China inflicted an early psychological blow at the top of the medals table with teenage swimmer Ye Shiwen's stunning double gold, but the Aquatics Centre has ultimately proved a key venue as the United States have bitten back to dominate the Olympics Four years ago in Beijing, the Americans, who had previously come first in each Olympics since they boycotted the 1980 Games, were stung when they were knocked off the top of the overall podium by the Chinese. Continue reading the main story But despite China winning more gold medals than they have ever managed before on foreign soil, London has seen the United States emphatically restore the established order. The aftermath of Shiwen's performances laid bare the old rivalry between the two superpowers. The 16-year-old collected gold with victory in the 200m individual medley after setting a world record on the way to the 400m medley title, with US coach John Leonard to describing the display as "disturbing". China's legendary basketball player Yao Ming responded by saying: "Ye jumped out to take away the glories that the Americans thought belonged to them for a long time. "It's not a good feeling, like for us if someone takes away the gold medal from the Chinese on table tennis." But that was not a sensation the Americans, who went on to collect 16 of the 34 gold medals available in the pool, had to get used to in London. They may have trailed behind Jamaica's Usain Bolton and Yohan Blake in the showcase sprints but the Americans have - relatively - quietly amassed 29 medals on the track with a haul that includes nine golds.