The U.S. has won more medals so far than any other country in the 2008 Summer Olympics, holding a thin lead over host China.
Competing in the Olympics must be an amazing feeling. You represent your nation with millions of people rooting for you. There is an amazing amount of goodwill from complete strangers who are proud because their country gave a good showing on an international stage. For many, politics are pushed aside and the Games are something that connect us, not divides us.
To win at that level -- a gold medal -- must be truly amazing. At that moment, you are the best in the world. No one is better.
I have not won in the Olympics, but I have been a world champion in baseball. I can tell you there is no feeling like that imaginable. You can't get any more satisfaction than knowing you are the best on the planet. It's the prize every ballplayer strives for, and on that night 22 years ago, no one on the planet could say they were better than me.
China leads in the gold medal count with 45. It also has 15 silver and 21 bronze. The U.S. has 27 golds, 28 silvers and 28 bronze medals. No other countries are even close.
Is it better to have more gold medals, or more medals overall? The answer is a difficult one. The U.S. has won a total of 83 medals vs. 81 for China. Because the totals are so close, I would definitely say China has the edge. After all, essentially this means that they medaled pretty much an equal number of times. While the Americans were grabbing second- and third-place finishes, China was finishing on top more often.
Lenny Dykstra
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