With an impressive start out of the gate, it was China who took an early advantage in the medal lead after the first day of the 2012 London Olympics.
Winners of 51 gold medals at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, the Chinese team picked up four golds (and six total medals) on Saturday alone to jump out in front of their competitors. Italy put forth a valiant effort on the day with five medals of their own to claim second place early on, as their two golds are second to only China thus far.
Team USA remains in third place after a strong opening day that saw American swimmer Ryan Lochte cruise to gold in the men's 400 meter individual relay, despite the fact that fan favorite Michael Phelps fell short of his bid to medal in the same event.
Here are the standings after day one:
1. China - 6 total (4 Gold, 0 Silver, 2 Bronze)
2. Italy - 5 total (2 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze)
3. United States - 5 total (1 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze)
4. South Korea - 3 total (1 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze)
5. Brazil - 3 total (1 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze)
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