 "Rio Olympics 2016 medal tally: USA continue to dominate, reach 50-medal mark")
Rio de Janeiro: Katie Ledecky obliterated the field and her own world record in winning the 800m freestyle at the Rio Olympics on Friday, uniting the 200m, 400m and 800m titles for the first time since 1968, helping USA extend their lead at the top of the medal tally. The 19-year-old American, who also won the 4x200m relay for four golds overall, touched in 8min 04.79sec, beating the previous record of 8:06.68 she set in Austin, Texas. [caption id=“attachment_2954448” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana celebrates winning the gold medal after the women’s 10,000-meter final. AP[/caption] Adding to USA’s glory, veteran Anthony Ervin won a surprise gold in the men’s 50m freestyle in Rio on Friday to become the oldest swimmer ever to win an Olympic title. The 35-year-old, who has overcome personal demons on his return to the sport, stormed to victory in 21.40 seconds to repeat his success at the Sydney Olympics in the same event 16 years ago and reclaim the title of the world’s fastest swimmer. Elsewhere, Ethiopian distance runner Almaz Ayana smashed a 23-year-old world record to claim gold in the 10,000m before New Zealand shot putter Valerie Adams suffered an agonising defeat as the Olympic athletics competition opened with a bang on Friday. Singapore exploded in celebration on Saturday after homegrown swimming hero Joseph Schooling beat US legend Michael Phelps in the 100m butterfly in Rio to win the tiny republic’s first ever Olympic gold. The 21-year-old Asian champion set a new Olympic record of 50.39sec as he edged out his American idol Phelps, who ended in a sensational dead heat for silver alongside South Africa’s Chad le Clos and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary. At the end of day seven, United States topped the medal tally with 50 medals (20 Gold, 13 Silver, 17 Bronze), followed by China on 37 (13 Gold, 10 Silver, 14 Bronze). Great Britain on 22 medals (7 Gold, 9 Silver, 6 Bronze) overtook Japan on 24 medals (7 Gold, 3 Silver, 14 Bronze) to claim the third spot. Here is the Rio Olympics medal tally after day seven:
| Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 20 | 13 | 17 | 50 |
| China | 13 | 10 | 14 | 37 |
| Great Britain | 7 | 9 | 6 | 22 |
| Japan | 7 | 3 | 14 | 24 |
| South Korea | 6 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
| Germany | 6 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| Russia | 5 | 9 | 8 | 22 |
| France | 5 | 7 | 5 | 17 |
| Australia | 5 | 6 | 7 | 18 |
| Hungary | 5 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| Italy | 4 | 7 | 4 | 15 |
| Spain | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Canada | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 |
| Kazakhstan | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Netherlands | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Thailand | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Switzerland | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Croatia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| New Zealand | 1 | 6 | 0 | 7 |
| North Korea | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Sweden | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Brazil | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Belgium | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Romania | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Slovenia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Colombia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Slovakia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Vietnam | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Chinese Taipei | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Poland | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Czech Republic | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Ethiopia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Greece | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Argentina | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Neutral team | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Fiji | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Iran | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kosovo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Singapore | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| South Africa | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Denmark | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Ukraine | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Azerbaijan | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Indonesia | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Cuba | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Georgia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Lithuania | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Belarus | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Ireland | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Kenya | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Malaysia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Mongolia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Philippines | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Turkey | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Egypt | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Israel | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Norway | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Uzbekistan | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Estonia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kirghyzstan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Portugal | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Tunisia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Utd Arab Emirates | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Click here for the LIVE medal tally With inputs from AFP
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