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London 2012 Medal Count: Upcoming Events Where USA Will Boost Gold Total

Richard Langford
Jul 31, 2012

Team USA has turned in a solid five gold medals and 17 total medals by the end of Day 3 at the 2012 Olympics, and they certainly aren't done collecting hardware, which is good news for them because they trail China in the gold medal department by four.ย 

By the end of this week, they will definitely be in double digits for gold medals. Shoot, they may have double digits just in swimming events by then.ย 

At any rate, here are three events in the coming week where they will win gold.ย 

Rowing: Women's Eights, Finals on Thursday, August 2

The Americans are the defending Olympic gold medalist in this event, and this squad might be more dominant than the last. This is a nice development for the Americans as the gold in Beijing was their first in this event in any non-boycotted Olympics.ย 

Five of the eightย rowers from that gold-medal team are back to defend the gold, and this continuity is certainly a good thing. The U.S. has won the past five women's eight world championships.ย 

This experienced and dominant squad will not let the gold out of their grasp.ย 

Swimming: Missy Franklin: 200-meter Backstroke, Finals on Friday, August 3

On Monday, Missy "The Missile" Franklin won the gold in the 100-meter backstroke. This is excellent news for her, and a sign that the rest of the swimmers may as well just concede the gold in the 200 backstroke.ย 

Franklin swam that gold-medal run about 10 minutes after a freestyle qualifying swim. Also, this is her best event. She hasย theย fastest time in the worldย by almost half-a-second, and she will likely better that in the Olympics.ย 

She will not be beaten.ย 

Swimming: Women's 4x100-meter Medley, Finals on Saturday, August 4ย 

Let's stay in the pool for another gold medal lock, and this is the biggest lock of all. With the likes ofย Franklin,ย Natalie Coughlin and recent gold medalist and world-record setter Dana Vollmer ready to power this relay team, they are heads and shoulders above the competition.ย 

This one isn't going to be close. In fact, the Americans' qualifying time is over three full seconds better than their next closest competitor, China.ย 

The only compelling aspect of this race for gold will be how much can the Americans win by.ย 

London Olympics Medal Count (As of Monday, July 30 at 10 p.m. ET)

Chinaย Total: 17953
United Statesย Total: 17575
Japanย Total: 11146
Italyย Total: 8242
Franceย Total: 7313
South Koreaย Total: 6222
Russiaย Total: 5203
North Koreaย Total: 4301
Australiaย Total: 4121
Romaniaย Total: 3120
Hungaryย Total: 3111
Brazilย Total: 3111
Ukraineย Total: 3102
Great Britainย Total: 3012
Kazakhstanย Total: 2200
Netherlandsย Total: 2110
Colombiaย Total: 2020
Lithuaniaย Total: 1100
Georgiaย Total: 1100
South Africaย Total: 1100
Cubaย Total: 1010
Polandย Total: 1010
Thailandย Total: 1010
Chinese Taipeiย Total: 1010
Germanyย Total: 1010
Mexicoย Total: 1010
Mongoliaย Total: 1001
Moldovaย Total: 1001
Canadaย Total: 1001
Azerbaijanย Total: 1001
Belgiumย Total: 1001
Norwayย Total: 1001
Serbiaย Total: 1001
Slovakiaย Total: 1001
Uzbekistanย Total: 1001
Indonesiaย Total: 1001
Indiaย Total: 1001