American Regan Smith is missing one thing on her impressive swimming resume that prevents her from being a household name during the Games: A gold medal.
The American public doesn’t appreciate how hard it is to win the silver medal, they want to see gold. Smith finished second in the 200-meter backstroke on Friday — her third silver in the Paris Olympics and her fifth overall (she won two silvers and one bronze in Tokyo in 2021).
Smith said she doesn’t care what “specific color of medal” she wins. That will change immediately if she is a part of a gold-medal-winning relay team later in the Paris Olympics. Watch how thrilled she will be to hear “gold medalist Regan Smith” for the first time.
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No Americans win golf on Friday
Zero Americans won gold medals on Friday but the U.S. 4×400-meter mixed relay team set a world record with a time of 3 minutes, 7.41 seconds. The quartet of Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, and Kaylyn Brown will run for gold on Saturday night.
The U.S. men’s soccer team failed miserably by falling 4-0 to Morocco. The U.S. put just one shot on goal during its first quarterfinal match since 2000.
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Another downer on Friday was defending 50-meter freestyle gold medalist Caeleb Dressel finishing a disappointing sixth in Paris.
One American making a run is golfer Xander Schauffele, the defending gold medalist. The San Diego State product, who has won two majors this year, is tied for the lead after 36 holes at Le Golf National with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and England’s Tommy Fleetwood. The trio share a two-shot edge.
Latest Paris Olympics medal count
- United States 43
- France 36
- China 31
- Great Britain 27
- Australia 22
- Japan 18
- Italy 17
- South Korea 16
Overall Gold Medal Count:
- China 13
- France 11
- Australia 11
- United States 9
- Great Britain 9
- Japan 8
- South Korea 7
- Italy 5
