Japanese athletes win 20 gold medals at the Paris Olympics, a new record for Olympics held outside Japan

PARIS — The Olympic Games in Paris ended Sunday with the Japanese team winning 20 gold medals, the most gold medals ever for an Olympic Games held abroad.

Japan’s haul in Paris was the second-highest number of gold medals at any Olympic Games to date. Japan won 27 gold medals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

The previous record at the Olympic Games abroad was the 16 gold medals won by Japanese athletes in Athens in 2004.

In total, Japan won 45 medals at the Paris Games, more than the 41 it won in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Kotaro Kiyooka won the gold medal in the men’s 65-kilogram freestyle on Sunday, while Yuka Kagami took gold in the women’s 76-kilogram freestyle.