Olympic Results 2012: Surprise Teams Ready to Medal

The Olympics serves as one of the most unpredictable events in all of sports. The most memorable moments of the Games often come from those teams and athletes that aren't expected to reach the podium.

When national pride is on the line, anything can happen and these teams are on the precipice of scoring big upsets for their country by netting a surprise podium appearance. 

Russia Men's Basketball

Coming into the Olympic basketball tournament, most of the talk revolved around Team USA, Spain, Brazil and Argentina, but Russia has established itself as a team to watch throughout the group play stage.

Russia is 4-0 through the group stage and joins the U.S. team as only the second team to remain undefeated with one game left before the quarterfinals.

A team devoid of many NBA players and few recognizable names, Russia has been led by a tough team defense and a great performance from Andrei Kirilenko. Kirilenko is playing inspired basketball right now and leads the team in scoring at 19.5 points per game. 

Russia finished ninth at the 2008 games in Beijing, so it will be looking to ride this hot start to a much better finish this time around and after shocking Spain, they look ready to do so.

Japan Men's Football

Japan isn't traditionally thought off as an international football powerhouse, but its showing in the Olympics has been impressive and has them in a position to make a serious run at a medal. 

Japan's defense has been superb throughout the Games. Through four games, the Japanese have yet to allow a single goal. Their stellar defense carried them through the qualifying round as they are on their way to two wins and a draw to take the top spot in their group.

Any concerns as to whether this Japanese team could score goals were answered by the team's quarterfinal victory over Egypt. 

In additions to their continued excellence on defense, the Japanese scored three goals.

France Women's Basketball

France entered the Olympic tournament ranked as the No. 8 team in the world according to FIBA rankings and a generally unheralded team, but its play in the Games thus far has France looking like a team that could realistically challenge for gold.

France joins the USA as the only undefeated teams remaining through four games in group play and should enjoy a favorable matchup in the quarterfinals as a result.

France has already shown that they can compete with anyone in the tournament field when they took down world No. 2 Australia in their second game in group play 74-70. Thirty-year-old Celine Dumerc has played sensationally throughout the tournament and will need to keep it up for France to continue its surprise run.