Olympics 2012: China Continues to Excel with Spectacular Day 11

The United States and China were neck and neck in medals through Monday at the 2012 London Olympics, but China has distanced itself a bit after a spectacular showing on Day 11.

As of this writing, China has captured nine medals on Tuesday, including three gold. The tally has boosted China's total medal advantage over the United States (73-66) and its gold medal advantage (34-30).

The Chinese women's table tennis team won gold on Tuesday. Deng Linlin and Feng Zhe captured gold in the women's balance beam and men's parallel bars respectively.

Sui Lu captured silver behind Linlin in the women's balance beam, as Qin Kai notched another silver for the Chinese in the men's 3-meter springboard.

Keep in mind, up until the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China was never a serious threat to the U.S. at the Summer Games.

But 2008 marked a surge from the Chinese as they grabbed 51 gold medals. Now the country could win in total medals and gold medals.

It's a remarkable turnaround for a nation that increased its total medal count and gold medal count in each Summer Games from 1996-2008. Training in sports other than China's trademarks—table tennis and badminton—appears to have paid off throughout the years. Now China is a clear threat in gymnastics, swimming, diving and weightlifting.

China continues to show it's a force to be reckoned with in the Summer Games after another dazzling display on Tuesday, and don't think the world hasn't taken notice.

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