Saturday, August 11, 2012

US opens up big lead in medals race

(CBS News) LONDON -- This is the final weekend of competition at the London Olympics. The closing ceremony is Sunday.

Team USA has established a large lead in the medals count.

Going into Saturday's events, the U.S. had won 94 medals, including 41 gold. China had 81, with 37 of them gold. And Russia was third, with 64 total and 15 gold.

Kobe Bryant scored lots of three-pointers early in the basketball semi-finals in London, and the U.S. men's team wound up outscoring Argentina by 26 points.

America's win on the court sets up a rematch Sunday of the finals in Beijing four years ago, when the U.S. grabbed gold by topping Spain.

Saturday night, the women's team will be in a gold medal match, too, against France.

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On the wrestling mat, New Jersey native Jordan Burroughs kept true to his word. He'd promised to tweet a picture of himself holding a gold medal, and he got the chance.

From the user name "All I see is gold," he posted the photo, writing, "I did it."

In the 4x100 relay, the U.S. women's team won gold and broke a 27-year-old world record, by just half-a-second.

The man known as "The Blade Runner" didn't shatter any records or win any medals at the games, but he did make history by simply competing. In his second event in London, the 4x400 relay, South Africa's Oscar Pistorius and his team finished last, but his events marked the first time a double amputee had raced in the Olympics. He runs on special blades.