(NEXSTAR) — Since the turn of the century, the U.S. has never been defeated in the Summer Olympics, at least when it comes to overall medal count.
Despite its continued dominance — a trend that is continuing in Paris this summer — some sports continue to elude the U.S.
Take, for example, badminton, a sport the U.S. is seemingly bad at when it comes to Olympic play. The game has been around since the late 1800s and officially became part of the Olympic program during the 1992 Games in Barcelona.
Since then, athletes from Asian nations have dominated the discipline, according to the Olympics. As of Tuesday, the People’s Republic of China is at the top of the medal table at five, three more than the Republic of Korea. The U.S. had a handful of athletes compete in badminton, but only Beiwen Zhang made it through the group play stage in Paris.
Six years before badminton came to the Olympics, table tennis appeared at the Seoul Olympic Games. Central European countries were known to dominate the sport initially, but since table tennis joined the Games, the China has won the most medals. As of Tuesday, they have four medals in the sport.
Still, the U.S. — which sent four athletes to the Games this year — has none.
The U.S. has also yet to medal in handball, and it won’t be anytime soon. The sport — a full-contact event that combines aspects of soccer, hockey, basketball, and water polo — joined the Olympics in the 1970s. Team USA has no athletes competing in handball this year.
The same goes for trampoline, which no Team USA athletes are participating in in Paris. Trampoline is among the newer disciplines, first appearing in the 2000 Games. Nicole Ahsinger came close to bringing America its first medal in trampoline gymnastics during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, finishing sixth.
While the U.S. typically performs well in artistic gymnastics (ever heard of Simone Biles and the “golden girls“?), the same can’t be said for rhythmic gymnastics. The women-only discipline employs four apparatus — ribbon, hoop, ball, and clubs — and combines traditional dance and artistic gymnastics.
Rhythmic gymnastics is considered one of the oldest sports still practiced today, according to the Olympics, yet the U.S., with no athletes participating this year, has yet to medal in it.
Technically, Team USA hasn’t medaled in breaking yet either. The sport, debuting at the Paris Olympics, won’t have a medal event until later this week. Four athletes are representing the U.S. in breaking.
The U.S. will also have a chance to medal in flag football and squash when those sports make their Olympic debuts during the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. Baseball, softball, lacrosse, and cricket will return to the Olympics at the same time — the U.S. has medaled in all but cricket (just two teams, Great Britain and France, participated during its first and only Olympic appearance in 1900).
As of Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET, the U.S. has collected 86 medals in the Paris Olympics: 24 gold, 31 silver, and 31 bronze.