Simone Biles withdraws citing mental health issue, USA gymnastics earns silver
Day 4 at the Olympics was a stunner for a huge number of reasons.
Despite getting off to a slow start in these Tokyo Games, Team USA picked things up on Sunday and Monday with several Americans reaching the podium, and they continued to bring the heat on Day 4.
As of Tuesday afternoon ET, the U.S. has 25 total medals (nine gold, eight silver, eight bronze), with China's 21 medals (9-5-7) and Japan (18, 10-3-5) and the Russian Olympic Committee (18, 7-7-4) hot on their tails. Of note: The host nation does boast the overall lead in gold medals.
But the U.S. was left to perhaps rue several chances, as the captivating Simone Biles withdrew after the first rotation on the vault in gymnastics and USA softball fell short in the gold medal game against Japan.
And speaking of Japan, one of the host nation's biggest stars, Naomi Osaka, stumbled out of the women's tennis picture.
Here are the in-depth takeaways from the biggest Day 4 stories.
Team USA, Women's Gymnastics all-around, team
Coming in as back-to-back gold medalists in the all-around, team event, the Americans had high hopes of making it a 3-peat.
Unfortunately, Biles, their superstar, withdrew early in the program with what the team said was a "medical issue."
Biles stumbled on her first vault of the competition, then stunningly withdrew from the event.
After the incident, NBC's broadcast picked up Biles hugging her teammates and telling them, "You guys have trained your whole entire lives for this" and, "I'll be fine. You go out there and kick ass, OK?"
And that's what Team USA's remaining trio of Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee and Grace McCallum did, battling the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) for the gold until the end.
Lee delivered a standout performance on the uneven bars to score a 15.400, the highest score among the medalists. And the American trio scored a 41.232 on the balance beam, second among all in the competition, to keep the heat on heading into floor exercise.
Down just eight-tenths heading into the final event, the Americans couldn't quite get over the hump, finishing with a combined score of 38.866 as the ROC dominated with an event-high 41.498.
In the end, the U.S. silver-medal squad finished more than three points behind the gold-medalists for the ROC in total score, 169.528 to 166.096, and exactly two points ahead of Great Britain's bronze-medal winning team.
As for Biles, she addressed her withdrawal after the event, pointing toward it being more of a mental issue than a physical one.
"Physically, I feel good, I'm in shape," she told NBC's "Today" show. "Emotionally, that kind of varies on the time and moment. Coming here to the Olympics and being the head star isn't an easy feat, so we're just trying to take it one day at a time and we'll see."
As for the remaining gymnastic events on the slate throughout the week, Biles told NBC, "We're going to take it day by day, and we're just gonna see."
For an up-to-date tracker of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics medal count, click here to see how every country is doing!
Team USA, Softball
After being absent since the 2008 Games, softball made a return for the Tokyo edition.
Fittingly, the gold medal game for the 2020 games was a rematch of the two countries for 2008 — Japan and the U.S.
In Tuesday's tilt, Yukiko Ueno mowed down Team USA's offense, striking out five in six innings of work, leading Japan to a 2-0 win.
Ueno allowed just four baserunners (two via hit, two via walk) as the U.S. struggled to get anything going offensively. Miu Goto also got an inning of work, giving up one hit and striking out another.
As for Japan's offense, they scored in the top of the fourth and the top of the fifth to provide more than enough cushion with Ueno dealing.
Designated player Yamato Fujita had a pair of hits and an RBI, and shortstop Mana Atsumi also drove in a run. They could have tacked on more in the top of the seventh, in not for a sensational play by Janie Reed to rob Yamato of a two-run home run.
Ally Carda took the loss for the Americans after coming on in relief for starter Cat Osterman. Carda was charged with two earned runs on three hits and a walk, as Japan claimed the gold and the USA took home a hard-earned silver.
A passionate Osterman spoke with the media after the loss, speaking of the heartbreak to not win gold but also of the pride in taking home a silver medal.
Lydia Jacoby, Swimming
The biggest story for the U.S. in a crowded field of swimming action came courtesy of a 17-year-old named Lydia Jacoby.
Jacoby pulled off a monster upset in the 100-meter breaststroke to take home the gold.
Jacoby swam the race in 1:04.95, .13 of a second behind the Olympic record and .82 of a second off the world record. Her hometown of Seward, Alaska went absolute bananas following the result.
Lilly King, the defending Olympic gold medalist, finished .59 of a second behind her teammate to grab bronze, while South Africa's Tatjana Schoenmaker took home silver with a time of 1:05.22.
King congratulated the teenager after the race, saying Jacoby had the "swim of her life."
And Jacoby was happy to give a shoutout to her new crowd of fans after capturing gold.
Naomi Osaka, Tennis
Osaka had hopes of taking home the gold in her home nation, but the world No. 2 lost a stunner in the third round for an early exit from the Games.
Czech Republic's Marketa Vondroušová, ranked No. 42 in the world, hammered the 23-year-old 6-1, 6-4 to win in straight sets.
The Olympic Games marked Osaka's first tournament since she withdrew from the French Open in May, citing her well-being amid her decision to not speak with the media and the subsequent controversy.
Osaka had 32 unforced errors, compared to just 10 for her opponent. Despite putting forth a stronger effort in the second set, including winning her lone break point of the match, Osaka was unable to adequately turn the tide against Vondroušová.
After falling to Vondroušová, Osaka did speak with the media and mentioned the added pressure of fighting to win gold with Japan hosting the Games.
"I definitely feel like there was a lot of pressure for this," she said, via BBC Sport. "I think it's maybe because I haven't played in the Olympics before and for the first year it was a bit much. … I feel like my attitude wasn't that great because I don't really know how to cope with that pressure so that's the best that I could have done in this situation."
Team USA, Women's basketball
The USA women's hoops team got off a strong start in its Olympic campaign, taking down Nigeria 81-72 to secure a 50th straight win at the Games.
That's not a typo. Team USA is unbeaten at the Olympics since 1992, having won six straight gold medals without taking a solitary L in the process.
Aja Wilson scored a game-high 19 points on 60% shooting from the field. She also hauled in game-high 13 rebounds, giving her a double-double in her Olympic debut.
Brittney Griner also recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards, while Diana Taurasi rounded out the Americans to score double figures with 10 points of her own.
Despite her struggles from the field — 3-for-13 for nine points — Breanna Stewart did collect 11 rebounds. Sue Bird went scoreless, but the five-time Olympian doled out a whopping 13 assists, just two fewer than Nigeria managed as a team.
"The best is yet to come with this team," Wilson said after the game.
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