Aly Raisman is expected to take honors in the balance beam, whereas the floor exercise may be too close to call, with both Wieber and Douglas expected to hand in winning performances.

The U.S. men's team hopes to be the first to win gold since the 1984 Los Angeles Games. The well-seasoned squad is considered one of the favorites to win the team gold, led by Danell Leyva and John Orozco. Jake Dalton, the reigning champion on the collegiate level, is expected to have a strong showing in the floor and vault events.

"I think overall­—men and women combined—it could be the best men's and women's team we've ever fielded," Peter Vidmar, who won two gold medals with the 1984 Olympic team, told The New York Times. And that's a big statement because we've been so good lately."

Basketball and volleyball

After watching a pre-Olympic exhibition match this week against Brazil, President Barack Obama predicted a repeat of the 1992 "Dream Team" that led the United States to win gold in the men's basketball event. The team is heavily stocked with NBA (National Basketball Association) professionals like LeBron James, who led the team by scoring 30 points in the pre-Olympic match.

As for the women's team, Obama told reporters they are "as dominant, if not more dominant" than the men. The U.S. women's team beat Britain in an exhibition match this week, led by first-time Olympian Maya Moore.

Team USA is also the top-ranked women's volleyball team in the world heading into the London Games. If they win, it will be the first-ever gold medal in women's volleyball for the United States. The team is eager to make up for a loss to Brazil in the final match of the 2008 Beijing Games.

Beach volleyball legends Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings will be fighting to defend their past two Olympic golds, and they will face strong challengers from Brazil and China to do so.

Diving and swimming

With seven races scheduled at the Games, star swimmer Michael Phelps is expected to easily earn the three medals he needs to surpass Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina as the most decorated Olympian of all time. Phelps said he plans to retire after the London Games. American swimmer Missy Franklin is also expected to make a strong showing and could become the first American female athlete to win seven medals at one Olympiad.

Team USA will have to fight off the world's newest swimming power—China. China won six medals at the 2008 Games and 14 swimming medals at the 2011 FINA World Championships, second only to the United States.

In diving, the United States has not won a medal since the Sydney Games in 2000, but that fate may be avoided with Troy Dumais, who is headed to the Olympic Games for the fourth time. Dumais won silver with Kristian Ipsen in the synchronized springboard at the 2009 Rome World Championship and gold at the 2011 USA Diving Winter National Championships.

"[U.S.] diving is in a real tough spot," five-time Olympic medalist Greg Louganis told an NBC affiliate in Miami. "We haven't won a medal since 2000."

Louganis has returned to the Olympic arena for the first time since retiring from diving in 1988, as a mentor for American divers. He has his work cut out for him. Chinese divers took home seven of the eight gold medals available in Beijing in 2008.

The author is a freelance writer living in New York City

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