Olympics Day 13: Ladies First
There is one day late in each Olympiad that shows why the United States is unique among the world's sporting nations. It is the day that we show that no one else can match us when it comes to women's team sports.
In Beijing, that day came on Thursday.
It started on the beach, when Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won their second straight gold medal in beach volleyball, and it ended on the soccer field, where the Americans won 1-0 in overtime to successfully defend their 2004 title. In between, there were a couple blips - the softball team took silver, as did the water polo team, but the basketball and volleyball teams both advanced to the gold-medal games.
Six teams. Six trips to the gold-medal game. No other country can match that.
RealSports Medal Standings
1) United States 27-27-29=245
2) China 26-15-16=191
3) Russia 15-13-15=129
4) Great Britain 16-11-8=121
5) Australia 11-11-14=102
6) South Korea 8-9-5=72
7) France 4-11-13=66
Japan 9-4-8=65
9) Germany 8-5-9=64
10) Italy 6-7-8=59
11) Ukraine 5-4-5=42
12) Holland 5-4-4=41
X) MichaelPhelpsLand 8-0-0=40
13) Jamaica 5-2-2=33
14) Cuba 2-6-5=33
15) Spain 4-3-2=31
16) Canada 3-3-5=29
17) Czech Republic 3-3-0=24
18) Kenya 2-4-2=24
19) Belarus 2-2-8=24
20) New Zealand 3-1-5=23