The latest on Simone Biles’ hunt for gold, the U.S. men’s basketball team’s stunning upset and more.
The pandemic may have sapped the Tokyo Olympics of some of its luster, but the first days of competition have still been plenty entertaining. Here are some of the highlights…
An off day: The U.S. women’s gymnastics team has dominated the sport for over a decade. But on Sunday, G.O.A.T. Simone Biles and her teammates made a number of uncharacteristic mistakes, landing them in second place behind Russia in the qualifying meet. The Americans still have a shot at gold in Tuesday’s final, but that won’t come without a fight.
Making a splash: Team USA’s first medals were won by its swimmers in Day 2. In the 400-meter individual medley, Chase Kalisz won gold, while Jay Litherland nabbed silver. The Americans got four more medals, but all eyes were on Ahmed Hafnaoui. The 18-year-old Tunisian came into the 400-meter freestyle with the slowest qualifying time, but incredibly, he won the event — earning the fifth gold medal ever for his country. This morning, Australia’s “Terminator” Ariarne Titmus pipped defending champion Katie Ledecky to gold in the women’s 400m freestyle final — with the second-fastest time in history.
Olympic upset: France on Sunday snapped Team USA’s 25-game men’s basketball winning streak, beating a squad with stars like Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, and Damian Lillard. The loss doesn’t knock the U.S. out of the running for a fourth straight Olympic gold, but it makes their path to the podium tougher…
Covid-19 update: Golfers Jon Rahm, of Spain, and Bryson DeChambeau, of the U.S., are the latest to be bounced from the Games with positive tests. Rahm, the world’s top-ranked golfer, was forced to bow out of a tournament just last month after a positive test. Meanwhile — as if they didn’t have enough to deal with — Olympics organizers are keeping their eyes on tropical storm Nepartak, which is projected to hit Tokyo this week, and has already forced them to shift the rowing schedule.
