On Monday, sports fans experienced another exciting day of Olympic competitions. The third day of competition after Friday’s opening ceremony featured group matches in women’s basketball, beach volleyball and water polo, as well as shooting, swimming, gymnastics and judo.
The U.S. men’s gymnastics team also attempted to win its first medal since the 2008 Games in Beijing.
Along the way, we saw some notable changes in the medal count after the United States took a commanding lead on Sunday.
Below you’ll find an updated look at the medal standings and some highlights from Monday’s competition.
Monday’s overall medal standings update
1. United States – 20 total (3 gold, 8 silver, 9 bronze)
2. France – 14 in total (4 gold medals, 7 silver medals, 3 bronze medals)
3. Japan – 12 in total (6 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze)
4. China – 12 in total (5 gold medals, 5 silver medals, 2 bronze medals)
5. Great Britain – 10 overall (2 gold, 5 silver, 3 bronze)
6. South Korea – 9 overall (5 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)
7. Australia – 7 overall (4 gold, 3 silver)
8. Italy – 7th overall (2 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze)
Full medal standings via Olympics.com.
Remaining program for Monday
4:00 PM ET
Beach Volleyball, Women’s Groups: United States vs. Australia
Women’s Rugby 7s Quarter-Final
4:10 PM ET
Men’s individual foil fencing gold medal match (E!)
4:30 p.m. ET
Women’s Rugby 7s Quarter-Final
5:48 PM ET
Women’s surfing, 3rd round
As previously noted, the U.S. men’s gymnastics team had not won a team medal since the 2008 Olympics and had not won a gold medal since the 1984 Games. In each of the last three Summer Olympics, the Americans have finished fifth.
While women’s gymnastics remains a flagship sport in the United States, things have faltered on the men’s side, which is why winning a medal in Paris was a significant event for the men’s team.
Led by national champion Brody Malone, Stephen Nedoroscik, Frederick Richard, Paul Juda and Asher Hong, the Americans put on a terrific group performance, ultimately edging out Great Britain for third place.
Malone competed in five of the six events, while Nedoroscik put in a decisive performance on pommel horse to secure a spot on the podium.
The bronze medal is largely the result of a change in approach by USA Gymnastics’ coaches. In previous years, the U.S. team’s routines simply weren’t challenging enough, and the coaches sought to change that.
“In an effort to increase the team’s difficulty score, USA Gymnastics used a complicated bonus system that encouraged athletes to demonstrate improved skills,” wrote Thuc Nhi Nguyen of the Los Angeles Times.
By offering a bonus system that rewards the most difficult skills and helps compensate for any drops in the team selection process, they found a team that could compete on the biggest stage. Fortunately, they have proven themselves.
And while winning a bronze medal in an Olympics that features 329 medal events may not seem like a big deal, it is huge for the landscape of American men’s gymnastics.
Japan won gold in the event, while China took silver. If the U.S. team uses its third-place finish as a springboard to the 2028 Olympics, it may have a shot at its first gold medal in more than four decades.
Heading into this year’s Olympics, Nielsen’s Gracenote virtual medal table predicted that the United States would lead all countries in total medals, with the host nation finishing fourth. While the United States led the medal table Sunday afternoon, France was second.
France managed to keep pace on Monday and also won its fourth gold medal when Nicolas Gestin won the men’s canoe single slalom event.
“It’s better than my dreams, it’s the best race of my life,” Gestin said, according to Phillip O’Connor of Reuters.
It was far from a bad day for the United States, though. In addition to winning bronze in the men’s team gymnastics, they added medals in swimming. Americans Katie Grimes and Emma Weyant even shared the podium after finishing second and third, respectively, in the women’s 400-meter individual medley.
Canadian Summer McIntosh won gold.
While most of the longest tournaments are still in their early stages, fans have been able to witness some thrilling matches even without a medal on the line. On Monday, legendary tennis stars Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Rafael Nadal of Spain faced off in the second round of the men’s singles.
Djokovic, who has never won Olympic gold, beat the 14-time French Open champion 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the third round.
While it wasn’t a particularly long match, it was electric and filled with some suspense. While Djokovic was the number one seed heading into the tournament, Nadal has quite the track record at Roland Garros.
According to BBC Sport, Nadal has lost just five of his 117 matches on tour. Three of those defeats have come against Djokovic.
