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Following an incredible Opening Ceremony along the Seine, competition is officially underway in Paris.
Day 1 saw the first gold medal awarded of the Games in the 10m mixed team air rifle final. It also featured a thrilling women's 400m freestyle finish featuring superstar swimmers Katie Ledecky, Ariarne Titmus and Summer McIntosh. Elsewhere, Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook delivered a stellar performance in the women's synchronized 3m springboard and the U.S. men's soccer team handily defeated New Zealand. There was also a stunning upset in men's rugby as France upset Fiji to end its unbeaten streak in the Olympics and Team USA swimming won gold in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay in electrifying fashion!
Let's dive into the action.
Swimming: Women's 400m freestyle
Entering the Paris Games, the women's 400m freestyle was one of the most highly anticipated swimming events. Australia's Ariarne Titmus, the defending gold medalist and current world-record holder in the event, faced familiar foes in American Katie Ledecky and Canada's Summer McIntosh on Saturday evening.
Titmus dominated the event from the start and finished in 3:57.49 ahead of McIntosh (3:58.37) and Ledecky (4:00.86).
Ledecky's bronze in the 400m freestyle is her 11th career Olympic medal. She is now just one medal away from tying the record for most medals (12) won by an American woman in any sport. The third-place finish by Ledecky marked her first-ever bronze Olympic medal.
Results: Women's 400m freestyle
🥇 Ariarne Titmus (AUS)
🥈 Summer McIntosh (CAN)
🥉 Katie Ledecky (USA)
Swimming: Men's 4x100m freestyle relay
The U.S. men's 4x100m freestyle relay team secured the nation's first gold medal of the Paris Games on Saturday's opening night.
The relay squad comprised of Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong and Caeleb Dressel combined to post a time of 3:09.28, edging silver medalists Australia and Italy, which took bronze.
With the win, the U.S. extended its winning streak in the event to three consecutive Games. The Americans have won gold in 11 of the last 13 editions of the men's 4x100m free relay at the Olympics.
The victory marked Dressel's eighth-career gold medal across three Olympic Games. (He won five medals in Tokyo, the most of any athlete in any sport at those Games.) However, Saturday's Olympic win marked his first as a father. Dressel's five-month-old son, August, cheered him on in the stands alongside the one and only Snoop Dogg.
"My son getting to watch me win a gold medal is everything," Dressel told NBC's Melissa Stark after the race, before shifting the spotlight to his younger teammates. "I just wanted to get a gold medal for these guys. I've had my moments in the sport, it's time for these guys to have their fun."
Results: Men's 4x100m freestyle relay
🥇 United States
🥈 Australia
🥉 Italy
Swimming: Women's 4x100m freestyle relay
The U.S. women have won the most gold medals in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay (14) with the last coming in Sydney in 2000. The American women have also captured a medal in every Games in which they have participated. However, not even an all-star American lineup was enough to dethrone Australia Saturday night at the Paris Olympics.
Kate Douglass led the start of the relay for the U.S., touching with a time of 52.98 seconds. Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske swam the middle legs while Simone Manuel anchored the race. When she took off, she was behind both China’s Wu Qingfeng and Australia’s Meg Harris. The sprinter was able to make up ground on Wu, but was unable to catch up to Harris.
Australia claimed its fourth-consecutive Olympic gold in the event, while Team USA earned silver and China secured bronze.
Results: Women's 4x100m freestyle relay
🥇 Australia
🥈 United States
🥉 China
Rugby
France stunned Fiji with a 28-7 victory to win gold in the rugby sevens tournament.
The win gave the home country its first medal in these Olympic Games and is France's first medal in men's rugby since earning silver in 1924 — the last time the Games were held in Paris.
Fiji's unbeaten streak in the Olympics came to an end at 17 games, and its silver medal is its first non-gold medal since rugby returned to the Olympics in 2016.
Antoine Dupont was the hero for the French with two tries, including the gold-medal-clinching try.
Results: Rugby sevens
🥇 France
🥈 Fiji
🥉 South Africa
Diving: Women's 3m synchronized
Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook (affectionately known as 'Cook'N Bacon') won silver in the women's diving synchronized 3m springboard competition with a total score of 314.64, falling just short to the Chinese duo of Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen.
The silver medal is the first Olympic medal for both Bacon and Cook, and marks the first American medal in the event since 2012.
"We were really consistent," Cook said of the team's day. "We were able to dive the way we train. It wasn't our best performance, but we didn’t miss anything, so we’re really happy with how we did. To be able to walk away with a silver medal is freaking awesome.”
Results: Women's 3m synchronized
🥇 Yani Chang and Yiwen Chen (CHN)
🥈 Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook (USA)
🥉 Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jansen (GBR)
Cycling: Women's time trial
Australian cyclist Grace Brown dominated the women's individual time trial through the wet streets of Paris to win her first Olympic medal. She finished in 39:38.24, a full minute and a half faster than her competitors.
"It means so much," Brown said. "The same as for many athletes, I [have] had to make a lot of sacrifices. A big team behind me putting a lot of work and belief in me."
Great Britain's Anna Henderson finished in second place with a time of 41:09.83 in her Olympic debut.
U.S. star cyclist Chloe Dygert persevered through an early crash to win bronze, missing the chance at silver by less than a second.
Results: Women's time trial
🥇 Grace Brown (AUS)
🥈 Anna Henderson (GBR)
🥉 Chloe Dygert (USA)
Soccer: U.S. men's soccer rights the ship
The U.S. men's soccer team defeated New Zealand in dominant fashion with a 4-1 win.
Days after losing its opener to France, the U.S. needed to win to increase its chances of making it out of the group stage. The result puts the American in a comfortable position to advance by likely only needing one point to move on.
"I think the game against France was a game of inches. Today we were good with the first two opportunities we had," U.S. head coach Marko Mitrovic said. "When you get in the game with 2-0 at the very beginning, obviously it's a much easier game. We never spoke about we have to win, we have to tie. We want to maximize every day and we want to maximize every game."
The U.S. men will play their next match against Guinea at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 30.
Basketball: Victor Wembanyama stands tall in Olympic debut
The NBA rookie of the year Victor Wembanyama led France to a 78-66 victory over Brazil in each team's Group B opener.
The 7-foot-4 phenom was stellar in his Olympic debut, posting 19 points and a team-high nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks.
"In just the inside positions, we’ve got two of the best players in the EuroLeague, the very best players, and two good defensive front-runners for defensive player of the year," Wembanyama said. "We're all here for a purpose, and we are all ready to give our spot to the next guy."
In case you missed it...
- Soccer: The Canadian soccer team was deducted six points from the Olympic women's soccer tournament and coach Bev Priestman was banned for one year in the wake of a drone spying scandal.
- Gymnastics: Defending Olympic champion Daiki Hashimoto of Japan and American Brody Malone, the 2022 world high bar champion, both struggled during the qualification round and did not advance to the final. Both were expected to be gold medal contenders.
- Tennis: "Nadalcaraz", Spain's dream doubles team comprising of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz debuted with a defeat of Argentine sixth seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni on Saturday. Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula beat Australia's Ellen Perez and Daria Saville in two sets in the first round of the women's doubles tournament.
- Beach volleyball: U.S. duo Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss impressed in their beach volleyball Pool B opener, defeating Canada's Heather Bansley and Sophie Bukovec in straight sets.
- Basketball: In a clash of NBA stars, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (21 points, 7 assists) and RJ Barrett (23 points) defeated Greece 86-79 despite a massive 34-point game game from Giannis Antetokounmpo.