U.S. swimmers lived up to and exceeded expectations on another dramatic day in the pool Thursday in Tokyo.

Caeleb Dressel was favored in the men's 100m freestyle, but the medal wasn't assured until he got to the wall in an Olympic record time of 47.02, just 0.06 seconds ahead of Australian Kyle Chalmers. Dressel won his first individual gold medal and had an emotional video call with his family. (STORY)

Bobby Finke wasn't expected to take gold in the men's 800m freestyle before the Games. He wasn't expected to take gold after 750 meters. But he found, as he told NBC's Michele Tafoya, another gear. He charged past three swimmers to set a new American record of 7:41.87, establish the Olympic record in the new event and become the first U.S. man to win a distance freestyle event since 1984. (STORY)

The U.S. women weren't expected to beat Australia in the 4x200m freestyle. They did, though China went even faster to take gold. Katie Ledecky showed no sign of fatigue, furiously chasing the leaders in a stellar anchor leg to clinch silver. All three teams beat the existing world record. (STORY)

Regan Smith and Hali Flickinger took silver and bronze in the women's 200m butterfly. (STORY)

Meanwhile, Tokyo is being taken over by robots.

GYMNASTICS

Could an American win the women's all-around in the absence of Simone Biles?

Yes.

Suni Lee got a 15.300 on uneven bars, the highest score in the competition, and closed with a composed floor routine to keep the all-around championship in U.S. hands for the fifth straight Olympics. (RESULTS)

Biles, as previously announced, was not competing. Her withdrawal has sparked an outpouring of support and a discussion on the pressures of being an Olympic athlete, especially with COVID-19 forcing adjustments and Olympic restrictions keeping Olympians away from their families. Several other athletes have shared their own experiences. (STORY)

But Lee was never just a fill-in. The 18-year-old gymnast was second in the floor exercise and third on uneven bars in the 2019 World Championships, and she's only gotten better from there on her way to Olympic gold. (STORY)

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

It was a great day for U.S. 20somethings and 40somethings.

The youngest U.S. beach volleyball pair ever, 25-year-old Kelly Claes and 24-year-old Sarah Sponcil, needed less than 30 minutes to remain unbeaten with a 21-8, 21-6 win over a pair from Kenya. (STORY)

Their elders, 41-year-olds Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, stormed through the third set against Argentina for another win. (STORY)

AROUND THE GAMES

Track and field: A positive COVID-19 test has forced two-time world champion and 2016 bronze medalist Sam Kendricks out of the pole vault competition. (STORY) 

Track and field: Australia has put members of its track and field team in isolation because pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall trained with a group of vaulters that included Kendricks. (STORY) 

Badminton: An apparent Achilles injury stopped Beiwen Zhang's impressive run in the Round of 16. Zhang had won the first set of the match after winning all four sets in her two pool-play matches. (STORY)

Shooting: The tiny country of San Marino won its first-ever medal thanks to Alessandra Perilli in the women's trap competition. U.S. shooter Kayle Browning took silver. (STORY)

Boxing: U.S. super heavyweight Richard Torrez Jr. bludgeoned Algeria's Chouaib Bouloudinats on his way to a unanimous decision, getting 30-25 scores on two of the judges' scorecards. Middleweight Troy Isley messed up the face of world champion Gleb Bakshi of the ROC with several good third-round flurries but dropped a split decision. Ginny Fuchs also was eliminated. (STORY)

We also had the first day of action in BMX cycling, women's rugby and men's golf.

MEDALISTS

Canoe/kayak, women's canoe slalom: Gold - Jessica Fox (AUS), Silver - Mallory Franklin (GBR), Bronze - Andrea Herzog (GER)

Fencing, women's team foil: Gold - ROC, Silver - France, Bronze - Italy

Gymnastics, women's all-around: Gold - Suni Lee (USA), Silver - Rebeca Andrade (BRA), Bronze - Angelina Melnikova (ROC)

Judo, women's 78kg: Gold - Shori Hamada (JPN), Silver - Madeleine Malonga (FRA), Bronze - Anna-Maria Wagner (GER), Bronze - Mayra Aguiar (BRA)

Judo, men's 100kg: Gold - Aaron Wolf (JPN), Silver - Cho Gu-Ham (KOR), Bronze - Jorge Fonseca (POR), Bronze - Niiaz Iliasov (ROC)

Rowing, men's pair: Gold - Sinkovic/Sinkovic (CRO), Silver - Cozmiuc/Tudosa (ROU), Bronze - Sutton/Vystavel (DEN)

Rowing, women's pair: Gold - Prendergast/Gowler (NZL), Silver - Stepanova/Oriabinskaya (ROC), Bronze - Filmer/Janssens (CAN)

Rowing, men's lightweight double sculls: Gold - McCarthy/O’Donovan (IRL), Silver - Rommelmann/Osborne (GER), Bronze - Stefano Oppo/Ruta (ITA) 

Rowing, women's lightweight double sculls: Gold - Rodini/Cesarini (ITA), Silver - Tarantola/Bove (FRA), Bronze - Keijser/Paulis (NED) 

Shooting, women's trap: Gold - Zuzana Stefecekova (SVK), Silver - Kayle Browning (USA), Bronze - Alessandra Perilli (SMR)

Shooting, men's trap: Gold - Jiri Liptak (CZE), Silver - David Kostelecky (CZE), Bronze - Matthew Coward-Holley (GBR) 

Swimming, men's 800m freestyle: Gold - Bobby Finke (USA), Silver - Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), Bronze - Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) 

Swimming, men's 200m breaststroke: Gold - Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS), Silver - Arno Kamminga (NED), Bronze - Matti Mattsson (FIN) 

Swimming, women's 200m butterfly: Gold - Zhang Yufei (CHN), Silver - Regan Smith (USA), Bronze - Hali Flickinger (USA)

Swimming, men's 100m freestyle: Gold - Caeleb Dressel (USA), Silver - Kyle Chalmers (AUS), Bronze - Kliment Kolesnikov (ROC)

Swimming, women's 4x200m freestyle: Gold - China, Silver - United States, Bronze - Australia

Table tennis, women's singles: Gold - Chen Meng (CHN), Silver - Sun Yingsha (CHN), Bronze - Ito Mima (JPN)

RESULTS

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