Women's Olympic Basketball Draw: United States' Biggest Gold Medal Competition

The U.S. Olympic women's basketball team may be favorites in London, but contenders Australia, Russia, and Turkey will all look to dethrone the American women.

The Olympic draw was held today in Brazil and the U.S. emerged as the top contender, followed by Australia and Russia. 

Australia is the U.S.'s traditional rival for Olympic glory, Russia's team will be hungry to improve on their bronze medal finish in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Turkey relishes its status as the dark horse contender.  

Here is everything you need to know about their chances against the dominant U.S. women's team.  

Australia: The Great Rival

Australia is the United States' traditional rival in women's Olympic basketball.  

The Australian women have won the silver medal at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games.  They lost to the American women on each occasion, which makes this a tough rivalry filled with both mutual respect and bad blood.

The Australian team features several WNBA All-Stars.  Team captain, center Lauren Jackson, was part of all three of those silver medal teams and is considered one of the best players in WNBA history.  

Penny Taylor, another team leader, is a three-time WNBA All Star.  And young Liz Cambage, the team's newest star, was the WNBA league MVP in 2011.

So, this is a tough squad with more than enough talent to challenge the U.S. women for their long awaited Olympic crown.   

Russia: The Emerging Juggernaut

The Russian team are the upstart rivals with the potential to upset the American-Australian dominance of the sport.

Led by controversial American star Becky Hammon, whose decision to play for Russia in 2008 sparked a furious debate, Russia will field its most talented team ever at this Olympic games.

Russia won the bronze medal at both the 2004 and 2008 Olympic games and will be gunning to switch up that longstanding pecking order in London.  

The team won the European Championships in 2011 over Turkey and will come into the London Olympics riding a wave of success.

But will it be enough to overcome their long-dominant rivals?

Turkey: The Rising Dark Horse

It may not be Turkey's time just yet, but it's rising team will pose a challenge at the 2012 London Games.

Turkey has never won an Olympic medal, but its team won the silver at the 2011 Eurobasket Championships, losing to Russia in the final.  So they are a hungry team coming into London eager to build on that success.  

If any team past Russia makes noise, it is very likely to be Turkey.  

Predictions for the Medals

The U.S. is sending one of its most talented Olympic teams ever to London.  

Led by Candace Parker, they will likely repeat as Olympic champions.  After all, the U.S. has won the gold every Olympics since 1984 (with the exception of 1992) and their dominance has only grown over time.

With that said, Australia's squad is its most talented ever and Russia looks like a very feisty, confident team.  

So, the American women will have to stay sharp to repeat as champions.