2024 Paris Olympics results: Team USA wins first gold medal, Katie Ledecky wins bronze on Day 1 (2024)

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The Olympics are off and running, and the United States has already won its first gold medal.

The Paris Games kicked off on Saturday after the wet and wild Opening Ceremony down the Seine River on Friday night. From the first medals being handed out to a ridiculous celebrity-politician crossover you didn't know you needed, here are the top five stories from Saturday in Paris:

Team USA men win gold in 4x100 swimming

Thanks to Caeleb Dressel and Team USA, the Americans have won their first gold medal this summer.

Dressel, Chris Guiliano, Jack Alexy and Hunter Armstrong won the men’s 4x100-meter freestyle relay in Paris on Saturday to mark the first gold medal for the United States so far in these Games. The team finished with a time of 3:09.28, just ahead of Australia and Italy.

The medal marked Dressel’s eighth Olympic gold.

TEAM USA STRIKES GOLD. 💪

CAELEB DRESSEL BRINGS IT HOME IN THE MEN'S 4X100 FREE RELAY. #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/rJwrSEWhps

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 27, 2024

Snoop Dogg was in the Paris La Défense Arena and was seen cheering on the team with Dressel’s wife and baby.

Ariarne Titmus beats Katie Ledecky in 400 freestyle swimming

Australia’s Ariarne Titmus rolled over American star Katie Ledecky in the first high-profile swimming showdown of the 2024 Games.

Titmus won the gold medal in the women’s 400-meter freestyle final with a time of 3:57.49. She led just about the entire way, and held a huge lead over Ledecky down the stretch. Canada’s Summer McIntosh won silver in the event nearly a full second behind Titmus, and Ledecky came in third at 4:00.86 to grab her first medal in Paris.

The three-way duel had been dubbed as the “Race of the Century.” Even though it finished as expected, it lived up to the hype.

Titmus is favored to win the 200-meter freestyle on Monday, though Ledecky is the favorite in both the 800-meter freestyle and 1,500-meter freestyle. While she didn’t win gold on Saturday, she can still become the most decorated female U.S. Olympian ever this summer.

Wemby wins early, Antetokounmpo falls in basketball

Victor Wembanyama’s Olympic debut got off to the perfect start on Saturday.

Wembanyama dropped 19 points to lead France past Brazil 78-66 in their first game of the Olympics. The NBA’s Rookie of the Year threw down several huge dunks in the win and had little issue dominating the Brazilians inside.

What even is Victor Wembanyama pic.twitter.com/zl6NKFaChA

— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) July 27, 2024

Wembanyama and France will take on Japan on Tuesday.

Though he got his win, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo slipped in his first Olympics outing. Antetokounmpo and Greece fell 86-79 to Canada in their Group A game on Saturday night. Antetokounmpo had 34 points and five rebounds in the loss. R.J. Barrett and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander combined for 44 points for Canada in the win.

Elsewhere, Australia beat Spain behind a 20-point outing from Jock Landale. Germany beat Japan by 20 points after a dominant performance from Franz Wagner in their Group B game.

Nadal-Alcaraz rally for first win in tennis doubles

In their first competition together as doubles partners, the Spanish duo of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz picked up a huge opening win in Paris on Saturday.

Nadal and Alcaraz rallied out of a 3-0 hole in the second set to beat the Argentine pair of Andrés Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez and advance into the second round.

Rafa Nadal & Carlos Alcaraz’ reaction after winning their first ever doubles match together at the Olympics.

Arms in the air.

They share a hug.

This team is something special.

Nadalcaraz all day long. 🥹

🇪🇸❤️

pic.twitter.com/1KNYvDblwQ

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) July 27, 2024

This marks the first Games for Alcaraz, who is the top-ranked player in the world and is coming off titles at Wimbledon and the French Open already this summer. Nadal has won two gold medals in his career, first in singles in Beijing in 2008 and again in doubles in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

China wins first gold medal at Paris Games

The first gold medal of the entire Games went to a pair of Chinese teenagers on Saturday.

Huang Yuting, 17, and Sheng Lihao, 19, beat South Korea’s Hajun Park and Jihyeon Keum 16-12 to win the 10-meter air rifle mixed team gold medal in Paris. Yuting and Lihao have dominated the sport in recent years, and rolled to a 16-2 win in the title match at last year’s world championships. A Kazakhstan duo beat Germany in the bronze medal match to reach the podium.

While Americans Mary Carolyn Tucker and Lucas Kozeniesky won the silver medal in the event in Tokyo, neither of the two U.S. teams performed well on Saturday. Tucker and Rylan William Kissell finished in 13th, and Ivan Roe and Sagen Maddalena finished in 18th.

Team USA medals

Highlight of the day

There’s a guy painting the Eiffel Tower as the beach volleyball plays on. Amazing. pic.twitter.com/yLOJIXTGmE

— Jay Busbee (@jaybusbee) July 27, 2024

One More Thing: The Flavor Flav-Jill Biden crossover

Yes, this actually happened on Saturday.

Jill Biden, the First Lady of the United States, was watching the U.S. women’s water polo team’s win over Greece on Saturday in France. Flav, despite not having a prior connection to the team, recently partnered up to support them.

The 65-year-old rapper and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee was rocking a custom Flav jersey and a water polo cap in the stands. Then, near the end of the match, the Flav-FLOTUS crossover event went down. And it was as incredible as you could imagine.

Flavor Flav and the First Lady. The Olympics brings us all together. pic.twitter.com/pHRFYkl7gE

— Jay Busbee (@jaybusbee) July 27, 2024

2024 Paris Olympics results: Team USA wins first gold medal, Katie Ledecky wins bronze on Day 1 (2024)

FAQs

Who won the first gold medal in 2024 for the USA? ›

Days after an injury scare, Simone Biles and her U.S. women's artistic gymnastics teammates took home the gold in the team finals. It was their first medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and marked an incredible comeback for the history-making athlete and for Team USA.

How many Olympic medals has Katie Ledecky won? ›

With her bronze medal in the 400 free Saturday, Ledecky now has 11 Olympic medals, and she could become the most decorated female Olympic swimmer of all-time at these Games. Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin and Emma McKeon are tied at the top with 12.

What country has the most gold medals? ›

While the U.S. is not leading in the gold rankings this year, it does hold the record for the country with the most gold medals. Before this year's Olympics began, the U.S. had earned a total of 1,179 golds, according to the Olympic Foundation.

Who won the USA's first gold medal? ›

Swimming highlights: Dressel, men's 4x100m relay earn Team USA's first Paris gold. Team USA brought home its first Paris gold medal today after Caeleb Dressel and the men's 4x100m relay team prevailed above the rest of the pack.

What female gymnast has the most Olympic medals? ›

Simone Biles officially wins more Olympic medals than any gymnast in U.S. history Women's gymnastics took centerstage at the Paris Olympics for one of the Games' marquee events.

What place did Simone Biles get in the Olympics in 2024? ›

24/7 New York news stream: Watch NBC 4 free wherever you are

Biles clinched the gold with a dazzling performance in the final floor exercise, which put the U.S. (171.296) well ahead of silver-medalist Italy (165.494) and bronze-medalist Brazil (164.497).

Does Olympian get paid? ›

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which oversees the U.S. teams for the Olympic games, pays athletes cash prizes for Olympic medals: $37,500 for gold, $22,500 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze.

How much money for a gold medal? ›

The US Olympic & Paralympic Committee pays American medal winners — $37,500 for gold, $22,500 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze. Paralympic medalists weren't paid equally until 2018, when the committee granted retroactive payouts to the 36 medal winners from the Pyeongchang games.

Who is the most decorated gymnast of all time? ›

Simone Biles becomes the most decorated gymnast of all time

There's a reason why they call her the GOAT. Simone Biles led the U.S. women's gymnastics team to victory and earned her eighth Olympic medal at Tuesday's team final.

Which country has the most Olympic athletes in 2024? ›

The Americans entered the 2024 Games with 642 entries and a total of 592 athletes, more than any other country in the world, according to the International Olympic Committee.

How many golds has USA won? ›

At the start of the 2024 Paris Games, the United States had won 2,655 medals in the history of the Summer Olympics, with 1,070 of those being gold. Both counts were more than any other country. The U.S. has won the most gold medals in athletics, which includes track and field, road running and race walking events.

How many athletes from the USA are in the Olympics in 2024? ›

It's the first rugby medal for the U.S. since the men won gold at the 1924 Olympics, which were also hosted in Paris. Both countries also have slight advantages by just the sheer volume of athletes who are representing them. The U.S. has the largest delegation, with 594 athletes.

Who is in the lead for the Olympics in 2024? ›

The U.S. edged ahead to lead the pack Monday after a strong showing in skateboarding, swimming and men's gymnastics.

How much gold is in the 2024 gold medal? ›

This year at the Paris Olympics, the gold medals consist of 523 grams of silver, coated in 6 grams of gold. Silver medals, on the other hand, weigh 525 grams and are made of pure silver, while bronze medals weigh 455 grams and are made of copper, tin and zinc.

What country is winning the Olympics in 2024? ›

USA at the top of medal leader board

Team USA won six Olympic medals today in Paris, bringing its total to 26: four gold, 11 silver and 11 bronze. The gold medal that brought that number to four came from a widely praised U.S. women's gymnastics team performance led by star Simone Biles.

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