2008 Summer Olympics medal table
| 2008 Summer Olympics medals | |
|---|---|
| Michael Phelps (pictured) won eight medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics, the most of any competing athlete | |
| Location | Beijing, China | 
| Highlights | |
| Most gold medals | China (48) | 
| Most total medals | United States (112) | 
| Medalling NOCs | 87 | 
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, were a summer multi-sport event held in Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China, from 8 to 24 August 2008. Approximately 10,942 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in 302 events in 28 sports across 41 disciplines. Cycling BMX racing and 10 km (6.2 mi) marathon swimming were included as official medal events for the first time in history. The Marshall Islands, Montenegro and Tuvalu made their Summer Olympic debuts in Beijing.
Overall, athletes from a record 87 countries won at least one medal, and 55 of them won at least one gold medal. Afghanistan, Mauritius, Sudan, Tajikistan and Togo won their first Olympic medals of any kind. Athletes from Mongolia (which previously held the record for most medals without a gold) and Panama won their first Olympic gold medals. Serbian swimmer Milorad Čavić won the first medal for the country as an independent state. Samoa won its first Olympic medal due to a reallocation of medals after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) retested doping samples in 2016.
Athletes from the host nation China won the most gold medals, with 48, while athletes from the United States won the most medals overall, with 112. Among individual participants, American swimmer Michael Phelps won the most gold medals and the most total medals with eight each, breaking Mark Spitz's 1972 record for the most gold medals won at an Olympic Games.
During and after the games, many athletes who were caught doping, or tested positive for banned substances, were disqualified from competition and had their medals revoked.