From the first summer Olympics after WWII. Verify the Metal Standings in gold, silver, and bronze for these country: USA, Sweden, and France

1. The headline figures: U.S., Sweden, France

Multiple independent medal lists record the United States as the clear leader in London 1948 with 38 gold, 27 silver and 19 bronze — 84 medals in all ^{[1] [2]}. France is consistently shown in third place with 10 gold, 6 silver and 13 bronze — 29 total ^[2]. Sweden is uniformly recorded among the top finishers, but sources disagree on whether its gold/bronze split is 17/18 or 16/17; the IOC-linked Olympics.com page shows Sweden at 17 gold, 11 silver, 18 bronze (46 total) while an independent compendium lists Sweden at 16 gold, 11 silver, 17 bronze (44 total) ^{[1] [2]}.

2. Why the small discrepancy for Sweden matters

Medal-table differences for a single nation are often the result of later reclassifications, team-event counting conventions, or transcription errors in derivative databases. The IOC-affiliated London 1948 medal page (the authoritative organizing-body site in our result set) lists Sweden as 17–11–18 (total 46), while a non‑official site reproducing winners lists Sweden as 16–11–17 (total 44) ^{[1] [2]}. That 1–2 medal gap affects Sweden’s reported gold and bronze tallies but does not change the top-three ranking order among the United States, Sweden and France in these sources ^{[1] [2]}.

3. Which source should you trust?

Primary reliance should be placed on the IOC/official Olympic site when reconciling medal counts, because it represents the organizing authority’s compiled results ^[1]. Secondary compilations and sports-history sites can be useful for cross‑checks but occasionally reproduce different tallies; for example, an Olympic-winners aggregator records lower totals for Sweden than the Olympics.com entry ^[2]. Researchers should note which table uses the IOC baseline and whether team‑event medals are split or attributed differently.

4. Context: “Austerity Olympics” and participation that shaped the table

The 1948 Games — held after a 12‑year hiatus — were run under austerity and with incomplete global participation; Germany and Japan were not invited and the Soviet Union did not send athletes, which shaped the competitive field and overall medal distribution ^{[3] [4]}. The United States’ dominance in swimming, diving and athletics contributed heavily to its 84-medal haul, nearly double Sweden’s reported total in several contemporary accounts ^[5].

5. Alternative viewpoints and documented caveats

While most reputable accounts agree on U.S. and French totals, at least two public compilations in our result set disagree on Sweden’s exact medal breakdown ^{[1] [2]}. Available sources do not mention any detailed official erratum that would fully explain the one‑ or two‑medal discrepancy for Sweden; the sources simply present differing tables ^{[1] [2]}. For absolute certainty, consult the IOC’s published medal table and, if needed, event‑by‑event official results to reconcile team vs. individual medal accounting ^{[1] [6]}.

6. Practical recommendation for reporting or citation

If you need a single, defensible citation for these three countries: cite the IOC/official Olympics page for London 1948 which gives USA 38–27–19 , Sweden 17–11–18 , France 10–6–13 ^[1]. If you prefer the alternate breakdown for Sweden found in some compendia, explicitly note the discrepancy and cite both the IOC page and the secondary source that reports Sweden as 16–11–17 ^{[1] [2]}.

Sources cited in text: Olympics.com London 1948 medal table ^[1]; OlympicGamesWinners/compilation ^[2]; Wikipedia/medal table and London 1948 context ^[3]; Britannica and EBSCO contextual material on post‑war Games ^{[4] [5]}; official results pages referenced for event‑by‑event verification ^[6].