Gearing up for the 2012 Summer Olympics? They’re just a little more than a month away and Sports List of the Day has started putting its toe in the water of Olympic history with posts on the top 10 athletes with the most Summer Olympics medals and countries with the most basketball medals.

Here’s a third offering of more to come.

Which countries boast the most gold medals all time?

It’s the United States, and by a lot. Within the next two Olympiads the U.S. should break the 1,000 gold medal mark.

Note though that the U.S. has also suited up the most participants.

The Soviet Union, who joined the Olympic festivities as late as the 1950s, and is no longer an official Olympic country (since it has dissolved into Russia and several other Iron Curtain components) stalls in second for the time being with nearly 400 golds. Russia is 13th by the way.

Here are the top 20 countries with the most Summer Olympic gold medals. Check out Finland, Sweden and Canada, countries usually associated with winter sports, making the list.

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