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It was another eventful day of the Olympics, with Team USA getting some huge and historic wins in track and field, artistic swimming, weightlifting and more. Meanwhile, with the final days of the Olympics approaching, knockout games are ramping up for team sports; for the United States, that means some exciting advancements, and some unfortunate eliminations.
Here are the top five stories of the day:
USA women’s basketball cruises to 59th straight win into semis
It wasn't a 54-point win, but it was more than sufficient.
The U.S. women's basketball team cruised past Nigeria, 88-74 in the Olympic quarterfinal round on Wednesday. With the win, USA advances to face Australia in the semifinal round on Friday.
USA previously beat Nigeria, 100-46 in qualifying. Nigeria kept Wednesday's game considerably closer and trailed USA 31-27 early in the second quarter. But USA closed the half on a 21-6 run and never looked back.
The win is USA's 59th straight in Olympic play, a streak that dates back to the 1996 Games in Atlanta. It's now two wins away from its eighth consecutive gold medal. The winner of Friday's semifinal against Australia will face the winner of France-Belgium in the other semifinal for the gold medal.
A'ja Wilson led the U.S. effort with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Jackie Young moved from the bench to the starting lineup and posted 15 points and three rebounds. Breanna Stewart added 13 points, five rebounds and three assists. USA held a 54-41 edge in field-goal percentage, a 44-28 advantage on the boards and assisted on 31 of its 34 made field goals.
Quincy Hall, Kenneth Rooks and Katie Moon make waves in track and field
It was another busy day at the track, with medals in women’s pole vault, the men’s 400 and men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase.
The was a nail-biter that came down to joint 2024 world champions Katie Moon of Team USA and Nina Kennedy of Australia. The field decreased with each raise of the bar, and was soon down to just three competitors: Moon (who won the gold in this event in Tokyo), Kennedy and Canada's Alysha Newman.
Newman, wearing bright red lipstick and a smile, took bronze when she failed to clear 4.90 in three tries. Kennedy cleared 4.90 in one attempt, but Moon didn't clear the bar at that height. Moon still had a way to win gold, but it became an extremely narrow path. The judges passed her at 4.90, meaning she had to clear 4.95 to remain in contention for gold. Moon wasn't able to vault over that bar, but was all smiles on the crash pad and happily congratulated Kennedy, who was thoroughly ecstatic about winning her first Olympic gold medal.
In the men's 400, Team USA's Quincy Hall continued an apparently new trend with a . Hall overtook pre-race favorite Matthew Hudson-Smith with 10 meters to go, finishing with a personal-best 43.40 seconds. His time was four-hundredths of a second faster than Smith, and Zambia's Muzala Samukonga took bronze with a 43.74.
And in the steeplechase, Team USA's Kenneth Rooks made an incredible push to take silver in the race's final meters. However, Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma, who can be seen in the video below falling over one of the race's final barriers, had to be stretchered off the track after receiving medical treatment.
USA artistic swimming earns silver with the help of some moonwalking
The United States' artistic swimming team performed a strong acrobatic routine Wednesday and the United States' first medal in the event since 2004.
The team went viral earlier this week for their to Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" during their technical routine on Monday, the first of three rounds in the team competition. Team USA followed up that crowd-pleaser with a strong free routine that moved them into second place going into the final event. The Americans then finished off their run with a stellar acrobatic routine — consisting of jumps and lifts in the water, similar to a partially submerged cheerleading routine — to take silver.
China, who is always stellar at artistic swimming, took gold with an incredibly dominant performance. China finished with 996.1389 points, more than 81 ahead of the U.S. and nearly 300 points above the last-place competitor, Egypt.
American Hampton Morris earns historic bronze medal in weightlifting
Weightlifter Hampton Morris made history on Wednesday, . Morris won bronze after hoisting a combined weight of 298 kilograms, while China's Li Fabin took gold with 310 kg, and Thailand's Theerapong Silachai took silver with 303kg.
The 20-year-old, 135-pound Morris trains mostly out of his garage at his home, and it's been a quick rise through the ranks for him, setting 10 world records in the youth, junior and senior age divisions.
"It's amazing that I'm able to leave that kind of mark in the sport," Morris said. "I'm just in disbelief."
Team USA has some key advancements — with a few tough eliminations
Wednesday was another jam-packed day for Team USA, with several teams competing in crucial knockout round matchups. Beyond women's basketball keeping the win streak alive, men's water polo was able to to move on to the semifinals.
But on the other end, there were some tough eliminations. USA men's volleyball in the semifinals, missing out on the final and a chance to earn gold. However, the team will play Italy for bronze on Friday, with a chance of earning the United States' sixth-ever Olympic medal in men's volleyball.
Beach volleyball was also tough for the U.S., after Miles Partain and Andrew Benesh — — were knocked out of the competition. Partain and Benesh fell to Qatar in straight sets in the quarterfinals, leaving the United States without a spot in either set of semifinals in a sport the country is normally dominant in.
Team USA medals
Hightlight of the day
Germany advanced to the men's handball semifinals with , earning the win with stunning last-minute goals in regulation and overtime, and capping off with a miraculous save.
One more thing...U.S. figure skating gets their gold medals
After more than two years of arbitration, the United States figure skating for the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The U.S. initially placed silver in the games, but the information that Russian skater Kamila Valieva had tested positive for a banned substance after Russia had already won gold affected the podium. Due to the confusion, the IOC opted not to hand out figure skating team medals until things were sorted out.
On Wednesday, the American team — Vincent Zhou, Nathan Chen, Karen Chen, Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Zachary Donohue, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell and Alexa Knierim — received their gold medals in a ceremony in Paris, on a stage in front of the Eiffel Tower. Japan, who moved into second with the ruling, joined the U.S. to receive their silver medals.
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