The XXX Summer Olympic Games in London kicked off on 25 July with a closing ceremony on 12 August. A total of 302 sets of medals will be played in 39 sports disciplines in 26 sports. From the very beginning of the Olympics, a stubborn struggle unfolded both in the individual championship and in the overall medal standings.
The Summer Olympic Games are held every four years. The London Olympics became the most representative in terms of the number of participants; more than 10,500 athletes from 205 countries of the world attended the competition. Russia is represented by 436 Olympians.
Traditionally, the beginning of many Olympic tournaments for Russia is not going very well. The London Olympics confirms this pattern, as of August 4, the Russians had 3 gold medals, 16 silver medals and 9 bronze medals. In the unofficial medal standings, Russia is still in 10th place. Athletes from the USA and China are fighting for the first place: Americans have 26 gold, 12 silver and 15 bronze medals, Chinese athletes have 25 gold, 16 silver and 12 bronze medals. The United Kingdom is in third place (14/7/8), followed by South Korea (9/3/5) and France (8/6/8).
All three gold medals were brought to the Russians' piggy bank by judokas. In the weight up to 60 kg, Arsen Galstyan took the highest step of the podium, in the weight up to 73 the victory was celebrated by Mansur Isaev. In the category up to 100 kg, Tagir Khaibulaev became the strongest judoka on the planet, defeating a very strong Mongolian athlete Tuvshinbayar Naidan with a beautiful throw.
The first records have already been set at the Olympics. South Korean archer Im Dong Hyun took first place with an unprecedented score of 699 points. Silver and bronze went to his teammates. American swimmer Michael Phelps won the gold medal, becoming the first athlete in the history of this sport to climb to the top step of the podium three consecutive Olympics. In total, he has 19 Olympic awards, according to this indicator, he bypassed the famous Soviet athlete Larisa Latynina. The world record in the 400-meter complex swimming was set by a young 16-year-old Chinese woman Ye Shiwen.
The entire podium in the women's foil competition was taken by Italians. Kazakh athlete Zulfiya Chinshanlo won in women's weightlifting in weight up to 53 kg, lifting a barbell weighing 131 kg in the clean and jerk - this is a new world record. The US basketball team set a new Olympic record by beating Nigeria 156-73 and shooting 29 three-point goals in 46 attempts.
Not without doping scandals - because of positive samples, the Russian cyclist Victoria Baranova left the competition. The famous Moroccan runner Amin Lalu and the Belarusian hammer thrower Ivan Tikhon will not perform either. Some athletes of the Chinese team are also suspected of using doping - some of their results look very fantastic.
The London Olympics are in full swing, so there is no doubt that the Olympians will delight fans with new victories and records more than once.
