Records fell in London on Thursday. The United States Olympic team had another big day at the 2012 Olympics both in the swimming pool and in women's gymnastics. After six days the Americans now have a lead over the rest of the field in overall medals with 37 and are tied with China for the most gold medals at 18 going into Friday's competition.
First in women's gymnastics, Gabby Douglas became the first American woman to win the gold medal in the individual all-around and team competition. Gabby's consistency has been the hot topic at the 2012 London Games. Her four all-around scores ranged from 15.033 to 15.996 and she has scored 15.000 or better in 11 of 12 performances so far. Gabby is the first African-American gymnast to win the all-around competition. Victoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina, both from Russia, took the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
NBC called racists after 'Animal Practice' ad following Gabby Douglas victory
In swimming, Michael Phelps added another medal to his Olympic record medal count, taking the gold medal in the men's 200m individual medley. Phelps is now the only Olympic swimmer to win the save event at three Olympic Games in a row. He has one more individual event he will compete in this year and then, as he says, his Olympic career will be over. Ryan Lochte snagged the silver in the 200 IM.
Tyler Clary won the gold in the men's 200m backstroke event while Lochte finished third, earning a bronze medal. On the women's side, Rebecca Soni set a world record in winning the gold medal in the women's 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:19.59.
Kayla Harrison became the first American to win a gold medal in an Olympic judo event when she won the heavyweight division against Great Britain's Gemma Gibbons, 2-0.
The United States also added another gold medal in rowing when Meghan Musnicki, Taylor Ritzel, Mary Whipple, Esther Lofgren, Caryn Davies, Zsuzsanna Francia, Caroline Lind, Erin Cafaro and Eleanor Logan took first in the women's eight with coxswain event.
The Unites States basketball team set some records of its own on Thursday, storming to a 156-73 victory over Nigeria. The 83 point victory, which was a record for margin as well as point scored, had some questioning whether or not the USA ran up the score on the outmanned Nigerians.
"I take offense to this question because there's no way in the world that our program in the United States sets out to humiliate anyone." USA basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski told the media following the blowout. The United States plays Lithuania on Saturday.
Carmelo Anthony had 37 points in the game in only 14 minutes of playing time. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James didn't even play in the second half of the game. The United States hit 29 three pointers in the game, another record for an Olympic basketball game.
You can check the NBC Olympics site for information about live streaming events as well as TV coverage for tape-delayed events, including swimming, track and field, volleyball and diving. The United States women's soccer and basketball teams will both be in action on Friday as well.
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2012 Olympic medal count through August 2nd:
United States
- G: 18
- S: 9
- B: 10
- Total: 37
China
- G: 18
- S: 11
- B: 5
- Total: 34
Japan
- G: 2
- S: 6
- B: 11
- Total: 19
Germany
- G: 5
- S: 8
- B: 5
- Total: 18
Great Britain
- G: 6
- S: 6
- B: 5
- Total: 17
France
- G: 6
- S: 5
- B: 6
- Total: 17
Russia
- G: 3
- S: 6
- B: 8
- Total: 17
South Korea
- G: 7
- S: 2
- B: 5
- Total: 14
Australia
- G: 1
- S: 8
- B: 4
- Total: 13
Italy
- G: 4
- S: 5
- B: 2
- Total: 11
Canada
- G: 0
- S: 2
- B: 5
- Total: 7
Netherlands
- G: 2
- S: 1
- B: 3
- Total: 6
Ukraine
- G: 2
- S: 0
- B: 4
- Total: 6
Romania
- G: 1
- S: 3
- B: 2
- Total: 6
North Korea
- G: 4
- S: 0
- B: 1
- Total: 5
Hungary
- G: 2
- S: 1
- B: 2
- Total: 5
New Zealand
- G: 2
- S: 0
- B: 2
- Total: 4
Brazil
- G: 1
- S: 1
- B: 2
- Total: 4
Mexico
- G: 0
- S: 3
- B: 1
- Total: 4
Kazakhstan
- G: 3
- S: 0
- B: 0
- Total: 3
South Africa
- G: 3
- S: 0
- B: 0
- Total: 3
Belarus
- G: 1
- S: 1
- B: 1
- Total: 3
Slovenia
- G: 1
- S: 0
- B: 2
- Total: 3
Colombia
- G: 0
- S: 2
- B: 1
- Total: 3
Cuba
- G: 0
- S: 2
- B: 1
- Total: 3
Denmark
- G: 0
- S: 1
- B: 2
- Total: 3
Slovakia
- G: 0
- S: 0
- B: 3
- Total: 3
Sweden
- 0 2 0 2
Indonesia
- G: 0
- S: 1
- B: 1
- Total: 2
Mongolia
- G: 0
- S: 1
- B: 1
- Total: 2
Norway
- G: 0
- S: 1
- B:1
- Total: 2
Poland
- G: 0
- S: 1
- B: 1
- Total: 2
Spain
- G: 0
- S: 1
- B: 1
- Total: 2
Georgia
- G: 1
- S: 0
- B: 0
- Total: 1
Lithuania
- G: 1
- S: 0
- B: 0
- Total: 1
Venezuela
- G: 1
- S: 0
- B: 0
- Total: 1
Taiwan
- G: 0
- S: 1
- B: 0
- Total: 1
Croatia
- G: 0
- S: 1
- B: 0
- Total: 1
Czech Republic
- G: 0
- S: 1
- B: 0
- Total: 1
Egypt
- G: 0
- S: 1
- B: 0
- Total: 1
Thailand
- G: 0
- S: 1
- B: 0
- Total: 1
Azerbaijan
- G: 0
- S: 0
- B: 1
- Total: 1
Greece
- G: 0
- S: 0
- B: 1
- Total: 1
India
- G: 0
- S: 0
- B: 1
- Total: 1
Qatar
- G: 0
- S: 0
- B: 1
- Total: 1
Moldova
- G: 0
- S: 0
- B: 1
- Total: 1
Serbia
- G: 0
- S: 0 B: 1
- Total: 1
Singapore
- G: 0
- S: 0
- B: 1
- Total: 1
Uzbekistan
- G:0
- S: 0
- B: 1
- Total: 1
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