Predictions - Tennis, Mixed Doubles

The sixteen mixed doubles teams were announced today, the event begins tomorrow

Mixed Doubles
Gold:  Victoria Azarenka & Max Mirinyi, BLR
Silver:  Liezel Huber & Bob Bryan, USA
Bronze:  Lisa Raymond & Mike Bryan, USA
The Bryan brothers could face each other for a medal.

What to Watch - Tuesday 7/31

Gold:  Gymnastics - Women's Team Final - 11:30 a.m.  (NBC Prime Time)  The Americans garnered the nickname "The Fab Five" even before the Olympics began. Tonight they can back it up.  Very solid in qualifying, the United States enter the final as favorites over Russia. The United States finished about 1.4 points ahead Russia, with the vast majority of the advantage coming in the vault. Jordyn Wieber will have to overcome the disappointment of not qualifying for the all-around. Hopefully NBC will do a better job of covering this event than they did the men's final on Monday. Expect them to have a ton of features on the American team as well as musical montages.

Silver:  Swimming - Men's 200 Meter Butterfly - 2:49 p.m. (NBC Prime Time)  Michael Phelps enters the pool in his best event.  No man has won the same swimming event at three consecutive Olympics, Phelps could accomplish the feat here.  He looked strong at the finish of his semifinal on Monday.  Phelps currently owns 17 Olympic medals, one shy of the record held by Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina.  He will have another medal shot team with Ryan Lochte on the 4x200 meter freestyle relay at 3:51p.m. Note:  two men were prevented from winning three golds in a row by political reasons.  Duke Kahanamoku won the gold in the 100 meter freestyle in 1912 and repeated in 1920 as the 1916 Olympics were cancelled by the First World War. Vladimir Salnikov of the Soviet Union won the 1500 meter in 1980 and 1988, but the Soviets boycotted the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.

Bronze:  Equestrian - Individual Three Day Event - 9:30 a.m. (NBCSN)  The standings were incredibly close after the endurance phase on Monday, with over a dozen riders within one penalty of the leader.  Mark Todd of New Zealand, the Olympic champion in 1984 and 1988 was in third place. 

Also:
USA men's basketball vs. Tunisia 5:15 p.m. (NBCSN)

Beach Volleyball - Todd Rogers & Phil Dalhausser vs. Spain 4:00 p.m. (NBC); April Ross & Jen Kessy vs. the Netherlands 6:00 p.m.

Canoeing - Whitewater men's c-1 10:06 a.m. (NBC)

Diving - women's synchronized platform.  The U.S. did not qualify a team, China looking to go three for three.

Field Hockey - the U.S. women take on world #1 Argentina in a rematch of the Pan Am Games final which the Americans won last year.  2:00 p.m. (MSNBC)

Soccer - U.S. women vs. North Korea 12:15 p.m. (NBCSN)

Predictions - Wrestling

Wrestling hasn't started yet, so here is my penultimate sport to predict:

Men's 55kg Freestyle
Gold:  Viktor Lebedev, RUS
Silver:  Radoslav Velikov, BUL
Bronze:  Daulet Niyazbekov, KAZ & Yang Kyong-Il, KOR

Men's 60kg Freestyle
Gold:  Besik Kudukhov, RUS
Silver:  Vasyl Fedoryshyn, UKR
Bronze:  Dauren Zhumagaziyev, KAZ & Franklin Gomez, PUR

Men's 66kg Freestyle
Gold:  Mehdi Taghavi, IRI
Silver:  Jabrayil Hasanov, AZE
Bronze:  Sushil Kumar, IND & Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu, JPN

Men's 74kg Freestyle
Gold:  Sadegh Goudarzi, IRI
Silver:  Jordan Burroughs, USA
Bronze:  Ashraf Aliyev, AZE & Davit Khutsishvili, GEO

Men's 84kg Freestyle
Gold:  Sharif Sharifov, AZE
Silver:  Ibragim Aldatov, UKR
Bronze:  Zaurbek Sokhiev, UZB & Albert Saritov, RUS

Men's 96kg Freestyle
Gold:  Reza Yazdani, IRI
Silver:  Abdusalam Gadisov, RUS
Bronze:  Khetag Gazyumov, AZE & Serhat Balci, TUR

Men's 120kg Freestyle
Gold:  Bilyal Makhov, RUS
Silver:  Aleksey Shemarov, BLR
Bronze:  Jamaladdin Magomedov, AZE & Tervel Diagnev, USA

Men's 55kg Greco-Roman
Gold:  Rovshan Bayramov, AZE
Silver:  Hamid Sourian, IRI
Bronze:  Bekkhan Mankiev, RUS & Elbek Tazhyieu, BLR

Men's 60kg Greco-Roman
Gold:  Omid Norouzi, IRI
Silver:  Almat Kebispayev, KAZ
Bronze:  Zaur Kuramagomedov, RUS & Ivo Angelov, BUL

Men's 66kg Greco-Roman
Gold:  Saeid Abdevali, IRI
Silver:  Manuchar Tskhadaia, GEO
Bronze:  Pedro Mulens, CUB & Kim Hyeon-Woo, KOR

Men's 74kg Greco-Roman
Gold:  Selcuk Cebi, TUR
Silver:  Roman Vlasov, RUS
Bronze:  Arsen Julfalakyan, ARM & Daniar Kobonov, KGZ

Men's 84kg Greco-Roman
Gold:  Alim Selimau, BLR
Silver:  Damian Janikowski, POL
Bronze:  Hristo Marinov, BUL & Pablo Shorey, CUB

Men's 96kg Greco-Roman
Gold:  Jimmy Lidberg, SWE
Silver:  Elis Guri, BUL
Bronze:  Rustam Totrov, RUS & Ghasem Rezaei, IRI

Men's 120kg Greco-Roman
Gold:  Miljan Lopez, CUB
Silver:  Riza Kayaalp, TUR
Bronze:  Bashir Babajanzadeh, IRI & Dremiel Byers, USA

Women's 48kg
Gold:  Hitomi Sakamoto, JPN
Silver:  Mariya Stadnik, AZE
Bronze:  Zhao Shasha, CHN & Carol Huynh, CAN

Women's 55kg
Gold:  Saori Yoshida, JPN
Silver:  Yuliya Ratkevich, AZE
Bronze:  Tonya Verbeek, CAN & Ida-Theres Nerell, SWE

Women's 63kg
Gold:  Kaori Icho, JPN
Silver:  Lubov Volosova, RUS
Bronze:  Hanna Johansson, SWE & Jing Ruixue, CHN

Women's 72kg
Gold:  Stanka Zlateva, BUL
Silver:  Ekaterina Bukina, RUS
Bronze:  Ali Bernard, USA & Vasilisa Marzaliuk, BLR

The Jordyn Wieber thing

As the defending world all-around champion, Jordyn Wieber became one of the prominent American faces leading up to these Games.  Wieber was expected to make a strong run to become the third consecutive American to capture the all-around gold medal.  Thing is, people forgot to tell Ally Raisman.  Wieber was a little shaky on some of her events, and while Gabby Douglas performed extraordinarily on the first three events, Raisman remained consistent and solid.  When it all settled down after the American finished floor exercise, it turned out that Wieber, although fourth overall, was the third best American.  Current rules state that the top 24 scorers in the all-around qualify, with a limit of two per nation.  Is this fair?

Historically, gymnastics allowed all six members of each national team to qualify for both the all-around finals and each of the individual apparatus finals.  In 1972, the all-around final was separated from the team event for the first time.  Previously, the medals for the team and all-around events were decided from the compulsory and optional exercises and awarded on the same day.  At Munich, there was an all-around final with 36 athletes competing, with no national quotas.  The top 12 men included all six Japanese with three East Germans and three Soviets.  The top eight women included five Soviets and thee East Germans.  The individual apparatus finals took the top six qualifiers on each event.  For the men, Japan took 22 of the 36 qualifying spots, the Soviets had 9, Klaus Koste of East Germany three and one each for Poland and Switzerland.  To cap it off, the Japanese men took the top five places on the high bar.

For the 1976 Olympics, the individual apparatus finals had a national quota of two athletes, with three athletes maximum from each country in the all-around.  In 1984, the apparatus finals expanded to eight gymnasts.  These rules remained in place through the 2000 Olympics, with the quota reduced to two athletes in the all-around.

When the individual apparatus finals take place over the weekend, the athletes competing will be from a wide variety of countries.  At the 2004 Olympics, gold medalists came from Canada, Greece, Spain, Ukraine and Italy.  These countries did not have national teams that competed for medals.  Since gymnastics has a team event and individual competitions, countries like the United States must field an entire team.  A gymnast who is a specialist on the rings, the best in the world, he would have very little chance of making the U.S. team, being only able to contribute to one of the six events from the team score.  However, if that same gymnast was from Togo, he could qualify for the Olympics to compete only on that event and take home a medal.

But to open up the perspective, all sports in the Olympics have national quotas.  Otherwise, we could see a dozen Kenyan steeplechasers or almost the entire table tennis tournament consisting of Chinese.  Track and field is limited to three athletes per event.  Swimming used to have a national quota of three athletes, but after the United States men swept the medals in four events in Montreal and the East German women did the same at the 1980 Games, a quota of two swimmers was established.  Tyler Clary was the silver medalist in the 400 meter individual medley behind Ryan Lochte at the world championships last year.  When Michael Phelps decided to return to the event, Clary finished third at the trials and could not compete in an event where he was a definite medal contender.  These quotas make the Olympic Trials such a compelling event.

Many sports have a quota of one athlete, such as boxing, wrestling, sailing, track cycling, rowing, judo and taekwondo.  The International Olympic Commitee wants to see a broad representation of nations in each event.  There are also continental quotas.  That is why we have a women's soccer tournament with two lower ranked African nations, but the second ranked Germans are at home.

The quotas are in place for a reason, and the reasons took place at a time when sports such as gymnastics were dominated by a handful of countries.  They took place long before Jordyn Wieber was born and reach across sports.

What to Watch - Monday 7/30

The Olympics settle into the first weekday with gymnastics and swimming leading the way.

Gold:  Gymnastics - Men's Team Final 11:30 a.m.  (NBC Prime TIme) - The United States surprised everyone by leading team qualifying, with Danell Leyva leading the all-around. China and Japan were very shaky in qualifying with numerous big mistakes. Do the Americans have what it takes to capture the team gold? Bronx native John Orozco and double 2008 medalist Jonathan Horton will have to perform well. Also watch three-time world all-around champion Kohei Uchimura of Japan to rebound from his error-filled performances in qualifying.

Silver:  Swimming - Men's 200 Meter Freestyle - 2:30 p.m.  (NBC Prime Time) - Ryan Lochte is the defending world champion and looking to capture his second gold medal. The field is absolutely stacked as he will have to turn back no less than four strong challengers: 400 meter gold medalist Su Yang of China; Yannick Angel of France who has the world's fastest time in 2012 and anchored the French relay on Sunday, beating Lochte to win gold; Park Tae-Hwan of South Korea, the 2008 gold medalist at the 400 freestyle; and the world record holder and 2009 world champion Paul Biedermann of Germany.

Bronze:  Volleyball - U.S. Women vs. Brazil - 11:45 a.m. (NBC) - It is early in the Games to pit the top two seeds, but that's what is on tap Monday. The Americans and Brazilians have been battling for supremacy over the last few years, with the Americans getting the upper hand more often than not, with the Americans winning the Grand Prix each of the last three seasons. American coach Hugh McCutcheon led the men to gold in Beijing and has turned the women into a world power. The Americans have a veteran squad with setter and captain Lindsay Berg in her third Olympics as is 6'7" Tayyiba Haneef-Park. Outside hitter Logan Tom is one of the best all-around players in the world and is playing in her fourth Olympics, and 39 year-old Danielle Scott-Arruda is in her fifth Games. However, the difference maker could well be Olympic rookie Destinee Hooker, a former NCAA high jump champion.

Also:
The American women's water polo team has never failed to medal at the Games, but they also have yet to capture gold. They begin play at 2:40 p.m. against Hungary (NBC).

British diver Tom Daley makes his London debut with partner Peter Waterfield in the platform synchronized event.  The Chinese are the heavy favorites, Americans David Boudia and Nick McCrory should challenge for a medal as well.  10:00 a.m.  (NBC Prime Time)

The U.S. women's basketball team is bakc on the court against Angola at 5:15 p.m.  (NBCSN)

What to Watch - Sunday

Gold:  Men's Basketball - USA v France - 9:30AM (NBCSN)
They may be compared to the Dream Team, 1992 Olympic champions, but the 2012 team hasn't won an Olympic game yet. France has six current NBA players, led by Tony Parker.

Silver:  Swimming - Men's 4x100 Meter Freestyle Relay - 4:00PM (NBC Prime Time)
We expect Michael Phelps to be back in the pool, trying to return to the podium. The Americans will have their hands full with the Aussies who are led by James Magnussen, the heavy favorite to win the 100 meter freestyle later in the week. The French, upset by the USA four years ago, will contend as well.

Bronze:  Shooting - Women's Skeet - 9:00AM (MSNBC)
Kim Rhode won her first gold medal in Atlanta in 1996. She is the favorite here, a medal of any type would make her the first American to medal in an individual event at five consecutive Olympics, Teresa Edwards won five straight basketball medals.

Also:
Women's Beach Volleyball - April Ross and Jen Kessey could challenge for a spot on the podium. They open against Argentina (4:00PM - NBC).
Men's Beach Volleyball - Defending champions Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser start their pool play against Japan (5:00PM - NBC Prime Time).
Women's Field Hockey - The Americans upset world #1 Argentina to win the Pan Am Games last year. The USA hasn't won a medal since 1984, but they have a shot in London. They are underway against Germany today (4:14PM - NBCSN).
Diving - Women's Synchronized Springboard - Diving opens, and the Chinese begin their quest to sweep all eight events. The American team on Kelci Bryant and Abigail Johnston are medal contenders, but the Russians and Mexicans are expected to join China on the podium.  (10:00AM - NBC Prime Time).
Men's Soccer - The British team gave up a late goal against Senegal on Thursday and had to settle for a 1-1 tie. They try to get on track today against the United Arab Emirates, a game the Brits can't afford to drop.  (2:45PM - MSNBC)
Swimming - Women's 100 Meter Butterfly - Dana Vollmer, the 2011 World Champion, looked like to woman to beat from Saturday's heats and semifinals. Vollmer could be strongly challenged by Alicia Coutts, who helped Australia win relay gold (2:30PM - NBC Prime Time).
Tennis - Women's Doubles - The Williams sisters will open up defense of their Olympic title against Romania. They recently won Wimbledon and also won doubles gold in 2000 (5:00PM),
Men's Volleyball - The US opens defense of their Olympic title against Serbia (11:45AM - NBC).
Men's Water Polo - The US attempts for another podium finish, they have a tough test in the first match against Montenegro (2:40PM - NBC).

Phelps Barely into Final

Michael Phelps barely qualified for the final of the 400 meter individual medley.  The second seeded swimming, Phelps swam in the penultimate heat, with the top eight times qualifying for the final.  Confident that his time would easily move him through to the final, Phelps barely edged out Hungary's Laszlo Cseh, the bronze medalist in Athens and silver medalist in Beijing.  The final heat was won by Chad le Clos of South Africa as Ryan Lochte had built up a big lead and cruised into second place.  That final heat was very fast and Phelps was nearly knocked out of the final, and medal favorite Cseh was knocked out.  Still expect Phelps and Lochte to battle it out for gold, but they will be in lanes three (Lochte) and one (Phelps) rather than the middle of the pool.

Women's Air Rifle - First Gold - Yi Siling, CHN

Yi Siling of China, the pre-event favorite captured the first gold medal of the Games in the women's 10 meter air rifle.  Silwia Bogacka of Poland took silver and Yu Dan of China captured the bronze.

First Big Upset of the Games

The morning had barely begun when the first big upset occurred.  The second ranked women's beach volleyball team, Xue Chen and Zhang Chi of China were defeated by Russian team of Anastasia Vasina and Anna Vozakova who are ranked 23rd out of 24 teams competing by scores of 18-21, 21-14, 16-14.  This is pool play, so the Chinese still have every chance of advancing to the elimination rounds with wins in their next two matches over the 11th ranked Greeks and 14th ranked Swiss.  However, their seed for that round could change from a #2 seed to a lower seed which could mean they might meet the Brazilians or Americans earlier than the semifinals.

What to Watch - Saturday, July 28

Each day I will highlight three events to watch.  I will try to vary the sports and include some of the less popular sports in the U.S.  Each day will be a gold, silver and bronze medalist.

GOLD:  Swimming – Men’s 400 Meter Individual Medley – 2:30PM EDT.  The first of two titanic clashes in the pool between two of the biggest stars heading into the Games.  Michael Phelps attempts to become the first man to win the same individual swimming event three times in a row, while Ryan Lochte will try to unseat his rival.

SILVER:  Cycling - Men’s Individual Road Race – 5:00AM.  Britain could win their first gold medal of the Games early as Mark Cavendish is the pre-race favorite.  Bradley Wiggins, who recently won the Tour de France, is another British contender, but will be a greater contender in the time trial on Wednesday.  Have some patience, the 250 kilometer race should take about six hours to complete.

BRONZE:  Fencing – Women’s Individual Foil – 2:40PM.  Italy’s Valentina Vezzali may become an Olympic legend of the highest order as victory will make her the fourth athlete, and first woman, to win the same individual event in four consecutive Games.  A team gold medalist in Atlanta, she could also become the fourth athlete, and first woman, to win a gold medal in five straight Olympics.  She enters as the favorite after winning her sixth world championship title last year.  American Lee Kiefer has a medal chance, she captured a bronze medal at last year’s worlds.

Let the Games Begin!

The day that London has been waiting seven years for has finally arrived.  July 27, 2012 marks the official opening of the Games of the XXX Olympiad.  That Roman numeral is hard to believe, it has been nearly 120 years since Baron Pierre de Coubertin began organizing the first modern Olympics.  He could have in no way imagined the global spectacle the Games have become, involving more than 10,000 athletes from over 200 countries competing in over 300 events.

The Opening Ceremony has become an enormous mixture of athletics and entertainment with big name entertainers, a cast of thousands and a precise outline.  There will be the entrance of the athletes, led by Greece and anchored by the host, Great Britain.  The flag bearer for each country is a high honor.  Two-time gold medal fencer Mariel Zagunis will carry in the American flag.  Headlines were made yesterday when it was announced that Usian Bolt would carry the Jamaican flag.  Any other choice would have seemed ludicrous.  Every summer Olympic flag bearer on record has been from track & field, usually the country's most successful athlete.

The identity of the final torchbearer remains shrouded in secrecy, as is the custom.  I always enjoy seeing which Olympic legends carry in the Olympic flag.  I am hoping to see David Hemery, Mary Rand, Lynn Davies, Mary Peters, David Wilkie, Alan Wells, Duncan Goodhew, Steve Ovett, Malcolm Cooper and Sally Gunnell involved.

The Queen will open the Games and James Bond and Paul McCartney will be involved.

Don't expect to see Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte or Jordyn Wieber marching in with Team USA.  Athletes who compete on the first weekend will often skip the Opening Ceremony in order to rest.  One of the unofficial traditions of the opening ceremony is that a basketball player will carry in the Chinese flag.  Yi Jianlian will become the 8th consecutive male basketball player to lead China.  Some familiar names will be flagbearers, including Spain's Pau Gasol, Russian Maria Sharapova and Serbia's Novak Djokovic.

The competition begins on Saturday, but tonight every athlete will enter the stadium as an Olympian, some have no chance of winning a medal.  Where else but the Olympics can one see a gathering of thousands of people from every corner of the globe, entering as equals?

Predictions - Weight Lifting

Men's 56kg
Gold:  Wu Jingbao, CHN
Silver:  Le Quoc Toan Tran, VIE
Bronze:  Valentin Hristov, AZE

Men's 62kg
Gold:  Zhang Jie, CHN
Silver:  Kim Un Guk, PRK
Bronze:  Erol Bilgin, TUR

Men's 69kg
Gold:  Arakel Mirzoyan, ARM
Silver:  Briken Calja, ALB
Bronze:  Ravzan Constantin Martin, ROU

Men's 77kg
Gold:  Lu Xiaojun, CHN
Silver:  Sa Jae-Hyouk, KOR
Bronze:  Lu Haojie, CHN

Men's 85kg
Gold:  Kianoush Rostami, IRI
Silver:  Sourab Moradi, IRI
Bronze:  Ivan Stotisov, AZE

Men's 94kg
Gold:  Ilya Ilyin, KAZ
Silver:  Anatoli Ciricu, MDA
Bronze:  Saeid Mohammadpourkarkara, IRI

Men's 105kg
Gold: Khadzhimurat Akkayev, RUS
Silver:  Marcin Dolega, POL
Bronze:  Oleksiy Torokhtiy, UKR

Men's 105+kg
Gold:  Behdad Salimikordasiabi, IRI
Silver:  Sajjad Anoushiravani Hamlaba, IRI
Bronze:  Artem Udachyn, UKR

Women's 48kg
Gold:  Wang Mingjuan, CHN
Silver:  Panida Khamsri, THA
Bronze:  Hiromi Miyake, JPN

Women's 53kg
Gold:  Zulfiya Chinshanlo, KAZ
Silver:  Aylin Dasdelen, TUR
Bronze:  Cristina Iovu, MDA

Women's 58kg
Gold:  Nastassia Novikava, BLR
Silver:  Li Xueying, CHN
Bronze:  Hsing-Chun Kuo, TPE

Women's 63kg
Gold:  Maiya Maneza, KAZ
Silver:  Sibel Simsek, TUR
Bronze:  Svetlana Tsarukaeva, RUS

Women's 69kg
Gold:  Oxana Slivenko, RUS
Silver:  Roxana Daniela Cocos, ROU
Bronze:  Rim Jong-Sim, PRK

Women's 75kg
Gold:  Svetlana Podobedova, KAZ
Silver:  Nadezda Evstyukhina, RUS
Bronze:  Iryna Kulesha, BLR

Women's 75+kg
Gold:  Zhou Lulu, CHN
Silver:  Tatiana Kashirina, RUS
Bronze:  Jung Mi-Ran, KOR

Predictions - Beach Volleyball

Men
Gold:  Emanuel Rego & Alison Cerruti, BRA
Silver:  Todd Rogers & Phil Dalhauser, USA
Bronze:  Jake Gibb & Sean Rosenthal, USA

Women
Gold:  Larissa Franca & Juliana Silva, BRA
Silver:  Chen Xue & Xi Zhang, CHN
Bronze:  Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh Jennings, USA

Predictions - Triathlon

Men
Gold:  Jonathan Brownlee, GBR
Silver:  Javier Gomez, ESP
Bronze:  Alistair Brownlee, GBR

Women
Gold:  Erin Densham, AUS
Silver:  Nicola Spirig, SUI
Bronze:  Helen Jenkins, GBR

Predictions - Tennis

Men's Singles
Gold:  Novak Djokovic, SRB
Silver:  Andy Murray, GBR
Bronze:  Roger Federer, SUI
Could this be the time Murray finally wins at Wimbledon?

Men's Doubles
Gold:  Bob & Mike Bryan, USA
Silver:  Andy & Jamie Murray, GBR
Bronze:  Mariusz Fyrstenberg & Marcin Matkowski, POL
Could be a final of brother pairs.

Women's Singles
Gold:  Serena Williams, USA
Silver:  Agnieska Radwanska, POL
Bronze:  Maria Sharapova, RUS
Serena was resurgent in her Wimbledon win.

Women's Doubles
Gold:  Serena & Venus Williams, USA
Silver:  Liezel Huber & Lisa Raymond, USA
Bronze:  Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci, ITA
Winners in 2000 and 2008, if the Serena wins two gold, each sister will have four career golds.

Mixed Doubles
The entrants have not yet been announced, so I will wait to make predictions.

Predictions - Taekwondo

Men's 58kg
Gold:  Joel Gonzalez, ESP
Silver:  Pen-Ek Karaket, THA
Bronze:  Gabriel Mercedes, DOM & Damian Villa, MEX

Men's 68kg
Gold:  Mohammad Bagheri Motamed, IRI
Silver:  Servet Tazegul, TUR
Bronze:  Diogo Silva, BRA & Martin Stamper, GBR

Men's 80kg
Gold:  Ramin Azizov, AZE
Silver:  Steven Lopez, USA
Bronze:  Yousef Karami, IRI & Mauro Sarmiento, ITA

Men's 80+kg
Gold:  Cha Dong-Min, KOR
Silver:  Akmal Irgashev, UZB
Bronze:  Daba Modibo Keita, MLI & Gadzhi Umarov, RUS

Women's 49kg
Gold:  Wu Jingyi, CHN
Silver:  Brigitte Yague, ESP
Bronze:  Lucija Zaninovic, CRO & Yang Shu-chun, TPE

Women's 57kg
Gold:  Hou Yuzhuo, CHN
Silver:  Jade Jones, GBR
Bronze:  Diana Lopez, USA & Ana Zaninovic, CRO

Women's 67kg
Gold:  Sarah Stevenson, GBR
Silver:  Kim Mi-Kyung, KOR
Bronze:  Farida Azizova, AZE & Helena Fromm, GER

Women's 67+kg
Gold:  Gwladys Epangue, FRA
Silver:  An Sae-Bom, KOR
Bronze:  Anastasia Baryshnikova, RUS & Natalia Falavigna, BRA

Predictions - Table Tennis

Men's Singles
Gold:  Wang Hao, CHN
Silver:  Zhang Jike, CHN
Bronze:  Jun Mizutani, JPN
Five of the top six players in the world rankings are Chinese, put only two can compete in the Olympics.

Men's Team
Gold:  China
Silver:  Germany
Bronze:  Japan

Women's Singles
Gold:  Li Xiaoxia, CHN
Silver:  Ding Ning, CHN
Bronze:  Kim Kyung-Ah, KOR
The top four ranked players are Chinese, but only two can compete in London.

Women's Team
Gold:  China
Silver:  Singapore
Bronze:  South Korea
Singapore upset China for the world team title in 2010, but upsets are not supposed to happen again.

More Soccer Action as Men Start on Thursday

The Opening Ceremony will not be until Friday, but Olympic events continue on Thursday as the men's soccer tournament begins with eight games.  The Olympic soccer tournament has long been the step-child of the more popular World Cup, with each of the sixteen nations forced to field what amounts to a "B" team.  The tournament is considered U23, which means the players on the roster are 23 years old or younger.  The Olympics allow an exception for each side to carry three overage players.

Men's soccer is the only event in the Games in which the best athletes do not compete.  Now some events may miss some of the best athletes due to the restrictions on the number of athletes per country allowed in each event (for example, each individual swimming has a limit of two swimmers per nation); or a difficult qualifying process.  However, FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, wants to keep their own World Cup event unique and not have a mini-World Cup obscured within the Olympics.  Some have called for soccer to be removed from the Olympics, but we wouldn't want to throw out the baby with the bath water.  The fact of the matter is that the women's tournament, which began on Wednesday, has the best players on each national team.  In the United States, the women's competition has been compelling since its debut in 1996 with recognizable names like Mia Hamm and Hope Solo leading the U.S. into the final in each Olympics.

The British national team makes their first appearance in the Olympics since Rome in 1960 as they take on Senegal in Manchester (the Olympic soccer tournament traditionally uses sites from all over the host country with the finals being held in the host city).  In team sports, the host nation receives an automatic spot in the tournament without having to go through a continental qualifying tournament.  There has been much concern in Britain over the last several years over the participation of a British soccer team.  Soccer is one of several international sports where England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (known as the home nations) compete separately.  The three smaller nations have concerns that a British team in the Olympics will lead to a British team in World Cup and Euro championships - thus losing their identities.  Ultimately, there was an agreement to allow participation of players from all four British nations.  The squad includes 13 Englishmen and 5 Welshmen.  Ryan Griggs, the 38 year old team captain, is Welsh.

A similar situation occurs in field hockey.  Outside the Olympics, each of the home nations compete for themselves. It is only every four years that a British team will compete in the Olympics, including the men's squad that captured gold in 1988.

Predictions - Synchronized Swimming

Duet
Gold:  Natalia Ishchenko & Svetlana Romashina, RUS
Silver:  Huang Xuechen & Liu Ou, CHN
Bronze:  Ona Carbonell & Andrea Fuentes, ESP

Team
Gold:  Russia
Silver:  China
Bronze:  Spain

Predictions - Open Water Swimming

Men's 10 Kilometer
Gold:  Spyridon Gianniotis, GRE
Silver:  Thomas Lurz, GER
Bronze:  Oussama Mellouli, TUN

Women's 10 Kilometer
Gold:  Keri-Anne Payne, GBR
Silver:  Marianna Lymperta, GRE
Bronze:  Swann Oberson, SUI

Predictions - Shooting

Men's Air Rifle
Gold:  Niccolo Campriani, ITA
Silver:  Illia Cherheika, BLR
Bronze:  Wang Tao, CHN

Men's Small Bore Rifle, Prone
Gold:  Sergei Martynov, BLR
Silver:  Wang Weiyi, CHN
Bronze:  Marco DeNicolo, ITA

Men's Small Bore Rifle, 3 Positions
Gold:  Niccolo Campriani, ITA
Silver:  Nemanja Mirosavljev, SRB
Bronze:  Jason Parker, USA

Women's Air Rifle
Gold:  Yu Siling, CHN
Silver:  Sonja Pfielschifter, GER
Bronze:  Katerina Emmons, CZE

Women's Small Bore Rifle, 3 Positions
Gold:  Barbara Engleder, GER
Silver:  Sonja Pfielschifter, GER
Bronze:  Du Li, CHN

Men's Air Pistol
Gold:  Tan Zongliang, CHN
Silver:  Jin Jong-Oh, KOR
Bronze:  Yusuf Dikec, TUR

Men's Rapid Fire Pistol
Gold:  Alexei Klimov, RUS
Silver:  Christian Reitz, GER
Bronze:  Zhang Jian, CHN

Men's Free Pistol
Gold:  Damir Mikec, SRB
Silver;  Tomoyuki Matsuda, JPN
Bronze:  Jin Jong-Oh, KOR

Women's Air Pistol
Gold:  Olena Kostevych, UKR
Silver:  Tien Chia Chen, TPE
Bronze:  Zorana Arunovic, SRB

Women's Free Pistol
Gold:  Lenka Maruskova, CZE
Silver:  Celine Goberville, FRA
Bronze:  Chen Ying, CHN

Men's Trap
Gold:  Alexey Alipov, RUS
Silver:  Massimo Fabbrizi, ITA
Bronze:  Rodolfo Vigano, ITA

Men's Double Trap
Gold:  Joshua Richmond, AUS
Silver:  Peter Robert Russell Wilson, GBR
Bronze:  William Chetcuti, MLT
Malta has never won an Olympic medal.

Men's Skeet
Gold:  Tore Brovold, RUS
Silver:  Valeriy Shomin, RUS
Bronze:  Georgios Achellios, CYP

Women's Trap
Gold:  Fatima Galvez, ESP
Silver:  Elena Tkach, RUS
Bronze:  Zuzana Stefececkova, SVK
Alessandra Perilli could win the first ever medal for San Marino.

Women's Skeet
Gold:  Kim Rhode, USA
Silver:  Danka Bartekova, SVK
Bronze:  Wei Ning, CHN
Rhode, a gold medalist in 1996 and 2004, will be trying to become only the fourth American to win medals at five different Olympiads, and the first to accomplish the feat in individual events.

The others are:
J. Michael Plumb - equestrian - 1964, '68, '72, '76, '84.
Teresa Edwards - basketball - 1984-2000
Dara Torres - swimming - 1984, '88, '92, 2000 & 2008

Predictions - Sailing

Men's Finn
Gold:  Ben Ainslie, GBR
Silver:  Rafael Trujillo, ESP
Bronze:  Deniss Karpak, EST

Men's 470
Gold:  Mathew Belcher & Malcolm Page, AUS
Silver:  Gideon Kliger & Eran Sela, ISR
Bronze:  Sime Fantela & Igor Marenic, CRO

Men's Laser
Gold:  Tom Slingsby, AUS
Silver:  Julio Alsogaray, ARG
Bronze:  Fontes Ferreira da Silva, BRA

Men's Star
Gold:  Fredrik Loof & Max Salminen, SWE
Silver:  Eiving Melleby & Petter Morland Pedersen, NOR
Bronze:  Xavier Rohart & Pierre Alexis Ponsot, FRA

Men's R-SX
Gold:  Przemyslaw Miarczynski, POL
Silver:  Shahar Zubari, ISR
Bronze:  Julien Bontemps, FRA

Women's 470
Gold: Ai Kondo & Wakako Tabata, JPN
Silver:  Hannah Mills & Saskia Clark, GBR
Bronze:  Amanda Clark & Sarah Lihan, USA

Women's Elliot 6m
Gold:  United States
Silver:  Great Britain
Bronze:  France

Women's R-SX
Gold:  Zofia Noceti-Klepacka, POL
Silver:  Marina Alabau, ESP
Bronze:  Bryony Shaw, GBR

Women's Laser
Gold:  Marit Bouwmeester, NED
Silver:  Alison Young, GBR
Bronze:  Sari Multala, FIN

Open 49er
Gold:  Nathan Outteridge & Iain Jensen, AUS
Silver:  Allan Norregaard & Peter Lang, DEN
Bronze:  Tobias Schadewaldt & Hannes Baumann, GER

London 2012 is Here!

We are minutes away from the start of the Games of the XXX Olympiad, as women's soccer competition will get underway.  There are six games today, the first having the host team Great Britain take on New Zealand.  About an hour later, the World Cup champions from Japan will take on Canada and the U.S. will face France.  The U.S., ranked number one in the world takes on the sixth ranked French in the toughest match of the day.

By comparison, the other match-ups:
GBR (England is #9 - GBR does not rank) v NZL (#23)
Brazil (#5) v Cameroon (#50)
Japan (#3) v Canada (#7)
Sweden (#4) v South Africa (#61)
USA (#1) v France (#6)
Columbia (#28) v North Korea (#8)

You may notice that four of the twelve teams are outside the top 20, while #'s 2 & #s 10-20 are not in London.

A couple of reasons explain this.  First, Europe was allocated as many spots in the field as Africa, despite the fact that the best African team according to FIFA rankings is Nigeria at #27, with sixteen European teams ranking higher.  To compound this, Europe was the only zone without a qualifying tournament.  They chose to take the two best finishers in the 2011 FIFA World Cup.  When the second seeded German team were upset by Japan in the quarterfinals, they were out as Sweden and France went through.  Germany was denied a European spot despite the fact that they did not lost to a European squad.

Australia participated in the Asian qualifying, finishing third behind Japan and North Korea.  That left New Zealand an easy road through the Oceania Qualifying Tournament, downing Papua New Guinea 8-0 and 7-0.

The other problem is that the Women's tournament has 12 teams, while the men have 16.  The growing depth in the women's game should justify four more teams.  This would also help grow the game with increased exposure during the Olympics.  The men have three spots for European teams, all competing in their own tournament.

Today the U.S. has a very tough early test against a medal contender.  In the long run, the toughest team in the world, Germany, is not here.  The U.S. is the favorite for the gold, another Japanese victory would be another big upset.

Predictions - Rowing

Men's Single Sculls
Gold:  Mahe Drysdale, NZL
Silver:  Ondrej Synek, CZE
Bronze:  Alan Campbell, GBR

Men's Pair
Gold:  Hamish Bond & Eric Murray, NZL
Silver:  George Nash & William Satch, GBR
Bronze:  Apostolos& Nikolaos Gkountoulas, GRE

Men's Double Sculls
Gold:  Nathan Cohen & Joseph Sullivan, NZL
Silver:  Eric Knittel & Stephan Krueger, GER
Bronze:  Julien Bahain & Credric Berrest, FRA

Men's Lightweight Double Sculls
Gold:  Zac Purchase & Mark Hunter, GBR
Silver:  Peter Taylor & Storm Uru, NZL
Bronze:  Elia Luini & Pietro Ruta, ITA

Men's Four
Gold:  Great Britain
Silver:  Greece
Bronze:  Australia

Men's Quadruple Sculls
Gold:  Australia
Silver:  Germany
Bronze:  Croatia

Men's Lightweight Four
Gold:  Australia
Silver:  Great Britain
Bronze:  Italy

Men's Eight
Gold:  Great Britain
Silver:  Germany
Bronze: Canada

Women's Single Sculls
Gold:  Mirka Knapkova, CZE
Silver:  Emma Twigg, NZL
Bronze:  Ekaterina Karsten, BLR

Women's Pair
Gold:  Helen Glover & Heather Stanning, GBR
Silver:  Juliette Haigh & Rebecca Scown, NZL
Bronze:  Kate Horsey & Sarah Tait, AUS

Women's Double Sculls
Gold:  Katherine Grainger & Anna Watkins, GBR
Silver:  Kim Crow & Brooke Pratley, AUS
Bronze:  Fiona Patterson & Anna Raymer, NZL

Women's Lightweight Double Sculls
Gold:  Christina Glazitzidou & Alexandra Tsiavou, GRE
Silver:  Lindsay Gennerich & Patricia Obee, CAN
Bronze:  Katherine Copeland & Sophie Hosking, GBR

Women's Quadruple Sculls
Gold:  Germany
Silver:  United States
Bronze:  New Zealand

Women's Eight
Gold:  United States
Silver:  Canada
Bronze:  Great Britain

Predicitons - Modern Pentathlon

Men
Gold:  Aleksander Lesun, RUS
Silver:  Andrei Moiseev, RUS
Bronze:  Adam Marosi, HUN

Women
Gold:  Laura Asadauskaite, LTU
Silver:  Mhairi Spence, GBR
Bronze:  Lena Schoneborn, GER

Predictions - Judo

Men's 60kg
Gold:  Rishod Sobirov, UZB
Silver:  Hirofumi Yamamoto, JPN
Bronze:  Arsen Galstyan, RUS & Georgii Zantaraia, UKR

Men's 66kg
Gold:  Musa Mogushkov, RUS
Silver:  Tsagaanbaatar Khashbaatar, MGL
Bronze:  Masashi Ebinuma & Leandro Cubha, BRA

Men's 73kg
Gold:  Riki Nakaya, JPN
Silver:  Wang Ki-Chun, KOR
Bronze:  Dex Elmont, NED & Mansur Isaev, RUS

Men's 81kg
Gold:  Kim Jae-Bum, KOR
Silver:  Leandro Guilheiro, BRA
Bronze:  Elnur Mammadli, AZE & Takahiro Nakai, JPN

Men's 90kg
Gold:  Ilias Iliadis, GRE
Silver:  Varlam Liparteliani, GEO
Bronze:  Masashi Nishiyama, JPN & Asley Gonzalez, CUB

Men's 100kg
Gold:  Maxim Rakov, KAZ
Silver:  Henk Grol, NED
Bronze:  Takamasa Anai, JPN & Ramiziddin Sayidov, UZB

Men's 100+kg
Gold:  Teddy Riner, FRA
Silver:  Andreas Toelzer, GER
Bronze:  Rafael Silva, BRA & Kim Sung-Min, KOR

Women's 48kg
Gold:  Tomoko Fukumi, JPN
Silver:  Sarah Menezes, BRA
Bronze:  Charline Van Snick, BEL & Alina Dumitru, ROU

Women's 52kg
Gold:  Misato Nakamura, JPN
Silver:  Bundmaa Munkbaatar, MGL
Bronze:  Erika Miranda, BRA & Soraya Haddad, ALG

Women's 57kg
Gold:  Kaori Matsumoto, JPN
Silver:  Telma Monteiro, POR
Bronze:  Rafaela Silva & Corina Caprioriu, ROU

Women's 63kg
Gold:  Yoshie Ueno, JPN
Silver:  Gevrise Emane, FRA
Bronze:  Alice Schlesinger, ISR & Urska Zolnir, SLO

Women's 70kg
Gold:  Lucie Decosse, FRA
Silver:  Edith Bosch, NED
Bronze:  Haruka Tachimoto, JPN & Rasa Sraka, SLO

Women's 78kg
Gold:  Mayra Agular, BRA
Silver:  Kayla Harrison, USA
Bronze:  Audrey Tcheumeo, FRA & Akira Ogata, JPN

Women's 78+kg
Gold:  Wen Tong, CHN
Silver:  Mika Sugimoto, JPN
Bronze:  Elena Ivashchenko, RUS & Idalys Ortiz, CUB

Predictions - Gymnastics

Men's Team
Gold:  China
Silver:  Japan
Bronze:  United States

Men's All-Around
Gold:  Kohei Uchimura, JPN
Silver:  John Orozco, USA
Bronze:  Philipp Boy, GER

Men's Floor Exercise
Gold:  Kohei Uchimura, JPN
Silver:  Zou Kai, CHN
Bronze:  Alexander Shatilov, ISR

Men's Pommel Horse
Gold:  Krisztian Berki, HUN
Silver:  Louis Smith, GBR
Bronze:  Vid Hidvergi, HUN

Men's Rings
Gold:  Chen Yibing, CHN
Silver:  Arthur Nabarette Zanetti, BRA
Bronze:  Jordan Jovtchev, BUL

Men's Vault
Gold:  Anton Golotsutkov, RUS
Silver:  Yang Hak-Seon, KOR
Bronze:  Thomas Bouhail, FRA

Men's Parallel Bars
Gold:  Fang Zhe, CHN
Silver:  Danell Leyva, USA
Bronze:  Kohei Uchimura, JPN

Men's High Bar
Gold:  Zou Kai, CHN
Silver:  Epke Zonderland, NED
Bronze:  Fabian Hambuchen, GER

Women's Team
Gold:  United States
Silver:  Russia
Bronze:  China

Women's All-Around
Gold:  Aliya Mustafina, RUS
Silver:  Jordyn Wieber, USA
Bronze:  Gabby Douglas, USA

Women's Vault
Gold:  McKayla Maroney, USA
Silver:  Oksana Chusovitina, GER
Bronze:  Phan Thi Ha Thanh, VIE

Women's Uneven Bars
Gold:  Viktoria Komova, RUS
Silver:  Gabby Douglas, USA
Bronze:  He Kexin, CHN

Women's Balance Beam
Gold:  Sui Lu, CHN
Silver:  Jordyn Wieber, USA
Bronze:  Viktoria Komova, RUS

Women's Floor Exercise
Gold:  Lauren Mitchell, AUS
Silver:  Alexandra Raisman, USA
Bronze:  Elizbeth Tweddle, GBR

Rhythmic Team
Gold:  Russia
Silver:  Belarus
Bronze:  Azerbaijan

Rhythmic Individual All-Around
Gold:  Yevgeniya Kanayeva, RUS
Silver:  Daria Kondakova, RUS
Bronze:  Aliya Garayeva, AZE

Men's Trampoline
Gold:  Dong Dong, CHN
Silver:  Lu Chunlong, CHN
Bronze:  Masaki Ito, JPN

Women's Trampoline
Gold:  He Wenna, CHN
Silver:  Rosannagh MacLennan, CAN
Bronze:  Huang Shanshan, CHN

Predictions - Fencing

Men's Individual Epee
Gold:  Nikolai Novosjolov, EST
Silver:  Fabian Kauter, SUI
BronzeL  Paolo Pizzo, ITA

Men's Individual Foil
Gold:  Andrea Cassara, ITA
Silver:  Valerio Aspromonte, ITA
Bronze:  Ma Jianfei, CHN

Men's Team Foil
Gold:  Italy
Silver:  China
Bronze:  Germany

Men's Individual Sabre
Gold:  Nicolas Limbach, GER
Silver:  Alexey Yakimenko, RUS
Bronze:  Gu Bong-Gil, KOR

Men's Team Sabre
Gold:  Russia
Silver:  Belarus
Bronze:  Germany

Women's Individual Epee
Gold:  Sun Yujie, CHN
Silver:  Li Na, CHN
Bronze:  Anca Maroiu, ROU

Women's Team Epee
Gold:  Romania
Silver:  China
Bronze:  Italy

Women's Individual Foil
Gold:  Valentina Vezzali, ITA
Silver:  Elisa DiFrancisca, ITA
Bronze:  Nam Hyun Hee, KOR
Vezzali is attempting to joing Paul Elvstrom, Al Oerter and Carl Lewis as the only athletes to win the same individual event in four consecutive Olympics.

Women's Team Foil
Gold:  Italy
Silver:  South Korea
Bronze:  Russia

Women's Individual Sabre
Gold:  Mariel Zagunis, USA
Silver:  Sofiya Velikaya, RUS
Bronze:  Olga Kharlan, UKR
Zagunis, the two-time defending gold medalist, won the World Championships in 2009 and 2010 and lost the 2011 final to Velikaya 15-14.

Predictions - Equestrian

Individual Three Day Event
Gold:  William Fox-Pitt, GBR
Silver:  Andrew Nicholson, NZL
Bronze:  Boyd Martin, USA

Team Three Day Event
Gold:  Australia
Silver:  Germany
Bronze:  Great Britain

Individual Show Jumping
Gold:  Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, SWE
Silver:  Kevin Staut, FRA
Bronze:  Eric Lamaze, CAN

Team Show Jumping
Gold:  Germany
Silver:  United States
Bronze:  France

Individual Dressage
Gold:  Adelinde Cornelissen, NED
Silver:  Laura Bechtolsheimer, GBR
Bronze:  Edward Gal, NED

Team Dressage
Gold:  Germany
Silver:  Great Britain
Bronze:  Netherlands

Predictions - Diving

The Chinese won seven of the eight events in Beijing and will be looking to sweep in London.  They swept at the 2010 World Cup and the 2011 World Championships and are favored to do so again.

Men's 3 Meter Springboard
Gold:  He Chong, CHN
Silver: Qin Kai, CHN
Bronze:  Alexandre Despatie, CAN

Men's 10 Meter Platform
Gold:  Qiu Bo, CHN
Silver:  Sascha Klein, GER
Bronze:  Tom Daley, GBR

Men's Synchronized 3 Meter Springboard
Gold:  Luo Yitang & Qin Kai, CHN
Silver:  Ilya Zakharov & Evgeny Kuznetsov, RUS
Bronze:  Julian Sanchez & Yuhel Castillo, MEX

Men's Synchronized 10 Meter Platform
Gold:  Cao Yuan & Zhang Yanquan, CHN
Silver:  Sascha Klein & Patrick Hausding, GER
Bronze:  Peter Waterfield & Tom Daley, GBR

Women's 3 Meter Springboard
Gold:  Wu Minxia, CHN
Silver:  He Zi, CHN
Bronze:  Jennifer Abel, CAN

Women's 10 Meter Platform
Gold:  Chen Ruoling, CHN
Silver:  Hu Yadan, CHN
Bronze:  Paola Espinosa, MEX

Women's Synchronized 3 Meter Springboard
Gold:  He Zi & Wu Minxia, CHN
Silver:  Jennifer Abel & Emilie Heymans, CAN
Bronze:  Tania Cognotto & Francesca Dallape, ITA

Women's Synchronized 10 Meter Platform
Gold:  Wang Hao & Chen Ruoling, CHN
Silver:  Sarah Barrow & Tonia Couch, GBR
Bronze:  Rachel Bugg & Loudy Wiggins, AUS

NBC's Greatest Olympic Moments

Tonight NBC has a one-hour special dedicated to the top 30 Olympic events during the NBC broadcasting tenure (1988-present).  The top two moments were Kerri Strug's vault in the team competition in Atlanta and Jason Lezak's anchor leg in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay in Beijing.  No arguments there, those are two of the most dramatic events over the last quarter century.  However, there were some glaring omissions:

 - Greg Louganis, Seoul 1988 - His final dive on the 10 meter platform to edge Xiong Ni of China and capture his fourth gold medal was one of the indelible moments of the 1988 Olympics.

 - Florence Griffith-Joyner, Seoul 1988 - Were world records in the 200 meter semifinals and final made her the face of those Games.

 - Misty Hyman - Sydney 2000 - Hyman's upset win in the 200 meter butterfly over the hometown favorite, world record holder and defending champion Susie O'Neil was one of the biggest upsets in recent memory.

I think they missed the mark on a couple of moments they did include:

Jackie Joyer-Kersee made the list with her heptathlon win in 1992, but her 1988 win, coupled with a gold in the long jump, was a world record that still stands today.

Janet Evans made the list with her third gold medal in Seoul in the 800 meter freestyle.  However, the most dramatic moment for Janet in 1988 was her world record swim in the 400 meter freestyle, punctuated be the shot of of disbelief on her face when she realized how fast she had swum.

The U.S. Women's soccer team was on the list with the 1996 gold medal in the inaugural women's soccer tournament.  I think that the 2004 win after a silver four years earlier was much more dramatic than the first as it was the swansong for several of the legends of that team including Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain.

It could have been worse, when I first heard of the list being 30 moments long, I figured they would have to find 16 events that Michael Phelps hadn't won.

Who WIll Light to Cauldron?

The identity of the final torchbearer is always a well-kept secret, heightening the drama of a relay that takes months to complete and is one of the grand symbols of the Games.  The idea of a torch relay was devised for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, linking to host city to the original Games in Olympia, Greece.  This year's relay to London will cover 8,000 miles over 70 days before the flame is lit at the Olympic Stadium by a person unknown.

London odds makers have installed Steven Redgrave as the favorite.  Redgrave captured rowing gold in every Olympics between Los Angeles 1984 and Sydney 2000.  He also won nine world championships and was knighted 2001.

The second favorite is Kelly Holmes who captured gold in the 800 meters and 1500 meters in Athens.

The 1980 & 1984 Olympic decathlon champion Daley Thompson is considered the third favorite.  Recently, Thompson and Redgrave have been trading jabs in the press that are undignified for those who could potentially light the Olympic flame. 

The debate over who should light the London Olympic cauldron at next Friday's opening ceremony has turned into a war of words between Daley Thompson and Steve Redgrave, two of the main contenders.

Redgrave won rowing golds at five consecutive Olympics and is the bookmakers' favourite to perform the symbolic act with double decathlon gold medal winner Thompson third favourite.  Thompson has long been a friend of Sebastian Coe, the president of the London Olympic Organizing Committee.  Thompson dismissed Redgrave, ''In my opinion Sebastian Coe is the second greatest Olympian, after myself.  Steve Redgrave is not in the same class as Seb Coe. He is a rower, but I think track and field is the toughest sport in the Olympics, which means the rewards are greater.''

Redgrave had previously knocked Thompson, ''Obviously, Daley was a great athlete. Some people, Seb Coe included, think he's the best athlete ever. My personal view is that he doesn't make the top five of great British Olympians. I'd put Seb above him, and Kelly Holmes, certainly Ben Ainslie, and, all modesty aside, myself and Matt Pinsent.  I say that because, to me, athletes compete at the decathlon if they are great all-rounders instead of being supreme in one event.''

Other contenders as the final torchbearer are current British Olympians diver Tom Daley and cyclist Chris Hoy; 1972 pentathlon champion Mary Peters; and mile legend Roger Bannister.

With Thompson and Redgrave sniping in the press, the chances of Kelly Holmes may have improved and in the first Games where every nation will send female athletes, a female lighting the flame would be symbolic.

Another possibility is a trio of athletes.  One each from England, Scotland and Wales.  Perhaps of of the above from England, Lynn Davies the 1964 long jump champ from Wales and 1976 swimming champ David Wilkie or 1980 100 meter champ Alan Wells from Scotland.

At other times, a complete unknown lights the cauldron.

Perhaps, at age 90, sailor David Bond, the lone survivor of the six British gold medalists in London in 1948 could be on hand dependent upon his health.

Predictions - Cycling

Men's Match Sprint
Giold:  Gregory Bauge, FRA
Silver:  Jason Kenney, GBR
Bronze:  Azizul Hasni Awang, MAS

Men's Team Sprint
Gold:  Great Britain
Silver:  Germany
Bronze:  France

Men's Keirin
Gold:  Chris Hoy, GBR
Silver:  Maximilain Levy, GER
Bronze:  Scott Sunderland, AUS

Men's Team Pursuit
Gold:  Great Britain
Silver:  Australia
Bronze:  New Zealand

Men's Omnium
Gold:  Ed Clancy, GBR
Silver:  Zachary Bell, CAN
Bronze:  Glenn O'Shea, AUS

Men's Road Race
Gold:  Mark Cavendish, GBR
Silver:  Cadel Evans, AUS
Bronze:  Andre Greipel, GER

Men's Road Time Trial
Gold:  Bradley Wiggins, GBR
Silver:  Fabian Cancellara, SUI
Bronze:  Tony Martin, GER

Men's BMX
Gold:  Maris Strombergs, LAT
Silver:  Joris Daudet, FRA
Bronze:  Nic Long, USA

Men's Mountain Bike
Gold:  Jaroslav Kulhavy, CZE
Silver:  Nino Schurter, SUI
Bronze:  Julien Absalon, FRA

Women's Match Sprint
Gold:  Victoria Pendelton, GBR
Silver:  Anna Mears, AUS
Bronze:  Simona Krupeckaite, LTU

Women's Team Sprint
Gold:  Australia
Silver:  Great Britain
Bronze:  China

Women's Keirin
Gold:  Anna Mears, AUS
Silver:  Gua Shuang, CHN
Bronze:  Victoria Pendelton, GBR

Women's Team Pursuit
Gold:  Great Britain
Silver:  Australia
Bronze:  United States

Women's Omnium
Gold:  Tara Whitten, CAN
Silver:  Sarah Hammer, USA
Bronze:  Laura Trott, GBR

Women's Road Race
Gold:  Giorgio Bronzini, ITA
Silver:  Marianne Vos, NED
Bronze:  Emma Johansson, SWE

Women's Road Time Trial
Gold:  Emma Pooley, GBR
Silver:  Judith Arndt, GER
Bronze:  Linda Villumsen, NZL

Women's BMX
Gold:  Shanaze Reade, GBR
Silver:  Sarah Walker, NZL
Bronze:  Mariana Pajon, COL

Women's Mountain Bike
Gold:  Catharine Pendrel, CAN
Silver:  Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa, NOR
Bronze:  Maja Wloszczowska, POL

Predicitons - Canoeing

This year, the 500 meter events have been replaced with 200 meter events.

Men's C-1 200 Meters
Gold:  Valentin Demyanenko, AZE
Silver:  Ivan Shtyl, RUS
Bronze:  Thomas Simart, FRA

Men's C-1 1000 Meters
Gold:  Vadim Menkov, UZB
Silver:  Attila Vajda, HUN
Bronze:  David Cal, ESP

Men's C-2 1000 Meters
Gold:  Stefan Holtz & Tomasz Wylenzek, GER
Silver:  Alexandru Dumitrescu & Victor Mihalachi, ROU
Bronze:  Sergiy Bezugliy & Maksim Prokopenko, AZE

Men's K-1 200 Meters
Gold:  Edward McKeever, GBR
Silver:  Piotr Siemionowski, POL
Bronze:  Ronald Rauhe, GER

Men's K-1 1000 Meters
Gold:  Adam Van Koeverden, CAN
Silver:  Tim Brabants, GBR
Bronze:  Anders Gustafsson, SWE

Men's K-2 200 Meters
Gold:  Arnaud Hybois & Sebastien Jouve, FRA
Silver:  Jonathan Schofield & Liam Heath, GBR
Bronze:  Raman Piatrushenska & Vadzim Makhneu, BLR

Men's K-2 1000 Meters
Gold:  Peter Gelle & Erik Vlcek, SVK
Silver:  Emilio Merchan & Diego Cosgaya, ESP
Bronze:  Vitaly Yurchenko & Vasily Pogreban, RUS

Men's K-4 1000 Meters
Gold:  Germany
Silver:  France
Bronze:  Belarus

Women's K-1 200 Meters
Gold:  Lisa Carrington, NZL
Silver:  Natasa Janics, HUN
Bronze:  Marta Walczykiewicz, POL

Women's K-1 500 Meters
Gold:  Danuta Kozak, HUN
Silver:  Inna Osypenko-Radomska, UKR
Bronze:  Natalya Sergeyeva, KAZ

Women's K-2 500 Meters
Gold:  Natasa Janics & Katalin Kovacs, HUN
Silver:  Karolina Naja & Beata Mikolajczyk, POL
Bronze:  Tina Dietze & Franziska Weber, GER

Women's K-4 500 Meters
Gold:  Hungary
Silver:  Germany
Bronze:  Great Britain

Men's K-1 Slalom
Gold:  Peter Kauzer, CZE
Silver: Etienne Daille, FRA
Bronze:  Daniele Molmenti, ITA

Men's C-1 Slalom
Gold:  Tony Estanguet, FRA
Silver:  Michal Martikan, SVK
Bronze:  David Florence, GBR

Men's C-2 Slalom
Gold:  Pavol & Peter Hochschorner, SVK
Silver:  Denis Gargaud Chanut & Fabien Fefevre, FRA
Bronze:  Luka Bozic & Saso Taljat, SLO

Women's K-1 Slalom
Gold:  Corinna Kuhnle, AUT
Silver:  Jana Dukatova, SVK
Bronze:  Maialen Chourrat, ESP

Four in a Row

There are six Americans who are member's of the 2012 Olympic team who have won medals at each of the three previous Games:

Jason Lezak, swimming - the author of on of the great moments in Olympic history when he miraculously overtook Frenchman Alain Bernard in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay in Beijing, Lezak has captured  medals at each of the three previous Olympic Games, all in relays.  A gold and silver in Sydney; gold and bronze in Athens and two gold plus a bronze in Beijing.  He will likely swim the freestyle relay heats in London.

Steven Lopez, tae kwon do - Lopez captured gold in Sydney and Athens before a disappointing silver in Beijing.  He captured five consecutive world championships from 2001 to 2009.  Lopez will once again be a contender for gold this year in London.

Christie Rampone, soccer - a member of the silver medal team in Sydney, Rampone has captured golds in Athens and Beijing and is the captain of the squad looking to capture a third straight gold in London.

Brenda Villa & Heather Petri, water polo - Villa leads the US women's water polo team that has captured medals at each of the last three Olympics, but will be looking for a first gold medal in London.

...and going back to Atlanta...

Kim Rhode, shooting - Rhode has won medals at each of the last 4 Olympic Games and she just turned 33 this week.  Rhode won the gold in the double trap event in Atlanta.  She followed with a bronze in Sydney; another gold in Athens; and finally a skeet bronze medal in Beijing.

Predictions - Boxing

Boxing is difficult to predict until the random draw takes place, plus you never know how well the officials may be compensated.

Men's 49K
Gold:  Zou Shiming, CHN
Silver:  Shin Jong-Hun
Bronzes:  Thomas Essomba, CMR & David Ayrapetyan, RUS

Men's 52K
Gold:  Andrew Selby, GBR
Silver:  Misha Aloyan, RUS
Bronzes:  Vincenzo Picardo, ITA & Rau'shee Warren, USA

Men's 56K
Gold:  Anvar Yunusov, TJK
Silver:  Lazaro Alvarez, CUB
Bronzes:  Luke Cambpell, GBR & John Nevin, IRL

Men's 60K
Gold:  Domenico Valentino, ITA
Silver:  Vasyl Lomacenko, UKR
Bronzes:  Yasniel Toledo, CUB & Luke Jackson, AUS

Men's 64K
Gold:  Tom Stalker, GBR
Silver:  Uranchimegiin Monkj-Erdene, MGL
Bronzes:  Everton Lopes, BRA & Vincenzo Mangiacapre, ITA

Men's 69K
Gold:  Taras Shelestyuk, UKR
Silver:  Fred Evans, GBR
Bronzes:  Maimaitituersun Qiong, CHN & Vikas Krishan Yadav, IND

Men's 75K
Gold:  Evhen Krytrov, UKR
Silver:  Ryota Murata, JPN
Bronzes:  Abdelmalek Rahou, ALG & Bogdan Juratoni, ROU

Men's 81K
Gold:  Julio Cesar la Cruz, CUB
Silver:  Damien Hooper, AUS
Bronzes:  Meng Fanlong, CHN & Adilbek Niyazymbetov, KAZ

Men's 91K
Gold:  Teymur Mammadov, AZE
Silver:  Wang Xuanxuan, CHN
Bronzes:  Oleksandr Usyk, UKR & Chouaib Bouloudinats, ALG

Men's 91+K
Gold:  Magomedrasul Majidov, AZE
Silver:  Roberto Cammarelle, ITA
Bronzes:  Anthony Joshua, GBR & Erislandy Savon, CUB

Women's  51K
Gold:  Ren Cancan, CHN
Silver:  Nicola Adams, GBR
Bronzes:  Mary Kom, IND & Karolina Michalczuk, POL

Women's 60K
Gold:  Katie Taylor, IRL
Silver:  Sofya Ochigava, RUS
Bronzes:  Dong Cheng, CHN & Adriana Araujo, BRA

Women's 75K
Gold:  Savannah Marshall, GBR
Silver:  Nadezda Torlopova, RUS
Bronzes:  Li Jinzi, CHN & Mary Spencer, CAN

Predictions - Badminton

Men's Singles
Gold:  Lin Dan, CHN
Silver:  Lee Chong Wei, MAL
Bronze:  Chen Long, CHN
Lin overtook Lee as world #1 by defeating him in the All-England final.

Men's Doubles:
Gold:  Chung Jae Sung & Lee Yong Dae, KOR
Silver:  Cai Yun & Fu Haifeng, CHN
Bronze: Mathias Boe & Carsten Mogensen, DEN
The Koreans edged the World Champion Chinese at the All-England finals, taking the final two sets.  The 13th seed are the Americans Howard Back and Tony Gunawan, the 2005 World Champions.  They were unable to compete in Beijing as Gunawan was not yet an American citizen.

Women's Singles
Gold:  Wang Yin, CHN
Silver:  Wang Xin, CHN
Bronze:  Wang Shixian, CHN
Wang Xin lost in the first round at the All-England tournament where Li Xuerui led a Chinese sweep, expect whichever three Chinese women are entered, they will be favored to sweep the medals.

Women's Doubles
Gold:  Wang Xiaoli & Yun Yang, CHN
Silver:  Tian Qing & Zhao Yuniei, CHN
Bronze:  Ha Jung En & Kim Min Jung, KOR
Tian & Qing defeated Wang & Yun at the All-England finals, a reversal of last year's worlds.  Japan and India have teams that could also contend for bronze.

Mixed Doubles
Gold:  Zhang Nan & Zhao Yuniei, CHN
Silver:  Xu Chen & Ma Jin, CHN
Bronze:  Joachim Fischer Nielsen & Christinna Pedersen, DEN
In the most wide-open of the badminton events, the hometown hopes will be pinned on the #10 seeds, Chris Adcock & Imogen Bankier.

Predictions - Archery

Men's Individual
Gold:  Bradley Ellison, USA
Silver:  Dong Hyun Im, KOR
Bronze:  Woonjim Kim, KOR
Ellison is the world ranked #1 and the Worlds bronze medalist, but it's hard to bet against the Koreans in the Olympics

Men's Team
Gold:  United States
Silver:  France
Bronze:  South Korea

Women's Individual
Gold:  Deepika Kumari, IND
Silver:  Bo Bae Ki, KOR
Bronze:  Yuting Fang, CHN
The current World Champion is Denisse van Lamoen of Chile, she will carry her country's flag in the opening ceremony.

Women's Team
Gold:  South Korea
Silver:  India
Bronze:  Ukraine
The South Koreans have won this event in each of the six Olympiads in which the event has been contested.

Croatian High Jumper Blanka Vlasic Out of Olympics

The 2008 Olympic silver medalist and twice World Champion Blanka Vlasic will not compete in London.  Vlasic has been battling problems with her ankle for over a year.  Surgery this winter lead to an infection which kept her from being in top form for the Games.  Vlasic has been the best high jumper in the world for most of the last five years, and she is one of the most popular track and field athletes in the world who entertains fans with her variety of dances after each successful jump. 

Predictions - Team Sports

Men's Basketball
Gold:  United States
Silver:  Argentina
Bronze:  Spain
The U.S. will be an overwhelming favorite, with a slew of teams in contention for the lesser medals, including Lithuania, Russia and France.

Women's Basketball
Gold:  United States
Silver:  Australia
Bronze:  Russia
It should be another American/Australian final.  Czech Republic won the silver at Worlds behind MVP Hana Horakova.

Men's Field Hockey
Gold:  Australia
Silver:  Great Britain
Bronze:  Germany
The home team will be well supported and could bring home a gold medal.

Women's Field Hockey
Gold:  Argentina
Silver:  Netherlands
Bronze:  Great Britain
Argentina had to make the tournament as an invitee after South Africa relinquished their automatic birth from Africa (they qualified anyway).  The favorites were upset in the Pan American Games final by the United States, who will be an outside medal threat.

Men's Soccer
Gold:  Spain
Silver:  Uruguay
Bronze:  Great Britain
Hard to judge the competition has only three players over the age of 23 are allowed to compete.  Spain looks to cement themselves as the best in the world, while there has been a lot of press surrounding a combined Great Britain team including Scots and Welshman for the first time in decades.

Women's Soccer
Gold:  United States
Silver:  Brazil
Bronze:  Japan
The flawed qualifying process leaves Germany, ranked second in the world, out of the Olympics.  It was decided that the two European qualifiers would be determined at the 2011 World Cup.  When Germany won their pool, but got knocked out by Japan in the quarterfinals, they were out as Sweden and France advanced to the semifinals.  Japan may not be able to watch their World Cup run, leaving the U.S. and Brazil to fight for gold.

Men's Team Handball
Gold:  France
Silver:  Denmark
Bronze:  Sweden
France is the defending champions and won the Worlds in 2009 and 2011 and the Europeans in 2010.  The top 11 teams at Worlds were from Europe.

Women's Team Handball
Gold:  Norway
Silver:  France
Bronze:  Denmark
Brazil could make a run at the medals, but that may be more likely in 2016.

Men's Volleyball
Gold:  Brazil
Silver:  Poland
Bronze:  Russia
This is the reverse order of the podium from the 2011 World Cup.  The Americans are improving, losing to Poland in the World League Final last month.

Women's Volleyball
Gold:  United States
Silver:  Brazil
Bronze:  China
Italy and Serbia also field strong squads.  The U.S. is looking for a first ever women's gold after silver four years ago.  Hugh McCutcheon is coaching the U.S. after leading the men's team to the Olympic gold in Beijing.

Men's Water Polo
Gold:  Italy
Silver:  Serbia
Bronze:  Croatia
Italy won the Wolds, Serbia the World League.  All the games in the final four the the 2011 Worlds were decided by one goal.  The U.S. ranks about fifth or sixth.

Women's Water Polo
Gold:  Russia
Silver:  Italy
Bronze:  United States
Greece won the World Championships last year,  downing China in the final.  However, a quarterfinal loss to Spain at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament leaves the Greeks out of the Games.

London is Coming! - Swimming Predictions

I'm back with London just two weeks away.  I will try to predict each of the 302 events in London, starting today with swimming:

Men's 50 Meter Freestyle
Gold:  Cesar Cielo Filho, BRA
Silver:  Cullen Jones, USA
Bronze:  Anthony Ervin, USA
The two veteran Americans were very fast at the Olympic Trials and figure to be the top challengers to the defending champion.

Men's 100 Meter Freestyle
Gold:  James Magnusson, AUS
Silver:  Yannick Agnel, FRA
Bronze:  James Roberts, AUS
Magnusson is the new face of the event, but Agnel has great potential and versatility.

Men's 200 Meter Freestyle
Gold:  Ryan Lochte, USA
Silver;  Yannick Agnel, FRA
Bronze:  Paul Biedermann, GER
With Phelps passing on this event, the way seems clear for Lochte, but there are a slew of challengers and don;t discount Park Tae-Hwan.

Men's 400 Meter Freestyle
Gold:  Park Tae Hwan, KOR
Silver:  Sun Yang, CHN
Bronze:  Hao Yun, CHN
Expect Park to close furiously in the last 50 meters and repeat his gold medal.

Men's 1500 Meter Freestyle
Gold:  Sun Yang, CHN
Silver:  Ryan Cochrane, CAN
Bronze:  Pal Joensen, DEN
Joensen is from the Faroe Islands, but since they did not have an Olympic committee, he must compete for Denmark.

Men's 100 Meter Backstroke
Gold:  Matt Grevers, USA
Silver:  Camille Lacourt, FRA
Bronze:  Liam Tancock, GBR
Grevers had a huge swim at the Trials, Tancock is the best medal hope for the British men.

Men's 200 Meter Backstroke
Gold:  Ryan Lochte, USA
Silver:  Ryosuke Irie, JPN
Bronze:  Tyler Clary, USA
This would be a repeat of the podium results from last year's World Championships in Shanghai.

Men's 100 Meter Butterfly
Gold:  Michael Phelps, USA
Silver:  Tyler McGill, USA
Bronze:  Milorad Cavic, SRB
Cavic is rounding into form with a European Championship for the first time since his 2010 spinal surgery, so another epic battle with Phelps is possible.  Remember, Cavic goes out quickly and Phelps closes furiously, Phelps won by 0.01 in Beijing.

Men's 200 Meter Butterfly
Gold:  Michael Phelps, USA
Silver:  Takeshi Matsuda, JPN
Bronze:  We Peng, CHN
Phelps should win comfortably in his best event.

Men's 100 Meter Breaststroke
Gold:  Kosuke Kitajima, JPN
Silver:  Fabio Scozzoli, ITA
Bronze:  Cameron van der Burgh, RSA
The 2011 World Champion, Alexander Dale Oen of Norway died of a heart attack in April.

Men's 200 Meter Breaststoke
Gold:  Kosuke Kitajima, JPN
Silver:  Daniel Gyurta, HUN
Bronze:  Ryo Tateishi, JPN
Kitajima will be favored to sweep the breaststroke events for the third consecutive Games.

Men's 200 Meter Individual Medley
Gold:  Michael Phelps, USA
Silver:  Ryan Lochte, USA
Bronze:  Laszlo Cseh, HUN
Phelps v. Lochte II, expect another epic battle.  Lochte broke the only world record at the Worlds last year in this event.

Men's 400 Meter Individual Medley
Gold:  Ryan Lochte, USA
Silver:  Michael Phelps, USA
Bronze:  Kosuke Hagino, JPN
Phelps v Lochte I, this final will take place on the first day of competition.  I'm sure NBC will make some mention of it.

Men's 4x100 Meter Freestyle Relay
Gold:  Australia
Silver:  United States
Bronze:  France
Magnusson should give the Aussies the edge of the Americans and French.  Will the Americans use Phelps & Lochte, neither of whom qualified for the individual 100 free. 

Men's 4x200 Meter Freestyle Relay
Gold:  United States
Silver:  France
Bronze:  Australia
When you put Phelps and Lochte together on this relay, the Americans should win easily.

Men's 4x100 Meter Medley Relay
Gold:  United States
Silver:  Australia
Bronze:  Japan
Japan should hold off Brazil, France and Russia.  Expect the Brits to be in contention early, but they do not have an elite freestyler.  Will Lochte take a spot in this event over Nick Thomas or Tyler McGill?

Women's 50 Meter Freestyle
Gold:  Francesca Halsall, GBR
Silver:  Ranomi Kromowidjojo, NED
Bronze:  Britta Steffen, GER
World champion Therese Alshammar of Sweden has not shown form yet this year, but the veteran is looking for her first gold in her fifth Olympics.

Women's 100 Metre Freestyle
Gold:  Ranomi Kromowidjojo, NED
Silver:  Francesca Halsall, GBR
Bronze:  Sarah Sjoestroem, SWE
The gold medal favorite is an announcer's nightmare in a sprint event.

Women's 200 Meter Freestyle
Gold:  Allison Schmidt, USA
Silver:  Camille Muffat, FRA
Bronze:  Federica Pellegrini, ITA
Schmidt was great at the Olympic Trials, but has to prove herself in an international championship.

Women's 400 Meter Freestyle
Gold:  Rebecca Adlington, GBR
Silver:  Camille Muffat, FRA
Bronze:  Federica Pellegrini, ITA
The home country has a lot of hopes pinned on the double Beijing champion.  Pellegrini could win if she is at her best.

Women's 800 Meter Freestyle
Gold:  Rebecca Adlington, GBR
Silver:  Lotte Friis, DEN
Bronze:  Katie Ledecky, USA
American Kate Ziegler won this event at the 2005 and 2007 Worlds, but failed to make the final in Beijing.

Women's 100 Meter Backstroke
Gold:  Missy Franklin, USA
Silver:  Anastasia Zueva, RUS
Bronze:  Aya Terekawa, JPN
Franklin is better over the longer distance, but she is the fastest in the world in this event also.

Women's 200 Meter Backstroke
Gold:  Missy Franklin, USA
Silver:  Belinda Hocking, AUS
Bronze:  Anastasia Zueva, RUS
The World Champion, this is Franklin's best event and she could challenge the world record.

Women's 100 Meter Butterfly
Gold:  Alicia Coutts, AUS
Silver: Dana Vollmer, USA
Bronze:  Ellen Gandy, GBR
Vollmer edged Coutts at the Worlds last year, I'm picking the upset here.

Women's 200 Meter Butterfly
Gold:  Natsumi Hoshi, JPN
Silver:  Jiao Liuyang, CHN
Bronze:  Ellen Gandy, GBR
Jiao edged Gandy at the Worlds last year.  Hoshi has the fastest time in the World this year.

Women's 100 Meter Breaststroke
Gold:  Rebecca Soni, USA
Silver:  Breeja Larson, USA
Bronze:  Leiston Pickett, AUS
She hasn't shown the form yet this year, but don't count Australia's Liesel Jones.

Women's 200 Meter Breaststroke
Gold:  Rebecca Soni, USA
Silver:  Satomi Suzuki, JPN
Bronze:  Micah Lawrence, AUS
Soni is the defending champion and this is her strongest event.

Women's 200 Meter Individual Medley
Gold:  Ye Shiwen, CHN
Silver:  Stephanie Rice, AUS
Bronze:  Alicia Coutts, AUS
This should be one of the most broadly competitive events of the meet with the Americans Ariana Kukors and Caitlyn Levernz in the mix as well.

Women's 400 Meter Individual Medley
Gold:  Elizabeth Beisel, USA
Silver:  Hannah Miley, GBR
Bronze:  Zheng Rongrong, CHN
Beisel won the 2011 Worlds impressively, Miley will have the crowd behind her.

Women's 4x100 Meter Freestyle Relay
Gold:  Netherlands
Silver:  Australia
Bronze:  United States
The Dutch have dominated this event over the last four years, neither the Aussies nor the Americans have a swimmer within about a second of Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands.

Women's 4x200 Meter Freestyle
Gold:  United States
Silver:  Australia
Bronze:  Great Britian
The Americans have a very strong team, Adlington could help the Brits onto the podium.

Women's 4x100 Meter Medley Relay
Gold:  United States
Silver:  Australia
Bronze:  Japan
With Franklin-Soni-Vollmer-Hardy, the Americans could win by over two seconds.  Expect the Chinese, Swedes and British to contend for the lesser medals.