Olympic Medal Count 2012: Countries That Are Surprising Early On
Italy has come out of the gates in the 2012 Olympic Games with five medals so far on Day 1. They are currently in second place, behind China, in the medal count, tied with the USA.
Italy isn't the only country getting off to a surprising start, though. Though it's early in these Games, there are three countries that have caught my eye.
Italy: 5 Medals
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The Italians are off to a hot start, winning five medals so far. They finished the 2008 Summer Games with a total of 27 medals, and if they keep up this pace, they'll easily surpass that total in 2012.
They won the gold medal in the men's team archery competition, beating the U.S. team and the South Koreans.
Luca Tesconi won the silver medal in the men's 10-meter air-pistol event, finishing behind South Korea's Jin Jong-oh.
Finally, the Italians swept the women's individual foil-fencing event. Elisa Di Francisca won gold, Arianna Errigo won silver and Valentina Vezzali won the bronze medal.
Brazil: 3 Medals
Brazil currently finds itself in a tie for fourth place with three total medals. They finished the 2008 Summer Games in 18th place with 15 total medals. It's safe to say that they are getting off to a fantastic start.
Sara Menezes beat defending Olympic champion Alina Dumitru of Romania to win the gold medal in the women's 106-pound judo competition.
Thiago Periera finished the men's 400-meter individual medley in second place to win the silver medal, though it was almost four seconds behind U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte.
And, finally, Felipe Kitadai tied with Uzbekistan's Rishod Sobirov for the bronze medal in the men's 132-pound judo competition.
It's safe to say that the Brazilians are pretty good martial artists, wouldn't you say?
Belgium: 1 Medal
One medal may not seem like much, but Belgium brought home only two total medals in the 2008 Summer Games, meaning they're off to a torrid start after Day 1.
Their lone medal to this point was earned by Charline van Snick in the women's 106-pound judo competition.
2012 Summer Olympic Games Medal Leaders at 5:22 p.m. ET
| Country | Total | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| China | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Italy | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| United States | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| South Korea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Brazil | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Japan | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
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