London 2012 Medal Count: United States Padding Its Total in Track & Field

As expected, the United States is cleaning up in track and field at the 2012 London Olympics.

Through Monday, the U.S. had racked up nine medals in track and field, including two gold medals.

Sanya Richards-Ross and Jenn Suhr captured gold for the U.S. in the women's 400 meters and the women's pole vault, respectively.

Michael Tinsley, Galen Rupp and Carmelita Jeter have grabbed silvers in the men's 400-meter hurdles, men's 10,000 meters and the women's 100 meters, respectively.

Justin Gatlin was one of four bronze medalists in athletics for the Americans when he finished behind Jamaicans Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake in the men's 100 meters.

Suhr was actually an underdog to Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva headed into the women's pole vault, according to Bovada. Tinsley was ranked fifth in the odds in the men's 400-meter hurdles, but placed second. And Rupp surprised in the 10,000 meters with a silver, gaining some distance in the final stretch.

This is nothing new for the Americans, of course. Headed into the 2012 Summer Games, the United States had captured 311 gold medals in athletics since the 1896 Athens Olympics. That included 738 total medals in the sport. Both marks beat the world by far.

Names such as Carl Lewis, Ray Ewry, Evelyn Ashford, Mel Sheppard, Harrison Dillard, Michael Johnson, Alvin Kraenzlein, Al Oerter and Jesse Owens litter the medal table in Olympics athletics throughout the years. Along with swimming, it has become the sport that defines the Americans in the Summer Games.

That's why it shouldn't be surprising if the United States continues to rack up athletics medals in London this summer. Track and field has become synonymous with the red, white and blue.

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