Tokyo Summer Olympics 2021: Day 15 Highlights
As several lengthy competitions reached their end on Day 15 of the Tokyo Olympics, the United States stood atop the podium a handful of times.
To begin the penultimate day in Japan, U.S. men's basketball and golfer Nelly Korda celebrated close victories. Women's water polo and both the women's and men's 4x400 relay teams lessened the nerves in their emphatic gold-medal wins.
Norway (men's beach volleyball), Japan (baseball) and Brazil (soccer) also earned gold in marquee team sports, highlighted by an extra-time finish for Brazil.
All of those stories will be covered in a Team USA-focused recap of Day 15's top moments from Tokyo.
Kevin Durant Leads U.S. Men to Hoops Gold
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It's not how you start. It's how you finish.
After opening their Olympic men's basketball tournament with an 83-76 loss to France, Team USA got revenge with an 87-82 victory in the rematch with the gold medal on the line.
Kevin Durant led the way with 29 points off 9-of-18 shooting as he earned his third Olympic gold. For the Americans as a group, their fourth consecutive Olympic championship may have been their toughest battle yet—a far cry from the Dream Team days of the 1990s.
The U.S. team did a good job of containing France's key scorers, holding Evan Fournier and Rudy Gobert to 16 points each and out-blocking the larger French team 5-0. But even so, the win was far from guaranteed.
The Americans didn't get their first lead of the game until late in the first quarter after France jumped out to an early 10-4 advantage. And the French team never gave up. It kept the game interesting by getting within a single possession twice in the fourth quarter, including with 10 seconds left to play in regulation.
Nelly Korda Hangs On for Golf Gold
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Bad weather forced Nelly Korda to wait a little longer to claim her Olympic gold medal.
After the leaders teed off on the 17th hole of the final round, the last five groups on the course at Kasumigaseki Country Club had to go into the clubhouse, hoping that the threat of lightning would pass quickly.
When the pause occurred, 23-year-old Korda held a one-shot lead over Mone Inami of Japan at 17 under par. Tied for third, two shots back, were Aditi Ashok of India and Lydia Ko of New Zealand.
Forty-eight minutes later, the players were back on the course to finish their business. Korda secured her gold medal after fending off a challenge from Inami, who made birdie on 17 to briefly grab a share of the lead. Inami then edged out Ko in a playoff to earn silver. Ko's bronze will sit alongside her silver medal from Rio in 2016.
Korda's victory sealed double gold for the U.S. golf team in Tokyo. On the men's side, Xander Schauffele fended off a furious charge by Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia to preserve a one-shot victory.
USA's Molly Seidel Wins Bronze in Women's Marathon
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Molly Seidel became just the third U.S. woman in history to win a medal in the Olympic marathon when she captured bronze on the streets of Sapporo, 500 miles north of Tokyo.
In just the third official marathon of her life, the 27-year-old former crosscountry runner kept pace from the start to finish with leaders Peres Jepchirchir and world-record holder Brigid Kosgei, both from Kenya and also first-time Olympians.
Jepchirchir pulled away in the late stages of the race, winning gold by 16 seconds with a time of 2:27:20 in the hot, humid weather conditions. Kosgei took silver in 2:27:36.
Seidel crossed the finish line in 2:27:46. Her bronze medal puts her in a club along with Americans Joan Benoit, who won gold in the first-ever women's marathon in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, and Deena Kastor, who brought home bronze from Athens in 2004.
Aliphine Tuliamuk was expected to be Team USA's best hope for a women's marathon medal but was forced to drop out of the race at the 20-kilometer mark because of a hip injury. Running for the first time under the American flag after becoming a U.S. citizen in 2017, Sally Kipyego finished 17th in 2:32:53.
Norway's Anders Mol and Christian Sorum Grab Gold in Men's Beach Volleyball
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History was made at Shiokaze Park when Anders Mol and Christian Sorum earned gold in men's beach volleyball.
The Norwegian duo dropped just one set in the entire tournament on their way to securing their country's first Olympic medal in the sport. It took just 40 minutes for Mol and Sorum to earn their country's third gold of these games, defeating Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy from the Russian Olympic Committee 21-17, 21-18.
Krasilnikov and former partner Konstantin Semenov finished fourth in Rio.
Beach volleyball made its Olympic debut in Atlanta in 1996. American men won three of the first four men's gold medals but have now failed to reach the podium for the last three Games. After playing in the gold-medal match at the last five Olympics, the Brazilian men also went home from Tokyo empty-handed.
Earlier on Day 15, Ahmed Tijan and Cherif Younousse of Qatar took the bronze with a straight-set win over Martins Pjavins and Edgars Tocs of Latvia.
USA Continues Reign in Women's Water Polo
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Dramatic finish? Who needs that?
While U.S. men's basketball held on against France and Nelly Korda clipped the field in women's golf, the women's water polo team cruised to a gold medal. In a 14-5 rout of Spain, the United States scored first and never looked back.
And now, the U.S. women have secured three straight golds.
The key to victory was a 5-0 advantage in the third quarter. The surge allowed Team USA to take a comfortable 12-4 edge into the closing frame and simply burn the clock.
"In the moments where you want to be at your best, it's like it's just magic when it happens," U.S. goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson said, per Jay Cohen of the Associated Press.
Johnson made 11 saves and earned top goalkeeper of the tournament. Maddie Musselman, who landed MVP honors, scored a team-best three goals. Aria Fischer, Kaleigh Gilchrist and Alys Williams each scored twice in the gold-medal triumph.
Golden Sendoff for Allyson Felix, U.S. Relay Teams
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The U.S. effectively put together an All-Star team for the women's 4x400 relay; the baton went from Sydney McLaughlin to Allyson Felix to Dalilah Muhammad to Athing Mu. Every one of them has earned an individual gold in their Olympic careers.
And they obliterated the field.
McLaughlin and Felix provided an early lead, and then Muhammad pulled away. Mu slammed the door with a tremendous anchor. Felix secured her 11th career medal (seven gold), passing Carl Lewis to become the most decorated track and field athlete in U.S. history. Poland and Jamaica took silver and bronze, respectively.
Team USA wasn't finished, either. For the second straight Olympics, it swept the 4x400 relay.
The men's team of Michael Cherry, Michael Norman, Bryce Deadmon and Rai Benjamin had a similarly comfortable win. Norman ran a terrific second leg before Deadmon and Benjamin sprinted well ahead of the Netherlands and Botswana.
Japan Holds off USA for Baseball Gold
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Earlier in the competition, Japan used a ninth-inning comeback and 10th-inning walk-off hit to defeat the United States. But there would be no revenge for Team USA.
Munetaka Murakami smacked a solo homer in the third inning to give Japan a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
Five pitchers combined for a shutout, propelling the host country to its first-ever gold medal in baseball. Masato Morishita worked five innings, and Koudai Senga, Hiromi Itoh, Suguru Iwazaki and Ryoji Kuribayashi all threw a scoreless frame in the 2-0 win.
For the United States, they simply couldn't find a timely hit. Both the fifth and sixth innings ended with two runners on base, and Japan stranded nine runners overall.
Through six Olympic competitions, both Japan and the U.S. now have one gold, one silver and two bronze medals in baseball.
Extra-Time Winner for Brazil in Soccer Final
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Considering the recent history of both Brazil and Spain, it's no surprise they couldn't find a winner in 90 minutes.
Brazil defeated Egypt 1-0 in the quarterfinals and needed penalty kicks to outlast Mexico in the semis. Spain required extra time against both Ivory Coast and Japan to reach the final. For good measure, they combined for three draws in six group-stage games.
But it set up an exciting finish.
Matheus Cunha handed Brazil a 1-0 edge shortly before halftime, scoring in the second minute of stoppage time. While the goal lessened the sting of Richarlison's miss from the penalty spot, Brazil certainly would've liked that two-goal lead. Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal notched the equalizer 16 minutes into the second half.
Although neither team broke through in the first 15 minutes, extra-time substitute Malcom slotted home a 108th-minute winner for Brazil.
Spain pushed to even the score but never truly threatened, and Brazil claimed its second straight gold.
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