Olympic Standings 2012: Most Surprising Countries Thus Far

While China and the United States have stolen the show so far in London, plenty of countries are completely transcending expectations. 

The Olympics are a time when underdogs capture the hearts of everyone throughout the world, regardless of country, and the same has held true during these 2012 Olympic Games. 

Let's take a look at the nations that shockingly find themselves in the top 10 medal standings.

Note: For a complete look at the Olympic standings (medal count), check out london2012.com.

France (4 Gold, 3 Silver, 4 Bronze)

China and the U.S. at No. 1 and 2 is completely expected. Who came in third in the medal count, however, has always been a much discussed topic. 

It has been Russia in third place overall during the last two Summer Games, but there was some question about whether it could hold onto to that standing. Well, France is proving those concerns true.

After the first four days, the French sit comfortably in third with four gold and 11 total medals while Russia sits in ninth with just two golds and eight overall. 

France has done a lot of its work in the swimming pool, where Yannick Agnel has been the thorn in the United States' side. The 20-year-old has reeled in two gold medals and a silver while female swimmer Camille Muffat also has one of each. 

Throw in a gold in canoeing and four bronze medals in judo, and the French are in very good shape to shock the world. They could falter once the swimming is done, but after finishing sixth in 2000 and seventh in 2004, they look poised to crack the top five. 

Kazakhstan (3 Gold)

I'm just wondering if I asked someone what country they thought was currently in sixth place in the medal count, how many guesses it would take them to get Kazakhstan.

Nonetheless, here we are, as the Kazakhstanians got a surprising gold from Alexander Vinokourov in cycling on Day 1 and have added two more in weightlifting. 

Since joining the Summer Olympics in 1994, Kazakhstan has been solid, always right around the fringe of double-digits for total medals, but its all-time high for golds in one year is three. That record might be broken in the first week. 

South Africa (2 Gold)

Since the 2000 Olympics, South African athletes have brought home one total gold medal. That's one-third of a gold medal each Olympics, which makes the fact that they've already secured two golds in four days incredibly impressive. 

The swimming pool has been kind to the South Africans. First, Cameron van der Burgh beat out Christian Sprenger in the 100-meter breaststroke. That wasn't all that surprising, but the next one was. 

In the men's 200-meter fly, the race that Michael Phelps has set the world record in eight separate times, Chad le Clos raced from third to first in the final 50 meters, out-touching the American by .05 seconds and setting an African record in the process.

South Africa has a chance to take home three gold medals for the first time since 1920, but even if it doesn't achieve that, it has already done enough to consider London a success. 

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