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America vs. the World: The Greatest Rivalry in History
(Jakel Anderson/Yahoo Sports)
The U.S. men’s basketball team in Paris may be the most talented since the Dream Team, but make no mistake: winning a gold medal at this tournament is something that’s earned, not given.
A global game: Today, as the U.S. begins its quest for a fifth consecutive gold medal, they will be competing against a historically rich pool of talent, a testament to the sport’s global reach. When the Dream Team arrived in Barcelona, there were nine non-American NBA players; by Paris, there were 39.
Team USA leads the way with all 12 players coming from the NBA, followed by Canada (10) and Australia (9).
France (five), Germany (four), Serbia (four) and Spain (two) also have multiple NBA players, while Brazil, Greece, Japan, Puerto Rico and South Sudan have one each.
Let’s take a look at the players who represent Team USA. The team is headlined by four former MVPs: LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and Joel Embiid, who will become a U.S. citizen in 2022.
Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton have combined to be named to 13 All-NBA teams and 22 All-Star teams.
July Holiday, Bam Adebayo and Derrick White have been selected to 13 All-Defensive Teams combined and will be extremely difficult for opposing offenses to handle.
Examining the field: It’s not just the quantity of foreign NBA players the U.S. has to contend with, but the quality, including arguably the best player in the entire tournament, Nikola Jokic, who leads Serbia against the U.S. today (11:15 a.m. ET, NBC).
Top 10 non-US players:
🇷🇸 Jokic (Serbia/Nuggets)
🇬🇷 Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece/Bucks)
🇨🇦 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada/Thunder)
🇫🇷 Victor Wembanyama (France/Tottenham)
🇨🇦 Jamal Murray (Canada/Nuggets)
🇫🇷 Rudy Gobert (France/Timberwolves)
🇩🇪 Franz Wagner (Germany/Magic)
🇷🇸 Bogdan Bogdanovic (Serbia/Hawks)
🇩🇪 Dennis Schroder (Germany/Nets)
🇨🇦 RJ Barrett (Canada/Raptors)
A closer look: Team USA’s biggest threats
Photo of the Day
(Maddy Meyer/Getty Images)
🥇 TEAM USA’S FIRST GOLD MEDALD: Caleb Dressel, Chris Juliano, Jack Alexie and Hunter Armstrong won the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay to win Team USA’s first gold medal in Paris. This is Dressel’s eighth Olympic medal, all gold.
(Jean Katuf/Getty Images)
🇦🇺 Titmuss Beats Ledecky: Australia’s Ariarne Titmuss defended her gold medal in the 400m freestyle, beating Katie Ledecky (bronze) and Canada’s Summer McIntosh (silver) in the “Race of the Century.”
(Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
🎾 Nadal, Alcaraz win first match: Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz defeated Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina in their first match as Spanish doubles partners. Before you read on, take a look at this photo.
(Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
🏉 France Stuns Fiji: France stunned two-time defending champions Fiji in the men’s rugby sevens final, giving the hosts their first gold medal of the tournament and handing Fiji their first defeat (17-1) in Olympic men’s rugby sevens.
Team USA is proud to be funded by family, friends and fans like you. When you donate to the Team USA Foundation, 100% of your donation supports our athletes and the programs that support them. Donate now.
(Bruno Louby/Yahoo Sports)
Athlete to watch: Simone Biles, the undisputed GOAT of gymnastics, will be looking for revenge in Paris after being forced to withdraw from multiple events due to “Twisties” in Tokyo three years ago.
Chasing history: The seven-time Olympic medalist (four gold, one silver, two bronze) is one medal away from passing Shannon Miller as America’s most decorated Olympic gymnast.
With just one gold medal, the 27-year-old would break Aly Raisman’s record (22) as the oldest U.S. gymnast to stand on the podium.
With two gold medals, she would become the most decorated American gymnast, surpassing Anton Haida (Haida won five Olympic gold medals in 1904).
LIVE UPDATES: With U.S. team qualifying now complete, Biles shook off early injury scare and delivered strong performances on all four events (balance beam, floor, vault and uneven bars).
Why to watch: Biles advanced to the all-around final along with Suni Lee, who won gold in the same event in Tokyo. Biles’ overall score should be good enough to advance to the individual finals in all events.
In addition to Biles and Lee, Team USA features two returning Olympic skaters, Jordan Childs and Jade Carey, and 16-year-old Hesley Rivera, the youngest skater on the entire U.S. team.
And keep an eye on Biles’ performance on the balance beam later in the competition, where she’ll show off an original move that, if successful, would be the sixth to have her name on the program.
Other athletic achievements:
🏐 Kelly Chen and Sarah Hughes: This beach volleyball duo won back-to-back NCAA titles with the University of Southern California (2016-17) but parted ways before the Tokyo Games, with neither team winning a medal. Now they’ve reunited.
🤺 Lee Kiefer and Gerek Meinhardt: This husband and wife pair are both contenders in foil, one of the three fencing events. Kiefer will be looking to defend his gold medal today, while Meinhardt will be looking to win his third consecutive gold medal starting tomorrow.
Team USA: News | Athletes | Shop
Follow us at TeamUSA.com and on social media @TeamUSA.
Medal Race
(Gregory Hodge/Yahoo Sports)
Total medals.
Watchlist: U.S. Women’s National Team vs. Germany
The United States won their first match against Zambia 3-0. (Valerie Hache/AFP via Getty Images)
The U.S. Women’s National Team is almost always ranked higher than its opponents, but that’s not the case today, as the USA (ranked 5th in the world) takes on Germany (ranked 4th) in Marseille.
Featured Events:
⚽️ Women’s soccer: USA vs. Germany (3 p.m. ET)… One of six group stage matches.
🏀 Men’s Basketball: USA vs. Serbia (11:15 a.m., NBC)…Joel Embiid vs. Nikola Jokic should be an exciting matchup.
🏊 Swimming: Three medal events (2:30 p.m., NBC)… men’s 400-meter individual medley, women’s 100-meter butterfly, men’s 100-meter breaststroke.
🏄 Surfing: Women’s Round 2 (1 p.m., Peacock); Men’s Round 2 (5:45 p.m., Peacock)
Medal events:
🚴♀️ Women’s Mountain Bike: Cross Country (8 a.m., Peacock)
🥋 Judo: Women’s 52kg, Men’s 66kg (10 a.m., Peacock)
🛹 Women’s Skateboarding: Street Finals (11 a.m., CNBC)
🏹 Women’s Team Archery: Gold Medal Match (11:11 a.m., USA)
🛶 Women’s Canoe: Kayak Slalom Final (11:35 a.m., USA)
🤺 Fencing: Women’s foil and men’s epee (3:45 p.m., CNBC)
Non-medal sports: Badminton, Beach volleyball, Boxing, Handball, Hockey, Rugby, Sailing, Shooting, Table tennis, Tennis, Volleyball, Water polo, Women’s basketball.
Primetime on NBC: women’s gymnastics preliminaries (7 p.m.), men’s 400-meter individual medley final, men’s 100-meter breaststroke final (8 p.m.).
For the complete schedule, click here.
Explaining doping scandals in the swimming world
WADA president Witold Banka during a press conference on Thursday. (Fabrice Cofrini/AFP via Getty Images)
At the heart of the doping scandal looming over the Paris Olympics lies a mystery that may never be solved, writes Henry Bushnell of Yahoo Sports.
The turmoil is explained as follows: In 2021, 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance called trimetazidine (TMZ), an endurance-enhancing cardiac drug. More than two months later, the China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) informally reported the positive tests to World Aquatics, which then reported them to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
But CHINADA did not publicly announce the positive tests and provisionally suspend the 23 swimmers, as required by WADA rules, but instead commissioned an investigation that concluded the swimmers must have accidentally taken TMZ.
WADA chose not to challenge CHINADA’s conclusions despite questions being raised by some of its own top scientists, and its leaders never mentioned the matter to the WADA Executive Committee, so the positives remained hidden for three years.
The revelations, published in April by The New York Times and German broadcaster ARD, have led to a battle between USADA and WADA, legal threats and now an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Their argument: The scandal has dragged on and the uncertainty has created distrust. Asked Thursday if authorities had convinced him the sport was clean, US star Caleb Dressel replied bluntly: “No, it’s not.”
What to watch: Zhang Yufei, one of the Chinese swimmers who tested positive, will compete in the 100m butterfly final today.
Lightning Round
(Robert F. Bukaty/The Associated Press)
😍 Amazing backdrops: Sorry Rose Bowl, I’ve found a better sunset. The Eiffel Tower Beach Volleyball Stadium is the best view in sports, it’s hard to beat.
🇨🇦 Spy Scandal Update: FIFA strips Canada’s women’s soccer team of six points, equivalent to two wins, and suspends its head coach for a year. The U.S. Soccer Association appears to have known about Canada’s drone spying scandal for years.
💔 May the soul of Lionel rest in peace. Samoan boxing coach Lionel Erica Fatupaito passed away on Friday at the Olympic Village due to natural causes. He was 60 years old.
Daily Trivia
(Pascal Le Segretin/Getty Images)
Question: What is the most populous country that has never won an Olympic medal?
Hint: Asia.
The answer is at the bottom.
In non-Olympic news…
(Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
⚾️ Big Apple moves: Both New York teams acquired left-handed outfielders ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline, with the Yankees acquiring center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. from the Marlins and the Mets acquiring left fielder Jesse Winker from the Nationals.
plus:
See what else is trending on Yahoo Sports.
Trivia answer: Bangladesh (Population 173 million, 8th most populous country in the world)
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