Summer Olympics, Day 16: Jacob Varner Wins Wrestling Gold

The Agony Of Defeat: Mountain Biking Edition

Olympic Medal Count 2012: United States Reigns Supreme

For nearly two weeks at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, it was a dogfight at the top of the medal count leaderboard between the United States and China.

Over the last weekend of events, the United States pulled away. They gained such a lead, in fact, that entering the final day of events on Sunday, they had already ensured they would leave as the winners in total medals and gold medals. Still, the U.S. managed to add two final gold medals to their tally on Sunday, in wrestling and in men's basketball, to make it 46 gold medals in total.

China failed to medal in any event on Sunday and will finish with 87 total medals and 38 gold medals. Russia nabbed four more medals on Sunday to nearly catch up to China, and will wrap things up with 82 total medals.

Host country Great Britain was no slouch, picking up a gold and two silver medals to finish in fourth place with 65. Their 29 gold medals are good for third place in that column, which is something Britain will be very proud of.

Here is how the top five looks in the latest medal count:

1. United States, 104 (46 gold, 29 silver, 29 bronze)
2. China, 87 (38, 27, 22)
3. Russia, 82 (24, 25, 33)
4. Great Britain, 65 (29, 17, 19)
5. Germany, 44 (11, 19, 14)

For a complete breakdown, visit Sports Illustrated's medal count tracker.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics hub.

Women's Pentathlon: Lithuania Takes Gold, Great Britain Grabs Silver In Final Olympic Event

The very last gold medal event of the 2012 Olympic Games in London has been completed. The women's pentathlon got to put the bow on the Summer Games at the XXX Olympiad on Sunday. Following the fencing, swimming and riding portions, the combined pistol and cross-country event wrapped up the competition as the field of 36 women went all-out for the gold.

In the end, Lithuania's Laura Asadauskaite -- who earlier had a memorable moment on a horse -- set a new Olympic record in modern pentathlon with a combined score of 5408 points. She had finished third in fencing, fourth in swimming, first in riding and sixth in the combined event.

Great Britain's Samantha Murray managed to take home one last medal for the host country, as she picked up the silver medal in the event. Brazil's Yane Marques took home the bronze.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.

The London Olympics Belongs To The Horses

Croatia Downs Italy For Men's Water Polo Gold

Croatia was able to defeat Italy 8-6 to win gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics in men's water polo. Croatia's Maro Jokovic led the way, picking up three goals on the road to gold. Miho Boskovic added two more goals for Croatia, while three others all picked up a single goal.

In the match, Italy jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and looked as if they were going to grind out a win, but Croatia cut into the lead right after Italy's second goal to make it 2-1. With just over two minutes left in the second quarter, Croatia had taken a 3-2 lead over Italy.

In the first minute of the second half, Italy tied the game with a goal from Maurizio Felugo. Italy just couldn't keep up with the torrent of goals that Croatia scored in the second half, though, as Croatia held on to win the gold medal, 8-6.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.

Russia Continues Rhythmic Gymnastics Dominance With Group All-Around Gold

Russia continued their dominance in rhythmic gymnastics on Sunday, winning the group all-around gold medal. Russia finished up their routines with a 57 overall, a full point and a half higher than silver-medal-winning Belarus, who finished up with a 55.5.

Italy just narrowly missed out on silver, with a score of 55.45, and took home the bronze medal.

Russia has dominated the competition in the Olympics, taking home the gold medal in the event dating back to the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney. The last time the country did not win gold in the event was in 1996 in Atlanta, when the Russian team ended up with the bronze medal as Spain took home the gold.

Russia dominated in qualifying and once again in the finals, making it their fourth gold medal in the event in a row.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.

France Defends Men's Handball Gold With Win Over Sweden

France won its second-straight Olympic gold medal in men's handball, defeating Sweden, 22-21, on Sunday at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Michael Guigou scored five goals off eight shots to help lead the French to the win, with two other French players scoring four. Sweden's Niclas Ekberg led all players with six goals.

The match was very tightly contested. France led 21-18 with with under five minutes to play, but the Swedes came back, scoring with 23 seconds to go to pull within one goal, 22-21. France held on, however, adding to an already impressive gold medal count.

France's back-to-back medals are the only two the team has won in the event's history. Sweden has now won four Olympic men's handball medals in its history, all of them silver. Croatia defeated Hungary in the bronze medal match, 33-26, earlier in the day.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.

Team USA Vs. Spain Final Score: United States Wins Gold Medal, 107-100

The United States beat Spain, 107-100, to win the men's basketball gold medal match Sunday at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Kevin Durant dominated, leading all scorers with 30 points, and LeBron James came through in the clutch to give Team USA its second-straight gold medal in the event.

Entering the fourth quarter, the United States led 83-82. They pulled away from there, however. Kevin Durant hit a 3-pointer to give the United States a 93-86 lead, and Kobe Bryant put the U.S. up by nine points with two free throws after being fouled behind the arc with six minutes to play. Spain clawed back, however, pulling within six after Juan Carlos Navarro and Rudy Fernandez scored four straight points in transition.

Momentum seemed to be turning slightly towards the Spaniards, until LeBron James came back into the game off the bench with 3:20 remaining. He threw down an emphatic dunk, then hit a 3-pointer with just inside of two minutes left to put Team USA up 102-93 and all but wrap up the gold medal.

James and Bryant would finish with 19 and 17 points, respectively. Chris Paul also enjoyed a nice outing, scoring 11 with two assists and three steals. Pau Gasol led Spain with 24 points and eight rebounds. Navarro was fantastic as well, scoring 21 points.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics hub.

How To Watch The 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony Live

NBC will be providing a live stream of the Closing Ceremony from London. Find out when and where you can watch the after-party to the 2012 Olympics.

Today In Olympic Horse

Russia's Jaroslav Kulhavy Takes Gold In Men's Mountain Bike

Czech Republic's Jaroslav Kulhavy, who lists his number-one hobby as "sleeping" on his official London 2012 bio page, won the gold medal in Sunday's mountain biking competition, edging Nino Schurter of Switzerland by just one second thanks to a final sprint.

Italy's Marco Aurelio Fontana was 25 seconds back and won the bronze medal. Todd Wells was the highest-placed American, finishing 10th.

It's the first Olympic medal for the 27-year old Kulhavy, who also won the 2011 World Championship in mountain biking's cross-country event. He was the runner-up in 2010.

The event at London 2012, held at Hadleigh Farm in Essex, consisted of seven laps on a 4.7 km course.

Mountain biking made its Olympic debut in Atlanta, and has been dominated by the French, who have won five medals including the last three golds before 2012. In fact, London marks the first Olympics in which France has failed to medal in the event. The U.S. has never medaled in it.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.

Great Britain Adds Gold, Silver In Men's Boxing

The final day of the 2012 Olympic Games in London featured some more medals for the host country. In a packed final day of men's boxing on Sunday, Great Britain added some more hardware to its trophy case.

In the super heavyweight division (91+kg), Great Britain's Anthony Joshua was able to eke out a judges decision in a neck-and-neck gold medal bout against Roberto Cammarelle of Italy.

Great Britain also took home the silver in the men's welterweight (69kg) division. Freddie Evans didn't have much left by the time he made it to the final and was overwhelmed by gold medal winner Serik Sapiyev of Kazakhstan, 17-9.

Kazakhstan went for another gold medal in the men's light heavyweight (81kg) division, but Egor Mekhontcev of Russia was just able to get the edge in another incredibly close fight over Adilbek Niyazymbetov. Kazakhstan had to settle for the silver.

The men's lightweight (60kg) gold medal bout was not nearly as close, as Vasyl Lomachenko of the Ukraine defeated Han Soonchul of Korea, 19-9.

Finally, in the men's flyweight (52kg) division, Robeisy Ramirez Carranzar of Cuba grabbed the gold with a 17-14 win over Tugstsogt Nyambayar of Mongolia.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.

2012 Olympics, Men's Volleyball: Russia Defeats Brazil To Capture The Gold

The men's volleyball final was held on Sunday at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The gold medal game pitted Russia against Brazil after two grueling weeks of prelims and knockout matches. Brazil was going for the sweep, trying to grab the gold medal in both women's and men's volleyball, but were unable to hold off a late surge by Russia and had to settle for the silver. Russia won, three sets to two.

Brazil grabbed the first two sets, 25-19, 25-20, before Russia stormed back. In an epic 34-minute third set, Russia came out on top, 29-27. They then captured the third set 25-22, before being able to dispatch Brazil in a 15-9 fifth set for a tiebreaker that sent their opponents packing in just 17 minutes.

The old Soviet Union was a powerhouse in Olympic volleyball when it first became an Olympic event, but this is the first gold medal for Russia in either men's or women's indoor volleyball.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.

American Jacob Varner Wins Wrestling Gold In 96kg Freestyle

Jacob Varner of the United States won the men's 96 kg freestyle wrestling gold medal match Sunday at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

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The 2012 London Olympics will conclude Sunday with the Closing Ceremony officially marking the end of the games.

Egyptian Wrestlers Forfeit Matches After Showing Up Late

A pair of Egyptian wrestlers were forced to forfeit their matches Sunday after showing up to the arena late at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Abdou Omar Abdou Ahmed of the 66 kg division and Saleh Emera of the 96 kg division were a half hour late for the start of qualifying at 8:30 a.m., local time.

Throughout the week, wrestling began at 1:00 p.m. in London. The start of matches was bumped to an earlier time to accommodate the Closing Ceremony in the evening, however. The team and officials were reportedly seen in the morning pleading with a bus driver to take them to the arena from the Olympic Village. One of the wrestlers fell to his knees crying when told he was disqualified.

An Egyptian spokesman said that the team would investigate the matter. They can't expect much in the way of leniency at this point, however. The schedule had been posted for months, and the gold medal has already been handed out in the 66 kg division with the gold medal match in the 96 kg division set for 9:39 a.m. ET.

It is absolutely heartbreaking to think that two athletes spent over two weeks waiting for their chance in the Olympic Village, not to mention years of training, only to see their chance vanish on a technicality, albeit an important one.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.

Olympic Marathon: Uganda's Stephen Kiprotich Wins Gold

Stephen Kiprotich has won Uganda's first-ever medal in the Olympic marathon, taking the gold Sunday morning in London. Kiprotich, 23, crossed the line in 2:08:01, the third-fastest marathon time in the history of the Olympic Games.

Kiprotich used a viscous 24th mile -- run in 4:42, the fastest mile of the race -- to pull away from a pair of Kenyans, Abel Kirui and Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich and claim a surprising victory. Kirui finished 26 seconds behind Kiprotich for the silver medal while Kipsang, the leader for much of the race, settled for bronze (+1:36) after losing touch over the final 5k.

American Meb Keflezighi finished in fourth place with a time of 2:11:06, using a big push over the final 5k. The 37-year-old's time was actually 23 seconds faster than what he turned in at the 2004 Summer Olympics, when he won the silver medal.

Keflezighi was the highest-placed American finisher ... because he was the only American finisher. The other two members of Team USA, Ryan Hall and Abdihakem Abdirahman, both dropped out with injury around mile 11.

Brazil's Franck de Almeida surged ahead at the 10k mark, running the first 6.2 miles in 30:38 (that's a 4:56/mile pace). He was being chased by a pair of Kenyans, Emmanuel Mutai and Abel Kirui. Keflezighi was in 16th place, eight seconds back, while the third American, Ryan Hall, was already struggling in 38th place, and seven seconds off the back of the pack.

Things changed quickly in the seventh mile, for it was then Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich made an early move, separating himself from the field with a 5K stretch run in a blistering 14:11. At the 15k split, he had an 11-second lead on Kirui. The 44:58 split for the first 15k was the second-fastet ever in an Olympic marathon (only 2008 was faster). And that quickened pace was clearly hurting the Americans -- Meb was 39 seconds back, Abdi 1:10 back and Hall, in 50th place, 1:59 off the lead.

Then disaster struck for the Americans at the 11-mile mark as both Hall and Abdirahman stepped off the course within seconds of each other, withdrawing from the race. This left Meb, who at 37 was the oldest member of Team USA, as the only American on the course. Shortly after he withdrew, Hall said he was "kind of in shock" at the first DNF of his life.

Meanwhile, on the course, Kipsang continued to push and was leading the race at the 20km mark and had turned in a 1:03:15 time at the halfway point. But his advantage was beginning to dwindle (perhaps he went too quick too soon?). At the 25km checkpoint, fellow countryman Abel Kirui was just seven seconds back. And that gap quickly disappeared as both Kirui and Kiprotich caught Kipsang and crossed the 30km time check together (1:30:15), 36 seconds ahead of the chase group. Meb was in 10th place, 2:02 back.

Around the 23-mile point, Kiprotich made his move and neither of the Kenyans could keep pace -- by the 40k checkpoint, he was on his way to gold with a 19-second advantage.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.

American Jacob Varner Advances To 96kg Freestyle Gold Medal Final

Two-time NCAA Champion Jacob Varner has advanced to the gold medal match in the men's 96 kilogram weight class in freestyle wrestling. He got off to a rough start, losing the first period of his bout with George Gogshelidze of Georgia 2-0, but rallied back to win each of the final two periods 1-0, taking the bout and advancing to the final of the competition.

Varner won bronze at the 2011 World Championships, and he won't have to face the champion or the man who eliminated him from the tournament. Instead, he'll face Ukranian wrestler Valerii Andriitsev in the final later on Sunday. Andriitsev pulled off an impressive upset of Reza Yazdani of Iran, the reigning World Champion, in the semifinal round. He amassed a 5-0 lead before the match was ended. Yazdani sustained a leg injury and was taken out of the building in a wheelchair.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics Hub.

Olympic Bronze Medal Game: Russia Beats Argentina In Thriller

Led by Alexey Shved, Russia edged Argentina in a magical bronze medal game in the men's basketball tournament at the Olympics.

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London Olympics 2012: TV Coverage, Event Schedule For Sunday

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