Olympic Medal Count 2012: Nations That Will Surprise in Final Medal Count
We know about the usual suspects.
The United States, China and Russia will inevitably compete for the title of world's biggest athletic superpower, but what about the other guys?
What countries will surprise the rest of the world and rise up the medal leaderboard? What countries will grab a slew of unexpected gold medals? What countries will provide us with the best underdog stories of the Olympics?
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Let's take a look.
UPDATE: Sunday, July 29, 10:10 a.m. ET by Donald Wood
 |  |  | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | China Total: 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
 | United States Total: 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
 | Italy Total: 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
 | Brazil Total: 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
 | South Korea Total: 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
For full medal standings, catch Bleacher Report's official Olympic medal tracker!
Azerbaijan
The tiny country of Azerbaijan (population of 9.2 million) have taken home one gold medal in the past two Olympics, finishing 39th and 50th in the medal count, respectively, but expect that number to take a big step in the positive direction in London.
Azerbaijan are sending 53 athletes to Great Britain, and plenty of them have a good shot at taking home a medal.
Most notably, they should have plenty of success in the combat sports.
Sharif Sharifov is the favorite to win the men's 185-pound freestyle in wrestling, and Ramin Azizov could take a gold home in Taekwondo.
Overall, Azerbaijan have seven boxers, six athletes competing in judo, five weightlifters and 11 wrestlers. They should take home multiple golds and challenge for double-digit medals.
New Zealand
New Zealand have taken home three gold medals the past two Olympics, but there's a good chance that number doubles in 2012.
What's more, the 184 athletes heading to London have a good chance of equaling the 14 total medals from the past two Games.
Most notably, the New Zealanders dominate the sport of rowing. And I mean absolutely dominate it.
They are heavy favorites in men's pairs, men's lightweight double sculls and men's double sculls. They also have a very good chance to medal in women's lightweight double sculls, women's pairs, men's 49er and women's 470.
Outside of the water, Valerie Adams has very good shot at taking home the gold in women's shot put.
And those are just the favorites. Watch out for New Zealand as a surprise top 20 country.
Iran
Much like Azerbaijan, Iran have the athletes to dominate the combat sports, although Iran are more focused on simply the wrestling portion of the games.
For good reason, too.
Among the clear favorites: Hamid Mohammad Soryan in the men's 121-pound Greco-Roman, Omid Noroozi in the men's 132-pound Greco-Roman, Mehidi Taghavi Kermani in the men's 146-pound freestyle, Saeid Abdevali in the men's 146-pound Greco-Roman.
In addition to those likely gold medalists, Sadegh Goudarzi, Reza Yazdani and Mohammad Bagheri will at least medal, with a good shot at winning.
Iran have just three total gold medals in the past two Olympics, but this year they should rack up seven or eight golds with somewhere around 15 total medals. That's top-12 territory for a country that are sending just 53 athletes.
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