The 2012 London Olympics belonged to China over the first two days, but the USA has caught up to their chief rivals in medal count following Monday's swimming victories, including a gold medal from Missy Franklin in the women's 100m backstroke. China's lead in gold medal continues to look strong; they have nine to the United States' five. Japan is in third place, with just one gold medal but four silvers and six bronzes through Monday's performances.
For an updated medal count chart, take a look at this chiptune-inflected video from SB Nation Studios, which will remain on top of the nationalism coverage for the rest of the Summer Olympics if I have anything to say about it.
The United States are, of course, a little handicapped in this race by their not-quite-so-authoritarian government's inability to pluck promising athletes out of school and make them the very best almost-five-feet-tall-and-no-more-than-x-pounds female weightlifters they can be for the rest of their lives. But Rocky didn't accept that as an excuse in Rocky IV, that awesome documentary about beating the Soviet Union, did he?
No—he bought a delightful robot and made sure to beat them anyway. I like to think that's a lesson all of us can learn something from.