Here's Exactly How Many Medals The U.S. Won In This Winter Olympics

Don't look now, but the 2018 Winter Olympics have finally drawn to a close. As of now, every last event on the calendar in PyeongChang has been completed, meaning the medal count for the games has been finalized. And if you're an American eagerly rooting on the various U.S. competitors, you'll probably want to know how it all turned out ― in other words, how many Winter Olympics medals did the U.S. get this time around?

The answer, sad to say if you're an "America number one!" kind of person, is that the U.S. finished in fourth place, securing nine gold medals and 23 medals overall. This number trails Canada, Germany, and Norway, which took first place in overall medals, absolutely crushing the field this time around.

That last part is no surprise, as Norway is traditionally a powerhouse when it comes to these thrilling and treacherous winter sports, but nonetheless, it's fair to say the U.S. delegation probably wishes it had netted more gold medals, and indeed more medals overall, this time around. That said, the U.S. will have a chance to climb to the top of another medal count in just two short years, with the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo looming on the horizon.

The top five winning-est Olympic national teams this year, in descending order, are as follows, complete with their individual and total medal counts:

• Norway, the decisive winner of the 2018 Winter Olympics medal counts, finished with 38 total medals, including 13 golds, 14 silvers, and 11 bronzes.
• Although Germany finished behind Norway in overall medals, it did with the most golds.
• Canada finished as the second runner-up, netting 29 overall medals, including 11 golds, 8 silvers, and 10 bronzes.
• The U.S. is slotted into the fourth position, having claimed 23 medals overall, including nine golds, eight silvers, and six bronzes.
• The Netherlands finished the Winter Games at fifth in the medal count, with 20 medals overall, including eight golds, six silvers, and six bronzes.

For a sense of comparison, the U.S. also finished fourth in the medal count in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, albeit with a greater number of overall medals at 28.

That year, host nation Russia led the count with 29 overall medals, while this year's dominant country, Norway, came in second with 26 overall. It's worth noting that Russia won 33 gold medals to lead the field at the time of the 2014 Olympics, but four of those were ultimately stripped after an investigation uncovered a pervasive Russian doping program.

In short, the performance of the U.S. Olympians this year was pretty similar to how things went last time around, with the big difference being Norway's staggering dominance against the field. Needless to say, the Americans will want to try to step up their game over the next four years, and post an even better result when the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing roll around.

If you've been loving all the action, artistry, and virtuoso performances throughout the games in PyeongChang, then you'll probably want to make some time to watch the closing ceremony. If it's anything like the opening ceremony, it figures to be an epic event, and after all, you won't get another taste of the Winter Olympics pageantry for four more years.

The closing ceremony will be taking place live at about 6:00 a.m. ET on Sunday morning, but NBC will be airing it in primetime to make it more convenient for U.S. audiences. So if you're planning to watch, make sure you're in front of your TV or streaming device at 8:00 p.m. ET on Sunday.