The United States (USA) was the host nation for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. 646 competitors, 375 men and 271 women, took part in 263 events in 31 sports. With a total of 44 gold, 32 silver, and 25 bronze medals, the United States returned to the top spot in the medal standings for the first time since 1984, and for the first time since 1968 in a non-boycotted Summer Olympics.

Medalists

The following U.S. competitors won medals at the games. In the by discipline sections below, medalists' names are bolded.

• – Indicates that the athlete competed in preliminaries but not the final.

Competitors

The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.

Archery

The United States claimed both of the gold medals in the men's archery competitions, with Justin Huish claiming the individual medal and the three-man team claiming the team medal. The American women were not as successful.

Athletics

Notes:

Badminton

Baseball

Baseball was open only to male amateurs in 1992 and 1996. As a result, the Americans and other nations where professional baseball is developed relied on collegiate players, while Cubans used their most experienced veterans, who technically were considered amateurs as they nominally held other jobs, but in fact trained full-time. In 2000, pros were admitted, but the MLB refused to release its players in 2000, 2004, and 2008, and the situation changed only a little: the Cubans still used their best players, while the Americans started using minor leaguers. The IOC cited the absence of the best players as the main reason for baseball being dropped from the Olympic program.

Basketball

Men's tournament

Roster Group play Quarterfinal Semifinal Gold medal game

Women's tournament

Roster Group play Quarterfinal Semifinal Gold medal game

Boxing

Canoeing

Slalom

Sprint

Key: QF – Qualified to medal final; SF – Qualified to semifinal; R – Qualified to repechage

Cycling

Road

Track

Mountain bike

Diving

Equestrian

• – Though Matz placed high enough to qualify for the final, only three riders per nation were allowed to advance to the final.

Fencing

Fifteen fencers, nine men and six women, represented the United States in 1996.

Field hockey

Men's tournament

The US men's field hockey team competed for the sixth time at the Summer Olympics. On home soil the squad coached by Jon Clark once again finished twelfth and last. Roster' Preliminary round 9th-12th place semifinal 11th place match

Women's tournament

The US women's field hockey team competed for the third time at the Summer Olympics. On home soil the team coached by Pam Hixon and finished fifth. Roster Head coach: Pam Hixon Preliminary round

Football (soccer)

Men's tournament

Roster Preliminary round

Women's tournament

Roster Preliminary round Semifinal Gold medal match

Gymnastics

Artistic

• – Strug slightly injured her ankle during her first vault attempt in the final rotation of the team competition, then exacerbated the injury on her second attempt to dramatically clinch the gold for the United States. Due to her injury, she was unable to compete in the individual finals. She was replaced by highest non-qualifiers in the vault (Miller), in the floor exercise (Dawes) and in the all-around (Moceanu). Strug had the highest score in the floor and would have been favored to win the gold.

Rhythmic

Handball

Summary

Men's tournament

Roster Preliminary round Ninth place game

Women's tournament

Roster Preliminary round Seventh place game

Judo

Modern pentathlon

Rowing

Qualification legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinal A/B; SC/D=Semifinal C/D; R=Repechage

Sailing

Shooting

Softball

Swimming

Key: * – Swimmer competed in the heat but not the final; FA – Qualify to A final (medal); FB – Qualify to B final (non-medal) Key: * – Swimmer competed in the heat but not the final; FA – Qualify to A final (medal); FB – Qualify to B final (non-medal)

Synchronized swimming

Table tennis

Tennis

Volleyball

Beach

Indoor

Men's tournament

Roster Preliminary round

Women

Roster Preliminary round Quarterfinal 5th – 8th semifinal 7th place match

Water polo

Summary Roster Preliminary round Quarterfinal 5th-8th classification 7th place match

Weightlifting

Wrestling