Why Does the Olympic Host Country Win So Many Medals?

 When French swimmer Léon Marchand raced at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the crowd chanted along with his strokes. Every time he surfaced for breath—instant, deafening noise. When he dipped back under—silence.


It wouldn’t be fair to the 22-year-old phenom to credit French spectators for his four individual gold medals (two won in the same day, which a swimmer hasn’t done since 1976). But it’s hard to witness the clamorous home-field support across the Paris Games without thinking it might be giving the athletes an edge—especially since it seems like France has a higher medal count than usual. (The country is in third place as of August 6, behind the U.S. and China.)

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