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MEDALS TABLE

Through 40 medal events

Country G S B Tot

United States 6 6 8 20

China 10 3 3 16

South Korea 5 5 0 10

Italy 3 3 2 8

Australia 3 0 4 7

Russia 0 4 3 7

Japan 2 1 2 5

France 0 3 2 5

North Korea 0 2 3 5

Britain 2 0 1 3

Netherlands 1 1 1 3

Czech Republic 2 0 0 2

Finland 1 0 1 2

Spain 1 0 1 2

Zimbabwe 0 2 0 2

Austria 0 1 1 2

Cuba 0 1 1 2

Germany 0 1 1 2

Brazil 0 0 2 2

Indonesia 0 0 2 2

Azerbaijan 1 0 0 1

India 1 0 0 1

Romania 1 0 0 1

Thailand 1 0 0 1

Colombia 0 1 0 1

Hungary 0 1 0 1

Norway 0 1 0 1

Slovakia 0 1 0 1

Sweden 0 1 0 1

Turkey 0 1 0 1

Vietnam 0 1 0 1

Algeria 0 0 1 1

Argentina 0 0 1 1

Belarus 0 0 1 1

Croatia 0 0 1 1

Georgia 0 0 1 1

Switzerland 0 0 1 1

Taiwan 0 0 1 1

Tajikistan 0 0 1 1

Uzbekistan 0 0 1 1

STAR OF THE DAY

NATALIE COUGHLIN

The American won the 100-meter backstroke, becoming the first woman to successfully defend her Olympic title in the event.

NUMBER OF THE DAY

The U.S. swimmers needed about 20 minutes to double the country's gold medal haul, with Michael Phelps, Natalie Coughlin and Aaron Piersol notching victories in the pool.

RATINGS BONANZA

NBC's prime-time Olympics coverage averaged 31.7 million viewers on Sunday night, or 6 million more than the comparable night in Athens four years ago. The Americans' thrilling swimming relay win kept alive Michael Phelps' bid for eight gold medals, a big draw for the network.

INVENTION OF THE DAY

The Chinese invented the abacus in 3000 B.C., when the need to count sheep surpassed the number of fingers and toes of the average human being, at that time around 10.

An abacus was a frame, usually made of wood, with beads strung on wires that the user would slide up and down.

It wasn't an ancient calculator so much as an ancient computer. It kept track of numbers for the user, who did the calculations.

TODAY'S BEST BET

WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS

The United States and China are expected to battle for the team gold medal in NBC's prime-time coverage, which begins at 8 p.m.

QUOTEWORTHY

"The Americans? We're going to smash them. That's what we came here for."

ALAIN BERNARD

FRENCH SWIMMER, BEFORE THE MEN'S 400-METER FREESTYLE RELAY FINAL, IN WHICH HE SWAM HIS TEAM'S ANCHOR LEG

"We heard the Frenchies were talking some stuff.''

GARRET WEBER-GALE

AMERICAN SWIMMER, AFTER TEAMING WITH MICHAEL PHELPS, CULLEN JONES AND JASON LEZAK TO BEAT FRANCE IN THE RACE, WITH LEZAK MAKING A STUNNING RALLY TO BEAT BERNARD TO THE WALL

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