Account
Medal Count 2021 Olympics: Updated Standings, Highlights After Day 8
July 31, 2021
As the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics officially moves into its second week of action, China is beginning to pull away from the rest of the pack with 21 gold medals (46 overall).
Japan is second on the leaderboard with 17 golds (30 total), and the United States is right on its heels with 16 (46 overall).
Day 8 contained a litany of highs and lows, as swimming and tennis events continued and track and field entered its second day.
In total, medals were awarded in 21 events. Here's a quick look at the medal leaderboard after Day 8:
Tokyo Olympics Medal Count, Day 8
China: 21 Gold, 13 Silver, 12 Bronze, 46 Total
Japan: 17 Gold, 5 Silver, 8 Bronze, 30 Total
United States: 16 Gold, 17 Silver, 13 Bronze, 46 Total
Russian Olympic Committee: 11 Gold, 15 Silver, 11 Bronze, 37 Total
Australia: 11 Gold, 3 Silver, 14 Bronze, 27 Total
Great Britain: 8 Gold, 9 Silver, 11 Bronze, 28 Total
Republic of Korea: 5 Gold, 4 Silver, 7 Bronze, 16 Total
France: 4 Gold, 9 Silver, 6 Bronze, 19 Total
Netherlands: 4 Gold, 7 Silver, 5 Bronze, 16 Total
New Zealand: 4 Gold, 3 Silver, 3 Bronze, 10 Total
*Full results and medal standings can be found at Olympics.com.
Day 8 Recap and Highlights
If there was any doubt about whether or not the female sprinters from Jamaica were still the fastest in the world, they put that to rest on Day 8.
Elaine Thompson Herah zoomed down the track to defend her gold medal in the women's 100 meters with an Olympic-record time of 10.61 seconds.
The 29-year old sprinter from Manchester Parish's blistering run was fast enough to beat Florence Griffith Joyner's 33-year-old record of 10.62 seconds that she set at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
"I think I could have gone faster if I wasn't pointing and celebrating, really," Thompson Herah said, per ESPN. "But to show you that there's more in store. Hopefully one day I can unleash that time."
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson unleashed blazing times of their own, winning the silver and the bronze, respectively, to give Jamaica the sweep in the 100 meters.
Team USA men's basketball got back on track, putting a bow on their group round play with a decisive 119-84 win over Czech Republic.
Now that they've earned a spot in the quarterfinals, maybe Team USA can put that 83-76 loss to France in the first game behind them.
"We're all just trying to figure each other out. This is literally our third game with all of us together," Jrue Holiday told Rocky Swift of Reuters. "But we knew [Kevin Durant] would come in and do what he always does."
Jayson Tatum led all scorers with 27 points, but it was Durant who passed Carmelo Anthony for most points in U.S. Olympic history.
The two-time NBA Finals MVP now has 354 points over 19 games.
Team USA was also dominant in the pool, too.
Caeleb Dressel won his third gold medal of the Games after clocking in at 49.45 seconds in the men's 100-meter butterfly, setting a new world record.
Not to be outdone, Katie Ledecky made history of her own, winning her third gold of the Games in the 800 meter freestyle. Ledecky now has six individual gold medals, the most of any woman in swimming history and the most of anyone not named Michael Phelps.
"That was not my last swim. I'm at least going to '24," Ledecky said after her race. "Maybe '28, we'll see. But I knew [the 800] was going to be my last swim here. You never take anything for granted, you don't know if you're going to be back at the next Olympics, so just try to soak it all in."
On a lower note, Simone Biles will not compete in the vault or uneven bars finals Sunday, USA Gymnastics confirmed. MyKayla Skinner will replace her.
Elsewhere, Novak Djokovic followed up defeat in the semifinals of the men's tennis tournament with a defeat in the bronze medal match to Pablo Carreno Busta, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3. The Serbian came into the Olympics hunting for the Golden Slam, but those hopes were dashed after he lost to Alexander Zverev.
As for baseball, which was brought back to the Games for the first time since 2008, the U.S. team won its second game, beating South Korea 4-2.