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Another busy day of Olympic events, and another successful day for Team USA, which picked up medals in gymnastics, swimming and an Olympic first in rugby. Meanwhile, the U.S. advanced in soccer, and a surprise elimination happened in tennis.
Read more below about an exciting Tuesday at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Simone Biles leads the United States to gymnastics gold in the team final
The United States is back on top, earning 171.296 points to win the gold medal in the women’s gymnastics team final. Team USA, lead by Simone Biles, dominated the field: Italy, who earned the silver, scored nearly six points lower than the Americans.
Biles put up big scores in all four events, posting a competition-high 14.666 on floor to officially secure the title. Jordan Chiles also competed in all four events, faltering on beam but putting up big performances on bars and floor, while Sunisa Lee scored big on bars, beam and floor. Jade Carey, who has been dealing with an illness, powered through to post a great score on vault and get the U.S. off to a strong start — which Team USA grabbed and then never looked back.
Biles, whose withdrawal from the team event in Tokyo contributed to the U.S. taking silver, keeps on proving that she’s back and better than ever with every event. The 27-year-old is now the most decorated gymnast in USA Olympic history with eight medals — and the chance to earn plenty more in individual events.
USA gets historic bronze medal in rugby sevens
The United States earned its first-ever Olympic medal in rugby on Tuesday with Team USA’s bronze medal victory in women’s rugby sevens. After falling to New Zealand in the semifinals earlier in the day, the U.S. upset Australia to take the bronze and cap off a historic, viral run at the Olympic games.
The U.S. secured its first medal in incredibly dramatic fashion, with a last-minute try from Alex Sedrick, who sprinted all the way down the field for the score and a good kick to take the win. (In American football terms, that’s the equivalent of a near 100-yard touchdown with seconds remaining.) Team USA was incredibly emotional after the win, with the joy of making history taking over.
A FINISH YOU HAVE TO SEE TO BELIEVE! 😱
ALEX SEDRICK LEADS TEAM USA TO THE FIRST-EVER OLYMPIC RUGBY SEVENS MEDAL FOR THE UNITED STATES ON THE FINAL PLAY OF THE GAME! 🥉 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/1FMu9SWxDo
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 30, 2024
Coco Gauff eliminated from singles tournament, can still win a medal
It was a disappointing day for Coco Gauff, who was eliminated from women’s singles competition by Croatia’s Donna Vekić, who beat her 7-6 (7), 6-1. Gauff had started strong, taking a 4-1 lead, but she ended up giving all that back to Vekić, who surged forward and started hitting more consistent winners. Vekic also took advantage as Gauff’s first serve began to collapse, forcing a tiebreaker and then winning the first set.
Vekić had stepped on the gas and didn’t let off, and Gauff simply couldn’t recapture the great form she had early in the match. Vekić was up 3-2 when Gauff got into an argument with the chair umpire, who had overruled an out call from the line judge that changed the set. The out call went in Gauff’s favor, but when the umpire overturned it, Vekić got the break. Gauff tearfully fought with the umpire, but the call had been made. She later called for video replay in tennis, but also admitted that if the point had gone her way, she didn’t know if she would have been able to win the set or the match.
Gauff still has several chances to win gold. She’s playing mixed doubles with fellow American Taylor Fritz and is already into the quarterfinals. She’s also playing women’s doubles with Jessica Pegula, and the pair is just a few months removed from winning the French Open at Roland Garros on the very same court they’ll be playing on this week.
U.S. men’s national team advances for the first time since 2000
The USMNT earned a big 3-0 win over Guinea in the third and final group stage game. Djordje Mihailovic, one of three senior players on the otherwise U23 team, scored first with a beautiful free kick in the 14th minute. Kevin Paredes, a 21-year-old winger for the U.S., then followed up with a brace, scoring in the 31st and 75th minute.
The victory gave the U.S. enough points to advance out of their group and into the knockout stage. The team followed up a brutal 3-0 loss to France, the group leaders, with a strong 3-1 win over New Zealand.
The U.S., who has not qualified for the Olympics since 2008, will now move on to the next round for the first time in 24 years. The U.S. will next face Morocco on Friday in the quarterfinals.
United States wins 3000th Olympic medal in another big day in swimming
Team USA continued to claim medals in another packed day for swimming. But in the 100m backstroke, as USA teammates Reagan Smith and Katharine Berkoff took silver and bronze, the U.S. passed a huge milestone, hitting more than 3000 total Olympic medals across the summer and winter games. Gymnastics and rugby marked the final two medals before the 3000 mark, with Smith and Berkoff pushing the U.S. over that edge.
Smith and Berkoff medaling also achieved a notable mark for USA swimming. They won the 599th and 600th Olympic swimming medals in the team’s history. No other country has won that many medals in swimming, with USA’s count more than twice Australia’s total.
Bobby Finke then kept the count going by taking silver in the 800m freestyle.
Team USA medals
Highlight of the day
Although the day had plenty of highlights, it also included an Olympic tradition: Katie Ledecky swimming the 1500m freestyle and being so far ahead that no one else is in the screen when she finishes. Ledecky won by nearly 20 seconds in the semifinals on Tuesday; she will compete for gold on Wednesday.
One more thing …
Jason Kelce continues to have the time of life in Paris, attending the women’s gymnastics final on Tuesday. More importantly, though, Kelce did it while wearing an American flag-themed shirt, decorated with the face of U.S. rugby star Ilona Maher. Kelce met up with the rugby team earlier in the games, arm wrestling the rugby players and becoming a self-described super fan of the team.
The shirt seems to have served as a good-luck charm for both teams, as gymnastics took gold and rugby took bronze on Tuesday.
