Team USA makes history with three inaugural Olympic medals on Day 13
As the final few days of the Summer Olympics draw near, Team USA continues to heat up in Tokyo.
The U.S. had 79 medals heading into Thursday night ET/Friday morning Tokyo time and finished with 91 (29 gold, 35 silver, 27 bronze), in the lead ahead of China (74, 34-24-16).
In third is the Russian Olympic Committee, also known as ROC (58, 16-22-20), in terms of total medals.
The Americans trail only China (34) in gold medals, and the host nation of Japan boasts the third-most gold medals, with 22.
For an up-to-date tracker of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics medal count, click here to see how every country is doing!
A trio of Americans made history in three new events at the Games, with Nevin Harrison grabbing gold in the canoe on the Sea Forest Waterway, Nathaniel Coleman earning silver in climbing at Aomi Urban Sports Park and Cory Juneau taking bronze in men's skateboarding at the Ariake Sports Park.
There was also plenty of action for the Americans in the track and field competitions, as well as a big day on the mats for Team USA's wrestling squad.
Plus, the men's basketball and baseball teams battled in their respective semifinals to earn a shot at winning gold.
Check out all of that and much in the highlights from Day 13:
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Team USA, Basketball
The U.S. men's basketball team took on Australia in a semifinal at Saitama Super Arena, where they defeated the Aussies in a blowout 97-78 win.
Both teams went back and forth in the first quarter, but the Australians, who previously defeated Team USA 91-83 in an exhibition game on July 12, took over in the second frame to take a 15-point lead. But with 5:23 left before the half, the U.S. went on a 16-4 run to keep the Australians within arm's reach, closing the gap to 45-42 at the break. Kevin Durant led all scorers with 15 points in the first half, followed by Devin Booker (7 points) and Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard (5 points) for Team USA.
The Americans came back in a big way in the third, going on a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the game and exploding for a 19-point lead as the minutes ticked down.
Durant continued to lead all scorers with 23 points, followed by Booker, who had 18 points headed into the fourth. The U.S., on an extended 48-14 run, led Australia 74-55 entering the final frame.
Despite their best efforts, the Australians were no match for the U.S., who ran away with the win. Team USA will play for a fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal against France at 10:30 p.m. ET Friday/11:30 a.m. local time Saturday in Tokyo.
Nevin Harrison, Canoe Sprint
The 19-year-old (!) Seattle native won the inaugural gold in the women's canoe single 200m with a time of 45.932, beating Canada's silver medalist Laurence Vincent-Lapointe (46.786) and Ukraine's Liudmyla Luzan (47.034), who took bronze.
At 14 years old, Harrison was diagnosed with hip dysplasia that forced her to give it up her dream of running track. Despite doctors telling her athletics weren’t feasible with her condition, Harrison turned to a new sport that didn’t require running: canoeing.
Three years later, she became a world champion at 17, and now, the incoming San Diego State University freshman is an Olympic gold medalist.
Track and Field results
Ryan Crouser, who won gold at the 2016 Rio Games, defended his title in the men's shot put as he threw 23.30m to smash his own Olympic record.
The current indoor and outdoor world record holder is the only man in this field to ever throw the 16-pound ball over 23 meters.
Joe Kovacs made it a 1-2 for Team USA for the second consecutive Games, as he claimed silver in the event. His throw of 22.65m would have broken Crouser's previous Olympic record of 22.52m set in Rio.
"Last round, I just swung for the fences," Kovacs, via Team USA. "What I threw today would have been the Olympic record. Ryan threw farther. That just tells you where the sport’s going. We just keep pushing each other."
After the event, Crouser held up a note for the cameras that read: "Grandpa, We did it. 2020 Olympic Champion!"
The 31-year-old displayed the note as a tribute to his late grandfather, Larry Crouser, who died at age 86 prior to the Games.
Elsewhere on the infield, American Katie Nageotte launched 4.90m to overcome a very shaky start and win the women's pole vault final.
After missing on her first two attempts to start the competition, Nageotte was down to her final lifeline on the opening height of 4.5m. Fortunately, the 30-year-old cleared the bar on her third go, eventually processing to the gold-medal-winning height of 4.90m.
"I was nervous," Nageotte said when asked about the early hiccups, via USA Today. "I know my family got up very early to watch me. And I would've felt very bad if I made them get up at six in the morning to watch me no-height."
As it turns out, her family tuned in to watch her win gold, instead.
The top of the podium eluded Team USA on the oval track at the Olympic Stadium on Day 13, however.
Grant Holloway – who passed up a possible career in the NFL to pursue his Olympic dreams and is the reigning world champion in the men's 110m hurdles – took home the silver medal in the event with a time of 13.09 seconds, just 0.05 seconds behind Jamaica's gold medalist, Hansle Parchment.
Also, Team USA's men's 4x100m relay team failed to advance out of their heat, ending their hopes of a medal in that event later in the week.
David Taylor III, Wrestling
Taylor extended his astounding streak of 51 international matches without a loss to 52 with a 4-3 win against top-seeded Iranian wrestler Hassan Yazdani in the men's freestyle 86kg final.
The 30-year-old fell to a 2-0 hole early against Yazdani, the reigning Olympic champion, before scoring a takedown to make it 2-2 after the break. Yazdani earned another point, but Taylor, known as "Magic Man," secured a second takedown with seconds remaining to claim the win.
Elsewhere at Makuhari Messe Hall, American Helen Maroulis dominated her opponent for an 11-0 win to secure bronze in women's freestyle 57kg event, as did Team USA's Thomas Gilman for a 9-1 win in his men's freestyle 57kg bronze-medal match.
Cory Juneau, Skateboarding
The 22-year-old San Diego native took home bronze in the inaugural men's park final with a score of 84.13. This is the second skateboarding medal for Team USA, as American Jagger Eaton took bronze in men's street on Day 2, and the second inaugural medal for the U.S. on Day 13.
Team USA, women's soccer
It wasn't the medal they were favored to win, but the United States women’s national team is nevertheless taking home hardware following a thrilling 4-3 win against Australia in the bronze-medal match.
The USWNT got out to a hot start, taking in a 3-1 lead before halftime thanks to two goals from Megan Rapinoe and one from Carli Lloyd.
Sam Kerr scored in the first half to give the Matildas hope, but Lloyd added her second of the game at the 51-minute mark to make the score 4-1.
The Aussies kept pushing, however, and Caitlin Foord slotted home in the 54th minute to cut the deficit.
Emily Gielnik scored in the 90th to make for a tight finish, but the USWNT saw out the four minutes of added time without issue to take home bronze.
For where the USWNT goes from here, check out FOX Sports Soccer Writer Doug McIntyre's piece on the future of the team.
Team USA, baseball
Gasping for air after losing to Japan on Monday, Team USA's baseball team won back-to-back games to lock down a spot in the gold-medal game, setting up a rematch with the host nation at Yokohama Stadium.
The U.S. toppled South Korea 7-2 in the semis to book the revenge game, scoring a whopping five runs in the sixth inning to break the game open and take a 7-1 lead.
South Korea earned one back in the top of the seventh, but the American bullpen shut to door on any designs of a comeback after that.
Starter Joe Ryan pitched 4.1 innings of one-run ball, before giving way to Ryder Ryan, Scott McGough, Anthony Gose and Anthony Carter, who combined to give up one unearned run on three hits and a walk.
Designated hitter Tyler Austin had two RBIs, as did centerfielder Jack Lopez as Team USA staved off being sent to the bronze-medal game and will now take on Japan for the right to win gold on Saturday.
Nelly Korda, Golf
The 23-year-old LPGA Tour star and reigning Women's PGA Championship winner entered Round 2 of women's Individual Stroke Play, which took place Wednesday night ET/Thursday Tokyo, tied for second with India's Aditi Ashok at -5, one stroke behind Sweden's Madelene Sagström.
As Round 2 got underway at Kasumigaseki Country Club, Korda pulled away from her competitors, taking a solo lead over all 60 golfers at -13 headed into Round 3 (6:30 p.m. ET Thursday). Ashok remains tied for second alongside Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Emily Kristine Pedersen at -9, while Sagström fell to fifth at -8.
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