On the final day of the 2012 London Summer Games, former two-time NCAA champion from Iowa State University, Jake Varner, won gold in freestyle wrestling at 96-kilograms. Varner defeated Valerii Andriitsev of Ukraine 1-0, 1-0 to earn Team USA’s second wrestling gold. Former Nebraska Cornhusker Jordan Burroughs stood atop the medal stand Friday in the men’s 74-kilograms freestyle.
The Olympics always end with the conclusion of the men’s marathon inside Olympic Stadium during the closing ceremonies, and the 30th Olympiad followed suit with Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda breaking the tape in 2:08.01. Former Iowa State distance runner Guor Marial placed 47th with a time of 2:19.32. Marial ran under the Olympic flag.
Overall, the United States won the medal count in runaway fashion. The U.S. tallied 104 total medals, with 46 being gold. China was second with 87 medals. It’s the highest gold medal count for the Americans in an Olympics not held within our borders.
