Chasing Gold: Swimmer Caeleb Dressel can't stop winning, but with that comes pressure
If the past few days have shown anything, the Tokyo Olympics are about more than just medals. Sure, the hardware is nice to have, but there are so many more stories behind who finishes first (and second and third).
Caeleb Dressel won his fifth gold of these Games – and added a world record in the process – but he also acknowledged the pressure that comes with stepping in as Team USA’s top male swimmer. American golfer Xander Schauffele won gold as well, but just being in the Olympics fulfilled his father’s dream of competing in the Games.
As the final week of the Olympics gets underway, take a look at some of the biggest stories from Day 9 in Tokyo.
More gymnastics hardware: MyKayla Skinner and Suni Lee picked up two additional medals for U.S. gymnastics in individual competition. Skinner, who replaced Simone Biles in the vault, won a silver medal just one day after finding out she would compete. Lee won bronze on the uneven bars, giving her a medal in every color – gold in the all-around, silver in team competition and now bronze. But uneven bars are her event, and she’s already eyeing redemption in Paris.
Bigger than the win: At the Olympics, it’s (typically) all about the medals. The United States still leads the count, thanks to 30 medals from swimmers. But there’s another aspect to the Games: those feelgood stories that mean more than any medal.
Isaiah Jewett was in position to finish second in his 800-meter heat when he was tripped. Instead of getting upset, he helped up Botswana’s Nijel Amos and the two finished the race together. Weightlifter Kate Nye overcame her bipolar disorder diagnosis to win a silver medal.
Krysta Palmer won the United States’ first medal in more than three decades in the 3-meter springboard, but to get there, the bronze medalist overcame a series of injuries that forced her out of gymnastics and trampoline.
International interest: Italy had quite the day in track and field events. Remember Usain Bolt? Well, he might be old news now that Lamont Marcell Jacobs is in town. Jacobs ran a personal-best time of 9.80 seconds to win gold in the first Olympic men's 100-meter final of the post-Bolt era. Then, in the high jump, Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi and Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim chose to split the top spot rather than have a jump-off.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chasing Gold: Swimming star Caeleb Dressel can't stop winning
