Simone and U.S. Swimmers Add to Impressive Medal Hauls

The second weekend of the Summer Olympic Games ended with Team USA leading the overall medal count with a whopping 71 total medals.

The Americans also finished Sunday with a total of 19 gold medals, good enough to put them in a two-way tie with the Chinese for the most first place finishes. Here is a look at the highlights of the Paris Games over the last few days.

Simone Biles Added Another Medal to Her Stash

The women's gymnastics team continues to add to its medal count in Paris as the apparatus finals got underway over the weekend.

Simone Biles won the gold medal in the individual vault final while fellow American Jade Carey turned in a performance that was good enough for the bronze. Brazilian Rebeca Andrade finished between the two Americans in second place.

On Sunday, Team USA's Suni Lee won the bronze medal in the uneven bars individual competition, racking up more awards for the American ladies. The gold medal in this event went to Algeria's Kayla Nemour, making history as the African country's first gold medal award winner in women's gymnastics.

On the men's side, American Stephen Nedoroscik won the bronze in the individual vault competition. A relatively unknown athlete to most Americans entering the Paris Games, Nedoroscik has established a loyal following on the back of his trademark glasses and fun personality.

Hoops and Soccer Teams Continue to Dominate

It was another strong weekend for team sports for the Americans. The women's soccer team will compete in the semifinals after beating Japan 1 - 0 in extra time on Saturday. It was a tense game for the Americans after both teams went scoreless in regulation.

Trinity Rodman sent in the winning goal for Team USA. The Americans will now face Germany on Tuesday for the right to compete for the gold.

The American men's basketball team cruised past Puerto Rico on Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals. Led by LeBron James and Kevin Durant, Team USA will take on Brazil on Tuesday afternoon at Accor Arena.

The American women are well on their way to winning its eighth consecutive gold medal in basketball. The hoops team wrapped up group stage play with a convincing win over Germany on Sunday, finishing the pool undefeated. Team USA has now advanced to the quarterfinal round, scheduled for Wednesday.

Americans Win Big in the Pool

The swimming events wrapped up this weekend, ending this portion of the Games with a number of new world records set in the pool at La Défense Arena.

Team USA are proud owners of a new world record for the mixed 4x100 medley, inching past the French and their hometown hero Léon Marchand on Saturday.

Decorated swimmer American Katie Ledecky bested rival Australian Ariarne Titmus in the 800m freestyle race to bring her Games to a close.

The win put Ledecky in highly esteemed company, joining fellow American Michael Phelps as the only athlete to win the same swimming event at four consecutive summer Games. Ledecky will go home with four medals from these Games, putting her grand total at 14 Olympic medals over the years.

Sunday saw more records fall when the U.S. women won the 4x100m relay, also beating the Australians with a dominant performance.

Although the Americans slipped behind early in the race, Regan Smith surged ahead in the first leg to give Lilly King the lead when she took over.

Gretchen Walsh extended the American lead further with anchor swimmer Torri Huske putting the exclamation point on the performance as the team sailed to the world record time of 3:49.63, dating back to the 2019 World Championships.

The star of the show Sunday was American Bobby Finke, bringing home a new world record with his gold medal in the men's 1500m title. Finke turned in a time of 14:30.67, barely eclipsing Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri with the silver and Irish competitor Daniel Wiffen earning the bronze.

Track and Field Kicks Off

The much-anticipated track and field competitions are also underway.

Team USA's Noah Lyles is now sporting the title of the world's fastest man after he took home the gold in Sunday's 100m race, standing at the top of the podium of what shaped up to be an extremely fast field. Lyles' win is the first in 20 years for the American men in this event.

The fastest woman in the world title now goes to Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred after she blazed her way to the gold in the women's 100m. American Sha’Carri Richardson finished in second place.

Other Events and Winners of Note

After chasing it for years, Serbian Novak Djokovic won the elusive gold medal on Sunday. Djokovic beat Spanish icon Carlos Alcaraz in the men's individual finals. The Serbian had won nearly every major tennis competition except for Olympic gold until the Paris Games.

Team USA cyclist Kristen Faulkner rocked the women's road race on Sunday, taking home the gold medal. Faulkner pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the Games thus far.

She has only been cycling for about seven years, setting up the unexpected storybook ending as she cruised under the Eiffel Tower for the victory.

Elsewhere, it was business as usual for American golfer Scottie Scheffler, winning the top spot on the podium in the men’s individual stroke play competition. Scheffler started the day four strokes behind but was able to power ahead of the pack.

Olympics Organizers Answering Questions About Sick Triathletes

Organizers of the Games are facing increasing scrutiny about the water quality conditions in the River Seine. At least two triathletes have reportedly fallen ill after swimming in the river last week.

Some of the practices and a competition were postponed last week after tests demonstrated poor water quality levels in the river that runs through the heart of Paris.

An illness for Belgium's Claire Michel forced the withdraw of the team from the mixed relay triathlon race on Monday. Switzerland also announced that they had to change their roster after one of its athletes became sick after swimming in the river.

World Triathlon and Paris 2024 issued a joint statement on Sunday confirming that the mixed relay triathlon will go off as planned on Monday. Organizers are confident that the water quality levels will continue to improve.

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