringes to close. The light does not touch the entire plain. There is some hidden path. Few, but there are.

In the 45 sports that at some point made the Olympic program, in at least one edition of the Games, the United States has not reported medals in only six: badminton, handball, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline gymnastics, rugby 7 and table tennis .

Disciplines as exotic as the rope game (Olympic in 1904), and jeu de paume (in 1908), have brought decorations.

In addition, the United States has not achieved world titles or Olympic medals in handball, rhythmic gymnastics and rugby.

In soccer, the dominance of the women's team is unparalleled (four world championships and four Olympic gold medals), but the men's team tends to fall by the wayside:

USMNT has not achieved any FIFA or Olympic conquests and its record is reduced to the achievement of six Concacaf Gold Cups

.

“In order to develop these sports, it is necessary to implement a policy like that of China in men's football, which is a compulsory subject in schools.

If US Soccer could replicate this, that soccer is part of the school program, it could advance in this aspect ”, Sayogo contributes as a possible solution.

USES

• USA

• News

• Statistics

Table tennis is one of the pending subjects.

Without world championships or Olympic medals, USA Table Tennis (USATT), the federation that regulates the professional and amateur practice of the discipline in the 'American Union', fights for its survival

. “The task for the organization is to create the necessary infrastructure for career opportunities in the United States.

A professional league and more lucrative prizes would be two very important steps in providing incentives for players to commit to participating in a full-time schedule at the professional level.

”Develops Matt Hetherington, communication director of USA Table Tennis, in an interview with AS.

The wishes of a professional league are genuine, but their realization is, for now, an illusion.

“There is a lot of work to be done before.

The main obstacle is finding sponsors because, financially, running a professional league system is very expensive, ”added

Hetherington, who believes that more experience in the Word Tour and other international tournaments will strengthen the competitive quality of the players.

Enlarge

Kanak Jha is in the top 30 of the world table tennis rankingGetty Images

The United States Olympic Committee does not usually fund USA Tennis due to its very poor track record

. Of course, in 2019 it included in the policy of 'Operation Gold Awards' (an incentive for athletes with notable results in the competitions of a calendar year) athletes attached to USATT.

In addition, there is an independent entity from the federation, called NCTTA (National Collegiate Table Tennis Association), in charge of monitoring and regulating table tennis at the collegiate level.

The partnership between the two organizations is crucial for the development of the discipline in the United States. The actions are paying off: The

United States collected two bronze medals at the Youth Olympics in 2014 and 2018.

“We are gaining ground on the international stage.

Now, a handful of players have taken up the challenge of participating as professionals outside the country.

We are happy with our progress and hope that, in the future, we can achieve the Olympic medal, ”Hetherington endorsed.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics will once again test America's hegemony on the international sports set.

The national Olympic Committee declined to give a medal forecast for the summer event, but the watchword will be not to lose the first place in the medal table, a place that 'Team USA' did not release in the last two editions (London 2012, Rio 2016).

The metals will fall again in streams on the tartan, in the waters, on the court, in the ring.

On almost all fronts.

Because there are universal truths.