Dressel wins gold, U.S. rakes in four swimming medals on Day 9 of Olympics
The U.S. continued to haul in medals on Day 9 of the Tokyo Olympics.
Team USA continued its dominance in the Olympic pool at the Games on Sunday, winning four medals, three of them gold.
Some of the biggest news, however, came when it was announced that U.S. gymnastics star Simone Biles had withdrawn from the event final in the floor exercise. The four-time Olympic gold medalist earlier pulled out of the team final, as well as the individual all-around, vault and uneven bars finals, citing concerns about her mental health. Her participation in the beam final remains unclear.
The U.S. had 46 medals heading into Saturday night ET/Sunday Tokyo time and finished with 59 (20 gold, 23 silver, 16 bronze), in the lead ahead of China (51, 24-14-13). In third is the Russian Olympic Committee, also known as ROC, (44, 12-19-13) in terms of total medals.
The Americans trail only China (24) in gold medals, while the host nation of Japan boasts the third-most gold medals with 17.
Here are some of the highlights from Day 9.
Caeleb Dressel, Swimming
Team USA showed out on the last day of the men's swimming events in Tokyo.
Hot off winning the 100-meter butterfly and breaking his own world record in the event on Saturday, Dressel continued his dominance in the pool, winning gold in the men’s 50-meter freestyle on Sunday and setting a new Olympic record with a time of 21.07.
It was his third individual gold medal in Tokyo, as he also won the 100 free with another Olympic-record showing on Day 6.
The 24-year-old swimming sensation joins Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz as the only men to win three individual swimming events at one Olympics.
Team USA, Swimming
Dressel also competed in the men’s 4x100 medley relay on Sunday alongside Ryan Murphy, Zach Apple and Michael Andrew, and the U.S. won gold for the 14th consecutive Games with a world record time of 3:26:78 in the final swimming event of the Tokyo Games.
This is Dressel's fifth medal at the Olympics (two in relays). He joins Phelps, Spitz and Matt Biondi as the only male swimmers to win five gold medals at a single Games (Phelps did it three times).
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On the women's side, the U.S. won silver in a thrilling 4x100 medley relay by Regan Smith, Lydia Jacoby, Torri Huske and Abbey Weitzeil. Australia edged out the Americans for first with an Olympic record, while Canada came in third.
It was an emotional event for the U.S. team, which was the reigning champion in the event.
Bobby Finke, Swimming
Finke won the 1,500 freestyle with a remarkable final-leg surge to beat Germany’s Florian Wellbrock and Ukraine’s Mykhailo Romanchuk by more than a second.
The 21-year-old college senior is leaving with his name etched in the Tokyo Games' record books. Earlier this week, Finke surged from fourth place at the 750-meter mark to win gold in the 800 freestyle, making the 1,500 free his second come-from-behind victory of these Games.
With Katie Ledecky winning both the women's 800 and 1,500 freestyle, the U.S. won gold in the four longest races the first time they’ve all been included on an Olympic program.
Xander Schauffele, Golf
The 27-year-old Schauffele entered Round 4 of men's Individual Stroke Play, which took place Saturday night ET/Sunday Tokyo, with the lead over the field of 60 golfers at -14, followed by the host country's Hideki Matsuyama (-13) and Great Britain's Paul Casey (-12).
Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia tore Kasumigaseki Country Club apart in his final round, shooting 10-under to finish -17 and setting up a dramatic finish for the gold medal.
But while Sabbatini carded a whopping 10 birdies and an eagle, along with a pair of bogeys, Schauffele played consistent golf and maintained his momentum from earlier in the weekend.
The American had just one bogey in his final 18 holes, notching par on 12 of the holes and hitting a birdie on five of them. His birdie on No. 17 wiped away the lost stroke on No. 14, giving him a window to the gold medal on the final hole.
After missing the fairway to the right on No. 18, Schauffele settled the ball into the fairway and then hit an approach shot that was nothing short of sublime.
With a three-footer to seal the deal, Schauffele made no mistake and held off Sabbatini's Sunday charge, taking home the gold medal.
In his post-competition interview, Schauffele relayed the importance of being the Olympic champion and dedicated the win to his father.
Schauffele's father, Stefan, is his swing coach and once had Olympic hopes of his own as a German decathlete. Unfortunately, his opportunity was stripped away when the then-20-year-old Stefan was struck by a drunk driver while in his car on the way to training, per The New York Times.
The subsequent injuries ended Stefan's Olympic career, at least as a participant. However, he can now call himself part of the team for an Olympic gold medalist, following Xander's win in Tokyo.
Team USA, Gymnastics
MyKayla Skinner's Olympics ostensibly were over a week ago, after she didn't advance to any of the individual event finals in women's gymnastics.
However, Biles' withdrawal during the team event and subsequent uncertainty for the apparatus events opened the door for Skinner to participate as an alternate. Once Biles officially withdrew from the vault, Skinner was available to step up.
The 24-year-old was the first of the women to hit the vault, scoring a 15.033 on her first go and a 14.800 on her second vault, giving her an overall score of 14.916.
She watched as the other finalists took their shot at gold, including the likes of all-around silver-medalist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil.
Andrade went third in the vault final, scoring an overall 15.083 to knock Skinner off the top of the podium. However, none of the other six competitors bested Skinner's score, with Korea's Seojeong Yeo placing third with an overall score of 14.733.
Fellow American Jade Carey, who had qualified second behind Biles on July 24, finished with a final score of 12.416 after a two-point penalty on her final vault.
At the uneven bars event, all-around gold-medalist Sunisa Lee added a bronze medal to her collection from Tokyo, giving her gold (all-around), silver (team) and bronze (uneven bars) from these Games.
Team USA, Track and Field
The men's 100-meter final featured a stunning finish, as Italy's Lamont Marcell Jacobs raced ahead of the competition to post a 9.80 to take home the gold.
American Fred Kerley clocked in with a 9.84, a personal best, to grab silver ahead of Canada's Andre De Grasse, who ran a 9.89.
The other American in the race, Ronnie Baker, finished in fifth place with a time of 9.95 seconds.
Team USA picked up another silver medal on Day 9 thanks to Raven Saunders, who goes by "The Hulk" when competing.
Clad in a "Hulk" facemask, Saunders battled in the shot put final and hurled a 19.79-meter (64 feet, 11.13 inches) toss on her fifth attempt.
Saunders' distance was good for silver, ahead of New Zealand's Valerie Adams' 19.62-meters (64 feet, 4.44 inches) but short of the gold-winning throw from China's Gong Lijiao of 20.58 meters (67 feet, 6.24 inches).
At the medal ceremony, the 25-year-old American silver-medalist was seen raising her arms above her head and forming an "X."
When asked about the reasoning for the demonstration, Saunders, who is openly gay, told the Associated Press, "It’s the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet."
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