Gold in the 4x100 men’s relay gave the United States one more gold than China, and Carmelita Jeter’s silver in the 100m was the medal that put the Americans one ahead of China overall. But let’s not focus on the exciting, tightly contested battle for the top of the leaderboard.
2012 Olympics Medal Count: Jamaica Excited Track And Field Portion Of Olympics Starting
After dominating the pool, the United States might be disappointed there’s no more swimming to be had in London. Jamaica, on the other hand, are quite the opposite: they had no medals coming into Saturday’s women’s 100m final, where Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce took gold and Veronica Campbell-Brown took third, bumping the nation to 28th on the medal count. Jamaica’s powerhouse status in the world of track is no secret, and more will come, as Usain Bolt and co. have yet to participate and bring the nation more medals. (Unfortunately, bobsled won’t be contested until 2014 in Sochi).
You could say Jamaica is about to “sprint” up the leaderboard! Haha! It’s a play on words..
Three other nations busted into the medal count. Switzerland’s Nicola Spirig won the triathlon; everybody’s favorite neutral watch-makers have at least one more medal guaranteed, as Roger Federer plays for gold in men’s singles tomorrow. Elsewhere, new countries broke into the medal count in events featuring doing normal things for abnormal distances, the 20k racewalk and the mile swim: Erick Barrondo took home silver to racewalking powerhouse Guatemala - although everybody who didn’t collapse into a heap during the race should really get a medal - and Tunisia’s Oussama Mellouli placed third in the 1500m swim.
Possibly the most impressive feat of the Olympics is Kazakhstan’s passion for perfection: the Central Asian nation saw Ilya Ilyin win men’s 94 kg weightlifting, the nation’s fifth medal of the games and fifth gold. No other nation with more than one medal has managed to do so without sullying their tally with silvers and bronzes; Kazakhstan’s adherence to the “if you’re not first, you’re last” policy has no tolerance for such finishes. By gold medals, Kazakhstan is ranked sixth, tied with Germany and Italy.
And now, a look at the leaderboard in 8-bits!
For a complete breakdown, visit Sports Illustrated’s medal count tracker.
For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation’s London 2012 Olympics Hub.
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