The United States held the lead in the Olympic medal count heading into Day 7. The Chinese ruled the morning in London and took it back. And then a surge in the pool by the fantastic U.S. swimming crew put Team USA back on top.
China won eight medals on the day, with golds from mixed badminton and from Dong Dong in the trampoline, which is as fun as it sounds. And the U.S. could only manage six medals, but came within the .20 seconds Cullen Jones lost by in the men's 50m freestyle from sweeping gold in the pool on Friday, with Michael Phelps winning what was likely his last individual Olympic medal and teenagers Missy Franklin and Katie Ledecky showing the future is blindingly bright.
South Korea touched gold in men's team sabre fencing, with Romania taking silver and Italy bronze. Russia snagged two of its six silver medals on the day from weightlifting, with Russians finishing second to Kazakhstan in women's 75kg weightlifting and Poland in men's 85kg. Iran — officially listed as the Islamic Republic of Iran — won its first medal of these games, a bronze, in the men's event, while Belarus won its fourth in women's.
For the first time in the 2012 Olympics, the U.S. has a lead on China in both the overall medal count and the medal rankings, which international news services use, with 21 golds to China's 20 and 43 medals to 42 for the Chinese. But the big moves on the day came from Russia, which leaped to third, and Great Britain, which got seven medals on the day and rose to fourth in the medal count.
Here's a more complete look at the medal count:
- United States, 43 (21 gold, 10 silver, 12 bronze)
- China, 42 (20, 13, 9)
- Russia, 23 (3, 12, 8)
- Great Britain, 17 (8, 6, 8)
- Japan, 17 (2, 8, 11)
For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub
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