Team USA gets no medals to open Summer Olympics for first time in decades
By Celine Castronuovo - 07/24/21 08:29 AM EDT
Team USA athletes suffered multiple upset losses in the first official day of competition at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, the first time in decades the U.S. has walked away with no medals on Day 1 of the Summer Games.
A total of 11 gold medals were given out Saturday for events in archery, cycling, fencing, judo, air rifle and pistol shooting, taekwondo and weightlifting. However, the U.S. athletes did not receive gold, silver or bronze in any of the events Saturday.
Olympic historian Bill Mallon pointed out that this was the first time the U.S. did not get any medals on Day 1 of the Summer Olympics since Munich in 1972, though Team USA also failed to medal on the first day of the Winter Olympics in 2018.
China won the first gold medal of the Tokyo Games on Saturday with a victory from Yang Qian in the 10-meter air rifle competition.
USA Today reported that Yang was able to edge out the Russian Olympic Committee’s Anastasiia Galashina, with Switzerland's Nina Christen raking the bronze.
Mary Tucker, the American competing in the event who is ranked No. 2 in the world, had a series of unusual bad shots in the final on Saturday, causing her to ultimately place sixth.
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https://thehill.com/policy/international/564653-team-usa-gets-no-medals-to-open-olympics-for-first-time-in-decades
