Olympic Standings 2012: Team USA Will Close Gold Medal Gap on Day Six
The United States sat five gold medals behind China at the start of the day. After USA claimed women’s eight gold in rowing, the medal gap already begun to narrow in London on Day Six.
China will add at least one gold to their total count, as Zhang Jike and Wang Hao battle it out in the men’s singles finals of table tennis. No other medal is guaranteed for the Chinese on Day Six.
Meanwhile, the Americans send a lot of gold medal contenders in to action.
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One of the early gold medal contenders to watch is Kayla Harrison, who competes in the 78kg division of Judo. The Judoka is the 2010 world champion and currently is ranked fourth in the world. She has already advanced to the semi-finals of the event.
Where America can do the most work to close the gap is in the high-profile events of gymnastics and swimming.
U.S. darlings Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas compete for women’s individual gold. China will send Deng Linlin and Huang Qiushuang as their medal hopefuls. The U.S. would have liked to send Jordyn Wieber to the finals, but even without the pre-Olympics favorite, they sit in a good position to medal.
After qualification, the two Americans were in second and third place. Only Russia’s Viktoria Komova topped Raisman and Douglas. The closest Chinese gymnast was nearly three points behind the American duo.
A gold in women’s gymnastics would be a major feather in Team USA’s cap, but the most damage can be done in the pool. Four medal events will take place, and those are four events where Americans can impress.
The first final will be the 200-meter breaststroke. Two Americans hit the water in the final, but the one to watch is Rebecca Soni.
Soni broke the world record in the semi-finals on Wednesday. It was a statement that this is her event and the others are merely racing for silver.
After that, Tyler Clary and Ryan Lochte go for gold in the 200 backstroke. Without Aaron Peirsol donning the cap for the Americans at this Olympics, the event is wide open. However, the favorites in the event are still from the U.S. of A. Clary qualified for the final with the fastest time and Lochte was second.
The third medal event of the evening looks like it could be a third-straight gold for America.
The 200m individual medley will pit Michael Phelps and Lochte against each another once again. Lochte is the world record holder in the event with a blistering time of 1:54.00. It is no surprise Lochte qualified with the fastest time.
The final swimming medal will be in the women’s 100m freestyle. Missy Franklin and Jessica Hardy will represent Old Glory in the hopes they can upset the field. All eight competitors qualified under 54 seconds. This is another opportunity for Franklin to stun the world and become the biggest breakout athlete of the Games.
This can be a big day for the American olympians. Their performances can put the U.S. out in front of China for total gold and total medals. With so many strong swimmers to close the evening, it looks like they will do it. Day Six belongs to the Americans.
London Olympics Medal Count as of 8:30 a.m. ET
 |  |  | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | China Total: 30 | 17 | 9 | 4 |
 | United States Total: 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 |
 | Japan Total: 17 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
 | France Total: 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
 | Germany Total: 13 | 3 | 8 | 2 |
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