China’s athletes turned out to be some of the top performers across the board during the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, taking home the highest number of medals in three different sports and racking up a total of 33 medals.
Twenty-three of those were gold medals as China topped the rankings in both diving and artistic swimming. They secured nine golds in diving, seven in artistic swimming and seven in swimming. This is the second straight year that China has come out on top in the all sports rankings; they took first at the 2023 Worlds in Japan.
The United States dominated the podium in the swimming events but took second place in the rankings for all sports, taking home 23 overall.
Team USA’s swimmers contributed 20 medals to the count, nearly double the amount won by any other country (China was next with 11). With eight gold medals, six silver and six bronze, the United States showed off its prowess in the pool.
Claire Curzan was a name to watch for the U.S., taking home four gold medals and becoming one of only three swimmers in World Champs history to sweep all three distances of a single stroke by winning the 50, 100, and 200 meter backstroke.
Russia was once again notably absent from the competition after being banned from participating by FINA following the invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
The last time athletes competed under the Russian flag at the World Aquatic Championships was in July 2019, where the country ranked 3rd in the overall medal count, just behind China and the United States, respectively. Russia ranked fourth for swimming in 2019, behind the United States, Australia and Hungary.
Their absence from this year’s championships allowed Australia to better climb the rankings; Australia was third in overall medal rankings for all sports and in rankings for swimming.
All Sports Total Medal Count
| RANK | COUNTRY | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | TOTAL |
| 1 | China | 23 | 8 | 2 | 33 |
| 2 | United States | 9 | 6 | 8 | 23 |
| 3 | Australia | 7 | 12 | 5 | 24 |
| 4 | Netherlands | 5 | 4 | 0 | 9 |
| 5 | Great Britain | 4 | 5 | 9 | 18 |
| 6 | Italy | 3 | 10 | 6 | 19 |
| 7 | Canada | 2 | 3 | 6 | 11 |
| 8 | South Korea | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 9 | New Zealand | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 9 | Sweden | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 11 | Portugal | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 12 | Ireland | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | Spain | 1 | 5 | 4 | 10 |
| 14 | France | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 15 | Germany | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 16 | Mexico | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 17 | Hungary | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 17 | Japan | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 17 | Ukraine | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 20 | Greece | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 20 | Hong Kong | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 22 | Lithuania | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 23 | Croatia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 23 | Kazakhstan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 | North Korea | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 26 | Austria | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 27 | Denmark | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 27 | Israel | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 27 | Switzerland | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 30 | Poland | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 31 | Colombia | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 31 | Egypt | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 31 | Neutral Independent Athletes | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 34 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 34 | Brazil | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 34 | Romania | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 34 | South Africa | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 75 | 75 | 75 | 225 |
Swimming
| RANK | COUNTRY | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | TOTAL |
| 1 | United States | 8 | 6 | 6 | 20 |
| 2 | China | 7 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
| 3 | Australia | 3 | 9 | 4 | 16 |
| 4 | Netherlands | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 5 | Italy | 2 | 5 | 5 | 12 |
| 6 | Great Britain | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 7 | New Zealand | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Sweden | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 9 | South Korea | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | Ireland | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Portugal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | Germany | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 13 | Canada | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| 14 | Hong Kong | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 15 | Lithuania | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 15 | Spain | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 17 | Japan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 18 | Ukraine | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | Austria | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 19 | France | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 21 | Denmark | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | Israel | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | Switzerland | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 24 | Poland | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 25 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 25 | Egypt | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 25 | Greece | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 25 | Hungary | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 25 | Neutral Independent Athletes | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 25 | South Africa | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 42 | 42 | 42 | 126 |
Open Water Swimming
| RANK | COUNTRY | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | TOTAL |
| 1 | Netherlands | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | France | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Australia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Hungary | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Italy | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Spain | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Brazil | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Great Britain | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Portugal | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
Diving
| RANK | COUNTRY | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | TOTAL |
| 1 | China | 9 | 4 | 0 | 13 |
| 2 | Australia | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Great Britain | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| 4 | Mexico | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | Italy | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | North Korea | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | South Korea | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 7 | Ukraine | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | Egypt | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Spain | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 13 | 13 | 13 | 39 |
High Diving
| RANK | COUNTRY | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | TOTAL |
| 1 | Australia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | Great Britain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Canada | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | France | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Romania | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Water Polo
| RANK | COUNTRY | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | TOTAL |
| 1 | Croatia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Hungary | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Italy | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Spain | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Totals | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Artistic Swimming
| RANK | COUNTRY | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | TOTAL |
| 1 | China | 7 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | Canada | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Greece | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Italy | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Kazakhstan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Spain | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Great Britain | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | Japan | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | Netherlands | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Ukraine | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Colombia | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 11 | Mexico | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 11 | United States | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 14 | Neutral Independent Athletes | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 11 | 11 | 11 | 33 |
China has gained the most from Russian absence from Artistic Swimming.
The Russian absence “allowed Australia to..climb the rankings” ????
Huh?? So no other country benefitted?
How about “the absence of so many Australian champions from pool swimming allowed Country A, Country B etc etc to climb the rankings”?….
Team USA’s swimmers contributed 20 medals to the count, nearly double the amount won by any other country (China was next with 11).
Australia was second in total swimming medals with 16 medals . 20 is not nearly double 16.
#NBCMaths
How does China get away with diving slavery. Kid factories robbing children of the pre adult lives.
No surprise there.
Just saw all China’s gold medals in artistic swimming. Zhou Jihong must be paying those judges up big time now too
That’s what used to happen in diving anyway
The judges I know were offered fancy jewellery
The battle between Quan hongchan and Chen Yuxi at the Olympics will be legendary
Can’t wait!
China always dominates diving so unless US starts winning the Gold medal count by 12-2 in swimming again then the overall medal table is China’s to win. Plus Russia’s ban gives China free reign in a lot of artistic swimming events
FTFY
Using NBC’s preferred medal count:
2nd Australia 24 medals
3rd USA 23 medals
Totally true ! The text actually reads that USA came second with 23 medals, ignoring Australia’s 24 lol