Since we are at roughly the half way mark of the 2012 London Olympics I thought it might be interesting to see who would win the battle for olympic supremacy. There are only two countries that can win China or America. As of August 4 the Chinese held a slight lead in overall medals with 48 to 46 for the US, although the US had the most gold medals with 23. The olympics is now shifting to track and field now that the swimming and other events are wrapping up today. Although the US is not nearly as dominant in track as it once was with the recent emergence of Jamaica as a sprinting superpower, it should be able to win more medals than China. The question will be will it be enough to pass China for the total medal count? With the recent emergence of China as a sporting superpower it does raise some questions that should be addressed. First, is it realistic for America to think that we can beat China when they have roughly four times the population as the US. Coupled with the fact that in China the state sponsors athletes while in the US athletes are left to either fend for themselves or be sponsored by private organizations? Second, is the US in decline as a sporting nation? The US no longer dominates track and field like it used to and the trend looks to continue this olympics with the best sprinters coming once again from Jamaica. It’s not just in track and field where the US no longer dominates. Since olympic boxing went through scoring changes that now make it different from professional boxing the US has gone from the nation who had won the most boxing medals to only being able to bring back one bronze medal in Beijing. Should China win the most medals at the London Olympics there should be no doubt that their government will use it as further proof to help legitimize their authoritarian rule.
sickunclesam 