Summer Olympics, Day 13: Team USA Wins Women's Water Polo Gold

BMX Racing Is An Insane Olympic Event

Olympic Medal Count: 3 Different Countries With Only A Gold Medal To Their Names

The United States had big wins on Thursday at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The day was highlighted by gold medals in women's soccer and women's water polo, which helped push the U.S. back into the medal count lead -- in both total medals and gold medals. The United States is now a full 10 medals ahead of second-place China and has 39 gold medals to China's 37.

Further down the medal count leaderboard, there are three different countries that are a perfect one-for-one: one total medal, one gold medal. Algeria won its gold medal in the men's 1500m, after winner Taoufik Makhloufi was briefly in danger of being expelled from the Games. Grenada earned its top honor thanks to Kirani James winning the men's 400m. And Venezuela's Ruben Limardo Gascon captured the gold medal in men's individual epee in fencing.

Here are the leaders in the total medal count after competition on Thursday. These numbers are courtesy of the official London 2012 website.

1. United States - 90 (39, 25, 26)
2. China - 80 (37, 24, 19)
3. Russia - 56 (12, 21, 23)
4. Great Britain - 52 (25, 13, 14)
5. Germany - 37 (10, 16, 11)

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

2012 Olympics, Women's Platform Diving Results: Chen Ruolin Takes The Gold For China

The women's 10m platform diving competition is in the books. Ruolin Chen won the event for her fourth career gold medal.

Usain Bolt Rips Carl Lewis After Winning 200m Gold

After winning his second gold medal of the 2012 Summer Olympics, Usain Bolt took the time to talk about Carl Lewis. The fastest man in the world did not have many kind things to say.

Barbora Spotakova Wins Gold In Women's Javelin Throw Final

Sometimes, the queen stay the queen. World-record holder Barbora Spotakova of the Czech Republic did just that by winning gold in the women's javelin throw on Thursday at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Spotakova hurled the javelin 69.55 meters on her fourth throw, giving her an easy win in the final over Christina Obergföll of Germany, who mustered 65.16 meters on her one throw in bounds. All four of Spotakova's in-bounds attempts were better than Obergföll's, and good enough for gold.

Spotakova didn't threaten her world record of 72.28 meters, but she repeated as the gold medalist in the event, becoming only the second woman to do so, and first since Ruth Fuchs went back-to-back in 1972 and 1976. Obergföll's silver followed a bronze in the event in Brazil.

Germany's Linda Stahl won bronze with a throw of 64.91 meters.

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

United States Wins Gold In Women's Water Polo

While the U.S. women's national soccer team was securing one of the biggest team-sports wins of the 2012 Summer Olympics on Thursday, another team of American women -- the U.S. women's water polo squad -- earned the nation's first gold medal in the pool in their event.

The U.S. topped Spain, 8-5, in the gold medal match on Thursday, scoring four goals in a four-minute stretch in the second quarter to go up for good. They held Spain to just five scores on 28 shots.

Maggie Steffens, only 19 years old, scored five goals on five shots and added an assist to lead the U.S. to its first gold, and third medal overall, in women's water polo. The U.S. women missed the medal stand when the sport made its Olympic debut in Sydney in 2000; in the three competitions since, the program has gone from bronze in Athens to silver in Beijing to gold in London.

The only other gold medal for the U.S. in water polo came from the men's team -- in 1904, when only American teams competed in the event.

In the bronze medal match, Australia topped Hungary, 13-11.

For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics hub. For more on Olympic water polo, follow the 2012 Olympic water polo section.

Lightning Strikes Twice, Again: Usain Bolt Defends His 200m Gold

Usain Bolt won the gold medal in the men's 200 meters at the 2012 Summer Olympics on Thursday night, posting a time of 19.32 seconds and becoming the first man ever to defend the 200m title.

Japan, Russia Win Gold Medal In Women's Wrestling

Japanese wrestler Saori Yoshida won her third straight gold medal in women’s 55kg freestyle wrestling, beating Canadian Tonya Verbeek. Verbeek was the silver medalist in Athens and a bronze medalist in Beijing, but she could not defeat the most decorated competitor in women’s wrestling history. Since her wrestling debut in 2002 Yoshida has won every major event she has entered and is the only woman to ever win Olympic gold in the event.

Colombia’s Jackeline Renteria Castillo and Azerbaijan’s Yuliya Ratkevich took home the two bronze medals.

Japan won three of the four gold medals in women’s wrestling but in the 72kg division Russia’s Natalia Vorobieva won gold by pinning Stanka Zlateva Hristova of Bulgaria. Hristova is a five-time world champion who also was forced to settle for silver four years ago in Beijing.

Guzel Manyurova of Kazakhstan and Maider Unda of Spain won the bronze medals.

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

Men's 800m: David Rudisha Sets World Record Against Fastest Field In History

In the final of the men's 800 meters on Thursday, David Rudisha of Kenya flew away from the field and sprinted his way into the record books by grabbing the gold medal with a world record time of 1:40.91.

The runners remained fairly bunched for the first lap, but by midway through the second and final lap, Rudisha had opened up an enormous gap between himself and the rest of the field and the only thing left in doubt was whether he would be able to top the world record time. He did just that, breaking the old record of 1:41.01 and smashing the Olympic record of 1:42.58. Rudisha had previously won the 800m at the 2011 World Championships.

Nijel Amos of Botswana took the silver at 1:41.73, passing Kenyan runner Timothy Katum around the final turn. Katum held on to take the bronze. Katum's 1:42.53 would also have beaten the old Olympic record, but on Thursday was only good enough for third place.

United States runners Duane Solomon and Nick Symmonds finished fourth and fifth, respectively, both coming in under 1:43. All eight runners finished in under 1:44.

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

Team USA Downs Australia, Advances To Gold Medal Game In Women's Basketball

Elizabeth Cambage was too much to handle for the U.S. women's basketball team in the first half against Australia on Thursday. The second half was a different story, though, with Team USA locking down Cambage and the rest of the Australia squad for an 86-73 win that earned the U.S. a berth in the gold medal game.

Cambage scored 19 points in the first half, but tight defense from Tina Charles (14 points, 10 rebounds) and others held her scoreless in the second 20 minutes and limited the Aussies to just 26 points in the second half. Cambage still led all scorers, with the U.S.'s Diana Taurasi and Australia's Lauren Jackson — now the leading women's basketball scorer in Olympic history — both chipping in 14 points.

The win gives the U.S. a chance to win a fifth straight gold medal, and the result marks the fourth straight Olympics that the U.S. has eliminated Australia.

Team USA will play either Russia or France in the gold medal game on Saturday.

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

Claressa Shields Wins USA's First-Ever Women's Boxing Gold Medal

Claressa Shields won the first ever gold medal in women’s middleweight (165 lbs) boxing beating Russia’s Nadezda Torlopova 19-12.

Weather Wins Gold Medal In Stopping Olympic Sailing

Women's Boxing Lightweight Gold Medal Event: Katie Taylor Wins For Ireland

So far, the gold medals in women's boxing, being contested for the first time at the 2012 Olympics in London, have gone to women from the British Isles. Katie Taylor of Ireland snagged the second one awarded on the day in women's lightweight (no more than 60kg) boxing.

Taylor out-pointed Russia's Sofya Ochigava, 10-8, in the gold medal bout on Thursday, winning the third round 4-1 to take a lead in the match and fighting to a 3-3 draw in the fourth and final round to defend it.

The bout was Taylor's first close match of the Olympics: she blew out her quarterfinal and semifinal opponents by 26-15 and 17-9 scores, respectively.

Mavzuna Chorieva of Tajikistan and Adriana Araujo of Brazil took the two bronzes handed out in the event.

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

Nicola Adams Wins Women's Boxing's First-Ever Olympic Gold

The first Olympics with women's boxing taking place in London seems fitting, given the sport's roots. So does Great Britain's Nicola Adams winning the first gold medal ever awarded in women's boxing.

Adams defeated China's Ren Cancan 16-7 in the gold medal final on Thursday, earning a spot atop the podium in women's fly, for boxers no heavier than 51kg. Adams began boxing at the age of 12, and is 29 now, so this medal is a long time coming for the 2011 European Championships gold medalist.

Nicola Adams: "I'm just so happy and overwhelmed with joy right now."

— Telegraph Sport (@TelegraphSport) August 9, 2012

Adams stormed through the fly division, beating all three of her opponents from the quarterfinals on by at least five points, and both getting into double digits and holding her opponents to single digits in all three matches.

American Marlen Esparza and Indonesia's Chungneijang Mery Kom Hmangte shared bronze in the event after falling in semifinals matches on Wednesday.

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

U.S. Advances To Women's Volleyball Gold Medal Final

The top-ranked American women’s volleyball team made quick work of South Korea in the semifinals on Thursday, winning in straight sets, 25-20, 25-22, 25-22. The US team has only lost two sets thus far in the Olympics and has looked near unbeatable.

South Korea was a surprise entrant in the semifinals after upsetting the Italian team in quarterfinals behind the play of its superstar, Yeon-Koung Kim, but it was unable to continue its run against the dominant US team. The Koreans held tight with the Americans but just didn’t have the power to ever take a set and the US defense was too strong, scoring 11 points on blocks to only five for Korea.

Team USA will play the winner of the Brazil-Japan match as it attempts to win its first ever gold medal at 6:30 p.m. London time (1:30 p.m. ET) on Saturday. The Americans lost to Brazil in the gold medal match four years ago in Beijing.

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

Usain Bolt Owns These Olympics

Usain Bolt is the biggest story at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Here are five reasons why.

What To Watch, Day 13: USWNT, Usain Bolt And Ashton Eaton All Going For Gold

What To Watch on Day 13 of the Summer Olympics, beginning with women's volleyball and ending with two of the Games' must-see events: USWNT in the gold medal final and Usain Bolt running for Olympic history.

American Haley Anderson Swims To Silver Medal In Women's 10km Marathon

Swimming in pools might have ended at the Olympics last week, but the United States added to its aquatic tally Thursday with a silver courtesy of Haley Anderson in the women's 10k open water swim, America's first ever medal in open water swimming.

Swimming's marathon took place in the Serpentine lake in London's famous Hyde Park. After more than six miles of swimming and nearly two hours in the water, Anderson found herself in a sprint to the finish line among a front pack. The race wasn't quite as close as some of the out-touches seen at the Olympic pool, but the USC swimmer finished less than a body-length off Hungary's Eva Risztov, touching the metal strip indicating the finish line .4 seconds short of gold. It's the second medal for the Anderson family at these Olympics, as her sister, Alyssa, was on the team that won gold in the 4x200m freestyle.

Here's the podium standings for the event and times of the finishers:

Gold: Eva Risztov, Hungary, 1:57:38.2

Silver: Haley Anderson, United States, 1:57:38.6

Bronze: Martina Grimaldi, Italy: 1:57:41.8.

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

Germany Wins Canoe Gold In Men's C2, Women's K2

Germany won a pair of gold medals in the lake to continue its lead both in golds and overall medals in canoe/kayak events thus far in the Olympics.

2012 Summer Olympics: TV Coverage, Event Schedule For Thursday

Thursday's Olympic schedule is jam-packed with excellent events, from the U.S. women's national soccer team hoping to take gold against Japan to American Ashton Eaton's bid for decathlon gold and Jamaica's Usain Bolt run to win the 200m final.

Track & Field: TV Coverage, Event Schedule For Thursday

Decathlete Ashton Eaton and Usain Bolt headline the track and field television coverage on Thursday.