It shouldn’t come as a surprise that there are only two countries vying for the top spot in the overall medal count. Here’s a quick recap of what we’ve seen so far in the London Olympics, as well as a preview of upcoming action.
Don’t worry: there’s still a bunch more Olympic action
coming your way.
Still, it never hurts to pause, take a deep breath
and break down the competitions up until this point.
At time of writing, China and the United States both
had 32 medals. Shocking we know.
Two-horse
race at the top
The Chinese lead the way with 18 golds, followed by
10 silvers and four bronze medals. They’ve been breezing through events like
team gymnastics and the diving competitions, as well as a number of other
sports.
As for the Americans, they’ve earned 15 gold medals,
eight silver and nine bronze medals.
The USA is getting it done all over the place,
dominating many of the swimming events, winning the women’s team gymnastics and
other less-heralded events like rowing and judo. With many more golds on the
way, likely in both men and women’s basketball for starters, the Americans are
in a good position to finish as the most successful nation at the London
Olympics.
It’s been good to see some of the other nations step
up their games too.
Japan is in third place in the overall standings
right now with 17 total medals, followed closely by Germany (16), France (15),
Russia (15) and Great Britain (14). Then there’s South Korea, Australia and
Italy who all have at least 10 medals as well.
What about countries like Kazahkhstan? Would you be
surprised to know they have more medals (three) than nations like Spain,
Denmark, Sweden and Norway? It’s terrific that tiny countries like Moldova,
Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan have been able to get in the medal count.
Glitz
and glamour
While basketball, soccer and tennis are the big
attractions in terms of sports betting at these Olympics, there have been
opportunities out there in some sports that you may have never considered
before.
Swimming, gymnastics, both volleyball and beach
volleyball, and even diving have caught the eye this summer. You would have
been wise to roll with mainly Americans in swimming as well as in women’s
gymnastics and volleyball, while China is the country to back in diving among
other events.
However, as we begin to narrow down the competitors
in the bigger sports, the Games should only get more and more thrilling.
We’re now entering the semi-finals of the Olympic tennis
tournament, with all the prized names like Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and
Andy Murray still in the mix.
Basketball and soccer are moving a little slower,
but we’re about to enter the knockout rounds of each. Great Britain has looked
pretty strong all things considered in the soccer competition and will be
participating in the quarter-finals alongside favorites like Brazil, Mexico and
Japan. Shockingly, both Spain and Uruguay failed to make it out of the group
stages.
In hoops, the USA team is smacking around anyone
that steps in their path but surely the competition will get a little tougher when
they face squads like Argentina, Brazil and Spain.
As
always, make sure to keep checking back with SBRForum for all of your Olympic
sports information needs. Our forums are also rocking at this time of the year
so head on over there too.