Gabby Douglas

Why wasn’t this a major media headline?  The United States wouldn’t be at the top of the Olympic medal count but for the outstanding performance of female athletes.  Women won 29 of the 46 gold medals ~ that’s 63%!  Women won 56% of the total medal count.  Thank you, Title IX.

USA Today put it in perspective:

If the U.S. women were their own nation, they would be tied for third in the gold medal count with Great Britain. U.S. swimmer Missy Franklin won the most golds of any woman in these Games — four — and added one bronze.

Pauline Vu at Yahoo! Sports compiled the “Battle of the Sexes” medal count.  U.S. women brought home 58 of the medals while the men brought home only 45 ~ the U.S. won a medal for mixed tennis ~ which brings the total medal count to 104:  46 gold, 29 silver, and 29 bronze.  For the first time in history, the U.S. sent more women (269) athletes to the Olympics than men (261).

Women’s Gymnastics Team

U.S. men failed to medal in soccer, cycling, beach volleyball, fencing, judo, boxing, and volleyball.  Here’s the medal count by sport:

Swimming:  15 (women) ~ 16 (men)

Track & Field:  14 (women) ~ 15 (men)

Gymnastics:  5 (women) ~ 1 (men)

Cycling:  4 (women) ~ 0 (men)

Shooting:  2 (women) ~ 2 (men)

Tennis:  2 (women) ~ 1 (men) ~ 1 (both)

Diving:  1 (women) ~ 3 (men)

Wrestling:  1 (women) ~ 3 (men)

Rowing:  2 (women) ~ 1 (men)

Boxing:  2 (women) ~ 0 (men)

Judo:  2 (women) ~ 0 (men)

Beach Volleyball:  2 (women) ~ 0 (men)

Basketball:  1 (women) ~ 1 (men)

Taekwondo:  1 (women) ~ 1 (men)

Volleyball:  1 (women) ~ 0 (men)

Soccer:  1 (women) ~ 0 (men)

Fencing:  1 (women) ~ 0 (men)

Archery:  0 (women) ~ 1 (men)

Related articles:

These Women Earned More Than Medals at the London 2012 Olympics by Linda Lowen

Notable Women at the London 2012 Olympics – The Famous and Infamous by Linda Lowen