2012 Olympics Medal Count: Team USA Finishes On Top

For the past two weeks, you watched sports you have never seen before -- and likely never had heard of before -- simply because it was the Olympics. Millions of people, several of whom had no national pride to speak of past enjoying July 4th and fireworks, had a two-week fit of patriotism during which they acted like 1980s Hulk Hogan.

We cheered for athletes whose names we will forget as quickly as learned them, all in the hopes that the United States would end up on top of the medal table. Well, mission accomplished.

The 2012 London Olympics ended quite spectacularly on Sunday, with the United States wrapping up a gold medal in men’s basketball shortly before the closing ceremonies commenced. The gold medals Team USA earned Sunday were a very small portion of their final count, however, as the Sweet Land of Liberty finished atop the Olympic leaderboard with 46 gold medals.

The United States final medal count included 46 gold medals to go with 29 silver and bronze medals apiece, totaling a terrific 104 total medals over the past few weeks in London. That total bested America’s closest competitor, China, who finished in second place with 38 gold medals en route to 87 total.

The United States dominated the medal count with more golds and overall medals than any other country. Leading the way? A strong female delegation that blew away the world across the board.

Team USA’s women won 58 overall medals -- more than any country’s combined male and female tally except for China, Great Britain and Russia. A whopping half of those medals were golds, which accounted for 29 of the United States’ total of 46, and would have been tied with Great Britain for third in the combined gold medal count. Their 58 medals were nine more than the 49 won by Chinese female athletes.

Before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the US had finished at the top of the gold medal count in four consecutive Olympics.

China snapped that streak in 2008, finishing with 51 gold medals to only 36 for the US. Without the benefit of home-field advantage, things returned to “normal” in London, with the US at 46 golds to China’s 38.

For nearly two weeks at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, it was a dogfight at the top of the medal count leaderboard between the United States and China.

Over the last weekend of events, the United States pulled away. They gained such a lead, in fact, that entering the final day of events on Sunday, they had already ensured they would leave as the winners in total medals and gold medals. Still, the U.S. managed to add two final gold medals to their tally on Sunday, in wrestling and in men’s basketball, to make it 46 gold medals in total.

With a strong day Saturday, the United States officially clinched the top spot in the 2012 Olympic medal count, but they can extend that lead even further on the final day of the London Olympics.

The United States is assured of at least a silver medal in men’s basketball but will try to win their second-straight Olympic gold against Spain. Team USA enters the gold medal game a perfect 7-0 in Olympic play while Spain comes in at 5-2.

The United States will win the 2012 Olympics medal race, topping both the medal count and the official medal rankings. They did it with huge hauls in the two most rewarding disciplines of the Summer Games: swimming and track and field.

The U.S. ruled the pool, taking 31 medals from it on the back of performances from Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Missy Franklin, Dana Vollmer, and others. That’s the most any nation got from any sport in London, though it only narrowly outdid the second place performance: 29 medals by Team USA in track and field events.

The United States added to their large medal haul on Saturday, going over 100 total medals for the 2012 London Olympics and ensuring that they’ll finish on top of the medal count, whether one chooses to determine that count by gold medals or total medals. The United States captured gold medals in women’s basketball, men’s diving and women’s track on Saturday.

China continues to have a strong Olympics and added to their total with a men’s boxing gold and numerous other medals on Saturday. Russia was boosted by a huge day in track and field, where they won four gold medals to expand their lead over Great Britain in third place.

With the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in its final stretch, the United States has all but wrapped up its dominance in the overall medal count. Team USA added two more medals so far on Saturday, taking bronze in women’s cross-country mountain biking and men’s 60 kg freestyle wrestling thanks to Georgia Gould and Tervel Ivaylov Dlagnev, respectively. The U.S. is also guaranteed to added gold and/or silver medals in the women’s volleyball and basketball gold medal matches later in the day.

Russia has been one of the day’s biggest winners, adding eight more medals to their tally. They added four gold medals, including wins in both the men’s AND women’s racewalk. They have little chance of catching China, however. The Chinese are comfortably in second place, adding two medals so far on the day.

The United States extended their lead in the 2012 Olympic medal count Friday and they will look to pull even further ahead of China on Saturday.

With closing ceremonies set for Sunday, Saturday is the last day with a full schedule of events. A total of 32 gold medals will be up for grabs on Sunday, making it one of the busiest days of the 2012 London Olympics. The United States figures to have another strong day.

Cool! Someone from your country won a medal! Yeah, it was bronze, but being third best in the world isn’t bad at all! And silver! That’s, like, almost the best! Congrats! Impressive!

However, the novelty eventually wears off. After enough people from your country have been almost good at things, you probably start to wonder what all the other countries are doing that’s so got-danged impressive. That’s where Canada and Azerbaijan are, right now.

Michael Phelps! Usain Bolt! An 8-bit Olympic medal count video! Let’s end Friday on a high note, friends.

Watch this superb video from SB Nation Studios closely. There are Easter eggs. Wonder Easter eggs.

The United States extended their lead in the medal count on Thursday and they will look to widen the gap even further on Friday. Team USA won four track & field medals on Thursday and they will go for another strong day on the track on Friday.

Six track & field gold medals are up for grabs Friday and the United States figures to be in the middle of the action. They are among the favorites in the women’s 4x100m relay and the men’s 4x400m relay. They will also be medal contenders in the women’s 1500m and men’s pole vault.

The United States had taken the lead on China in the overall medal count, but lagged behind their primary rival in the gold medal tally. After Day 13, which brought a flurry of U.S. medals on the track and in team sports, that’s no longer the case.

Team USA won 10 medals on the day, twice the haul of Germany, second-best on the day with five, and collected five golds, from boxer Claressa Shields, triple jumper Christian Taylor, decathlete Ashton Eaton, women’s water polo and women’s soccer.

On Day 13 of the Olympics the United States appears to have taken the upper hand in the race for most overall medals and most gold medals in London.

With a gold medal in women’s middleweight boxing, the USA has moved to within one gold medal of China’s current tally of 36. With gold medal matches upcoming in women’s soccer and women’s water polo, the US hope to add to that total. The women’s basketball team also assured themselves of a medal when they advanced to the gold medal game with their win over Australia on Thursday.

The United States retook the overall medal count on Wednesday thanks to a good day in track & field, but the USA will need a strong Thursday to maintain their medal count lead.

The United States is assured of at least a silver medal in women’s soccer, but they will go for the gold against Japan. The matchup is a rematch of the 2011 women’s World Cup final that Japan won on penalty kicks.

The United States took back the lead in the overall medal count at the 2012 Olympics on Wednesday’s Day 12. Seven medals from four events on the track, including gold medals by Allyson Felix, Aries Merritt and Brittney Reese, helped propel Team USA past China.

Felix broke through for her first individual gold in the women’s 200 meters on Wednesday, making her the first woman ever with three Olympic medals in the 200 meters and ending an eight-year rivalry with Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown. Merritt and countryman Jason Richardson won gold and silver in the men’s 110m hurdles. And Reese won just the second U.S. gold in the women’s long jump, giving the U.S. three of the four individual track and field golds awarded on the day. In the fourth event, Lashinda Demus won silver in the women’s 400m hurdles.

China and the United States have duked it out for the top spot of the 2012 Olympics medal count throughout the Olympic fortnight, but so far on Day 12, a light day of competition, it is Hungary that’s making the biggest waves.

Hungary snagged two gold medals from kayaking events in the early events of the day, and is the only nation with multiple golds on Wednesday so far. Germany nabbed four medals in canoe, however, and leads with five medals overall.

At the conclusion of Day 11 at the 2012 London Olympics, China and the United States still battle for overall supremacy, but the battle for third place is now in a tie between host-country Great Britain and Russia. The two countries each have 48 total medals, but Great Britain has an edge in gold medals, 22-10.

Russia picked up three gold medals on Tuesday (synchronized swimming women’s duet, men’s high jump, men’s 3-meter springboard) while Great Britain took gold in four events (equestrian team dressage, men’s triathlon, women’s omnium, men’s keirin).

After Day 11 of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, China has a lead on Team USA in the total medal count, despite the United States adding four medals on the track in the afternoon.

Leo Manzano won maybe the biggest of the four, taking silver in the men’s 1,500 meters, an event in which no American had medaled since 1968, 44 years ago. Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells won silver and bronze, respectively, in the women’s 100m hurdles, though Lolo Jones failed to medal. And Erik Kynard took silver in the men’s high jump.

Aly Raisman snagged two medals for the U.S. on Tuesday, including another individual gold. But midway through Day 11 of the 2012 Olympics, China has a large lead on Team USA in the medal count.

China (71 total medals) is up by five medals on the U.S. in the total medal count, having added seven medals on the day. The Chinese got gold from Feng Zhe on men’s parallel bars and from Deng Linlin on women’s balance beam in gymnastics, and added to their haul from table tennis by winning the women’s team competition.

After falling behind by three medals early on Day 10, the United States has pulled within one medal of China, which still holds the overall medal count lead.

The United States made up ground thanks to two track & field medals late on Day 10. Jenn Suhr added a gold to the United States medal count by winning the women’s pole vault. In doing so, she improved upon her result in the 2008 Olympics where she won silver.

After the early goings on at the 2012 Summer Olympics, China holds on to the total medal count lead in the Olympics, also leading the gold medal count. The United States follows right on China’s heels, followed up by Great Britain, Russia, and Japan rounding out the Top 5.

In the Men’s Rings competition, Brazil’s Arthur Zanetti took home the gold medal while China’s Chin Yibing and Italy’s Matteo Morandi took home silver and bronze, respectively.

China has two more gold medals and one more overall medal than the United States atop the medal count leaderboard in London. And don’t expect the situation to be drastically different tomorrow.

Looking down the medals that will be given out on Monday, there aren’t an awful lot in events that the United States and China are successful at. When predicting the entire Olympics before they started, Brian Cazeneuve only predicted five total medals between the two countries in the events that will be contested today. A decent proportion of those medals could come in gymnastics, as China’s Chen Yibing is a favorite on men’s rings and the United States has Gabby Douglas going in the uneven bars. America also has a chance at gold in the 400m hurdles, where three of the eight participants in the final event will be racing for the red, white and blue.

Despite a gold medal from Sanya Richards-Ross in the 400-meter dash (and a bronze from DeeDee Trotter in that same race), Team USA fell behind China in the overall medal count after Day 9. China now leads all countries in overall medals, with 61, and gold medals, with 30. The U.S. secured six medals on the day to bump its total to 60, and earned three golds. The U.S. is now two behind the Chinese, with 28.

Justin Gatlin finished third behind Jamaicans Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake in the 100-meter dash, McKayla Maroney finished a disappointing second in the vault competition in gymnastics and the mixed-doubles team of Bob Bryan and Lisa Raymond snatched a bronze away from Germany.