TOKYO — The trouble started early. A step out of bounds on floor exercise here. A short landing there.
Over the course of two hours on Sunday, the mistakes — some almost imperceptible, some laid bare for the world to see — kept piling up, chipping away at the aura USA Gymnastics has built over the past decade. Not even the greatest of all time was immune to the realities of a sport where perfection is unattainable.
For 11 years, the Americans flirted with it, at least from a competitive standpoint, flying all over the globe, then flying back home with their suitcases stuffed with gold.
It still might happen at the Tokyo Olympics. But for the first time in a long time, it appears it won’t happen without a fight.
Russia pulled off a stunner in qualifying, posting a top score of 171.629, more than a full point ahead of the U.S. total 170.562. While reigning Olympic champion Simone Biles topped the all-around with teammate Sunisa Lee close behind in third, the Americans ended their session looking up at another name on the scoreboard in the team standings for the first time since the 2010 world championships.
“This was not the finals,” U.S. high-performance director Tom Forster said. “This was getting into the finals. So this might be a great awakening for us and we’ll take advantage of it.”
China, France, Belgium, Great Britain, Italy and host Japan also advanced to Tuesday night’s final. Olympic legend Oksana Chusovitina’s journey is over. The 46-year-old from Uzbekistan did not qualify during the vault final at her record eighth Olympics.
Athletes, judges and administrators rose to their feet to salute Chusovitina as she made her way off the floor. She waved to the crowd with tears in her eyes before posing for pictures with whoever wanted one.
“I’m saying goodbye to sports,” Chusovitina said. “It’s kind of mixed feelings. I’m alive, I’m happy, I’m here without any injuries, and I can stand on my own.”
Something the Americans have done in the team competition for 10 years. After going largely unchallenged over two Olympic quads, they suddenly have company.
Forster raised eyebrows following the Olympic Trials last month when he said taking the top four finishers in the all-around in rank over a squad that could potentially score a bit higher by taking a specialist didn’t matter. He reasoned sacrificing a tenth or two here or there wasn’t going to matter based on the history of blowout wins by the Americans at world championships since he took over in 2018.
“We thought it was a good order, and I still feel good about it,” Forster said, who later added, “it will all work out.”
It always has since Biles joined an already dominant program in 2013. Everything will be reset for the finals, when the format changes to three-up/three-count. The pressure will be greater. And the Americans have found a way to thrive under it.
FRANCE ENDS USA MEN’S BASKETBALL STREAK
To France, beating the United States again wasn’t really a surprise. And that might be the biggest indicator yet that the Americans — even after three consecutive Olympic gold medals — are no longer feared by other top international teams.
A 25-game Olympic winning streak for the U.S. is over, ending Sunday when France closed the game on a 16-2 run to beat the Americans 83-76 in the Tokyo Games. Evan Fournier’s 3-pointer off a broken play with just under a minute left put France ahead for good, as the Americans simply fell apart in the final minutes.
“They are better individually,” Fournier said of the Americans, “but they can be beaten as a team.”
That’s been proven with alarming regularity in the last two years. Starting with France’s win over the U.S. in the Basketball World Cup quarterfinals at China two years ago, the Americans are merely 3-5 in their last eight games with NBA players in the lineup.
The U.S. missed its final nine shots, five of them coming in a 21-second span in the final minute shortly after Fournier — who led all scorers with 28 points — made the go-ahead 3-pointer. Rudy Gobert wildly missed a layup on that play, but Guerschon Yabusele chased down the bouncing rebound and just before he dove into the U.S. bench he made a desperation swipe at the ball in an effort to knock it into Fournier’s direction.
Fournier turned Yabusele’s dive into a dagger, and just like that the Americans are in Olympic trouble.
“I think that’s a little bit of hubris if you think the Americans are supposed to just roll out the balls and win,” U.S. coach Gregg Popovich said. “We’ve got to work for it just like everybody else. And for those 40 minutes, they played better than we did.”
The Americans lost for only the sixth time in 144 games at the Olympics all-time, and fell to 53-4 in the Olympics with NBA players on the roster. The 2004 team at the Athens Games lost the other three, and won bronze. Every other U.S. team in the era that started with the “Dream Team” in 1992 won the gold and this one still can — but it’s far from a certainty.
“When you lose a game, you’re not surprised,” Popovich said. “You’re disappointed.”
UNITED STATES GETS FIRST WOMEN’S TAEKWONDO GOLD
Anastasija Zolotic won the United States’ first gold medal in women’s taekwondo by beating Russian athlete Tatiana Minina 25-17 on Sunday to claim the featherweight division title.
The 18-year-old Zolotic lets out a primal scream as she pulls on her helmet before each round. The Largo, Florida, native has been telling friends and family since early childhood that she would be an Olympic champion, and she needed only one trip to the Games to make it happen.
“My 8-year-old self was running around the school yard saying I was going to be Olympic champion but she could never have imagined what this moment is like,” Zolotic said. “It’s unbelievable. It really hasn’t sunk in yet.”
LEE KIEFER WINS FENCING GOLD FOR USA
Lee Kiefer won the third gold medal for the United States at the Tokyo Olympics and the third fencing gold in the country’s history by beating defending champion Inna Deriglazova of Russia 15-13 in the women’s foil final.
Mariel Zagunis is the only other U.S fencer to earn gold, winning the saber events at the 2004 and 2008 Games.
Kiefer ripped off her mask after the final point and shouted “Oh my God!” She placed fifth at the 2012 London Games and was 10th at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
A four-time NCAA champion at Notre Dame, Kiefer is now a medical student at the University of Kentucky. Her husband, Gerek Meinhardt, won bronze with the U.S. team in foil at the 2016 Olympics.
USA SOFTBALL SETS UP GOLD MEDAL REMATCH WITH JAPAN
The United States had just given up its first run and was two outs away from losing for the first time in the Olympic softball tournament.
Amanda Chidester stepped up to the plate with two runners on and slapped the ball into left field.
“In my head, I’m like: Score! Score two! Score two! Score two!” she recalled. “When I got up and everyone was running out at me, I was like, We did it!”
Pinch-runner Ally Carda and Haylie McCleney came across the plate on Chidester’s eighth-inning single, giving the United States a pulsating 2-1 victory over Australia on Sunday and a rematch with defending champion Japan in Tuesday’s gold medal game.
JORDAN THOMPSON IMPRESSIVE IN USA OLYMPIC VOLLEYBALL DEBUT
Jordan Thompson skied high above the net and sent an emphatic spike to end the match.
That provided the perfect punctuation to an impressive Olympic volleyball debut for the U.S. team’s star opposite hitter.
The 6-foot-4 Thompson posted a game-high 20 points, including 18 on the attack at the net as she set the tone up front for an American team seeking its first gold medal in the sport.
Coach Karch Kiraly called her “unstoppable” and the Argentines probably wouldn’t disagree following a match the U.S. won handily, 25-20, 25-19, 25-20.
MEDAL WINNERS GET RULES CHANGE, CAN TAKE MASKS OFF FOR PHOTOS
Athletes who won medals on the opening weekend of the Tokyo Olympics also helped earn a photogenic victory for others to share in the next two weeks.
Some medalists on Sunday ignored the order from organizers to wear masks for the entire podium ceremony. Seeing the pushback, the International Olympic Committee later agreed to ease its strict pre-Games rule designed to help protect against the coronavirus.
“Victory ceremony protocol has been adapted to allow athletes to have an image for the media that captures their faces and their emotions during a unique moment in their sporting career,” the IOC said Sunday.
WHAT TO WATCH MONDAY
The Americans try to add to their impressive first day haul of swimming medals on Day 3 of the Tokyo Games when some of their top competitors get back in the pool Monday, while the U.S. women’s basketball team starts its quest for a seventh consecutive gold medal.
Rugby begins competition and the U.S. men’s water polo team looks for its second victory of the Games.