Aug. 1 (UPI) — Swimmer Caeleb Dressel earned his fourth and fifth gold medals of the 2020 Summer Games to headline a 13-medal day for the Americans and push Team USA to 59 overall Sunday in Tokyo, eight more than second-place China.
Dressel earned Team USA’s first medal of Day 9 of the Games with a victory in the men’s 50-meter freestyle. His time of 21.07 seconds set an Olympic record.
France’s Florent Manaudou and Brazil’s Bruno Fratus won respective silver and bronze medals in the event. Team USA’s Michael Andrew finished fourth.
“I exceeded my expectations here and I’m happy with what I did,” Dressel told reporters. “I had a really fun time doing it, but know I can be better. It wasn’t a perfect meet at all.”
KING CAELEB
Caeleb Dressel BREAKS the Olympic record to win GOLD in the men’s 50m free! #TokyoOlympics
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NBC Sports App pic.twitter.com/m4EVgfIDtE- #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) August 1, 2021
Dressel, 24, entered Sunday’s final round of swimming competitions with gold medals in the 100-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly and 4×100-meter freestyle relay at the 2020 Summer Games.
Robert Finke won the Americans’ second gold medal Sunday when he touched the wall first in the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle final. Mykhailo Romanchuk of the Ukraine won silver. Germany’s Florian Wellbrock placed third.
Australia followed with a win in the women’s 4×100-meter medley relay final. Regan Smith, Lydia Jacoby, Torri Huske and Abbey Weitzeil led Team USA to a silver in the relay. Canada won bronze.
Dressel then teamed up with Andrew, Ryan Murphy and Zach Apple to set another world record in the men’s 4×100-meter medley relay final. Great Britain and Italy joined Team USA on the podium with respective second and third place finishes.
FROM LANE 1, TEAM USA WINS GOLD! @TeamUSA x #TokyoOlympics
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NBC Sports App pic.twitter.com/EYqKprSbGN- #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) August 1, 2021
Krysta Palmer added a bronze medal to the U.S. count with a third-place finish in the women’s 3-meter springboard final. China claimed the gold and silver medals.
Later Sunday, Team USA’s Hannah Roberts won silver in the first women’s BMX freestyle park final. Great Britain’s Charlotte Worthington won gold. Switzerland’s Nikita Ducarroz claimed bronze.
In golf, Team USA’s Xander Schauffele held onto his third-round lead to win the men’s tournament. He edged Slovakia’s Rory Sabbatini by one stroke for the gold medal Sunday at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama, Japan.
Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan edged Team USA’s Collin Morikawa, Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and three others in a playoff for bronze.
In gymnastics, star gymnast Simone Biles watched from the sideline as teammates Mykayla Skinner and Suni Lee won silver and bronze medals in two different events, respectively.
Skinner, who replaced Biles on vault, finished second in the individual event behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade. South Korea’s Seojeong Yeo won bronze.
Lee won her third medal of the Games when she placed third on the uneven bars. Belgium’s Nina Derwael and Anastasiia Iliankova of the Russian Olympic Committee claimed respective gold and silver medals.
Team USA added another medal with a fencing win over Japan in the men’s foil team bronze medal match. Alexander Massialas, Race Imboden and Gerek Meinhardt teamed up for the third-place finish.
France won gold in the men’s foil team final with a win over the Russian Olympic Committee.
In weightlifting, Katherine Nye won silver in the women’s 76-kg event, which consists of clean and jerk and snatch competitions. Ecuador and Mexico also reached the podium in that event.
Team USA claimed another two silver medals in track and field events. Raven Saunders placed second in the women’s shot put final, with a distance of 19.79 meters.
China’s Lijiao Gong won the event with a distance of 20.58 meters. New Zealand’s Valerie Adams placed third.
Team USA added its final medal of Day 9 with Fred Kerley’s second-place finish in the men’s 100-meter dash. He finished just four hundredths of a second behind gold medal winner Marcell Jacobs of Italy. Canada’s Andre de Grasse won bronze.
In non-medal events, Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic recorded 12 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists to lead Slovenia over Spain in the group stage of the men’s basketball tournament.
The result sets up a quarterfinal matchup between No. 1 Team USA and No. 2 Spain on Tuesday in Saitama.
In boxing, Team USA’s Duke Ragan beat Ireland’s Kurt Walker in a men’s featherweight quarterfinal. Team USA’s Richard Torrez Jr. also beat Cuba’s Dainier Pero in a men’s boxing super heavyweight quarterfinal.
Team USA wrestler Adeline Gray beat Kyrgyzstan’s in the women’s 76-kg semifinal to advance to Monday’s gold medal match.
In tennis, German Alexander Zverev beat the Russian Olympic Committee’s Karen Khachanov in straight sets in the men’s gold medal match Sunday at Ariake Tennis Park. Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic won the women’s singles title Saturday in Tokyo.
While Team USA leads the overall medal count, its 20 gold medals are second-best. China owns an Olympic-high 24 golds.
The Russian Olympic Committee is third in overall medals, with 44. Great Britain (32), Japan (31) and Australia (31) also rank inside the Top 5 in the medal count.
China added five medals to its count Sunday. The Russian Olympic Committee reached the podium seven times on Day 8. Great Britain and Australia won four medals apiece through Sunday’s competitions.
The Olympics end next Sunday, 16 days after the opening ceremonies.
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