The United States placed second (behind the host nations) in the total medal count in the first two Olympic Games (1896 and 1900). In the 1904 Olympic Games, the first to be hosted by the United States, the American team dominated almost every event.
One American athlete, Ray Ewry, distinguished himself in three consecutive Olympic Games between 1900 and 1908. Ewry achieved the longest distance in the Standing Long Jump event and the highest height in the Standing High Jump event in each of these Olympic Games. His gold medals in the 1900 and 1904 Standing Triple Jump event brought Ewry’s career medal count to eight and solidified him as one of America’s most important early Olympic Games athletes.
