Durant leads U.S. men's basketball into finals, USWNT takes bronze, Team USA track & field racks up medals | What You Missed
It was an action-packed day of competition that saw both the U.S. men's basketball and baseball teams advance to their respective finals, while the USWNT closed out their Tokyo 2020 run with a bronze. Team USA also collected a pile of medals across the board, with outstanding performances in track & field, wrestling, and much more.
Video transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- Good morning, America. Last night was one of team USA's busiest days in Tokyo. So let's get right to it with what you missed.
Starting on the hardwood, the US men's basketball team took on Australia in the semifinals. Team USA's struggles were well-documented coming into the Olympics. But when it mattered, they got it done, bouncing the Boomers, 97 to 78. Kevin Durant once again paced the US with 23 points while Devin Booker poured in 20 of his own. The Americans are now headed to the gold medal match on Saturday.
Next, over to the pitch for the women's soccer bronze medal match. And while Team USA struggled to score throughout the tournament, they put on a display to secure the bronze, with Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd each putting in two incredible goals in the 4-3 win over Australia. A disappointing trip to Tokyo for many on the US women's national team still ends with a medal. Congrats, ladies.
In the pool, the women's water polo team is headed to the gold medal match after topping the ROC, 15 to 11, in the semifinal. Maddie Musselman led the way with 5 goals, and Ashleigh Johnson held it down the net once again with eight saves. Team USA will play for gold on Saturday.
On the beach, April Ross and Alix Klineman have taken up the United States' mantle in beach volleyball. They handily dispatched the Swiss team in straight sets in the semifinal and will now have a shot at the gold medal against Australia later tonight.
On to Tokyo's Olympic Stadium, where this week's nonstop track and field action continued, and so did the medal winning for Team USA, who snagged the top two podium spots in the men's shotput, with Ryan Crouser winning gold and setting a new Olympic record while Joe Kovacs took home silver.
In the men's 110-meter hurdles final, it was Team Jamaica's Hansle Parchment who grabbed gold as he took the lead after the final hurdle to upset a heavily-favored Grant Holloway, who took home silver for the US. And a short while later, it was an emotional Katie Nageotte with an amazing gold medal win in the women's pole vault final.
And finally, over to the baseball diamond, where Team USA met South Korea in the semifinal for a right to play Japan for the gold medal on Saturday. Jamie Westbrook got it started with a 2-run blast to left in the fourth to put the US up 2-0 before South Korea struck back with a one-out single in the top of the fifth to make it 2 to 1. But the US blew the game wide open with a 5-run sixth and never looked back, cruising to a gold medal match berth with a lopsided win.
Also grabbing medals for Team USA on Thursday were Nevin Harrison, who earned gold in the 200-meter single canoe sprint; David Taylor, who wrestled for gold in the men's 86-kilogram division; Duke Ragan, who battled for silver in men's featherweight boxing; Thomas Gilman and Heather Maroulis, who both took home bronze in men's and women's 57-kilogram freestyle wrestling; and Corey Juneau, who snagged bronze in men's park skateboarding.
Once again, we check in on the medal counts. And once again, China is leading the way in the gold medal standings, with the United States gaining some ground in second. Team USA still leads in total medal count, followed by China, the ROC, Britain, and Japan following behind. Be sure to follow Yahoo Sports on Twitter for up-to-the-minute medal updates.
That's all from Tokyo for today. Check back in with us again tomorrow for a full recap of all the Team USA action from around Japan.
