SELECT "nation" FROM table_204_727 WHERE "gold" < (SELECT "gold" FROM table_204_727 WHERE "nation" = 'united states') ORDER BY "gold" DESC LIMIT 1
who had the next highest number of gold medals after the unites states ?
CREATE TABLE table_204_727 (
    id number,
    "rank" number,
    "nation" text,
    "gold" number,
    "silver" number,
    "bronze" number,
    "total" number
)