Summer Olympics, Day 13: Team USA Wins Women’s Water Polo Gold

The United States had big wins on Thursday at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The day was highlighted by gold medals in women’s soccer and women’s water polo, which helped push the U.S. back into the medal count lead -- in both total medals and gold medals. The United States is now a full 10 medals ahead of second-place China and has 39 gold medals to China’s 37.

Further down the medal count leaderboard, there are three different countries that are a perfect one-for-one: one total medal, one gold medal. Algeria won its gold medal in the men’s 1500m, after winner Taoufik Makhloufi was briefly in danger of being expelled from the Games. Grenada earned its top honor thanks to Kirani James winning the men’s 400m. And Venezuela’s Ruben Limardo Gascon captured the gold medal in men’s individual epee in fencing.

The 2012 Olympic Games in London held the finals for the women’s platform diving competition on Thursday. China was able to add to their medal count as Chen Ruolin won the gold by a healthy margin. No United States divers managed to make it to the finals.

Chen’s score of 422.3 was more than enough to win, as silver medalist Brittany Broben finished with a score of 366.50. Pandelela Rinong Pamg from Malaysia took the bronze with her score of 359.20, edging out fourth-place finisher Melissa Wu of Australia, who finished at 358.1.

Usain Bolt defended his gold medal in the men’s 200 meters at the 2012 Summer Olympics on Thursday night, winning in a time of 19.32 seconds. He becomes not only the first man ever to win 200m gold at back-to-back Summer Games -- Germany’s Bärbel Eckert-Wöckel (1976, 1980) and Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown (2004, 2008) have accomplished the feat in the women’s 200m -- but also the first man to win both the 100m and 200m in consecutive Olympics, firmly cementing his legacy as one of the greatest sprinters the world has ever seen.

Yohan Blake -- who beat Bolt in the 200m at Jamaica’s Olympic team trials -- won the silver medal, finishing in 19.44 seconds, the second-fastest time he’s ever run and the fastest silver-medal time in history. Warren Weir was third, making it a podium sweep for Jamaica. It’s the first time any country other than the United States has swept the 200m.

Swimming in pools might have ended at the Olympics last week, but the United States added to its aquatic tally Thursday with a silver courtesy of Haley Anderson in the women’s 10k open water swim, America’s first ever medal in open water swimming.

Swimming’s marathon took place in the Serpentine lake in London’s famous Hyde Park. After more than six miles of swimming and nearly two hours in the water, Anderson found herself in a sprint to the finish line among a front pack. The race wasn’t quite as close as some of the out-touches seen at the Olympic pool, but the USC swimmer finished less than a body-length off Hungary’s Eva Risztov, touching the metal strip indicating the finish line .4 seconds short of gold. It’s the second medal for the Anderson family at these Olympics, as her sister, Alyssa, was on the team that won gold in the 4x200m freestyle.