Asians make big splash, leave Europeans lagging behind

LONDON, Aug 2:
With the London Olympic Games having entered into the sixth day, the Asian countries led by China are dominating the proceedings with traditional sports toppers like Great Britain and Russia lagging behind.
Chinese dominance has transcended to unconquered territories as well in the current edition of the mega sporting event, with its competitors reigning supreme in disciplines like swimming, a segment that had not been their forte in earlier Games.
Going into the sixth day of competitions, the Asian giants had clinched 17 gold, nine silver and four bronze medals, with swimmers attributing to eight (4-2-2) of the 30 medals won by the country followed closely by weightlifters (4-2-0).
In hot pursuit of China was the United States of America with 29 medals, including 12 golds, and in third position were South Korea, a surprise, with 12 medals (6-2-4).
In fact in the top 10 on the medals table after Day 5 were North Korea (4-0-1), Kazakhstan (3-0-0) and former Asian toppers Japan (2-4-11), an indication of the shift in sports prowess, though, athletics — starting tomorrow — could change things drastically.
India, meanwhile, continued to lag far behind and were bringing up the rear of the medals table in the quadrennial event managing just one bronze through Gagan Narang in the 10m air rifle.
West Asian nations, barring Qatar, have drawn a blank, while countries forming the South-East Asia, have also not found a place in the medals chart.
While the USA has continued to be in the hunt for the top position, the traditional power centers like Russia, Great Britain and Germany, that finished third, fourth and fifth respectively in the medal standings in 2008 at Beijing, have lagged behind in the medal haul.(PTI)

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