Account
Medal Count 2021 Olympics: Updated Standings, Highlights After Day 5
July 28, 2021
Day 5 of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics ended with Japan holding onto its lead in the gold-medal standings by the slimmest of margins.
In one of the final events of the day, Japanese gymnast Daiki Hashimoto won the gold medal in the men's all-around competition, edging out China's Xiao Routeng by 0.4 of a point. The 19-year-old's razor-thin victory gave Japan its 13th gold medal of the Summer Games, one more than China.
"Five years ago, I didn't imagine myself standing here," Hashimoto said, per the New York Times' Ken Belson. "The Olympics wasn't even a realistic goal for me at the time; it was only a dream. And now that dream has come true and I've become a champion."
Several more athletes had their dreams fulfilled on yet another action-packed day in Tokyo. Here's a look at the updated medal standings and some of the top highlights from Day 5.
Updated Medal Standings After Day 5
United States: 11 Gold, 11 Silver, 9 Bronze, 31 Total
China: 12 Gold, 6 Silver, 9 Bronze, 27 Total
Russian Olympic Committee: 7 Gold, 10 Silver, 6 Bronze, 23 Total
Japan: 13 Gold, 4 Silver, 3 Bronze, 22 Total
Australia: 6 Gold, 1 Silver, 9 Bronze, 16 Total
Great Britain: 5 Gold, 6 Silver, 5 Bronze, 16 Total
Republic of Korea: 4 Gold, 2 Silver, 5 Bronze, 11 Total
Netherlands: 2 Gold, 6 Silver, 3 Bronze, 11 Total
Germany: 3 Gold, 2 Silver, 5 Bronze, 10 Total
France: 3 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze, 8 Total
Full medal results can be found at Olympics.com.
Highlights, Recap from Day 5
While Japan has been the gold standard so far in Tokyo, the United States leads the overall count with 31 medals. Sixteen of those have come from the swimming competitions, with its wide range of distances and strokes providing ample opportunities for Team USA to rack up medals.
Katie Ledecky went from missing a podium to topping another in just over an hour at the aquatic center. The 24-year-old finished a disappointing fifth in the women's 200-meter freestyle, a race many thought she had a chance of winning. Instead, it was Australia's Ariarne Titmus who stole the show, using an incredible burst in the final 50 meters to win the gold with a time of 1:53.50, an Olympic record.
Undeterred, Ledecky quickly moved on to the 1,500 free, a race she has dominated for years but hadn't been part of the Olympics until now. Ledecky won the long-distance swim comfortably, finishing 4.07 seconds ahead of American teammate Erica Sullivan to capture her first gold medal of the 2020 Olympics.
Ledecky holds the world record in the 1,500 but fell well short of besting that mark in Tokyo. She didn't seem to mind.
"My times may not be my best times, but I'm still real happy to have a gold medal around my neck right now," she said, per the New York Times' Matthew Futterman.
While Team USA is accustomed to winning medals in swimming, a sport new to the Olympics provided the country with another golden opportunity. The U.S. women's three-on-three basketball team won the first-ever gold medal in the competition on Day 5, beating the Russian Olympic Committee 18-15 in the final.
The U.S. squad of Stefanie Dolson, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young and Allisha Gray went 8-1 overall in the inaugural tournament. American fans will be hoping that the men's and women's five-on-five basketball teams can build on their success and win medals in Tokyo.
While large countries like the U.S., Japan and China tend to dominate at the Olympics, some smaller nations do have their specialties. Fiji defended its gold medal in rugby sevens by defeating New Zealand 27-12 in the final. Players like Jerry Tuwai noted how important the win was for a team and country that has faced numerous hardships amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"We've been away from our family for about five or six months," he said, per the Associated Press. "I think this one is special."
Rugby is the national sport of Fiji and a source of great national pride. Fiji won its first-ever gold medal in the 2016 Olympics, when rugby sevens made its debut.