Belgium’s participation and medal history in the modern summer Olympics began in 1900 in Paris since the country did not send a team to the inaugural games in Athens in 1896.
At the 1900 Paris Olympics, 62 male athletes represented Belgium in 10 sports, achieving a medal haul of 15, split equally between gold, silver, and bronze.
At the 1904 Saint-Louis Olympics there was no Belgian representation.
At the 1908 London games, 78 males participated, bringing home eight medals, including one gold.
Stockholm 1912 involved 35 males and the games’ first Belgian female athlete. The team won six medals.
In Antwerp 1920, Belgium saw its most significant participation with 330 athletes, who won 36 medals.
The figures continued to vary in subsequent Olympics, with 171 athletes in Paris in 1924, 172 in Amsterdam in 1928, and a significant dip to only seven in Los Angeles in 1932.
By the Berlin 1936 games, participation had grown to 122 athletes, although it brought just two medals.
The post-war London 1948 games saw 147 Belgians compete and win seven medals.
The latter half of the last century saw considerable ebbs and flows in Belgium's participation and medal tally.
Rio 2016 involved 104 athletes, yielding six medals, divided equally between gold, silver, and bronze.
Most recently, in Tokyo 2020, 123 athletes took part spread over 25 sports and securing seven medals.
Focusing on Belgian Olympic medals per sport (ranked by gold, silver, then bronze), Archery leads with 20 medals, followed by Cycling/Mountain biking with 27, and Athletics with 14.
While seven sports have captured only one gold each, Boxing, Weightlifting, Swimming, Shooting, and Judo have shown significant performances.
Field Sports such as Rowing and Waterpolo have thrived without winning a gold, while Tug of War has a lone bronze.
To date, Belgium’s Summer Olympics medal total stands at 155: 43 gold, 54 silver, and 58 bronze.
