Three American athletes have just made history in their sports at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Will Shaner, Lee Kiefer and Anastasija Zolotic each took home a gold medal in their events, marking the first time the U.S. has won first in the men's 10-meter air rifle, women's individual foil and women's taekwondo respectively.
Shaner brought home the second overall gold medal for the U.S. at the Olympics, following Chase Kalisz’s win in the men’s 400-meter individual medley.
The 20-year-old American shooter, the youngest man to qualify for an Olympic rifle competition, finished with 251.6 points, an Olympic record. China’s Sheng Lihao trailed behind with 250.9 points. \
Team USA celebrated Shaner’s win on Instagram, sharing a photo of the young athlete biting his gold medale.
“Big bite from your 10m air rifle Olympic champ, @w1lliam_shaner. 🥇#TokyoOlympics,” the caption read.
Kiefer is the first American to win a gold medal in an individual foil event, defeating reigning Olympic champion Inna Deriglazova 15-13.
The 27-year-old Olympian also earned the U.S. its first fencing medal of the 2020 games. This is Kiefer’s first career Olympic medal after she finished in fifth place at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Her medal became the ninth medal overall for the U.S. during the Tokyo games.
Gerek Meinhardt, Kiefer’s husband and fellow Olympian, celebrated her win on Instagram and Twitter. He snapped a selfie of the couple beaming at the camera with the gold medal on full display.
“My wife just made my Olympic dream complete @leetothekiefer 🥇 GOLD Words can’t describe how bad she wanted this, how hard she worked, or how proud of her I am,” Meinhardt wrote in the caption. “Thank you ALL for the incredible words of support. We felt each one of them. Congrats @amgadkhazbak- @usfencing HISTORY!!”
In her first-ever Olympics appearance, Zolotic, 18, became the first American woman to win a gold medal in taekwondo. The last American to take home a gold in taekwondo at the Olympics was Steven Lopez in 2004.
After two days of competition, Team USA has garnered 10 total medals, including the golds earned by Shaner, Kiefer and Zolotic.
Jagger Eaton, 20, won the bronze medal in the first-ever Olympic skateboarding final in the men’s street competition.
U.S. swimming brought home six medals on the first night of swimming at the Olympics, including Kalisz’s gold medal and his teammate Jay Litherland’s silver medal in the same event. Kieran Smith took bronze in the men’s 400-meter freestyle at his Olympic debut, while Emma Weyant and Hali Flickinger took silver and bronze in the women’s 400-meter individual medley. The women’s 4x100 free relay earned U.S. swimming its sixth medal of the day.
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