Summer Olympics

On the heels of Simone Biles leaving the women's gymnastics team competition after just one rotation at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo on Tuesday, Team USA fell to the Russian Olympic Committee.

ROC took gold with a total score of 169.528, while the Americans settled for silver with a score of 166.096. Great Britain won bronze with 164.096 points.

Here is a look at the full finishing order, courtesy of Olympics.com:

1. Russian Olympic Committee: 169.528

2. United States: 166.096

3. Great Britain: 164.096

4. Italy: 163.638

5. Japan: 163.280

6. France: 163.264

7. China: 161.196

8. Belgium: 159.695

Biles was removed from the competition after falling on her vault attempt. Biles scored just 13.766 on the vault, which was well below her usual score:

Jordan Chiles replaced Biles on the uneven bars, and Al Butler of United Press International reported a Team USA coach told the NBC broadcast that Biles exited the competition because of a "mental issue" and not an injury.

USA Gymnastics later released a statement, saying Biles had a "medical issue" and would be assessed moving forward:

Despite losing arguably the greatest gymnast of all time early in the team competition, Team USA remained within striking distance throughout thanks to strong performances from Chiles, Sunisa Lee and Grace McCallum on the uneven bars and balance beam.

The Americans were only about a half-point behind the ROC when the final rotation began, but disaster struck during the floor exercise. Chiles slipped and fell late in her routine, scoring just 11.700 points.

While the miscue was disappointing for 20-year-old and Team USA, Juliet Macur of the New York Times attempted to put her overall performance in perspective:

With the second-place finish, Team USA's run of Olympic gold in the team competition came to an end at two in a row, although the Americans are still the reigning five-time world champions in the team event.

The silver medal is the first of Biles' Olympic career after she won four golds and one bronze at the 2016 Summer Games. Meanwhile, Lee, Chiles and McCallum all won their first Olympic medals on Tuesday.

As for ROC, the quartet of Liliia Akhaimova, Viktoriia Listunova, Angelina Melnikova and Vladislava Urazova brought a Russian team its first gold in women's team gymnastics since the Unified Team took gold in 1992. 

A ruling last year by the Court of Arbitration for Sport banned Russia's team name as punishment for an extensive doping program and cover-ups, and all Russian athletes at the Tokyo Games are competing for the ROC.

Naomi Osaka's stunning loss to Marketa Vondrousova in the third round of Olympics play was the top story around the tennis world Tuesday, and justifiably so. But the men's draw had some intriguing matchups on tap, along with a bit of a rain delay to slow down the proceedings.

Highlighting the action was third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece beating American Frances Tiafoe in straight sets, as well as Japan's Kei Nishikori getting past another American in Marcos Giron on his home turf.

Below, we'll break down the completed matchups and storylines from the men's round-of-32 draw.

Scores

(3) Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) def. Frances Tiafoe (USA); 6-3, 6-4

Kei Nishikori (JPN) def. Marcos Giron (USA); 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-1

(8) Diego Schwartzman (ARG) def. Tomas Machac (CZE); 6-4, 7-5

Liam Broady (GBR) def. (7) Hurbert Hurkacz (POL); 7-5, 3-6, 6-3

(12) Karen Khachanov (ROC) def. James Duckworth (AUS); 7-5, 6-1

Jeremy Chardy (FRA) def. (11) Aslan Karatsev (ROC); 7-5, 4-6, 6-3

(14) Ugo Humbert (FRA) def. Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB); 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-5

Ilya Ivashka (BLR) def. Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ); 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3

Recap

Tsitsipas, the top-seeded men's player in action Tuesday, handled his business without much drama. 

The Greek star defeated the United States' Tiafoe behind nine aces, 10 forehand winners and an impressive service game in general (he won 28 of 31 first-serve points). So dominant was Tsitsipas that Tiafoe had just one break-point opportunity and failed to convert it.

It surely was particularly sweet beating Tiafoe to advance in the Olympics after the American knocked Tsitsipas out of Wimbledon this summer in the first round, a stunning upset.

"There wasn't that same fighting spirit that I usually put out on the court," Tsitsipas told reporters following that loss. "I would like to see a different me next time. There have been times that I was much more motivated than this. But that's no reason for me not to play well."

He brought the fighting spirit Tuesday, however.

He now heads to the round of 16, where he awaits Ugo Humbert of France.

Tiafoe wasn't the only American to taste defeat Tuesday, as Giron dropped a heartbreaker to Nishikori in three sets.

Giron lost a first-set tiebreak before bouncing back to win the second, however, he clearly had little left in the tank in the third, losing 6-1.

The 31-year-old Nishikori, who was a U.S. Open finalist in 2014, tweeted the following after his victory:

Nishikori will have a golden opportunity to reach the quarterfinals, as he faces the unheralded Ilya Ivashka of Belarus in the third round.

The biggest upset of the day in men's singles came courtesy of Great Britain's Liam Broady, who knocked off seventh-seeded Hurbert Hurkacz of Poland in three sets.

Tennis coach and the mother of veteran Great Britain player Andy Murray, Judy Murray, tweeted about Broady's big win:

The victory was an unexpected one, as most figured Hurkacz was ticketed for a deep Olympic run after upsetting Roger Federer at Wimbledon.

Broady has a strong chance to reach the quarters, as his next match is against another unseeded player in Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.

Chardy scored an upset in his own right Tuesday, beating 11th-seed Aslan Karatsev in three sets.

Lydia Jacoby dethroned Team USA teammate Lilly King as the queen of the 100-meter breaststroke, edging out South Africa's Tatjana Schoenmaker and King to win Tuesday in the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Jacoby surged down the stretch to finish in 1:04.95.

Women's 100-Meter Breaststroke Results

Gold: Lydia Jacoby, United States (1:04.95)

Silver: Tatjana Schoenmaker, South Africa (1:05.22)

Bronze: Lilly King, United States (1:05.54)

4th: Evgeniia Chikunova, ROC (1:05.90) 

5th: Yulia Efimova, ROC (1:06.02)

6th: Sophie Hansson, Sweden (1:06.07)

7th: Martina Carraro, Italy (1:06.19)

8th: Mona McSharry, Ireland (1:06.94)

King entered as one of the favorites for the race after having won gold in this event in 2016. She was also the 100-meter breaststroke champion at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships.

King's time of 1:04.13 in the 2017 World Championships remained the world record prior to this year's Summer Games, and she qualified for the final with relative ease, hitting the wall in 1:05.40.

Schoenmaker was the fastest swimmer in the semifinals, and she set the pace early in the final. It looked like the 24-year-old was on her way to gold when Jacoby came surging up Lane 3.

Jacoby showed an incredible amount of poise for a 17-year-old without a major senior result to her name.

It's quite the underdog story as well considering she hails from Seward, Alaska, an area not exactly known for its hospitable summer climates. During the team trials, Jacoby also revealed there's only one 50-meter pool in the entire state of Alaska.

For years, King dominated this race on the biggest stages. Tuesday may have been a changing of the guard.

Tom Dean won Olympic gold at the men's 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:44.22 at Tokyo Aquatics Centre, defeating fellow British swimmer and pre-race favorite Duncan Scott by just four-hundredths of a second.

Here's a look at the full final results from the Tokyo Games:

Men's 200-Meter Freestyle Final

1. Tom Dean (Great Britain): 1:44.22

2. Duncan Scott (Great Britain): 1:44.26

3. Fernando Scheffer (Brazil): 1:44.66

4. David Popovici (Romania): 1:44.68

5. Martin Malyutin (Russian Olympic Committee): 1:45.01

6. Kieran Smith (United States): 1:45.12

7. Sunwoo Hwang (South Korea): 1:45.26

8. Danas Rapsys (Lithuania): 1:45.78

Results via official Olympics website.

By virtue of the victory, Dean did something that no British men's freestyle swimmer had done since 1908:

Dean had won four gold medals in the European Championships but had never taken first on the world stage.

That is no longer the case, as the 21-year-old outlasted Scott and Brazil's Fernando Scheffer, who took second and third respectively.

Scott now owns three Olympic silver medals. He took second at the 4x200 freestyle and 4x100 medley in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro. The 24-year-old has also won three World Championship gold medals.

The 23-year-old Scheffer won his first-ever Olympic medal by virtue of earning bronze.

Flora Duffy has won Bermuda's first-ever Olympic gold medal after she took first in the triathlon at the Tokyo Games with a time of 1:55.36.

Duffy persevered through rainy, wet and windy conditions to win gold at Tokyo's Odaiba Marine Park.

Great Britain's Georgia Taylor-Brown took second even though she suffered a flat tire during the bicycling portion of the race. She made up ground in the run, though, surpassing the United States' Katie Zaferes and ending second. Zaferes took the bronze.

You can find the full results on the Olympic website. The top 10 finishers are also below alongside race highlights.

Top-10 Finishers

1. Flora Duffy (Bermuda): 1:55.36

2. Georgia Taylor-Brown (Great Britain): 1:56.50

3. Katie Zaferes (United States): 1:57.03

4. Rachel Klamer (Netherlands): 1:57.48

5. Leonie Periault (France): 1:57.49

6. Nicola Spirig (Switzerland): 1:58.05

7. Alice Betto (Italy): 1:58.22

8. Laura Lindemann (Germany): 1:58.24

9. Jessica Learmonth (Great Britain): 1:58.28

10. Valerie Barthelemy (Belgium): 1:58.49

Thanks to Duffy, Bermuda is now the smallest nation to ever win Olympic gold, per Tom Lutz of the Guardian. Bermuda had a population of 63,903 in 2020, per The World Bank. The country is also 21 square miles.

Edward David Burt, the Premier of Bermuda, offered his congratulations.

Duffy outlasted 54 other competitors in the event, which consisted of a 1,500-meter swim, a 40-kilometer bike ride and a 10-kilometer run in that order. A race map can be found on the Olympics' website.

Great Britain's Jessica Learmonth took the lead during the swim portion and was the first one out of the water.

She led a group of seven women that included Duffy, Taylor-Brown, Zaferes, Germany's Laura Lindemann, Brazil's Vittoria Lopes and the United States' Summer Rappaport.

Rapoport fell behind in the bike portion, leading to a group of six. The same soon went for Lopes. By the end of the stage, Taylor-Brown fell behind as well due the flat tire, leaving a leading pack of Duffy, Learmonth, Zaferes and Lindemann.

A strong charge from Duffy put her in first place during the run, although Zaferes initially hung with her. However, Duffy extended her lead and soon ran alone en route to Bermuda's first-ever gold medal.

Impressively, Taylor-Brown covered a ton of lost ground, moving into third before surpassing Zafares for second.

In the end, Duffy won Bermuda's second-ever Olympic medal, with the first occurring in 1976 when Clarence Hill won bronze at men's heavyweight boxing in Montreal.

The 33-year-old Duffy sported a fantastic resume even before she won gold. Her list of accomplishments includes two ITU triathlon, two ITU cross triathlon and five XTERRA triathlon world championships. She was a triple world champion in 2016.

Now she's an Olympic gold medalist after securing first by a 74-second margin over the field.

The Russian Olympic Committee claimed the men's gymnastics gold medal on Monday, narrowly defeating Japan in the team all-around competition.

The ROC's final score of 262.500 was just 0.103 ahead of Japan and not even a point ahead of bronze medalist China in a thrilling final. All Russian athletes at the Tokyo Games are competing for the ROC. A ruling last year by the Court of Arbitration for Sport banned Russia's team name as punishment for an extensive doping program and cover-ups.

Great Britain came in fourth place, while the United States was fifth.

Gold: ROC 262.500
Silver: Japan 262.397
Bronze: China 261.894
4th: Great Britain 255.760
5th: United States 254.594

Artur Dalaloyan and Nikita Nagornyy spearheaded the effort from the ROC. Nagornyy clinched the gold with an excellent floor routine of 14.666, giving him just enough points to put ROC ahead of Japan.

Daiki Hashimoto clinched the silver for Japan with his scintillating bar routine.

This was the closest race for the gold since the Perfect 10 system was eliminated.

The United States women's soccer team does not sit on top of its Olympics group through two matches, but it is still the favorite to capture the gold medal.

Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd and Co. have one more group-stage contest left against Australia before embarking on what they hope is a three-game run through the knockout phase.

Over on the men's side, 15 of the 16 nations in the competition are still alive to advance to the knockout round.

Brazil is favored to capture the gold medal in men's soccer, but there are plenty of worthy challengers.

Upcoming Olympic Soccer Schedule

Tuesday, July 27 (Women's Soccer)

New Zealand vs. Sweden (4 a.m. ET)

United States vs. Australia (4 a.m. ET, USA Network)

Chile vs. Japan (7 a.m. ET, NBC Universo)

Canada vs. Great Britain (7 a.m. ET)

Netherlands vs. China (7:30 a.m. ET)

Brazil vs. Zambia (7:30 a.m. ET, Telemundo)

Wednesday, July 28 (Men's Soccer) 

Saudi Arabia vs. Brazil (4 a.m. ET, NBC Universo)

Germany vs. Ivory Coast (4 a.m. ET, NBCSN) 

Romania vs. New Zealand (4:30 a.m. ET) 

South Korea vs. Honduras (4:30 a.m. ET, Telemundo)

Spain vs. Argentina (7 a.m. ET, NBC Universo)

Australia vs. Egypt (7 a.m. ET)

South Africa vs. Mexico (7:30 a.m. ET, Telemundo)

Japan vs. France (7:30 a.m. ET, NBCSN) 

All games can be live-streamed on NBCOlympics.com and NBC Sports app.

Predictions

USWNT Works Way into Gold-Medal Game

The USWNT is +100 (bet $100 to win $100) to win the women's soccer draw for a reason.

Vlatko Andonovski's side boasts the deepest roster and appears to be back on track after the 3-0 loss to Sweden in its opening game.

The USWNT routed New Zealand 6-1 to gain some confidence heading into the group-stage finale versus Australia.

If the Americans take care of Australia, they will likely finish second in the group and set up a clash with either the Netherlands or Brazil.

The Netherlands and Brazil are two of the best teams in the tournament, but the USWNT is No. 1 in the FIFA Women's Ranking for a reason.

The Americans boast a plethora of knockout-stage experience throughout their roster, and as we saw Saturday, they can find an extra gear.

If the USWNT cruises through its match with Australia, the odds of it winning the gold medal should decrease a bit regardless of whom its quarterfinal foe is.

If you add in the motivation that the USWNT is looking to reclaim gold after a stunning quarterfinal loss in 2016, you have a dangerous team rounding into form that can cash in on its favorite status over at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Brazil Takes Men's Gold Medal

Brazil is in good shape to defend its gold medal in the men's tournament.

The Selecao won their opening group match over Germany and drew with the Ivory Coast on Sunday to compile four points heading into Matchday 3's contest with Saudi Arabia.

The performance in the 0-0 draw with Ivory Coast may raise some eyebrows, but the African nation has quality throughout its squad and should test Germany in its final group-stage contest.

The biggest takeaway from that match was Brazil's clean sheet. That came after the concession of two goals to Germany on Thursday. If Brazil blanks Saudi Arabia while putting up multiple goals, it will reinforce its favorite status going into the knockout round.

Brazil's roster is the exception to the trend of countries not having their best under-23 talent with them in Japan. Richarlison, Antony and Matheus Cunha were released by their respective clubs for the tournament, and Dani Alves is along for the ride as one of the three overage players.

Mexico is the only other team with a comparable roster in terms of star power because Diego Lainez was allowed to play in the competition by Real Betis. But even with Lainez in the fold, Mexico's attack does not compare to Brazil's trio of stars with high-level European club experience.

If Brazil's defense continues to play well and its attack puts up multiple goals, like it did against Germany, it is hard to see anyone touching the Selecao in the knockout phase.

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Naomi Osaka headlined the stars in action as the second round of the women's singles tournament got underway at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Top-seeded Ash Barty already crashed out in the first round, with No. 11 Jennifer Brady and No. 12 Elise Mertens also coming up short in their opening matches.

Osaka, Garbine Muguruza and Aryna Sabalenka couldn't afford to take their opponents lightly Monday.

Women's Singles Results: July 26

No. 2 Naomi Osaka def. Viktorija Golubic 6-3, 6-2

No. 7 Garbine Muguruza def. Wang Qiang 6-3, 6-0

No. 8 Barbora Krejcikova def. Leylah Annie Fernandez 6-2, 6-4

No. 13 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-1, 6-1

No. 14 Maria Sakkari def. Nina Stojanovic 6-1, 6-2

No. 15 Elena Rybakina def. Rebecca Peterson 6-2, 6-3

Camila Giorgi def. Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-1

Belinda Bencic def. Misaki Doi 6-2, 6-4

Sara Sorribes Tormo def. Fiona Ferro 6-1, 6-4

Nadia Podoroska def. Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-1, 6-3

Marketa Vondrousova def. Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-1, 6-2

Donna Vekic def. Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3)

Alison Van Uytvanck def. Petra Kvitova 5-7, 6-3, 6-0

Elina Svitolina def. Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

Monday Recap

Osaka wasn't at her best but didn't encounter much trouble putting away Viktorija Golubic.

The two exchanged serves for the first seven games of the opening set before Osaka earned a critical break to go up 5-3. The The four-time Grand Slam champion then broke Golubic twice early in the second frame to take a commanding 4-0 lead.

The Japan native dropped eight points on serve over the course of the match. She collected three aces and 22 groundstroke winners.

Having withdrawn from the French Open and Wimbledon, the 23-year-old isn't lacking for sharpness in Tokyo.

Muguruza and 14th-seeded Maria Sakkari were similarly dominant in their outings.

Wang Qiang provided some resistance for Muguruza in the first set and battled back to within a game of the Spaniard at 3-4. But she dropped serve in the next game, which began a streak of eight straight games for Muguruza.

Wang committed eight unforced errors and won eight points over the second set as she fell apart.

Likewise, Nina Stojanovic was her own worst enemy against Sakkari. Committing 30 unforced errors and five double-faults in two sets won't get it done against an opponent as good as the 26-year-old Greek.

Sakkari took a 4-1 lead in the first set thanks to a break in the fourth game. The two needed 15 points to determine the sixth game, which ended in another break of serve as Sakkari took firm control.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova made quick work of Anna-Lena Friedsam, sending the German packing in 54 minutes.

Friedsam only had five unforced errors but was simply overpowered by the 30-year-old Russian. Pavlyuchenkova had nine forehand winners and two on her backhand. She also collected three aces and won 21 of her 26 first-serve points.

A powerhouse showdown that ended with a dramatic walk-off home run for the Americans highlighted the final day of qualification for the softball competition at the Tokyo Olympics.

The clash between Japan and the United States was the headliner Sunday (Monday in Japan), while Canada faced Italy and Mexico battled Australia in the other two.

Here is a look at the schedule and results for the final day of qualifying. 

Sunday/Monday Olympic Softball Scores

United States 2, Japan 1

Canada 8, Italy 1

Mexico 4, Australia 1

USA 2, Japan 1

To say this was largely just a warm-up game would be an understatement.

While the United States earned temporary bragging rights with this 2-1 victory that ended with a walk-off homer from Kelsey Stewart, this qualifying contest was also just to determine the seeding for Tuesday's gold-medal game between the same two countries. That the opportunity for gold is just one win away should make this loss easier to accept for Japan.

Still, there was something at stake, with both sides looking to go undefeated through the qualifying process after entering play 4-0.

It was also a measuring-stick game since the United States (1996, 2000, 2004) and Japan (2008) are the only countries to win a softball gold medal at the Games, per Olympic Softball's official website. Japan also defeated the Americans in the gold-medal game in 2008.

That was the backdrop as Japan took a 1-0 lead when Saki Yamazaki scored on a passed ball in the first inning.

It appeared as if that would be enough with Yamato Fujita on the mound. She had no trouble with the United States hitters through five innings, but Valerie Arioto's RBI single in the sixth tied the game and set the stage for the walk-off.

Stewart wasted no time delivering on the opportunity and led off the bottom of the seventh with the game-winning blast.

The pitching trio of Ally Carda, Cat Osterman and Monica Abbott also deserves plenty of credit, combining to allow just one run while striking out 12 in seven innings.

Canada 8, Italy 1

Canada will head into the bronze-medal game riding high after a dominant 8-1 win over Italy.

The blowout came despite Canada sitting pitchers Sara Groenewegen and Jenna Caira, as the team already had a shot at bronze locked up.

Brett Lawrie gave up four hits and one earned run in three innings, while Lauren Regula struck out five in three innings of scoreless relief.

Italy allowed Canada to break things open by allowing three unearned runs in the fifth inning. Jen Gilbert hit a solo home run for the Canadians.

Mexico 4, Australia 1

 Victoria Vidales drove in two runs and Dallas Escobedo threw a sensational complete game to lead Mexico to a 4-1 win over Australia.

The win clinched Mexico's spot in the bronze-medal game against Canada. 

Meanwhile, Australia will fail to medal for the first time in history in softball competition. 

Great Britain's Adam Peaty defended his 100-meter backstroke gold medal, winning the event on Sunday night at the Tokyo Games. 

Peaty finished with an unofficial time of 57.37 seconds, besting silver medalist Arno Kamminga of the Netherlands (58.00) and bronze medalist Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy (58.33). 

The United States' Michael Andrew finished in fourth (58.84). 

It wasn't one of Peaty's signature performances, at least by his lofty standards, as he didn't match his world record time (56.88 seconds, set in 2019) or his Olympic record (57.13 seconds, set at the Rio Games in 2016). But his second consecutive conquest in the event solidified him as the greatest short-distance breaststroke swimmer in history.

He also became the first British swimmer to ever successfully defend their gold medal. There are athletes who dominate their sport, and then there is Peaty:

And yes, he was excited about his win.

"I haven't felt this good since 2016. It just means the world for me," Peaty told the BBC after his win. "It's not who is the best all year round, it's the person who wants it more. Thank you to the nation for being behind me. This victory wasn't mine—it was a great swimming team, my family, my friends."

Outside of perhaps Simone Biles dominating in gymnastics, there wasn't anything more automatic at these Tokyo Games than Peaty dominating the 100-meter breaststroke. Yet again, he made his victory feel like a foregone conclusion.