In a 2-1 victory over Japan, the U.S. Women claimed a gold medal in front of a nearly sold out Wembley Stadium. This game was more or less a rematch of last years' World Cup final, where Japan beat the U.S.

Midfielder Carly Lloyd scored BOTH goals for the U.S. starting with a goal in the eighth minute. Japan pushed back, finally managing to score in the 64th minute. Japan continued to gain momentum thanks to a passionate crowd, but the American ladies held their ground and kept Team Japan at bay.

With the exception of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the U.S. ladies have won the gold in women's soccer in every Games since it became an Olympic sport in 1996. That's my kind of track record.

ON NOW! This match is essentially a rematch of the 2011 World Cup. US Women played down a man, and Japan won the game. TUNE IN NOW and enjoy the game!

Last September, charges emerged alleging that Azerbaijan had bribed the international boxing organization (AIBA) millions of dollars to ensure gold medals for their fighters in the 2012 Olympics.

After conducting an internal investigation, the AIBA president Wu Ching-Kuo determined that the allegations were "totally untrue and ludicrous." But then the fight pictured to the left happened.

Japanese boxer Satoshi Shimizu took his Azer opponent Magomed Abdulhamidov to the mat not three, not four, but five times. After a fifth knockdown, the rules state that a fight should be ended in favor of the fighter not getting beaten to the ground repeatedly. Instead the referee allowed time to expire rather than calling the fight.

As Shimizu awaited the final tally, he felt assured that his complete battering of Abdulhamidov had been enough to give him a wide margin of victory. Instead, the score came back with the Azer fighter winning 22-17 despite barely landing ten punches over three rounds.

After an appeal issued by the Japanese Olympic Committee, the fight was eventually given to Shimizu, but not in time to avoid showing the whole world a competition where officials blatantly favored a country waist-deep in allegations of bribery.

The NBC commentators astutely observed that "everyone here should look at themselves and realize why this sport is considered a joke at this point."

As the day draws to a close, China holds a healthy lead of five golds in front of Team USA, while Italy continues its freefall following their strong start last weekend. Don't feel bad Italians, you can always take solace in your super cool sports cars, Renaissance painters, and five-time Academy Award winning director Federico Fellini.

Kohei Uchimura (aka Gymnastics-Jesus) took Gold in the Men's Gymnastics All-Arounds! Marcel Ngyuen of Germany won Silver! Danell Leyva of U.S.A. won Bronze!

AND NONE FOR GRETCHEN WEINERS.

On a day where Team USA won a score of medals, China kept pace and remains the overall leader based on golds.


After a quick start, Italy has been dropped out of the top five. Don't worry Italians, you'll always have scenic countrysides, the Trevi Fountain, and Nobel Prize Winner in Physics Enrico Fermi.

China remains atop the medal standings today, only this time they have company, as Team USA pulls even. Sadly Italy has dropped out of the top three, but they'll always be able to fall back on Dante Alighieri, renaissance mathematicians, and the Coliseum.