Rachel Axon

USA TODAY Sports

RIO DE JANEIRO — At a Games where Team USA set a record for the largest number of female athletes ever at an Olympics, it was fitting that four of them led the United States to a historic milestone.

The 4x100 medley relay clinched the country’s 1,000th summer gold medal in the modern Olympics on Saturday night at the Aquatic Stadium.

The relay of Kathleen Baker, Lilly King, Dana Vollmer and Simone Manuel won America’s first of two golds for the United States in the final night of swimming competition to reach the milestone.

“It’s a huge honor,” said Vollmer. “We think about the generations that came before us and the first Olympic team that we watched.

“To win that 1,000th medal, just to know the history of the U.S. Olympic teams, it’s just incredible to be a part of that.”

Led by its 292 women, the USA’s 555-member team is expected to lead the medal count in these Rio Olympics. After eight days of competition, the U.S. has 60 medals. It leads in all three categories, with 24 gold, 18 silver and 18 bronze.

The American team got the historical count to 997 heading into Saturday’s competition.

The women’s eight rowing team won gold Saturday morning, capturing its 11th consecutive world championship or Olympic medal. Later Saturday, long jumper Jeff Henderson won gold in his event to set up the U.S. swimmers to reach the milestone.

“There’s such a great legacy behind USA Swimming and to get the thousandth gold means so much,” said Baker. “To get to do it with a relay means even more.”

Several USOC sponsors have committed to donate gifts with a theme to the women in recognition of the milestone.

The women’s medley relay marked the United States’ 23rd gold in Rio. It was quickly followed by gold in the men’s 4x100 medley relay, which was Michael Phelps’ final race.

Women have contributed 15 of those golds, while the U.S. men have collected nine.

In Rio, swimming has contributed 16 golds, while gymnastics and track and field were tied for second with two apiece.

Track and field has contributed 323 of the USA’s golds, while swimming has 246 in the all-time medal count.

“One thousand gold medals is a remarkable achievement made possible by the culture of sport that is the fabric and foundation of Team USA,” said U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun in a statement. “It is a testament first and foremost to our athletes, but it also reveals the impact of the support provided by our National Governing Bodies, our sponsors and donors, and American fans. This is an accomplishment we celebrate together.”

The USA entered these Games with 977 golds, a number that was slightly in dispute.

Olympic historian Bill Mallon had the United States with 976 golds coming into Rio. The U.S. Olympic Committee settled on the number kept by Gracenote. That 977 total counts a gymnastics team gold from 1904 won by a Philadelphia club that included an Austrian gymnast.

The Americans were the first country to reach the milestone, and it will be a very long time until another team does.

The United States has around a 600-medal lead over the Soviet Union. Combined, the Soviet Union and Russia have 580 golds.

“Team USA, we’re all kind of bound by that same grit, that same effort, that same fighter spirit,” said Vollmer. “To get to go out that last relay to get that gold and to be fighting as true teammates, I think that’s what U.S. Olympics means to us.”