It was a jam-packed day for American women at the Olympics on Saturday, with the USWNT, Katie Ledecky and Sha’Carri Richardson all competing in pivotal events.
Here are the top five stories of the day:
Sha’Carri Richardson wins silver in women’s 100m
Sha’Carri Richardson was poised to win gold in the women’s 100 meters in Paris after not being able to compete in Tokyo. She had one of the highest profiles among Olympic athletes, certainly among American competitors. However, she was deprived of a perfect ending to a redemption story.
Julien Alfred of St. Lucia beat out Richardson for the gold medal, quickly taking the lead out of the block and not giving it up. By the end, she even pulled away from the pack. Alfred’s Olympic gold is the first medal for St. Lucia.
The United States won the other two spots on the medal podium with Melissa Jefferson earning bronze, joining Richardson on the stand. Two-time gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce surprisingly withdrew from the race during qualifiers after suffering a hamstring injury.
Katie Ledecky joins exclusive company with gold in women’s 800m freestyle
Katie Ledecky added to her legend Saturday, winning the 800-meter freestyle by beating out rival Ariarne Titmus of Australia. U.S. teammate Paige Madden earned bronze in the event.
Ledecky has now won nine gold medals and 14 Olympic medals in total. In doing so, she joined some exclusive company on the Olympic greatness pedestal. Nine gold medals ties Ledecky for most won by a female Olympian, with Soviet gymnast Laris Latynina. And by winning the same event four consecutive times, she joined Olympic icons such as Michael Phelps, Carl Lewis and Al Oerter.
She may not be done, either. Asked if she wants to compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Games and win a fifth gold in the 800 meters, Ledecky said, “I’d love to.” She will be 31 years old if she competes in four years, an age at which no female Olympic swimmer has won gold. Anyone care to bet against Ledecky?
Simone Biles wins her seventh gold; Jade Carey, Stephen Nedoroscik earn bronze
Simone Biles finished first in the women’s vault final Saturday, winning her seventh Olympic gold medal overall and third of the Paris Olympics. Teammate Jade Carey won bronze, giving the U.S. two places on the medal podium. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade earned silver with her performance.
Meanwhile, Stephen Nedoroscik, aka “pommel-horse guy,” took home the bronze medal in his signature event after earning a bronze in the team event earlier this week. Ireland’s Rhys McClenaghan took gold with a 15.533, followed by Kazakhstan’s Nariman Kurbanov at 15.433 for silver.
With her seventh gold medal, Biles added to her case as arguably the greatest Olympian of all time. Earlier in these Paris Olympics, she led Team USA to a gold medal in the team competition and then won a second individual all-around gold medal. She’s the oldest woman to take the total and just the third two-time winner.
USWNT toughs out defensive slog versus Japan
The women’s soccer semifinal between the U.S. and Japan wasn’t a particularly thrilling match, with the teams taking a defensive struggle and scoreless tie into extra time.
However, Trinity Rodman provided a thrill at the end for the United States, taking a long pass from Crystal Dunn into the right corner, then maneuvering to a better angle. With her left foot, she rocketed a kick into the high left corner of the net — or as she put it, “banged it upper 90″ — for the lead and eventual win.
“Not all soccer’s pretty soccer,” Rodman said afterward. But toughing out a slog of a game with a win was big for the U.S. women. Team USA advances to the Olympic semifinals for the seventh time in eight tournaments. It faces Germany on Tuesday.
Anthony Edwards leads U.S. men’s basketball team over Puerto Rico
The U.S. men’s basketball team finished group play with a dominant 104–83 win over Puerto Rico. Anthony Edwards led Team USA with 26 points, providing highlight dunks, quick steals and accurate 3-point shooting.
Joel Embiid added 15 points and embraced being the villain, trolling the crowd that previously booed him during the Olympic tournament. Jayson Tatum grabbed 10 rebounds with his 10 points, and LeBron James had an excellent all-around game with 10 points, six rebounds and eight assists.
The U.S. was one of three teams that emerged from group play undefeated (3-0), joining Canada and Germany. Team USA had the largest point differential in the bracket at +64 and will be the No. 1 seed going into their quarterfinal matchup with Brazil on Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET.
Team USA medals
Highlight of the day
While Navy football defensive tackle Chreign LaFond may not have been able to watch his sister, Thea, compete in the women’s triple jump for Dominica, he got the news relayed to him: Thea won a gold medal with a 15.02-meter jump. It’s the first medal for Dominica. Here’s hoping he could watch the replay after practice!
One more thing
During prelims Friday, the American mixed 4×400 relay team broke the world record. And up until the final seconds of Saturday’s medal race, it looked poised to remain on top.
Instead, Netherlands upset the U.S., thanks to a final-leg push by Femke Bol, who chased down and passed Kaylyn Brown on the final stretch to cross the line in 3:07.43, just .02 off the world record the American set a night earlier.
Bol ran a final-leg 47.93, which was more than a second faster than Brown’s 49.14.