Team USA wraps up impressive London 2012 Olympic Games

Team USA wraps up impressive London 2012 Olympic Games

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LONDON - With Its medal tally of 29 medals, Team USA scored its biggest Olympic medal collection since the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona - a Games held in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Bloc.

2012 was an Olympics of historic significance for the U.S. team. It dominated track & field competition, in medals and points scoring, with USA, Russia and Jamaica going 1-2-3 in both measures. In medal tally, Team USA finished with 29 medals (9 gold, 13 silver, 7 bronze), with Russia second with 18 (8 gold, 4 silver, 6 bronze). Jamaica was third with 12 medals - 4 each of gold, silver and bronze.

In the placing tables, which score 1st through 10th place, Team USA dominated with 304 points. Russia was second with 177 and Jamaica third with 107. Of significant note is that in addition to its 20 medals, Team USA scored nine fourth-place finishes.

There were countless superlatives for the American team. Over the course of competition, Americans set one world record (women’s 4x100m relay) and three American records (men’s 4x100 relay twice; women’s 4x100m relay). The 2012 Olympic Team turned in the best performance ever at the Games in no fewer than 18 events.

A full accounting of Team USA superlatives is below.

Team USA Superlatives
Allyson Felix is the first woman since Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988 to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games
1st time U.S. women won 2 medals in the long jump
The .55 improvement in the women’s 4x100m relay world record (41.37 to 40.82) was the largest drop in that event in the modern era.
Will Claye’s bronze in the LJ and silver in the TJ marks the first time since 1936 that any man has medaled in both jumps at the Games and the first time an American has done it since Meyer Prinstein in 1904
2012 marks the fifth time the U.S. has gone 1-2 in the decathlon; the last time was 1956
Ashton Eaton’s 10.35 in the 100m is an Olympic decathlon record
Galen Rupp’s silver medal in the men’s 10,000m is the first medal by an American since Billy Mills’ gold in 1964
Leo Manzano’s silver medal in the men’s 1,500m is the first medal by an American since Jim Ryun’s silver in 1968
Sanya Richards-Ross is only the second U.S. woman to win the 400 at the Games
The two-medal effort by Richards-Ross and DeeDee Trotter in the 400 is the second for the U.S. in that event in Olympic history.
The two-medal effort by Allyson Felix and Carmelita Jeter in the 200 is the second for the U.S. in that event in Olympic history.
The U.S. won multiple mens’ medals in distances 1,500m and above for the first time since 1968
Best U.S. team finish in the men’s 1,500 since 1936 (2nd, 4th)
Brigetta Barrett’s silver in the women’s high jump is the first U.S. medal since Louise Ritter won gold in 1988.

U.S.-best performances at Olympic Games (18)
Galen Rupp, men’s 10,000m - 27:30.90
Trevor Barron, men’s 20km race walk - 1:22:46
Dawn Harper, women’s 100m hurdles (tie) - 12.37
Matt Centrowitz, men’s 1,500m (run in the semifinals), 3:34.90
Leo Manzano, men’s 1,500m - 3:34.79 (surpassing Centrowitz’s semifinal time)
Maria Michta, women’s 20K walk - 1:32:27
Justin Gatlin, men’s 100m - 9.79
Duane Solomon, men’s 800m - 1:42.82
Aries Merritt, men’s 110m hurdles - 12.92
Men’s 4x100m relay - 37.38 in prelims
Women’s 4x100m relay - 41.64 in prelims
Women’s 4x100m relay - 40.82
Men’s 4x100m relay - 37.04
Brigetta Barrett, women’s HJ - 2.03m/6-8
Ashton Eaton, men’s decathlon - 8,869 pts.
Lashinda Demus, women’s 400m hurdles - 52.77
Amber Campbell, women’s hammer - 69.93m/229-5
Brittany Borman, women’s javelin - 59.27m/194-5

Records set at Olympic Games by Team USA
World Record - Women’s 4x100m relay (40.82)
American records - Men’s 4x100m relay (37.38), Men’s 4x100m relay (37.04), Women’s 4x100m relay (40.82)

Courtesy USATF