Team USA remained in second place in the medal tally after Day 3 of the Tokyo Olympics, with 14 medals in its collection. The Americans, who now have seven golds, three silvers, and four bronzes, trail China's tally of 18 total medals. In terms of first-place finishes, host nation Japan took the lead in that department on Day 3 with eight gold medals.
Hancock and English lead gold medal charge in shooting
It was a great Day 3 for Team USA in the sport of shooting as Vincent Hancock and Amber English bagged gold medals in the men's and women's skeet competitions in the Tokyo Olympics on Monday.
Hancock made history as he became the first three-time gold medalist in the skeet events. It was a fantastic comeback by Hancock, who shockingly missed the final in the 2016 Rio Olympics and finished in 15th place. He previously won gold in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Games.
Hancock took a break from the sport in 2017 and returned with a vengeance in 2018, winning the world championship. The road to gold in Tokyo sure wasn't easy, though, as he missed three shots in the final qualification round of this year's Olympics.
Hancock was able to correct his mechanics in the shoot-off, though, and went on to produce one of the best final displays in the history of this Olympic event. He completed the final with 59 hits to win the gold as he missed just one target. Hancock finished above Denmark's Jesper Hansen (55 hits), who won the silver medal, and Kuwait's Abdullah Al-Rashidi (46 hits), who captured the bronze.
Joining Hancock atop the Olympic podium on Monday was Amber English. She won her skeet event in style, setting an Olympic record in the final at the Asaka Shooting Range with 56 hits. English missed just four shots in the final as she easily finished ahead of Italy's Diana Bacosi (51 hits), who grabbed the silver medal, and China's Wei Meng (46 hits), who took home the bronze.
English was in fine form even in the qualifier, where she finished third with a whopping 121 hits, just four shy of the perfect score. It was an emotional win for English, who fell short of making the U.S. Olympic teams in the 2012 and 2016 Summer Games. She used the death of her father back in 2016 as motivation, though, earning the bronze at the 2018 world championships and two more World Cup medals in 2018 and 2019.
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U.S. relay team captures Day 3's lone gold in the pool as Ledecky settles for silver
Hancock and English's victories were the only individual gold medals that the United States won on Day 3. The Americans' other gold medal came in the men's 4x100-m freestyle relay in the swimming competition.
Caeleb Dressel, Blake Pieroni, Bowen Becker, and Zach Apple powered Team USA to the gold with a time of 3:08.97, the third-fastest 4x100 relay in the history of the event. They finished ahead of Italy and Australia, which claimed silver and bronze, respectively.
Katie Ledecky, however, suffered heartbreak in the pool as she lost a tight battle with Australian rival Ariarne Titmus in the women's 400-m freestyle final. Ledecky's time of 3:57.36 was not enough to top Titmus, who swam the second-fastest time in this particular event, clocking in at 3:56.69.
The Americans were a disappointment in the men's gymnastics team event as they finished in fifth place for the third consecutive Olympics.
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