United States boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow Soviet Union boycott of the ’84 Olympics in Los Angeles United States China Unified Team Russia Soviet Union United States U.S. Nazi Germany Britain East Germany No Olympic Games held during World War II Australia Britain France France Italy World War I Other countries in Europe 1956 Melbourne & Stockholm 1932 Los Angeles 1984 Los Angeles 1968 Mexico City 1928 Amsterdam 1912 Stockholm 1992 Barcelona Africa 1976 Montreal 1904 St. Louis 1980 Moscow 1920 Antwerp 1952 Helsinki 1972 Munich 1908 London 1948 London 2000 Sydney 1996 Atlanta 1896 Athens 1906 Athens 2004 Athens 2008 Beijing South America 1960 Rome 1936 Berlin 1964 Tokyo 1988 Seoul 1900 Paris 1924 Paris 2016 Rio 2012 1916 1940 1944

Just 10 countries — the United States, Australia and eight European nations — earned medals in the first modern Games, in Athens in 1896. More than 100 years later, in Rio, there were 87 medal-winning nations, from Algeria to Vietnam.

Tracing the rise and fall of each country’s medal count over time — represented in the undulating ribbons in the chart above — is to observe more than just the story of the Olympic Games. It is also a snapshot of modern history: The world pauses for war; countries rise, fall and acquire new names; the United States and the Soviet Union grow in strength during the Cold War; China emerges as a global player.

But the totals mask interesting patterns in individual events, where the medal counts mostly reflect more concentrated efforts from fewer nations. For most countries, specialization is the rule, not the exception. The British excel at track cycling. Kenya and Ethiopia dominate distance running. China owns badminton and table tennis (and its list is growing). Viewing the medal count by sport reveals these patterns, offering deeper insight into how the Games have changed as they have grown.

Below, the medal counts by discipline since 1896.

Running

Archie Hahn, known as The Milwaukee Meteor, kicked off America’s early sprinting dominance by winning a haul of golds in 1904 and ’06, later writing a book called “How to Sprint” (really). Since then, United States sprinters have won 26 out of 47 gold medals in the 100 meter. Jamaica dominated sprinting in Rio, and became the first country to win as many gold medals as the United States in a single Olympics. It is an impressive tally for a country with about as many people as Brooklyn. But outside sprinting, Jamaica did not win medals in any other event.

100m, 200m, 400m, 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay.

Kenya owns middle-distance running. Straight golds (and usually silver, too) in the 3,000-meter men’s steeplechase since 1984.

800m, 1,500m, 3,000m steeplechase

Abebe Bikila’s barefoot marathon win at the 1960 games in Rome was Ethiopia’s first medal and the country hasn’t looked back, winning more than 25 medals in long-distance running since then. Between 1912 and 1936, though, Finland — known as the “Flyin’ Finns” — owned distance running. Bikila’s coach was Finnish.

5km, 10km, marathon

In Rio, however, Ethiopia’s long distance gold medal run took a hit. Kenya won gold in both marathons and the women’s 5-kilometer event, and Britain’s Mohamed Farah repeated his 2012 London performance with gold medals in the men’s 5K and 10K.

Jumping

Russia and the United States sit atop the jumping leaderboard. The legendary American Carl Lewis won four straight golds in long jump (’84, ’88, ’92 and ’96). The American triple jumper Christian Taylor won gold in Rio, one of seven jumping medals won by the United States this year. With all but one of its track and field athletes banned from Rio, Russia’s decades-long jumping medal run ended in 2016.

High jump, long jump, triple jump, and pole vault

Throwing

The throwing events used to be close competitions between the Soviet Union and the United States. But in the last 20 years, most medals were won by German athletes like Christoph Harting, who won the gold in discus in Rio – following in the footsteps of his brother, and three-time world champion, Robert Harting.

Discus throw, hammer throw, javelin throw and shot put

Swimming

Over the history of the Olympics, American athletes have dominated swimming. The height of East Germany’s swimming success was winning 42 medals at the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow, which 65 countries boycotted, including the United States. East Germany’s accomplishment was further diminished after revelations that its athletes were caught up in a state-funded doping program. More recently, Australia has been catching up.

All swimming events, except 10km open water and synchronized swimming

The total number of swimming events has also grown with time -- mostly. Derided as being neither graceful nor interesting to watch and for “placing the premium as it does upon blubber rather than upon speed, strength, endurance,” the plunge for distance event, where athletes plunged as deep as they could, did not make the cut for long: It appeared only once, at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis.

Diving

After decades of American dominance, Chinese divers have overwhelmingly claimed the top spots on the podium in diving events in recent Olympics. With the addition of synchronized diving in 2000, China’s medal count in diving has been growing even faster.

Gymnastics

The Soviet Union was a women’s gymnastics powerhouse with all golds in the team competition from 1952 to 1980. The sport made its Olympic debut in 1928 as team-only event. Four individual events were added in 1952. The United States has won medals in the last six olympics, taking the team gold three times, with the Magnificent Seven in 1996, the Fierce Five in 2012 and the Final Five in 2016.

All women’s gymnastics events

Romania has also been consistently in the mix, earning medals in the team competition in every olympics since 1976. But that run has already ended this year. The team failed to qualify and only sent one gymnast to Rio.

Men’s gymnastics has traditionally been dominated by Russia (and the Soviet Union). Japan’s team has fallen from its former glory of the 1960s and ’70s. Since 1990, China has won the most gold medals, but the team disappointed in Rio.

All men’s gymnastics events

Wrestling

As they did in long distance running, Finnish athletes dominated wrestling before World War II (with some good competition from Sweden). Since the 1950s, however, the Soviet Union/Russia has led the medal count. Women’s wrestling was added in 2004 and is dominated by Japan (11 out of 44 medals). Iran had a successful 2012 games, bringing home six medals in wrestling.

Boxing

While the United States is still leads in the total medal count for boxing, Cuba has won the most medals since 1960, including 34 golds. But Cuba’s run might end in 2020 because of a recent decision to open up Olympic boxing to pro athletes.

Rowing

Rowing has been dominated by German athletes for decades, followed closely by the United States. Britain is catching up quickly, though, and has won more medals in the sport than any other country in the last 20 years.

Cycling

Cycling events are largely dominated by European athletes, with France, Germany, Britain and Italy taking the top four spots. The British cyclist Chris Froome, who has won the Tour de France three times since 2013, was a candidate for gold in Rio but ended up with bronze.

Fencing

Speaking of European dominance: Italy, France and Hungary have dominated fencing for as long as it has been an Olympic sport. Russia’s fencing team had a strong showing in Rio.

Weight Lifting

Weight Lifting was another area for intense competition between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Recently, China has been cleaning up, winning 25 out of 70 gold medals since 1996.

Shooting

Another sport in which Chinese athletes currently excel is shooting. The number of shooting events was reduced to ten after the United States team won 13 out of 21 gold medals in 1920.

Canoeing and Kayaking

Canoeing and kayaking first appeared at the Olympics in the 1936 Summer Games in Berlin. Many nations are competitive, but Germany is almost always on the podium.

Equestrian

With the most Olympic gold medals in the sport, Germany is one of the most successful equestrian nations in the world.

Sailing

Living up to its reputation as a nation of proficient sailors, Britain has won 26 gold medals in the long history of Olympic sailing.

Racewalking

Racewalking, of all things, was at the epicenter the Olympic doping problems. With most Russian track and field athletes banned in Rio, China was able to expand its dominance.