In the final days of competition at the Tokyo Olympics, it looked as though China would triumph on the medal count with the most gold, even as the U.S. had a comfortable lead in overall medals.

With one day left and the women's basketball and volleyball gold-medal matches on the docket, the U.S. led China 108-87 in overall medals but needed three gold medals to take the lead.

Team USA's athletes delivered.

First, and no surprise, the U.S. women's basketball team dominated in the gold-medal game against Japan 90-75 on the strength of Brittney Griner's 30-point night. Gold medal, check.

Then, in a surprising triumph, Jennifer Valente earned the U.S. its first-ever gold medal in women's track cycling. The Americans had won silver or bronze seven times before in the sport. Gold medal, check.

Finally, in another historic first, the U.S. women's indoor volleyball team managed to stave off dominant Brazil, which beat them in the gold-medal games in 2008 and 2012, to earn the nation's first women's volleyball gold. Gold medal, check.

These highlights are the freshest in our minds, and we can trace them directly to the U.S. finishing atop the medal table. But the Tokyo Games, even with all the controversy and difficulty surrounding their staging, gave us so many records, firsts and dominant performances, as well as so-good-they-feel-scripted storylines.

The final medal table is below; then, we'll take a look back at the most emotional, most dominant and most memorable highlights of the Tokyo Olympics.

Final Medal Table

1. United States: 39 gold, 113 total

2. China: 38 gold, 88 total

3. Japan: 27 gold, 58 total

4. Great Britain: 22 gold, 65 total

5. ROC: 20 gold, 71 total

6. Australia: 17 gold, 46 total

7. Italy: 10 gold, 40 total

8. Germany: 10 gold, 37 total

9. Netherlands: 10 gold, 36 total

10. France: 10 gold, 33 total