Olympics Day 4 briefing: U.S. men end gymnastics medal drought, women's hoops stay undefeated

The Paris Games are entering the first full week of action, we catch you up on the latest.

Triathlon organizers canceled swim practices for a second straight day Monday over continued poor water quality in the Seine River. However, organizers and athletes are still optimistic they will be able to utilize the iconic river for the events.

Heavy rain Friday and Saturday caused concerns over increasing levels of bacteria despite $1.5B having been spent to prepare the river ahead of the Games.

Former NBA player Chase Budinger became the first athlete to play in both an Olympic beach volleyball match and in a regular season NBA game. Budinger and his Team USA partner Miles Evans defeated their French opponents in straight sets Monday.

American skateboarders Jagger Eaton and Nyjah Huston clinched silver and bronze respectively in the men's street event final Monday. Eaton earned bronze in the same event during the Tokyo Games in 2021 and Japan's Yuto Horigome successfully defended his 2021 gold medal, the first ever in the sport's Olympic tenure.

And it was a relatively quiet day in the pool for Team USA with only four medals being won by American swimmers, none of them gold. It was, however, a history-making Monday for other countries — some winning their first-ever medals in several events.

Medal count

Three big things about Team USA

1. Men's gymnastics earns first medal since 2008

Brody Malone, despite failing to make any individual event finals, helped his teammates earn the American men's first medal in 16 years Monday. Stephen Nedoroscik's solid routine on pommel horse clinched the bronze medal for Team USA as Japan edged out China for the gold.

2. Women's rugby reaches first Olympic semifinal, USA's first shot at medal in a century

Team USA women's rugby completed an epic comeback over Great Britain on Monday, scoring 17 unanswered points in the quarterfinal after being down 7-0 early. The American women will face New Zealand on Tuesday for a shot at earning Team USA's first medal in rugby since winning back-to-back golds in 1920 and 1924.

3. Women's basketball extends Olympic winning streak

Team USA hasn't lost a game in the Olympics since 1992 and they weren't about to start Monday, easily defeating Japan 102-76. The 32 year-long streak spanning now 56 straight victories is currently the longest in Olympic history with the American women looking to win their eighth-straight gold medal. A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart combined for 46 points and seven blocks.

You won't believe this

At 61 years old, Luxembourg's Ni Xia Lian became the oldest player to win an Olympic table tennis match — in her sixth Games. The Shanghai-born Ni originally debuted for and won gold for China at the 1983 and silver at the 1985 world championships but immigrated to Luxembourg in 1991.

She's retired and unretired twice, now defeating opponents half her age and still looking for her first Olympic medal.