The United States women’s basketball team is headed to its seventh consecutive Olympic gold-medal game after beating Serbia by 20 points in the semifinal on Friday morning in Tokyo.

The No. 1-ranked team put together another dominant performance to win 79-59. Brittney Griner led the way for Team USA with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Chelsea Gray came off the bench to score 14 points in her best performance of the Olympics.

Breanna Stewart also continued her strong play, recording a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Team USA will play for a historic seventh straight gold medal Saturday against Japan, who ousted France 87-71 in the other semifinal Friday.

The Americans beat Japan during group-stage play, but only after the host country scored 30 points in the first quarter and put up a fight in defeat. The teams will meet in the gold-medal game on Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET.

The United States beach volleyball duo of April Ross and Alix Klineman are Olympic champions.

Ross, who won silver and bronze medals prior to the Tokyo Olympics, took a gamble in late 2017 when she became partners with Klineman, who had less than a year of beach volleyball experience.

The payoff, however, has been a rather perfect Olympic campaign in Tokyo.

Ross and Klineman defeated Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy in straight sets during Thursday night’s gold-medal match. The two, who never dropped a set through four elimination games, took the first set, 21-15, before sealing the win in the second, 21-16.

Team USA has won gold in four of the last five Olympic women’s beach volleyball tournaments.

Ross, who won silver with Jen Kessy in 2012 and bronze with Kerri Walsh Jennings in 2016, completed her Olympic collection with a gold medal.

She also cemented her spot in American beach volleyball history as one of just three women with multiple Olympic medals — Jennings and Misty May-Treanor are the others.

In her Olympic debut, the 31-year-old Klineman claimed the top prize.

USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher will not play in Thursday’s Olympic bronze medal soccer match against Australia. Naeher exited Monday’s semifinal game against Canada with an injury to her knee.

Around the 22nd minute, Naeher jumped for a ball and bumped into American defender Julie Ertz. The collision caused Naeher to land awkwardly. U.S. Soccer says Naeher “suffered a hyperextension of her right knee and a bone contusion.”

In a news release, U.S. Soccer said that Naeher had an MRI after the game that showed no ligament damage.

“I’m disappointed I won’t be able to be on the field Thursday with my teammates competing for a medal, but I know this group will bounce back from a tough loss,” Naeher said.

The netminder is slated to be out for several weeks.

Naeher was the star player during Team USA’s quarterfinal game against the Netherlands when she saved three Dutch penalty kicks.

“I can’t wait to watch them fight for a bronze medal and I will be here to support the team in any way I can to help us get it done,” said Naeher.

Following the USWNT’s 1-0 loss to North American rival Canada in the Olympic semifinals, several American players took to social media to express their disappointment and shock following the Monday upset.

Vying to become the first team to win a World Cup title and an Olympic gold medal back-to-back, the USWNT hadn’t lost to Canada in 20 years.

On Tuesday, forward Alex Morgan took to Twitter, writing: “Devastated to say the least not to be competing for a gold medal, but hungry for more and thankful we get to compete for bronze in 2 days. Thank you everyone for the support.”

“Gutted. Motivated. Together. We have it all to play for,” Megan Rapinoe posted on her Instagram story.

Carli Lloyd, who remained on the pitch alone to do sprints after the loss, also posted on social media.

“Life has knocked me down a few times. It showed me things I never wanted to see,” Lloyd wrote. “I experienced sadness and failures. But one thing for sure, I always get up.”

The USWNT will play Australia in the bronze-medal match on Thursday, while Sweden and Canada play in the gold-medal match on Friday.

The U.S. team will be without goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, the key player of Team USA’s quarterfinal against the Netherlands when she saved three penalties. Naeher sustained an injury to her right knee against Canada and was forced off after only 30 minutes of the semifinal game.

Since arriving at the Tokyo Olympics, American sprinter Gabby Thomas has been destined for great things.

On Tuesday, Thomas cruised to a third-place finish clocking a time of 21.87 in the 200 meter final to earn a bronze medal for Team USA.

Beyond training for Olympic-level athletics, Thomas has been balancing her sprinting career with a masters degree at the University of Texas in public health, studying epidemiology and health care management.

In 2019, Thomas graduated from Harvard with a degree in neurobiology and a secondary degree in global health and health policy. She then headed to Texas to join the Austin-based Buford-Bailey Track Club, founded by 1996 Olympic bronze medalist Tonja Buford-Bailey.

In June, at the U.S. Olympic trials, Thomas ran a stunning 21.61 seconds to put up the third-fastest 200 meter time ever.

Her time also made her the second-fastest American woman in the history of the race — the only woman who has run faster than Thomas is the legendary Florence Griffith-Joyner, who set the 200m world record back in 1988.

Since her ascent to the top, Thomas has been recognized as a medal contender in Tokyo.

 

Following her bronze-medal showing and triumphant comeback to the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday, Simone Biles revealed that her aunt passed away “unexpectedly” two days prior to her return to competition.

“I was like ‘Oh my God. This week needs to be over,'” said Biles’ coach Cecile Canqueteau-Landi on Tuesday, according to People. “I asked her what do you need and she said ‘I just need some time.’ I said, ‘You call me, text me if you need anything, I’ll be here. Whatever that is.'”

After considering her options, Biles told Landi that she would finish her Olympic week and then said, “when I get home we’ll deal with it.”

But as many know, Biles has already been dealing with a lot since arriving in Tokyo.

Before returning to compete on Tuesday, Biles pulled out of the individual all-around and the first three event finals due to a case of what she has called the “the twisties,” a disorienting phenomenon that causes a gymnast to lose awareness while airborne and can endanger their safety.

The 24-year-old has even gone so far as to refute onlookers’ criticism and expressed to fans that her “mind and body [weren’t] in sync” since the Games began.

When asked about the 2024 Olympics, Landi responded: “Right now, it’s too early to say after the week she’s had. I don’t think she’s ready to commit to anything. And I wouldn’t blame her.”

“She used to take one day at a time, you know, we’ve been saying that every day since we’ve been here, especially the past week. ‘One day at a time, let’s see how you feel, let’s see how you do, what do you want?'” Landi said. “It’s been mostly a partnership with her. She’s 24. She knows herself. I know her well, and that’s all we’ve been working on.”

After the balance beam final, Biles took to Instagram, posting a heartfelt image of an embrace between herself and Landi.

“Forever thankful to have such an amazing support system by my side,” she wrote.

The U.S. women’s volleyball team will likely be without starters Jordyn Poulter and Jordan Thompson in the Olympic quarterfinals as the Americans square off against the Dominican Republic on Wednesday.

Setter Poulter and opposite hitter Thompson were limited at practice on Tuesday after rolling their right ankles during pool play of the Olympic tournament in Tokyo.

Poulter was injured when she landed on a teammate’s foot during the American win over Italy on Monday, which eventually helped the U.S. clinch the top spot in Pool B of the preliminary round.

Thompson’s injury occurred in a similar way on Saturday during the team’s loss to the ROC, sidelining one of the top scorers in the tournament.

If the U.S. wins on Wednesday, both Poulter and Thompson could return later in the tournament.

So far, the Americans have been able to withstand the injuries, adding backup setter Micah Hancock and opposite Annie Drews to the lineup.

But the 2016 bronze medalists will need a big performance against the Dominican Republic, who ended host nation Japan’s tournament hopes with a 3-1 victory on Monday.

Athing Mu is an Olympic champion.

The 19-year-old American phenom won the 800 meter final in her first-ever Olympics, crossing the line in 1:55.21 to break the American record.

Leading for the entire race, Mu finished ahead of Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain, who ran 1:55.88 to place second, and American Raevyn Rogers, who finished in 1:56.81 to round out the top three.

With the Olympic victory, Mu joined Madeline Manning-Mims as the only two American women to win Olympic gold in the 800 meters. Manning-Mims accomplished the feat 53 years ago at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

Mu’s Olympic win is the crowning achievement in what was a record-smashing track and field season for the New Jersey native. She made it clear why she was the favorite to win the event going into the Games.

Since turning pro at the U.S. Olympic trials and winning the 800 meters to punch her ticket to Tokyo, Mu has gone on to stay unbeaten in all of the event rounds leading up to the final.

The youngster is only the second American to take home a gold medal in track and field thus far in Tokyo. Valarie Allman won a gold medal in the women’s discus on Monday.

Simone Biles is officially back in action.

In her triumphant Olympic return since withdrawing from the team competition a week ago with a case of “the twisties,” Biles won the bronze medal in Tuesday night’s balance beam final.

Her third-place finish earned Biles a seventh career Olympic medal, tying her with Shannon Miller for the most by a U.S. gymnast.

The gymnastics legend finished behind Guan Chenchen and Tang Xijing, both of China. Guan took the gold with a score of 14.633, ahead of Tang 14.233.

Biles, 24, also withdrew from the individual all-around and the first three event finals, before announcing her comeback to competition on Monday.

As the reigning world champion on balance beam, and the bronze medalist at the Rio Olympics in 2016, Biles’ decision to return to this event was a reminder to many of her longstanding greatness.

American swimmer Lilly King sounded off after the president of the Russian Olympic Committee team suggested the medals won at the Tokyo Olympics are the “best answer” to critics who question their presence at the Games following previous doping scandals.

“There are a lot of people here that should not be here,” said King, who has won a silver and a bronze medal in Tokyo.

King’s comments came after president Stanislav Pozdnyakov said critics suggested Russian athletes “can’t compete without doping,” but that the athletes in Tokyo “proved the opposite not just with words, but with their deeds and results.”

King went on to say: “I wasn’t racing anyone from a country who should have been banned and instead got a slap on the wrist and rebranded their national flag. So, I personally wasn’t as affected. But Ryan (Murphy) was.”

After it was revealed that Russia launched a massive, state-sponsored program to elude doping testers in 2014, the team was banned from the Olympics as punishment.

King has been critical of Russian athletes in the past, specifically after she defeated rival Yulia Efimova — a swimmer who had been at the center of Russia’s doping scandal — for gold in the 100m breaststroke at the Rio Olympics.

Russia’s name, flag and anthem were barred from the Games following a legal battle with the World Anti-Doping Agency. After competing under the name OAR — Olympic Athletes from Russia — at the 2018 Winter Games, the athletes are competing in Japan as the Russian Olympic Committee.