As usual, the swimming events at the Olympics ended with tally of how much history was created in nine days.
Caeleb Dressel won the men's 50m freestyle by nearly half of a second, completing his hat trick of gold medals in all three of his individual events. (STORY)
Dressel returned shortly thereafter to swim the butterfly leg of the men's 4x100m medley relay, teaming with backstroke swimmer Ryan Murphy, breaststroke swimmer Michael Andrew and freestyle anchor Zach Apple to beat the world record set by the U.S. men in 2019. (STORY)
With that, Dressel joined Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz and Matt Biondi in the exclusive club of U.S. swimmers to win five golds at a single Games.
Great Britain had harbored hopes of finally dethroning the U.S. men, who have never lost an Olympic medley relay. But with the silver medal, Duncan Scott became the first from his country to take four medals in one Olympics, and Great Britain broke its 113-year-old record for medals in one Olympics with eight.
Any other records? Oh yes.
Emma McKeon became the first woman since 1952 and only the second ever to win seven medals in a single sport at any Olympics, winning the 50m freestyle and leading Australia to gold in the women's 4x100m medley relay. (STORY)
And Bobby Finke won the men's 1500m freestyle, which means he and Katie Ledecky swept all the distance events in Tokyo. (STORY)
Phew! Anything else today? Oh, right. The U.S. took its first track and field medals of the summer in an extraordinary evening (especially if you're Italian), the U.S. picked up historic medals in diving and weightlifting, and BMX freestyle made a breathtaking Olympic debut.
SEE MORE: Watch Bobby Finke's final 100m charge for men's mile gold
Track and field
Women's shot put: China's Gong Lijiao, competing in her fourth Olympics, added gold to her silver (2012) and bronze (2008). Because she won her other medals retroactively after other athletes were disqualified for doping infractions, she finally participated in a medal ceremony. Gong owned the scoreboard, with the five best throws of the competition, but it was silver medalist Raven Saunders of the U.S. who exuded personality and positivity. (Just watch the video below.) Bronze medalist Valerie Adams of New Zealand became the first person to win fourth Olympic medals in the same field event, one day after Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce became the first to do that in a track event. (STORY)
Check out Sanders' style here: STORY
Men's high jump: Let's say you've survived an epic final that dragged out so long that it created some conflicts with the track events. You've had a career filled with adversity. You're tied for first place. Would you want to go to a jump-off? No? Congratulations! You're both gold medalists. That's what happened with Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi, who hugged and then ran around in delirious celebration. (STORY)
Women's triple jump: Venezuela's Yulimar Rojas finally got the world record she's been chasing for years and did so by a mile. Well, 0.17 meters, or more than half a foot. (STORY)
Men's 100m: What were the odds of Italy taking two gold medals in track and field in the span of a few minutes? Lamont Jacobs took the gold medal ahead of U.S. sprinter Fred Kerley on a surprising night that saw favorite Trayvon Bromell ousted by 0.001 seconds in the semifinals. (STORY)
SEE MORE: Saunders steals show, taking silver in shot put behind Gong
Gymnastics
Simone Biles has withdrawn from the floor exercise (STORY), adding to her withdrawals from the vault and uneven bars (STORY). The balance beam is still a possibility.
Despite some struggles, U.S. gymnasts took two medals. Mykayla Skinner took silver behind Brazil's Rebeca Andrade (STORY), and Suni Lee added to her all-around gold with a bronze on uneven bars. (STORY)
Israel has its first-ever gymnastics medal and only its second gold medal ever, thanks to Artem Dolgopyat in the men's floor exercise. British star Max Whitlock defended his title on the pommel horse. (STORY)
SEE MORE: Skinner hits both vaults to win silver in Biles' place
Around the Games
Weightlifting: Kate Nye made a mistake that nullified an exceptional lift in the snatch, then rallied in the clean and jerk for the first U.S. weightlifting silver medal since 1964. (STORY)
Diving: The U.S. women's 21-year wait for an individual medal is over. Krysta Palmer took bronze on the springboard. (STORY)
Fencing: France outtouched the ROC for gold in the men's team foil, while Alex Massialas, Race Imboden and Gerek Meinhardt led the U.S. to bronze. (STORY)
Water polo: China upset Hungary, giving the U.S. women a surprise top seed in the quarterfinals. (STORY)
Boxing: U.S. fighters Richard Torrez Jr. and Duke Ragan guaranteed themselves medals in difficult quarterfinals. Torrez outlasted Justiz Pero, wearing down the Cuban fighter with an endless three-round barrage. Ragan advanced in a squeaker of a split decision over Irish fighter Kurt Walker. The morning session ended with an hourlong protest when French super heavyweight Mourad Aliev was disqualified. Thankfully for other boxers, that was the last fight before the long break. (STORY)
Beach volleyball: A disastrous day for the U.S. on the sand. The young U.S. team of Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil won the first set but then lost to Canada's Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson in a match that ended soon after a bizarre incident in which the U.S. challenged a call and had in overturned in their favor, only to see Canada re-challenge the point and have it re-reversed (STORY). Then Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena won their first set before losing to Qatar's Ahmed Tijan and Cherif Younousse (STORY).
Wrestling: Five-time world champion Adeline Gray won her three matches, including a dramatic decision in the semifinals in which she survived a coach's challenge of a controversial call, and will wrestle for the 76kg gold tomorrow. (STORY)
Basketball: With Luka Doncic in foul trouble through most of the game, Slovenia still pulled off the upset over Spain. (STORY)
Golf: Can't get enough Olympic golf? Great, because after American Xander Schauffele clinched gold and Rory Sabbatini set an Olympic record with a 61 in his final round to take silver, we had a seven-way playoff for bronze. (STORY)
BMX cycling: U.S. teen and three-time world champion Hannah Roberts laid down a spectacular first run and seemed to have gold in hand until Great Britain's Charlotte Worthington landed the trick she couldn't land in the first run — the first 360 backflip — to take gold as BMX freestyle made a spectacular Olympic debut (STORY). Australia's Logan Martin won the men's event (STORY).
SEE MORE: Charlotte Worthington steals show in BMX freestyle final
Medalists
Badminton, women's singles: Gold - Chen Yu Fei (CHN), Silver - Tai Tzu-Ying (TPE), Bronze - P.V. Sindhu (IND)
Cycling, women's BMX freestyle: Gold - Charlotte Worthington (GBR), Silver - Hannah Roberts (USA), Bronze - Nikita Ducarroz (SUI)
Cycling, men's BMX freestyle: Gold - Logan Martin (AUS), Silver - Daniel Dhers (VEN), Bronze - Declan Brooks (GBR)
Diving, women's springboard: Gold - Shi Tingmao (CHN), Silver - Wang Han (CHN), Bronze - Krysta Palmer (USA)
Fencing, men's team foil: Gold - France, Silver - ROC, Bronze - United States
Golf, men's: Gold - Xander Schauffele (USA), Silver - Rory Sabbatini (SVK), Bronze - C.T. Pan (TPE)
Gymnastics, men's floor exercise: Gold - Artem Dolgopyat (ISR), Silver - Ray Zapata (ESP), Bronze - Xiao Ruoteng (CHN)
Gymnastics, women's vault: Gold - Rebeca Andrade (BRA), Silver - Mykayla Skinner (USA), Bronze - Yeo Seo-Jeong (KOR)
Gymnastics, men's pommel horse: Gold - Max Whitlock (GBR), Silver - Lee Chih Kai (TPE), Bronze - Kaya Kazuma (JPN)
Gymnastics, women's uneven bars: Gold - Nina Derwael (BEL), Silver - Anastasiia Iliankova (ROC), Bronze - Suni Lee (USA)
Sailing, men's Laser: Gold - Matt Wearn (AUS), Silver - Tonci Stipanovic (CRO), Bronze - Hermann Tomasgaard (NOR)
Sailing, women's Laser Radial: Gold - Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN), Silver - Josefin Olsson (SWE), Bronze - Marit Bouwmeester (NED)
Swimming, men's 50m freestyle: Gold - Caeleb Dressel (USA), Silver - Florent Manadou (FRA), Bronze - Bruno Fratus (BRA)
Swimming, women's 50m freestyle: Gold - Emma McKeon (AUS), Silver - Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), Bronze - Pernille Blume (DEN)
Swimming, men's 1500m freestyle: Gold - Bobby Finke (USA), Silver - Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR), Bronze - Florian Wellbrock (GER)
Swimming, women's 4x100m medley relay: Gold - Australia, Silver - United States, Bronze - Canada
Swimming, men's 4x100m medley relay: Gold - United States, Silver - Great Britain, Bronze - Italy
Tennis, women's doubles: Gold - Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE), Silver - Bencic/Golubic (SUI), Bronze - Pigossi/Stefani (BRA)
Tennis, men's singles: Gold - Alexander Zverev (GER), Silver - Karen Khachanov (ROC), Bronze - Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)
Tennis, mixed doubles: Gold - Pavlyuchenkova/Rublev (ROC), Silver - Vesnina/Karatsev (ROC), Bronze - Barty/Peers (AUS)
Track and field, women's shot put: Gold - Gong Lijiao (CHN), Silver - Raven Saunders (USA), Bronze - Valerie Adams (NZL)
Track and field, men's high jump: Gold - Mutaz Essa Barshim (QAT), Gold (shared) - Gianmarco Tamberi (ITA), Bronze - Maksim Nedasekau (BLR)
Track and field, women's triple jump: Gold - Yulimar Rojas (VEN), Silver - Patricia Mamona (POR), Bronze - Ana Peleteiro (ESP)
Track and field, men's 100m: Gold - Lamont Jacobs (ITA), Silver - Fred Kerley (USA), Bronze - Andre de Grasse (CAN)
Weightlifting, women's 76kg: Gold - Neisi Dajomes (ECU), Silver - Kate Nye (USA), Bronze - Aremi Fuentes (MEX)
