RIO DE JANEIRO -- When Simone Manuel touched the wall to clinch a gold medal Saturday night, it was a moment 120 years in the making.The U.S. womens 4x100-meter medley relay team of Kathleen Baker, Lilly King, Dana Vollmer and Manuel -- winners at the Rio Games on Saturday night -- is being recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee as delivering the nations 1,000th gold medal in Summer Olympics history.By their count, anyway. Keeping count of the gold total is not as exact a science as one might think.The count accepted by the U.S. Olympic Committee coming into the Rio Games was 977 gold medals, and even that was adjusted a bit in recent weeks over a debated medal from the 1904 St. Louis Games. That means the gold medal in the womens eights on Saturday morning was the 21st for the Americans in Rio, and No. 998 overall. Some sites say theres a few more, some say a bit less. The USOC count is the accepted one.And the relay win was No. 23 in Rio, so by the USOCs count that made it official.A gold medal is like a newborn baby, said long jumper Jeff Henderson, who put the U.S. on the brink with gold No. 999 earlier Saturday night. Its just lovely.Lovely, 1,000 times over now for the Americans.A remarkable achievement made possible by the culture of sport that is the fabric and foundation of Team USA, USOC CEO Scott Blackmun said Saturday night.James Connolly won the first for the U.S. in 1896, and of course no one has added more to the total than Michael Phelps, a 23-time gold medalist. Illustrating how not-so-simple this medal-counting business is, the official info portal for the Rio Games even has a different number than the USOC, saying the one the Americans will recognize as No. 1,000 is really No. 1,001.Whatever the real number, the U.S. is the first to reach four figures -- in a landslide. The Soviet Union remains No. 2 on the all-time summer gold list, and no other nation has even reached 500.Heres the significance: The next four best nations had 1,004 gold medals coming into Rio, said Bill Mallon, an Olympic historian. You add up the next four and they barely have more than we do.At its current rate, China wouldnt reach 1,000 golds until 2100. Germany wouldnt get there until 2204.But there have been some very interesting story lines on the U.S. road to 1,000. Consider some of them:THE DEMONT CASEIf Rick DeMont had his way, gold medal No. 1,000 would really be identified as gold medal No. 1,001.Or maybe even No. 1,002.DeMont was 16 when he won gold in the 400-meter freestyle at the Munich Games in 1972. But he tested positive for ephedrine, which was part of his asthma medication, and stripped of the medal days later along with a chance to compete in a 1,500-meter event.His saga, however, doesnt stop there.DeMont tried for decades to get the medal back, saying he was wronged because the USOC did not properly disclose to Olympic officials that he was on medication -- and that if they had done so, his ephedrine level would not have led to his ban. In 2001, the USOC recognized DeMont for his achievements and said it was bringing him back into the Olympic family.But the International Olympic Committee -- in part out of concern for setting a precedent that could lead to enormous numbers of athletes contesting results -- declined later that year to consider restoring DeMonts gold over the USOC paperwork mix-up. So the gold remains awarded to Bradford Cooper of Australia. Cooper now owns a swimming school in his homeland while DeMont is the swimming coach at Arizona.It was so long ago that it almost seems like it happened to another person in another life, DeMont said Saturday. I dont carry it with me.THE ST. LOUIS GAMESNo matter how well the U.S. does in these Rio Games, the medal count this year wont come close to the St. Louis Games in 1904.Officially, heres the count from that Olympics for the U.S.: 79 golds (it had been 78 until recently, when one medal that was counted as being won by a mixed-nationality team was added to the U.S. total because five of the six members were Americans, along with one Austrian), 78 silver and 79 bronze -- 236 medals in all.Germany was second in the medals standings, with 13.There is no wrong or right, Mallon said. Its an interpretation.The Olympic website describes those St. Louis Games as being lost in chaos. They lasted nearly five months, had a marathoner disqualified for using a car on the route, saw gymnast George Eyser win six medals despite having a wooden leg and featured events such as dumbbells and tug-of-war.About half the official competitions in those games had only American entrants, and some historians have suggested that even some of the athletes who are listed as part of the U.S. team likely were newly arrived immigrants who either hadnt become citizens yet or never actually completed that process.THE 1906 GAMESYou might not know about them, since they dont count.Held in Athens, Greece, they were considered an Olympics at the time -- though arent now recognized by the IOC, so the medal counts appear in no official lists. Though unlike the St. Louis Games two years earlier, this had more of a normal Olympic program.There were 78 events and medals were awarded; there even was a true opening ceremony. The U.S. was second to France in the medal standings, winning 12 golds to their 15.So while little debates and differing counts will likely continue, the U.S. dominance isnt in question. And maybe it was fitting that Phelps, the most decorated Olympian ever with 28 medals helped start the march toward the next milestone Saturday night, when the final swim of his career -- part of a win in a relay -- delivered gold No. 1,001.Its the Olympics, said U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky, a five-time winner of Olympic gold. Its the pinnacle of our sport ... and we feed off of each other. Packers Super Bowl Jerseys . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. Davante Adams Super Bowl Jersey . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. http://www.shoptheofficialpackers.com/Elite-Adrian-Amos-Packers-Jersey/ . Haas said he "felt a lot of pain" in his right shoulder when he slammed his racket to the ground in frustration after losing his serve at 3-3 in the first set. Mason Crosby Super Bowl Jersey . But now that hes in the NHL, the Calgary Flames centre showed big improvement in that department by scoring the winner in the eighth round of a 5-4 shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. Jaire Alexander Super Bowl Jersey .com) - Manchester City midfielder David Silva is expected to miss the next four weeks because of a calf problem. LONDON -- For the first time in his 11 Grand Slam finals, Andy Murray will be the heavy favorite to win -- and why not?Murray, seeded No. 2, might be 2-8 in major championship matches, but hes super-saturated with big-match experience. The 29-year-old Scot reached the Australian and French Open title matches earlier this season but lost to top-ranked Novak Djokovic in both.But Djokovic and fellow Murray nemesis Roger Federer are out of Wimbledon. Murray will play No. 6 seed and first-time Grand Slam finalist Milos Raonic on Sunday at 9 a.m. ET on ESPN. Theyll meet before a passionate, partisan British crowd.For British players growing up, Wimbledon is the biggest competition, Murray said after his semifinal win. To get to play in front of a home crowd in a Grand Slam final is very, very rare.However, Murray has never really known the kind of pressure hes going to be facing. Every other final hes played has been against either Federer or Djokovic, both of whom were strong favorites. The stress will be different. While Murray has had a great year and leads his head-to-head series against Raonic 6-3, the Canadian, at just 25, is teetering on the brink of a career-shaping breakthrough.The men met just a few weeks ago on a similar grass court in the Queens final. Murray came back to win in three sets after Raonic led 7-6 (5), 3-1. Naturally, each man put a different, self-promoting spin on that high-quality clash.Murray reminded anyone listening of his reputation as the best serve returner in the game.The thing that stands out for me [about the Queens final] was the return winner I hit on the break point at 3-1 to get back into the match, Murray said. That was the turning point, really. He hadnt lost serve the whole week. Came up with that return, the match changed from there.Raonic, who came back to oust Federer in Fridays semis, had this take:Im up there 7-6, and I have a point for 4-1 and end up getting broken by a close miss, he said. I wasnt disappointed with that point. That can happen. I was disappointed with how I dealt with things after that. I sort of went into my shell, didnt put myself out there enough. I think thats the thing I want to avoid the most.The confession illustrates why Raonic, despite his 6-foot-5 frame and a 140 mph serve, has upp to now been considered an underachiever.dddddddddddd He has failed to assert himself at key moments. That powerful engine stalled in three previous Grand Slam semifinals. But not this time.On Friday, Raonic seemed headed for a four-set loss to Federer, the man who has clearly been the second-best grass-court player (behind Djokovic) for a number of years. Maybe 12 additional months in 34-year-old Federers life made a difference. But more likely, the enormous evolution Raonic has undergone in recent years, and the advice hes gotten from new coach and head cheerleader John McEnroe, enabled him to flip a familiar Wimbledon plot.Theres been a lot of hype about the coaches in this one. Murray is back together with Ivan Lendl, while McEnroe has been working with Raonic. The enmity between Lendl and McEnroe goes back a long, long way, and its unlikely its fervor has dimmed.The players have had to remind the media more than once that the matches arent really about the guys in the track suits or commentary boxes; theyre about the guys out there in short pants, whacking the ball.As Murray said, Im playing against Milos. Im not playing against John, and Milos isnt playing against Ivan.Federer said hes been impressed by the changes the past four or five years have wrought in Raonics game. The days when Raonic played from way, way back on the baseline are long gone, Federer observed.That big serve is still the anchor of Raonics game. As a matter of fact, Murray said he believes Raonic serves even harder than noted ace makers John Isner and Ivo Karlovic.But Milos is better off the ground than both of those guys, Murray added, and he has a better return game, as well.Murray wont be worrying much about Raonics return game, and hell be more than happy to take his chances in rallies with Raonic.If Murray can handle Raonics serve, the Scot should win his second Wimbledon title -- and avoid becoming the first man in the Open era to lose in the final of the first three Grand Slam events of the year.These tournaments are why Im still playing and why Im training hard and trying to win these events, Murray said. Thats what really motivates me. ' ' '