Team USA finished the first day of the Olympics without a medal for the first time since 1972, but that's likely to change soon. That changed Sunday in Tokyo with a dominant performance in the pool for the U.S.
Also on Sunday, skateboarding made its Olympic debut with a heavy Southern California influence and the great Simone Biles begins her quest for gold.
Skateboarding Thrills in Its Olympic Debut
Nyjah Huston and Jagger Eaton were among the athletes to watch with ties to Southern California when skateboarding made its much-anticipated Olympic debut.
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Eaton picked up a bronze, but Huston fell out of medal contention during the finals.
Huston, of Laguna Beach, was looking to win gold in the men's street event. He's a four-time world champion with golds at the World Skateboarding Championships in 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019. He also has 18 X Games medals with 16 coming in the street event.
He is the highest-paid skateboarder in the world and will now look to shine in the inaugural Olympic skateboarding competition.
Other SoCal athletes competing in skateboarding include Zion Wright (Long Beach), Brighton Zeuner (Encinitas) and Bryce Wettstein (Encinitas)
Mariah Duran, Alexis Sablone and Alana Smith will represent the U.S. in the women’s street event.
Photos: Southern California Athletes at the Tokyo Olympics
Swimming Awards Its First Medals
Chase Kalisz and Jay Litherland kicked things off by finishing first and second in the men’s 400m individual medley, earning the first medals for Team USA in Tokyo. The women also collected two medals in their 400 IM when Emma Weyant captured the silver to Hali Flickinger’s bronze. In between, Kieran Smith came from behind to secure the bronze medal in the men’s 400m freestyle.
Simone Biles Begins Her Quest for More Gold
Simone Biles and the U.S. women’s gymnastic team competed in the qualifying round as they begin their quest for a third straight team gold.
Biles qualified to compete in all six finals -- team, individual all-around, floor exercise, beam, uneven bars and vault. She'll be the first woman to compete in all six artistic gymnastics finals at one Olympics since Shannon Miller and Lavinia Milosovici did so in 1992.
Biles competed in five finals at the Rio Olympics, missing out on uneven bars.
Since only two athletes from each country can move on to the finals, some of the Americans will be on the outside looking in no matter how well they perform. Biles was a lock for the vault, where she is expected to debut the Yurchenko double pike, but both Jade Carey and MyKayla Skinner are talented vaulters hoping to be the one to join Biles in the final.
American Surfers Go for Gold
The first surfing competition in the Olympics began with the first group of heats.
Round 1 consisted of five heats of four surfers. In each heat, the top two surfers advance directly to Round 3, while the bottom two move on to Round 2.
U.S. surfer Kolohe Andino advanced to Round 3 after finishing with a score of 10.27.
Carissa Moore is the gold medal favorite for the women, and 19-year-old Caroline Marks could also contend for a medal.
Watch the men live here and click here to watch the women's competition.
