SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — The U.S. women’s soccer team has rebounded from its opening loss to Sweden with a 6-1 rout of New Zealand. First lady Jill Biden arrived with the United States up 2-0 at the break and watched the team put the game away in the second half at Saitama Stadium. The United States was stunned by Sweden 3-0 in the team’s opening match at the Tokyo Games.
SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — The U.S. men’s basketball team is finally together. Devin Booker, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, the three Olympians who played in the NBA Finals, arrived in Japan less than 24 hours before the Americans are scheduled to open against France. How much they play on Sunday remains unclear. U.S. coach Gregg Popovich has said he would gauge their role based on how they were feeling after the flights.
TOKYO (AP) — After a long wait to get on the court, the U.S. men’s volleyball team made quick work of France in its Olympic opener. The U.S. didn’t take the court until 11 p.m. local time in the final match of the opening day of pool play but set the tone early by scoring the first five points of the match. The Americans won the match 25-18, 25-18, 25-22, as they try to build on their bronze medal performance in 2016. The other winners on the opening day of men’s competition were defending champion Brazil, Italy, the Russians, Japan and Iran.
TOKYO (AP) — The 3-on-3 version of half-court basketball has made its Olympic debut, with a DJ spinning records and games lasting less than 15 minutes. The sport sells itself as streetball, and it shares some resemblance to the playground game it is based on. In other ways, it’s like a completely different sport. Referees oversee the action and TV timeouts interrupt play twice a game. The U.S., where the game was born and perfected, did not qualify a men’s team for the Games. But the U.S. women did make the tournament, and when they played France on Saturday night they had first lady Jill Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron watching from the nearly empty stands. The Americans won, 7-10.