New York State is a Powerhouse for Producing Olympic Gold Medals

New York State has a rich Olympic history. Who could forget our 1980 men's hockey team taking the gold in Lake Placid, NY? Swimmer Ryan Lochte is from Rochester, New York but the Empire State is more dominant than you may know.

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New York Summer Olympic athletes rank Top 5 in the nation for Gold Medals at the Summer Olympics over the last century. The Sports Geek recently ran a study to find the states that have produced the most gold and here is what they found.

Top 10 States for Gold Medals at the Summer Olympics:

10. New Jersey - 23

9. Michigan - 23

8. Florida - 23

7. Pennsylvania - 31

6. Maryland - 31

5. Texas - 34

4. Illinois - 40

3. Ohio - 44

2. New York - 70

1. California - 127

Only California can say they have brought home more precious medals than New York and both are impressive. What about Connecticut? The folks in the Nutmeg State rank 25th overall with a total of 9 gold medals.

Hopefully, our Connecticut athletes can improve upon that number at the Paris games, especially the Greater-Danbury athletes. This year Kieran Smith of Ridgefield and Kelsey Reelick of Brookfield will represent Connecticut and the United States on the world-stage.

There is something else that this Sports Geek study opened my eyes to, Ryan Lochte was a beast. Sports Geek wrote:

Ryan Lochte is well-known for his success as a swimmer alongside Michael Phelps. Despite living in his shadow and having legal issues out of the pool in Rio, Lochte is still considered one of the most popular Summer Olympic athletes born in New York. His accomplishments would likely be more well-known if he weren’t swimming in the same era as Phelps. Lochte has been successful in individual events and as part of the American swim squad. He has the medals to back up his work. The native of Rochester, NY, is tied in tenth for all-time Olympic medals won and the second-most decorated Team USA athlete. Lochte is in possession of six gold, three silver, and three bronze medals!

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P.S. I'm not ignoring the fact that California crushes New York and everyone else I just don't know how to make sense of that.