London 2012 Medal Count: Biggest Surprise Totals from This Year's Olympics
After two weeks of incredible action, amazing individual and team performances, and highlights that will last a lifetime, the 2012 London Olympics came to a grand conclusion on Sunday night.
With the end of the Olympics comes bragging rights for the country with the highest medal count. This year, the United States took control of the Games across the pond. That comes as no surprise, but what about the countries that did a lot better than expected?
Here is a look at the countries that showed a lot more than anticipated at the London Olympics.
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Great Britain (65 Total Medals, 29 Gold Medals)
What better place to start than with the country that so graciously hosted these Games?
Great Britain had reportedly targeted 48 medals before these Games began, with anything else above that total being icing on the cake. This was a phenomenal performance from a country that had never shown this kind of athletic proficiency.
You never want to see a host country embarrass itself, but when it is able to showcase its talents on this kind of stage, that is something special. Cycling was Great Britain's best sport, with 12 total medals and eight golds.
Kazakhstan (13 Total Medals, Seven Gold Medals)
The overall medal count will not knock anyone over, but Kazakhstan just keeps getting better and better in Olympic competition.
This was just the fifth Olympics that Kazakhstan has competed in as an independent nation, and easily the most successful. The 13 total medals tied the country's output from Beijing four years ago, while the seven golds were just two shy of matching the total from the previous four Olympics.
Four of the seven gold medals came from weightlifting, with the three remaining coming from boxing, cycling and track and field.
Azerbaijan (10 Total Medals, Two Gold Medals)
If you are a fan of prospects or rookies in sports, the one thing that you love to see is progression. You like to watch a player grow from in-over-his-head rookie to a star with each passing year.
While the Olympics only give a country two weeks every four years to show how far it has come, you can see the progression from a country like Azerbaijan.
The 10 total medals were the most for this country in its fifth Olympics. It started with one medal in 1996, then jumped up to three, five and seven the next three Games before hitting the magical double-figure number this year.
 |  |  | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | United States Total: 104 | 46 | 29 | 29 |
 | China Total: 87 | 38 | 27 | 22 |
 | Russia Total: 82 | 24 | 25 | 33 |
 | Great Britain Total: 65 | 29 | 17 | 19 |
 | Germany Total: 44 | 11 | 19 | 14 |
 | Japan Total: 38 | 7 | 14 | 17 |
 | Australia Total: 35 | 7 | 16 | 12 |
 | France Total: 34 | 11 | 11 | 12 |
 | South Korea Total: 28 | 13 | 8 | 7 |
 | Italy Total: 28 | 8 | 9 | 11 |
 | Netherlands Total: 20 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
 | Ukraine Total: 20 | 6 | 5 | 9 |
 | Canada Total: 18 | 1 | 5 | 12 |
 | Hungary Total: 17 | 8 | 4 | 5 |
 | Spain Total: 17 | 3 | 10 | 4 |
 | Brazil Total: 17 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
 | Cuba Total: 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 |
 | Kazakhstan Total: 13 | 7 | 1 | 5 |
 | New Zealand Total: 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
 | Belarus Total: 13 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
 | Iran Total: 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
 | Jamaica Total: 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
 | Kenya Total: 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
 | Czech Republic Total: 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
 | Poland Total: 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
 | Azerbaijan Total: 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
 | Romania Total: 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
 | Denmark Total: 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
 | Sweden Total: 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
 | Colombia Total: 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
 | Ethiopia Total: 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
 | Georgia Total: 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
 | Mexico Total: 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
 | North Korea Total: 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
 | South Africa Total: 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
 | Croatia Total: 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
 | India Total: 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
 | Turkey Total: 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
 | Lithuania Total: 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
 | Ireland Total: 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
 | Mongolia Total: 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
 | Switzerland Total: 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
 | Norway Total: 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
 | Slovenia Total: 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 | Serbia Total: 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 | Argentina Total: 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 | Trinidad and Tobago Total: 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
 | Uzbekistan Total: 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
 | Slovakia Total: 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
 | Tunisia Total: 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
 | Thailand Total: 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
 | Armenia Total: 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
 | Belgium Total: 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
 | Finland Total: 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
 | Dominican Republic Total: 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
 | Latvia Total: 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 | Egypt Total: 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
 | Chinese Taipei Total: 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 | Estonia Total: 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 | Malaysia Total: 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 | Bulgaria Total: 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 | Puerto Rico Total: 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 | Indonesia Total: 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 | Moldova Total: 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
 | Qatar Total: 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
 | Singapore Total: 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
 | Greece Total: 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
 | Algeria Total: 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 | Bahamas Total: 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 | Uganda Total: 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 | Venezuela Total: 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 | Grenada Total: 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 | Portugal Total: 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
 | Montenegro Total: 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
 | Botswana Total: 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
 | Cyprus Total: 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
 | Guatemala Total: 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
 | Gabon Total: 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
 | Morocco Total: 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 | Saudi Arabia Total: 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 | Kuwait Total: 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 | Bahrain Total: 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 | Afghanistan Total: 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 | Tajikistan Total: 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 | Hong Kong Total: 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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