It depends. According to the IOC (and almost everyone else) gold medals matter most:
Gold
Silver
Bronze
1 China
38 gold medals
2 US
36
3 Japan
27
4 ROC
20
5 Great Britain
20
But according to the US (and only the US), what matters most is total medals - gold, silver and bronze:
1 US
108 total medals
2 China
87
3 ROC
69
4 Great Britain
63
5 Japan
56
It depends. According to the IOC (and almost everyone else) gold medals matter most:
But according to the US (and only the US), what matters most is total medals - gold, silver and bronze:
Gold
Silver
Bronze
1 China
1 US
38 gold medals
108 total medals
2 US
2 China
36
87
3 Japan
3 ROC
27
69
4 Great Britain
4 ROC
20
63
5 Japan
5 Great Britain
20
56