The United States topped the medals table at the Paris Olympics with 40 golds after the final title was decided on Sunday, finishing above China only by virtue of their 44 silvers.

China, who were the last team apart from the US to top the standings when they did it on home soil at the 2008 Beijing Games, also won 40 golds but managed only 27 silvers.

The US women’s basketball team secured their country's pre-eminence by edging host nation France in a breathless finish to win the final gold of the Games. The US also won most total medals with 126 to China’s 91.

France won 16 golds to finish fifth on the table and their total tally of 64 medals was their best for more than a century.

Here are the major highlights of day 16 of the Paris Olympics 2024:

Athletics:

The Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan deployed her famous late kick to win the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, adding the gold to her bronze medals in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres earlier in the week.

Hassan battled with Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia and managed to shake her off in the last stretch, crossing the finish line in an Olympic record time of two hours, 22 minutes and 55 seconds.

Assefa, three seconds behind her, took silver and Kenya’s Hellen Obiri claimed the bronze in 2:23:10.

Modern Pentathlon:

Hungary’s Michelle Gulyas won women’s Modern Pentathlon gold at the Olympics on Sunday with a world record points haul in the sport’s last final featuring horses before a switch to obstacle courses.

France’s Elodie Clouvel took the silver, after starting the final laser run with a 13-second advantage but then suffering a series of agonising misses in the target shooting.

South Korea’s Seong Seung-min collected the bronze.

Wrestling:

Wrestling powerhouse Japan bagged two freestyle golds through Kotaro Kiyooka and Yuka Kagami on the final day at the Paris Olympics on Sunday to boost their bumper harvest at the Champ de Mars Arena.

The 23-year-old Kiyooka with a mop of bristling hair did not disappoint as he beat Iran’s Rahman Amouzadkhalili 10-3 in the men’s freestyle 65 kg gold medal bout.

Sebastian Rivera of Puerto Rico and Albania’s Islam Dudaev took bronze.

Kagami, who trains with male wrestlers at Toyo University to be at her sharpest, won the women’s 76kg gold by beating Kennedy Blades of the US 3-1.

Milaimy Marin of Cuba and Tatiana Renteria of Colombia won bronze.

In the men’s 97kg, Georgia’s Givi Matcharashvili had to settle for silver as world champion Tazhudinov won the final by pinfall.

Magomedkhan Magomedov of Azerbaijan and Iran’s Amirali Azarpira took bronze.

Weightlifting:

China’s Li Wenwen won her second Olympic gold medal with a dominant performance to take the title in the women’s over 81kg weightlifting at the Paris Games on Sunday with a total of 309kg.

South Korea’s Park Hye-jeong took silver with a total of 299kg, while Britain’s Emily Campbell was delighted with her bronze medal after lifting a total of 288kg.

Water polo:

Serbia extended their reign over Olympic water polo by beating arch-rivals Croatia 13-11 for a third successive gold in the men’s event in front of a roaring crowd at La Defense Arena.

The United States took bronze and were delighted with it, having beaten Hungary in a shootout to claim their first medal in the men’s event in 16 years.

Cycling:

New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews completed an incredible week with gold in the women’s sprint at the National Velodrome on Sunday.

Andrews outclassed Germany’s Lea Freidrich in the final, winning 2-0, to become the first woman from New Zealand to win the discipline at the Olympics.

Britain’s sprint world champion Emma Finucane beat Dutch rider Hetty van de Wouw to take the bronze.

Harrie Lavreysen cemented his status as the king of men’s keirin with the golden hat trick as the curtain came down on seven days of fast and furious on Sunday.

Australia’s Matthew Richardson and Matthew Glaetzer grabbed silver and bronze respectively.

American Jennifer Valente retained her Olympic women’s omnium title, having also been part of the US team pursuit triumph.

Poland’s Daria Pikulik ended with the silver medal and New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston was third.

Volleyball:

Top-ranked Italy dominated the United States to win the Olympic women’s volleyball final on Sunday, crushing the defending champions in straight sets of 25-18 25-20 25-17 to claim their first gold medal on the final day of the Games.

On Saturday, Brazil denied Turkey a first Olympic medal in women’s volleyball when the South Americans won the bronze medal match 3-1.

Handball:

Denmark beat Germany 39-26 to win Olympic gold in the men’s handball final at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium on Sunday.

Germany went home with the silver medal, while earlier Spain edged Slovenia 23-22 to take bronze.

Basketball:

The United States captured their eighth consecutive Olympic title in women’s basketball on Sunday by beating France 67-66 in Paris on the final day of the Games.

Australia edged Belgium earlier on Sunday to claim the bronze.