Team USA in the Beginning of the Tokyo Olympics

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics finally in action, Team USA has already proved their dominance in a variety of sports. The United States currently sits at third in the medal rankings with 14 gold, 16 silver and 11 bronze medals for a total of 41. China and Japan are ranked first and second by medals.

Hawaii native Carissa Moore won gold in surfing, a brand new sport that was introduced to the Olympics in 2020. Moore won 11 national titles as an amateur surfer and then began her professional career in 2010. Surfing is deeply rooted in Hawaiian culture, so it only seems right that the first Olympic gold medal went to the aloha state.

However, surfing isn’t the only sport making its Olympic debut in Tokyo. The team of women representing the United States in 3x3 basketball is also taking home a gold medal. The team consists of Allisha Gray, Kelsey Plum, Stefanie Dolson and Jackie Young. Dolson lead the team in scoring during the final against Russia with seven points. The new format of basketball is fast paced, action packed and is played half-court style. The teams of four rotate players every few minutes and play for 10 minutes or to 21 points, whichever comes first.

The United States has also won six gold medals and a total of 24 medals in swimming. Performances from Katie Ledecky, Caeleb Dressel, Bobby Finke, Zach Apple and many more showed Team USA’s tenacity in the sport of swimming. Ledecky had a disappointing start to her Olympic games after not medaling in the 200m, but bounced back tremendously by ending her gold medal drought at the Tokyo games in the first ever women’s 1500m event. Dressel, Apple, Pieroni, Becker and Curry claimed gold for the US in the men’s 4x100m relay as well.

The upcoming gymnastics star Suni Lee walked away with a gold medal for the women’s artistic individual all-around event. Lee is only 18 years old and is competing in her first Olympic games this year. Lee also participated in the team event, where the United States won silver.

Team USA has also been succeeding in sports that don’t receive much TV coverage outside of the Olympics. Lee Kiefer secured a gold medal in fencing for the women’s individual foil after defeating the reigning champion, Inna Deriglazova from Russia, 15-13. Kiefer is the first competitor from the United States to win a medal in an individual foil event. Kiefer is an alumna of Notre Dame, and was previously a four-time NCAA champion and a 10-time Pan American champion.

With two weeks remaining in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, there is still a lot of excitement to come. The United States has already shown that Team USA can still compete as an Olympic heavyweight. With so many events still underway, which country do you think will end up at the top of the medal rankings?