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In 1984 Mary Lou Retton became the first American to win all-around gold.

The Games of the XXVI Olympiad in Atlanta were the fourth on U.S. soil; no other country has held the Games more than twice (London will be a three-time host in 2012).

The U.S. hosted the Games of the III Olympiad in St. Louis in 1904, and the Games of the X and XXIII Olympiads in Los Angeles in 1932 and 1984, respectively. Hosted the Olympic Winter Games in 1932 and 1980 in Lake Placid, in 1960 in Squaw Valley, and Salt Lake City in 2002. 

New York City made a bid for the 2012 Games, which ultimately went to London. Chicago is a finalist to host the 2016 Games.

Has competed in every Olympic Games except for the 1980 Games in Moscow. The U.S. boycotted those Games to protest the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.

The Beijing Games are the 25^th Olympics in which the United States has participated. By NBC's count, the United States has won 2,197 medals, more than any other country (other counts differ for historical reasons such as multinational teams, and the IOC does not keep an official count). The Soviet Union is second with 1,122.

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At the 2000 Olympics, Rulon Gardner went from unknown Wyoming farm boy to national celebrity when he pulled off the biggest upset in the history of wrestling.

The U.S. has finished lower than second in the medal standings only once - in 1988, when East Germany won six more medals than the United States for second place behind the Soviet Union.

Led the medal tally in Sydney with 97 (40 gold, 24 silver, 33 bronze) and in Athens with 102 (36 gold, 39 silver, 27 bronze).