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The 2012 London Olympics are now just a memory, but it is worth taking a look back at the medal count so West Coast fans can revel in just how strong the depth of talent is in the Pac-12 conference (Take that, ESSSS EEEE SEEE FANS).
Washington State had two former athletes competing in the games in Aron Baynes and Bernard Lagat. Baynes was a key reserve on the Australian Olympic basketball squad that had a strong showing in pool play, including defeating eventual bronze medalists Russia. Baynes was his typical self, rebounding well and setting bone-crushing screens. He provided some of the best highlights for the Aussies while running the pick and roll with Saint Mary's star Matthew Dellavedova. Unfortunately for Baynes, he ran into the Team USA buzz-saw in the quarterfinals.
Lagat ran a strong race in the Olympic 5000-meter final, but finished just short of the podium due in a large part to an unfortunate tangling of feet on the final turn.
As for the rest of the Pac-12? Well, just as they did in Beijing, the group of Pac-12 alumni dominated like no other conference, and fared better than most of the countries in attendance. Here is the final medal count taken from a Pac-12 release:
On the final day of Olympic competition, Pac-12 athletes contributed to two more medals - a gold and a bronze - increasing the Conference’s final medal count to 45. If the league were a nation, it would have ranked fifth in total medals, just ahead of Germany (44). The Pac-12’s 19 gold medals would have ranked fifth among all countries.
Take that, Germany. This final medal count shows just how strong the competition has become across all sports in the conference. When WSU is competing, they are doing so with the world's best athletes.
After the jump, check out SB Nation's awesome 8-bit final medal count video.