U.S. brings home the gold

Gymnast Gabrielle Douglas, 16, won gold in the women’s individual all-around and the women’s team competition.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Missy Franklin, 17, was among the most successful athletes at the London Olympics, winning gold in the women’s 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke as well as in the 4x100m medley relay and 4x200m freestyle relay.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Ashton Eaton won gold in the men’s decathlon. The decathlon has 10 events: 1,500-meter race, javelin throw, pole vault, discus throw, 110m hurdles, 400m race, high jump, shot put, long jump and 100m race.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Claressa Shields became the first American woman to receive a boxing gold medal, winning in the 75kg weight class.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Swimmer Tyler Clary won gold in the men’s 200-meter backstroke.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Allyson Felix of Los Angeles is the first U.S. woman to win three gold medals in track since 1988. She won the 200-meter gold in 21.88 seconds. She was also on the gold medal-winning teams for the women’s 4x400-meter relay and 4x100-meter relay.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Teammates Misty May-Treanor, right, and Kerri Walsh Jennings won gold in beach volleyball for the third straight Olympics. They beat a second American team in the finals.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Michael Phelps has the most Olympic medals of any athlete, 22, and the most gold, 18. He won four gold medals in London, in the men’s 100-meter butterfly, the 200-meter individual medley, the team 4x100-meter medley relay and the team 4x200-meter freestyle relay.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The Williams sisters took gold in women’s doubles tennis for the third time.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Aries Merritt won gold in the men’s 110-meter hurdles.  (Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)

The women’s soccer team avenged their loss in the World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Japan. It was the third consecutive gold medal for the American team.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Aly Raisman won gold in the women’s floor exercise and the women’s team competition.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Jennifer Suhr cleared the bar at 15 feet 7 inches to win gold in women’s pole vault.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

The U.S. Dream Team beat Spain 107-100 in a gold medal rematch of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Kim Rhode won gold in women’s skeet shooting. She has won a medal in every Summer Olympic Games since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.   (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Swimmer Dana Vollmer won gold in the women’s 100-meter butterfly in a world-record time of 55.98 seconds. She also swam on gold-medal winning teams in the women’s 4x100-meter medley relay and 4x200-meter freestyle relay.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

David Boudia won gold in men’s 10-meter platform diving, becoming the first American man to win the event since 1988.  (Barbara Walton / EPA)

Christian Taylor won gold in the men’s triple jump. His 17.81-meter jump is the longest this year.  (Chris McGrath / Getty Images)

From left, Tianna Madison, Carmelita Jeter, Bianca Knight and Allyson Felix won the women’s 4x100-meter relay sprint in a world record time of 40.82 seconds.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Kristin Armstrong won gold in the individual time trial for road cycling. At 38, she was the oldest woman to win a cycling gold medal.  (Alex Livesey / Getty Images)

Ryan Lochte won gold in the men’s 400-meter individual medley and in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Jamie Gray won gold in the women’s 50-meter rifle three-position.  (Marwan Namani / AFP / Getty Images)

Sanya Richards-Ross won gold in the women’s 400-meter sprint and as the anchor for the 4x400-meter relay team.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Allison Schmitt set an Olympic record and won gold in the women’s 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:53.61. She also won team gold medals in the women’s 4x100-meter medley relay and 4x200-meter freestyle relay.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Brothers Mike, left, and Bob Bryan won gold in men’s doubles tennis.  (Luis Acosta / AFP / Getty Images)

The women’s water polo team beat Spain 8-5 to win gold.  (Gary Ambrose / Los Angeles Times)

Rebecca Soni won gold in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke and set a world record time of 2:19:59.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The eight-person U.S. team won gold in 6:10.59, just over a second faster than the silver medal-winning Canadian team.  (Armando Franca / AFP / Getty Images)

Jake Varner of Bakersfield won gold in the men’s 96kg freestyle wrestling competition.  (Yuri Cortez / AFP / Getty Images)

The United States women’s basketball team won gold in dominant fashion, beating France 86-50 in the final. It was the fifth straight Olympic gold medal for the U.S. women’s team.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Matthew Grevers won gold in the men’s 100-meter backstroke and the 4x100-meter medley relay. His 52.16 time in the backstroke was an Olympic record.   (Daniel Ochoa De Olza / Associated Press)

Brittney Reese won gold in the women’s long jump.  (Adrian Dennis / AFP / Getty Images)

From left, Francena Mccorory, Allyson Felix, DeeDee Trotter and Sanya Richards-Ross won gold in the women’s 4x400-meter relay.  (Franck Fife / AFP / Getty Images)

Nathan Adrian won gold in the men’s 100-meter freestyle and the 4x100-meter medley relay.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Vincent Hancock won gold in men’s skeet shooting.  (Lars Baron / Getty Images)

Kayla Harrison won gold in women’s 78kg judo. She became the first American woman to win a judo medal.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Serena Williams beat Russia’s Maria Sharapova to win her first gold medal in women’s singles tennis.  (Gary Ambrose / Los Angeles Times)

From left, Jordyn Wieber, Gabrielle Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Alexandra Raisman and Kyla Ross won the gold in women’s team artistic gymnastics.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

From left, Michael Phelps, Conor Dwyer, Ryan Lochte and Ricky Berens beat France to win gold in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay.  (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

From left, swimmers Nathan Adrian, Matthew Grevers, Brendan Hansen and Michael Phelps won gold in the men’s 4x100-meter medley relay.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Swimmers Dana Vollmer, Rebecca Soni, Missy Franklin and Allison Schmitt won gold in the women’s 4x100-meter medley relay. They set a world record at 3:52.05 minutes.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

From left, Allison Schmitt, Shannon Vreeland, Dana Vollmer and Missy Franklin won gold in the women’s 4x200-meter freestyle relay.  (David J. Phillip / Associated Press)