Most Olympic gold medals by year: Here is the top overall medal winner in every Olympics

After hundreds of competitions, there's one country that takes the crown for the most medals at the Olympic Games.

The Olympics, both summer and winter, feature individual and team events that count toward a nation's final total. Olympians are awarded medals for placing first, second and third place in their respective competitions.

A country's total medal count determines their final placement at the Olympics. The number resets at each set of Games, giving each nation another chance at earning the top spot.

The Sporting News lists which country has the most gold medals for each Olympic Games dating back to 1896.

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Most Olympic gold medals by year

The United States have historically been the top country at the Summer Olympics, while Norway leads the pack at the Winter Games. The U.S. has been the top medalist 19 times, including 18 times at the Summer Games.

The Soviet Union has 13 victories, six at the Summer Games and seven at the Winter Games. Norway leads all Winter Games with nine wins.

*The Unified Team consisted of 12 of the 15 Soviet Union states. Soviet Union states on this team were: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania competed separately.