There are a lot of notable names that we know about from the 2012 London Olympics, but I'm guessing you didn't expect Kim Rhode to be the American you were talking about from the Los Angeles area to win the first gold.
Rhode has won gold before, twice in 1996 and 2004 in the double trap. This time around, it was gold in a new event, the skeet shoot. This is her third Olympic gold in 16 years.
Rebecca Soni of USC also performed very well. Soni performed very well in the 100 meter breaststroke where she was favored to win going into London, but now the surprising Ruta Meilutyte could give her quite the challenge, as the 15 year-old Lithuanian posted the fastest time in both the preliminaries and the semifinals to give Soni something to think about in the final.
Clement Lefert of USC also got a gold in the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay when his French team overtook the United States led by Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. Vladimir Morozov of USC got a bronze in the same event when his Russians came in third.
Stick with this StoryStream for more coverage of local athletes at the 2012 Olympic Games. For more on the 2012 Olympic Games, make sure that you check out SB Nation's dedicated Olympics hub.
