Ledecky suffers rare defeat, U.S. continues to rack up medals at Tokyo Games
The U.S. continues to climb the leaderboard as the third day of the Tokyo Games comes to a close.
Despite getting off to a rocky start, several Americans reached the podium on Sunday, and it was more of the same on Day 3.
As of Monday afternoon ET, the U.S. has 14 total medals (seven gold, three silver, four bronze), trailing only China’s 18 (6-5-7).
Here are some of the highlights:
Caeleb Dressel, Swimming
Dressel led the U.S. – featuring Blake Pieroni, Bowen Becker and Zach Apple – to a gold medal win in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay on Monday with a time of 3:08:97, edging out silver medalist Italy and bronze medalist Australia by 1.14 and 1.25 seconds, respectively.
Dressel – who was part of two winning relays in Rio and won five gold medals at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships that catapulted him into the spotlight – is quickly proving one of the biggest stars of the Tokyo Games. He will have three more shots at gold in the men's 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly and 50m freestyle.
Check out Team USA’s win:
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Ariarne Titmus, Swimming
Australia's Titmus defeated world-record holder and defending Olympic champion Katie Ledecky in the 400-meter freestyle by 0.67 seconds, handing the U.S. swimming star her first Olympic silver in an individual event.
Titmus' time of 3:56.69 is the second-fastest time in history, while Ledecky's time of 3:57.36 is the fourth-fastest time ever recorded and the second-fastest time of her career, behind only the world and Olympic record she set at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Katie Ledecky, Swimming
Ledecky, one of the most dominant female swimmers in Tokyo, bounced back quickly from her narrow loss in the 400m freestyle to win her 200-meter and 1,500-meters heats. She set an Olympic record in the 1500m freestyle with a time of 15:35.35. She now advances to the semifinals in both events.
Check out Ledecky's record-breaking win:
Kelsey Stewart, Softball
Team USA, which trailed 1-0 heading into the final two frames, came from behind to defeat Japan, 2-1, on Monday on a walk-off home run from Stewart to end the group stage with an undefeated 5-0 record.
The win gives Team USA the right to bat last in the gold medal game against Japan on Tuesday (7 a.m. ET), which will be a rematch of the 2008 Beijing gold medal game, when Japan beat the U.S., 3-1.
Luka Dončić, Basketball
Although he wasn't playing for the U.S., the 22-year-old Dallas Mavericks guard and Olympic rookie brought his NBA talents all the way to Tokyo.
Dončić made history with his 48-point performance Monday at Saitama Super Arena to lead Slovenia to a 118-100 victory over Argentina. It is tied for the second-highest total in Olympic men's basketball history, with 31 points coming in the first half alone.
This is a developing story.
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