Great Britain May Top Their Medal Count From 2012

The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio are very nearly at an end, which means it'll be a good long while before you'll get to see all those exciting events again, at least not nearly on the level you've gotten to witness over the past few weeks. But there are still a few more intriguing storylines here and there to hold your attention, in advance of the closing ceremony on Sunday, August 21st ― for example, will Great Britain come back stronger in the medal count?

UPDATE: Mo Farah has won the 5000-meter final, giving Britain its 65th medal, tying its total from 2012. Morgan Lake has finished 10th in the high jump, meaning Great Britain has just four events remaining to win it's 66th medal.

If you're not familiar with this particular topic, rest assured you're not alone ― whether you hail from a country that's rife with medals this year or one that lost out, there's a pretty good chance you're not spending much time reviewing the medal counts of other countries. But you ought to look alive, because the British are on-track for an unprecedented feat: they could end the Rio Olympics with more total medals than they won in 2012, which is notable because they were hosting the games back then.

During the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Great Britain came away with 65 total medals, 29 of them gold. So far in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, they've netted 64 total medals, albeit just 26 of them gold. Still, in 2012 they finished third in total golds behind the U.S. and China, whereas this year, they're trailing only the U.S. which boasts a staggering 41 gold medals.

If Britain can indeed pull this off, it'll be good for their second-highest medal count ever, trailing only the 1908 Olympics, also in London, when it won a mind-blowing 146 medals, 56 of them gold. Suffice to say that record will never be broken, but in the modern era, the show that British Olympians are putting on is pretty impressive.

If you're interested to see how it all shakes out, you'll want to follow the remaining medal events between now and the closing ceremony. Morgan Lake and Mo Farah are competing on Saturday night with medals on the line in the women's high jump and men's 5000-meter dash respectively, while Team Britain will also run in the 4x400-meter women's relay race.

And then on Sunday, prior to the closing ceremony, the final events will play out ― Britain will be represented in the men's marathon, men's cross-country, and men's super-heavy over 75kg boxing, as well. In other words, they've got a golden opportunity to walk away with the second-most medals in these games, but not much longer to do it.