Day 16 of the Olympic Games showcased some of the world’s best athletes such as Usain Bolt and Ashton Eaton, while also highlighting great achievements by Team USA in multiple events.

The overall team effort by U.S. teams in today’s action made Day 16 one of the most exciting and flashiest days in Olympic competition. The Americans took control of the medal count over the Chinese and are starting to separate themselves as the most dominant nation in Olympic play.

Team USA won gold in competitions it has historically struggled to reach the top podium in — women’s water polo being one of them — while also putting itself in great position to finish strong in track and field when competition concludes this weekend. 

With only three days remaining in Olympic play, the U.S. will ride the momentum of a strong Day 16 of competition towards winning the most gold medals and the most medals overall in London.

On this day, the women took center stage for Team USA in a day jammed pack with medal events.

Story of the Day: U.S. women's soccer gets revenge against Japan in Olympic Final, 2-1

In an epic rematch of the 2011 World Cup Final, Team USA rode the two-goal effort of Carli Lloyd to clinch Olympic gold. Lloyd opened up the scoring affair with an early eighth-minute goal and followed it up with an amazing run to the net, firing in a shot from 20 feet away.

Japan responded to the early U.S. success in the 63rd minute when Yuki Ogimi answered, cutting the lead to one. Japan had golden opportunities at the end of the match, most notably, Asuna Tanaka’s shot in the 83rd minute that required a diving save by Hope Solo to preserve the lead.

After the match, Team USA was jubilated, now three-time defending Olympic champions. The U.S. wanted the opportunity to redeem itself for last year's World Cup shootout loss. Bringing home gold in front of a Wembley Stadium crowd of 80,023 — a record for an Olympic women's soccer match — did the trick.

Usain Bolt Makes History… Again

At an all-Jamaican podium, 25-year-old superstar Usain Bolt captured the 200-meter final in 19.32 seconds. Fellow countrymen and biggest competitor, Yohan Blake, finished second at 19.44 seconds, while Warren Weir took home the bronze with a time of 19.84.

Wallace Spearmon, the Americans' best chance at medaling in this event, finished fourth in 19.90. Spearmon finished in the bronze medal position in the 200 meters at the Beijing Games, but was disqualified for stepping out of his lane.

Bolt once again proved he was the fastest man in the world and is now the first Olympian to win the 100- and 200-meter races in consecutive Games.

Bolt still has one race remaining on Saturday in the men's 4x100-meter relay, giving him a chance to finish six-for-six with golds in Olympic competition in his career.

Women’s Water Polo Final: USA 8, Spain 5

For a team that had won silver twice, bronze once but never gold, the victory over Spain in the water polo finals was all the more sweet. Maggie Steffens had a five-goal performance, cementing her event-high 21-goal tournament.  

Goalkeeper Betsey Armstrong continued her dominance this tournament by notching another strong performance to secure the victory for the U.S.

Up 5-2 at halftime, Team USA looked like the stronger unit and was able to flex its muscles all the way to Olympic gold. The Americans look primed for gold in 2016, with the 19-year-old Steffens leading the charge.

Middleweight Claressa Shields Wins Olympic Gold

In a sport that has been highly controversial in London, Claressa Shields took home the first-ever Olympic gold in women’s boxing. This relatively new competition allowed Shields to bring exposure, but more importantly, success to a relatively unknown sport.

In the final against Russian Nadezda Torlopova, Shields dominated and brought home gold. Shields' power and elusiveness were far too much for the 33-year-old Russian, allowing her to win fairly easily, 19-12.

For the first time in Olympic history, the historically dominant men’s boxing team came home with no medals, making Shields' victory stand out as the greatest American boxing performance in the 2012 Olympics.

Team USA Qualifies for Indoor Volleyball Finals

In today’s semifinal matchup, Team USA defeated No. 15-ranked South Korea in straight sets (25-20, 25-22, 25-22) at Earls Court in London to reach the finals.

Destinee Hooker led the way for the U.S. with a team-high 24 points on 21 kills, none bigger than her six straight kills to take control of the first set. 

Jordan Larson (Hooper, Neb.) scored 14 points with 10 kills, three blocks and an ace. Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.) added 12 points on eight kills while Logan Tom (Salt Lake City, Utah) provided six kills, a block and an ace, totaling eight points.

Team USA (7-0) will face second-seeded Brazil on Saturday for a chance to win its first-ever gold in women’s indoor volleyball.

Women’s Basketball Survives Australia to Reach Gold Medal Game

After falling behind at the half, the U.S. found a way to pull out a nail-biter against Australia, 86-73.

Diana Taurasi and Tina Charles led the way for Team USA with 14 points each, fueling the second-half surge for the gold-medal favorites.

Australian forward Lauren Jackson gave the Americans trouble all night, grabbing 17 rebounds while scoring 14 points. Her teammate, 6-foot-8 center Liz Cambage, gave the U.S. fits all night, scoring 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting.

Though Australia put up a tremendous effort, when it mattered most, the Americans' speed and depth were too much to handle. The U.S. went on a 16-6 burst to build a 65-59 lead at the end of the third quarter, which the team carried all the way to the victory.

Team USA now prepares for a matchup with France on Saturday to decide the Olympic gold medalist.

USC Athletes

USC showcased 14 athletes in today’s competition with six of them taking home Olympic medals for Team USA. Team USC now stands at nine gold, six silver and four bronze medals in the 2012 Olympics, which would place it seventh best in gold totals and tied for 10th in overall medal tally.

Here is a synopsis of USC athletes in today’s competition:

Duane Solomon (Track and field: Men's 800 meters - USA) -- Finals (4th)

Josh Mance (Track and field: Men's 4x400 Relay - USA) -- Semifinals (2nd)

Bryshon Nellum (Track and field: Men's 4x400 Relay - USA) -- Semifinals (2nd)

Felix Sanchez (Track and field: Men's 4x400 Relay - Dominican Republic) -- Semifinals (Disqualified)

Haley Anderson (Swimming: Women's 10 kilometers - USA) -- (SILVER)

Tumua Anae, Kami Craig, Lauren Wenger (Women's water polo - USA) -- Gold Medal Match -- USA 8, Spain 5 (GOLD)

Amy Rodriguez (Women's soccer - USA) -- Gold Medal Match -- USA 2, Japan 1 (GOLD)

Flora Bolonyai (Women's water polo - Hungary) -- Bronze Medal Match -- Australia 13, Hungary 11 (OT)

Anni Espar (Women's water polo - Spain) -- Gold Medal Match -- USA 8, Spain 5 (SILVER)

Sofia Konoukh (Women's water polo - Russia) -- 5th-Place Match -- China 16, Russia 15

Aniko Pelle (Women's water polo - Italy) -- 7th-Place Match -- Italy 11, Great Britain 7

Nicole Davis (Women's volleyball - USA) -- Semifinals -- USA 3, Korea 0

Day 16 Medal Results

Boxing

Women's 51-kilogram (112 lbs) | Gold: Nicola Adams (Great Britain), Silver: Ren Cancan (China), Bronze: Chungneijang Marrykom Hmangte (India) and Marlen Esparza (United States)

Women's 60-kilogram (132 lbs) | Gold: Katie Taylor (Ireland), Silver: Sofia Ochigava (Russia), Bronze: Adriana Araujo (Brazil) and Mavzuna Chorieva (Tajikistan)

Women's 75-kilogram (165 lbs) | Gold: Claressa Shields (United States), Silver: Nadezhda Torlopova (Russia), Bronze: Li Jinzi (China) and Marina Volnova (Kazakhstan)

Canoeing

Men's Sprint C-2 1,000 meters | Gold: Peter Kretschmer & Kurt Kuschela (Germany), Silver: Andrei Bahdanovich & Aliaksandr Bahdanovich (Belarus), Bronze: Aleksey Korovashkov & Iliya Pervuchin (Russia)

Men's Sprint K-4 1,000 meters | Gold: Australia, Silver: Hungary, Bronze: Czech Republic

Women's Sprint K-1 500 meters | Gold: Danusia Kozák (Hungary), Silver: Inna Osypenko (Ukraine), Bronze: Bridgitte Hartley (South Africa)

Women's Sprint K-2 500 meters | Gold: Tina Dietze & Franziska Weber (Germany), Silver: Natasa Janics & Katalin Kovács (Hungary), Bronze: Karolina Naja & Beata Mikolajczyk (Poland)

Diving

Women's 10-meter Platform | Gold: Chen Ruolin (China), Silver: Brittany Broben (Australia), Bronze: Pandelela Rinong (Malaysia)

Equestrian

Individual Dressage | Gold: Charlotte Dujardin (Great Britain), Silver: Adelinde Cornelissen (Netherlands), Bronze: Laura Bechtolsheimer (Great Britain)

Soccer

Women's Final | Gold: United States, Silver: Japan, Bronze: Canada

Swimming

Women's 10,000 kilometers | Gold: Eva Risztov (Hungary), Silver: Haley Anderson (United States), Bronze: Martina Grimaldi (Italy)

Taekwondo

Women's 57-kilogram (126 lbs) | Gold: Jade Jones (Great Britain), Silver: Hou Yuzhuo (China), Bronze: Tseng Pei-Hua (Chinese Taipei) and Marlène Harnois (France)

Men's 68-kilogram (150 lbs) | Gold: Servet Tazegül (Turkey), Silver: Mohammad Bagheri (Iran), Bronze: Rohullah Nikpai (Afghanistan) and Terrence Jennings (United States)

Track and Field

Men's Triple Jump | Gold: Christian Taylor (United States), Silver: Will Claye (United States), Bronze: Fabrizio Donato (Italy)

Men's 800 meters | Gold: David Lekuta Rudisha (Kenya), Silver: Nigel Amos (Botswana), Bronze: Timothy Kitum (Kenya)

Men's 200 meters | Gold: Usain Bolt (Jamaica), Silver: Yohan Blake (Jamaica), Bronze: Warren Weir (Jamaica)

Women's Javelin Throw | Gold: Barbora Spotáková (Czech Republic), Silver: Christina Obergföll (Germany), Bronze: Linda Stahl (Germany)

Men's Decathlon | Gold: Ashton Eaton (United States), Silver: Trey Hardee (United States), Bronze: Leonel Suárez (Cuba)

Volleyball

Men's Beach | Gold: Jonas Reckermann & Julius Brink (Germany), Silver: Emanuel & Alison (Brazil), Bronze: Martins Plavins & Janis Smedins (Latvia)

Water Polo

Women's Final | Gold: United States, Silver: Spain, Bronze: Australia

Wrestling

Women's Freestyle 55-kilogram (121 lbs) | Gold: Saori Yoshida (Japan), Silver: Tonya Verbeek (Canada), Bronze: Yulia Ratkevich (Azerbaijan) and Jacqueline Renteria (Colombia)

Women's Freestyle 72-kilogram (158.5 lbs) | Gold: Natalya Vorobeva (Russia), Silver: Stanka Zlateva Hristova (Bulgaria), Bronze: Maider Unda (Spain) and Guzel Manyurova (Kazakhstan)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read more of Neon Tommy's 2012 Olympic coverage here.

Reach staff writer Evan Budrovich here, or follow him here.