Olympics Gold Remains Elusive For Team GB

The good news is that Team GB already has four Olympic medals under its belt after four days of sporting action in the country's capital. The less good news (let's not call it bad just yet), is that a gold medal remains elusive.

But we before we start mourning, let's not forget that we've only seen four days of competition, with lots of Olympic action ahead of us, and if these past days are anything to go by, just about anything can happen. In just a short space of time, we've seen stars fall, and unexpected athletes rise above expectations, and here's to bet that the rest of the Olympics will be just as much as a roller coaster ride.

Take a look at those who we believed would be sure gold winners - cyclist Mark Cavendish, swimmer Hannah Miley and the darling of the crowd, teen diver Tom Daley. All three, without exception, failed miserably on their way to the top of the podium, despite such high hopes.

But on the flip side, we've seen the men's artistic gymnastic team win the country's first Olympic honour in the event for over a century when they won bronze. In fact, no British gymnastic team has qualified for the Olympic final in the past 88 years! Not many would have thought that it would be precisely in this area that Team GB would shine through in the London Games, but there you have it - the unpredictability of these Olympics at its finest.

Two Silver, Two Bronze Medals

So where have Team GB been particularly successful in the past four days of the London Games? The final tally at the time of going to print sees the United Kingdom with four medals - two silver and two bronze.

Elizabeth Armistead landed the first silver medal on Day 2 of the Olympics in the Women's Road Race Event, coming in just behind the Netherlands' Marianne Vos.

In the Equestrian Team Eventing section, Team GB, starring Princess Zara, came in second behind Germany and ahead of New Zealand.

In swimming, Rebecca Adlington came in to touch the wall in third place in the Women's 400m Freestyle Event, while the second bronze went to the Men's Gymnastics Team today.

As things stand, the United Kingdom is listed as 21 on the list of total medal winners this far in the competition, far, far behind the number one ranked China with 19 medals so far (10 of them gold) and the United States in a close second with 18 medals in total (6 gold). Beijing 2008 saw us come in fourth place overall.

Do We Have a Chance to Nail these Olympics?

While the gold remains elusive, there is no reason to panic just yet. The British Olympic Association insists that we're still on course for a gold rush and says that, across the board, there is no sense among team members that we're not delivering of our best. Andy Hunt of the Association said yesterday that we are actually where we expected to be at this stage of the London Games.

So let's look on the bright side - we have bronze from an event that was totally unexpected, and even though Daley and Cavendish failed to deliver, there are still plenty of other events where we can definitely shine through. Whether we will beat our Beijing gold medal count of 19 remains to be seen, but until then, there is still plenty of time to remain glued to our screens and watch Team GB perform in areas such as rowing, time trial, triathlon, sailing, track cycling and open water swimming - areas where we really have a chance to shine through.

We'll also be backing our teams at multiple UK sports betting sites, where odds are offered on all Olympic sports.

 Posted by Renee Israel at 09:07 on 1 August 2012