Best Finish: Silver medal (six times) – The U.S. is the country with the most medals in pentathlon without a gold with nine (six silver, three bronze), but nobody has medaled since 2000, when Emily deRiel won the silver in Sydney. The high medal count is a tad misleading though, because before then, it had been 40 years since an American won a medal (other than a few in team events, which are no longer part of the competition). They've been frustratingly close however, as in 2012, Margaux Isaksen came in fourth place, narrowly missing out of the podium in heartbreaking fashion.

Best Finish: Bronze medal (Berlin 1932, Los Angeles 1984) – Both a men's and women's team have won bronze at the Olympics, though it's been a while for both. The men earned bronze in 1932 but stopped competing after Atlanta 1996. The women have only been competing since 1984, where they earned the bronze in the second-ever women's Olympic tournament. However, they have progressively done worse in their last four Olympic appearances ? when they qualify ? finishing in eighth (1988), fifth (1996), eighth (2008) and 12th (2012) respectively.

Best Finish: Bronze medal (Sydney 2000) – The U.S. has only been on the podium once since triathlon was added in 2000. Since then 18 different men and women have competed for Olympic glory in triathlon for, with only one, Susan Williams, earning bronze in 2004 in Greece. But three women have been on the cusp of getting a medal, finishing fourth in Sydney, Beijing and London. The best performance from any American man was a seventh-place finish in 2008. But hopes are high for the Team USA triathletes after winning

Best Finish: Never medaled – Despite the U.S.' incredible success in other gymnastics competitions at the Olympics, rhythmic gymnastics has never been America's forte. Only 14 Americans have ever competed at the Olympics in the sport, with the best finish being in 1984, when Valerie Zimring came in 11th place overall. Like several other sports on this list, rhythmic gymnastics is dominated by countries hailing from Europe.

Best finish: Never medaled – Basically because of these three guys pictured. Well, them and the rest of their compatriots, who together have collected 47 of the 88 possible medals since the inclusion of the sport at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. The Chinese men and women have won all but one team/doubles gold medals and 11 of the 14 singles titles. It may be a very long time before we see an American on the table tennis podium at the Olympics.

Best Finish: Never medaled – The best finish for any American in Olympic badminton was a tie for ninth place in men's singles and doubles at the 2000 Sydney Games and another ninth place finish for the women's doubles team in Beijing in 2008. Twice an American woman has tied for 17th place in the singles tournament, in 1992 and 2012, which is the highest an American has placed.

Best Finish: Never medaled – There's probably a practical reason the U.S. has never won an Olympic medal in handball, and it's probably because very few in this country actually play this sport. That being said, the sport has long been dominated by European countries, who have secured all but two of the possible 36 medals since the sport's induction at the Games in 1936. The men's national team's best finish was sixth place at the 1936 Games, while the women have a best finish of fifth place in 1984.

Best Finish: Silver medal (Los Angeles 1984, Beijing 2008, London 2012) – This one is probably the most shocking on the list, given the talent and level of participation in the U.S. What makes it even more surprising is that the men's team has taken home the gold medal three times. The women's squad has thrice finished second, with the last two coming against Brazil in 2008 and 2012. Following victories over the Brazilians in last year's Grand Prix and Pan-American Games, however, the Americans are now optimistic this is the year to end the drought.

Best Finish: Silver and bronze (St. Louis 1904) – The fact that the USMNT has even medaled in the Olympics should come as a surprise to many, although it comes with a caveat. In 1904 there were only two countries represented in the soccer tournament, the U.S. and Canada, and the Yankees fielded two teams, neither one of which was able to supplant our friendly northern neighbors. It's no secret why they haven't won since. (Note: the team did not qualify for Rio 2016)