Olympic Results 2012: Most Surprising Winners on Day 10 of London's Games

Day 10 of competition in London is in the books, and several shiny gold medals have been handed out to their deserved winners. Some of these first-place finishers were anticipated, but others were not expected to earn their event's highest honor.

The athletes who've earned surprising victories will hold their medals a little tighter. Everyone, even the participants, knows who the most talented individuals are. A victory can even surprise the victorious at times.

Let's take a look at three athletes who earned an unexpected gold medal in Monday's Olympic action.

Arthur Nabarrete Zanetti

Nabarrete Zanetti unseated Chen Yibing from the top of the men's rings. Chen won the gold medal on the rings in 2008, and he's a four-time world champion. That sounds like a favorite to me.

Chen won the gold medal at the 2011 World Championships. That momentum was expected to translate into success in London, but he will have to settle for a silver medal. 

Nabarrete Zanetti won the event with his 15.900 score. Chen scored a 15.800 and did just enough to hold off Matteo Morandi's push for a silver medal.

It's tough to expect a gold medal in anyone's first Olympic appearance, but Nabarrete Zanetti was excellent. He used his world championship shortcomings to his advantage and made sure he didn't finish second again.

Jenn Suhr

Suhr defeated Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva in a shocking upset in the women's pole vault final on Monday. In fact, Isinbayeva finished in third behind silver-medal winner Yarisley Silva.

Isinbayeva won gold in this event in 2004 and 2008. She's a five-time world champion, and you could make the case that she's the best female pole vaulter who has ever lived.

The idea of her losing, up to this point, is truly unfathomable. It just doesn't happen, let alone finishing third.

Suhr's jump of just over nine feet was enough to squash Isinbayeva's hopes of a three-peat. London's events are far from over, but you will be hard-pressed to find a bigger upset than this.

Felix Sanchez

Anyone familiar with Sanchez's career may argue vehemently with me here, but this isn't the same Sanchez we saw win a gold medal in 2004. For a solid four years, Sanchez was the best 400-meter hurdler in the world.

London was a bit different. He ran the fastest qualifying time, but it's still hard to bet on a 34-year-old potential "has been." Sanchez didn't take that lightly, though.

Instead of running his age, Sanchez ran his season's best time of 47.63 seconds. He defeated Michael Tinsley in a race that I expected Tinsley to win.

Sanchez's victory wouldn't have been surprising a few years ago, but it absolutely is now. He didn't enter London behind any momentum, but he created his own in less than a minute on Monday.