PARIS, France — Track and field events began Friday, U.S. men's soccer is out of the Olympics, and Australia continued to dominate in the pool on Day 7. Here's what happened at the Paris Olympics Friday.
Track and field
Sha’Carri Richardson won her first-ever race at the Olympics with a blazing opening round in the 100 meters Friday in 10.94 seconds to easily qualify for the semifinals.
Wearing neon green shoes, which contrasted well against the bright purple track, the American captured the first of eight first-round races on the opening day of track action at a jam-packed Stade de France. Richardson’s American training partners, Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha Terry, also made it through.
Meanwhile, the U.S. mixed 4x400 meter relay team set a world record when Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon and Kaylyn Brown finished the four laps in 3 minutes, 7.41 seconds to break the mark of 3:08.80 set at world championships last year. All the record did was place the Americans in Saturday’s final, where the record — in an event that is only 5 years old — will be in jeopardy once again.
Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda took the lead with a little more than a lap left in a masterpiece of a 10,000-meter race to finish in an Olympic-record 26 minutes, 43.14 seconds in front of a roaring crowd on an electric opening night at the track. Ethiopia's Berihu Aregawi beat American Grant Fisher in a sprint to the line for silver. Fisher’s bronze medal marked the first for the U.S. in the longest race at the Olympic track since Galen Rupp took silver in 2012.
Swimming
After winning his eighth career gold medal in a relay on Day 1 of the Olympic swimming slate, American star Caeleb Dressel missed chances to defend two of his Olympic titles from three years ago in Tokyo in the 50-meter freestyle and 100 butterfly. Dressel sobbed when he failed to reach the fly final with the 13th-fastest time just shortly after a sixth-place showing in the 50 free. He still has one more relay to go in Paris.
Kaylee McKeown of Australia won the 200-meter backstroke — becoming the first woman to sweep the Olympic backstroke events at two straight Games — and Australia now has a leading seven swimming golds overall. American Regan Smith took silver, her third in Paris.
US men's soccer eliminated
The United States is out of men’s soccer after getting routed 4-0 by Morocco in the quarterfinals. The Americans — in the Games for the first time since Beijing 2008 — were outclassed by Morocco, which reached the semifinals at the Olympics for the first time.
“It’s sad because I think it’s a group that has a lot of belief in each other and a lot of character and I don’t think it showed through,” defender Walker Zimmerman said. “That’s what’s hard is knowing how much everyone did care (and) had each other’s back.”
American archers win bronze
American archers Brady Ellison and Casey Kaufhold — mentor and student — defeated Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara of India 6-2 to claim Olympic bronze in the mixed team category.
Kaufhold was just 15 when she teamed up with the veteran Ellison in 2019 to earn silver at a World Cup event and gold at the Pan-American Games. Five years later, the pairing has proved to be strong.