Medal progression of select non-European countries at the Summer Olympics 1896-2020

While European and Anglophone nations have dominated the medal tables throughout the history of the Olympics, recent decades have seen the increased success of Asian athletes across a variety of sports, while African and Caribbean athletes have gone on to dominate a number of athletic events. Outside of Europe, the United States has consistently been the best performing nation at the Summer Games, while China has emerged as a new powerhouse since the 1980s. Following these two countries, Australia has been the most successful nation, particularly in 1956 and 2000 when it was the host nation. Canadian athletes performed well in early and more recent tournaments, but the nation's form dipped in the middle of the twentieth century. Japan's success has fluctuated over time, but has it has generally been the most successful Asian nation after China, while South Korea's presence has grown since it hosted the Games in 1988. Since the 1970s and 1980s, athletes from developing nations have gained improved access to training facilities and financial support, with several Kenyans and Jamaicans growing to "superstar" status in the world of athletics (and beyond, in the case of Jamaica's Usain Bolt), and Cuba has emerged as one of the most formidable nations in combat sports at the Olympics.