Medals Poll

In this blog's recent poll asking which country would win the most medals at the 2008 Olympic Games, voters were split, 50-50, between China and the USA. As it turned out, it was a split decision . . . sort of. The USA won the overall tally with 110 medals (its highest number ever, not counting the boycotted 1984 Los Angeles Games) to China's 100, but the host country handily beat the USA in gold medals, 51 to 38. In terms of the tally board, the Beijing Games set the stage for the next edition four years hence in London, which looks to be a showdown between the USA and China. My view is that the USA clearly has the tougher task, because it will be a lot easier for China to pick up another dozen or so medals across the 26 sports scheduled for London than it will be for the USA to mine a similar number of gold medals. Let the preparations begin!

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