London Olympics 2012: Medal Hopefuls Who Will Struggle to Make an Impact

No country has taken home more medals at the summer Olympics over the last 20 years than the United States, and there's no reason to expect that run to end in London this summer. 

While American athletes will be wearing plenty of medals around their necks in due time, not all Olympic contributions are created equal. 

In the following slides, we run down four athletes who are almost certain to receive a medal but will struggle to help obtain said medal. 

Anthony Davis, Basketball

Anthony Davis may be the reigning College Basketball Player of the Year and the New Orleans Hornets' No. 1 overall pick in last month's draft, but he's likely to see a lot of "DNP" next to his name in the Olympic boxscores. 

Davis is the last man off the bench—the Christian Laettner to this year's "Dream Team"—and he'll only play a role late in games in which the United States is blowing a team out. 

The American men are the heavy favorites to win gold, but don't expect Davis to make a sizable impact on that outcome. 

Kyla Ross, Gymnastics

The U.S. women's gymnastics team is as deep and talented leading into an Olympic Games as any since 1996.

There's a decent chance that this squad could dethrone China as the gold-medal holder. Completing that feat would mark the first time since '96 in Atlanta that the American women won gold. 

However, the stars of the squad are clearly Jordyn Wieber and Gabby Douglas. Kyla Ross, who's major career highlight is a second-place finish at the U.S. championships in the uneven bars, cracked the final five but may not make a huge impact. 

Of course, the Americans need contributions from the entire team to upend the Chinese in London. Ross needs to play a bigger role than she may be capable of. 

Asjha Jones, Basketball

With a roster filled with the best players in the world, the American women are also favorites to win gold in basketball. One player who may not contribute much to that end result is Asjha Jones of the Connecticut Sun. 

Despite standing 6'3" and securing two WNBA All-Star game appearances, Jones is likely to be seeing very limited minutes for the USA in London. 

In the Americans' blowout win over Brazil Monday, Jones didn't register a minute. She may be nothing more than a emergency player for this U.S. team. 

Nicole Barnhart, Soccer

Most of those who haven't tuned out women's soccer in this country know the names of Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan and Hope Solo. Almost zero will claim to know Nicole Barnhart, the United States' backup goaltender. 

However, don't expect to get to know Barnhart during the London Olympics. 

Barring injury, Solo should start between the pipes for the Americans, who are expected to be a front-runner to take home gold in London.

In fact, Barnhart hasn't started an international game for the United States since 2009. That run shouldn't change this summer.