Gold Medal Count 2012: Events Where USA Can Overtake China's Lead

The United States currently trails China by two medals in the gold medal count, but there are still key events the United States can win and overtake China's lead. Some of the best chances for the U.S. to accomplish this goal lies on the shoulders of its best female athletes.

Women's Beach Volleyball

There might not be a more dominant duo in U.S. women's beach volleyball history than Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh. The team has won the last two Olympic tournaments and haven't shown any signs of something different happening in London.

So far on their road to the gold medal, May-Treanor and Walsh have lost just one set to Austria and have gone undefeated on their way to the semifinals.

Considering their history of delivering gold in Athens and Beijing along with the team's dominant performance in London, May-Treanor and Walsh should add a vital gold medal to Team USA's count.

Women's Gymnastics Floor Exercise

The United States' Fab Five gymnastics team have been a fine medal source for their country so far. With Jordyn Wieber and Aly Raisman in the floor exercise final, they should deliver even more hardware to the cause. 

Raisman has more career floor exercise medals but both could easily find the medal podium once the final scores are tallied. Wieber took gold at the most recent Pacific Rim Championships in this event, while her teammate took silver at the 2010 edition of the event.

Both of these athletes were vital to Team USA winning its first all-around gold medal since the 1996 Games, and all signs point to one of these two adding more gold for their country.

Women's Soccer

Thanks to the heroics of Alex Morgan and her last-second goal against Canada, the United States have a chance to add its fourth women's soccer gold medal in the past five Olympic Games. 

The Americans are not a shoo-in to take home the gold, as they face the 2011 World Cup champions in Japan. The U.S. lost to Japan in that same World Cup championship game on penalty kicks.

Team USA have only lost or drew twice in the past 16 contests, both against the Japanese. Hope Solo and company have had trouble against their upcoming opponent in the past, but that just means they'll be more motivated than ever to get that gold medal.

The gold medal in the women's soccer final will be the toughest of these three for the U.S. to capture, but the nation couldn't have a better team to go out and capture it.

Alex Morgan and Abby Wambach have been putting together one stellar performance after another, and Solo has been nothing short of stingy in goal so far this tournament. This team will be motivated to get the better of Japan who defeated them on the World Cup stage, and they will get that gold medal.