American swimmers Chase Kalisz and Jay Litherland won the USA’s first two medals at around 10:38 a.m. local time – gold and silver, respectively, in the men’s 400-meter individual medley. Then bronze for Kieran Smith in the men’s 400 freestyle.
By the time Emma Weyant and Hali Flickinger climbed out of the pool after finishing second and third in the women’s 400-meter individual medley, Team USA’s zero medals had become five – a harbinger of the afternoon and evening to come.
After going without a medal on Day 1 of the Summer Olympics for the first time in nearly half a century, the United States came back and won a whopping 10 medals on Day 2. According to U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee historian Bill Mallon, it is just the 73rd time in Olympic history that Team USA has earned double-digit medals in a single day of competition.
“Yesterday, a little bit of a slow start for everyone,” said U.S. shooter Will Shaner, a 20-year-old college student who won gold in the men’s 10-meter air rifle event. “Today, to (help) finally get it moving, it’s amazing. It’s really an honor.”
It has been a tremendously strange start to the Games for Team USA, to be sure – and not just because of the medal drought and subsequent flood.
Outside the pool, Team USA will have a realistic shot at medals in everything from fencing to skeet shooting on Monday. The U.S. women’s softball team already has clinched a spot in the gold-medal game, which will be played Tuesday. And Wednesday will present medal opportunities in a pair of new sports in which the U.S. has been dominant: 3-on-3 basketball and surfing.
Five years ago, at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Americans won 121 medals – 51 more than China, which finished second in the overall medal count. They have a long way to go, still, before matching or exceeding that total, even with the addition of new sports or disciplines. But as this weekend showed, fortunes at the Olympics can change quickly – from confidence to confusion, or worry to joy, sometimes just 48 minutes at a time.
According to Tom Schad (www.usatoday.com). Source of photo: internet
