University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Marcos Giron
Photo by: Getty Images
Bruins in Tokyo: July 25, 2021
July 25, 2021 | Bruin Athletics
Men's Basketball
Jrue Holiday and Zach LaVine made their Olympic debuts with Team USA on Sunday in Tokyo. The U.S. Olympic Team lost to France, 83-76, snapping a streak of 25 consecutive Olympic victories for Team USA. Holiday totaled a team-high 18 points for the U.S. squad, finishing with seven rebounds and four assists. LaVine recorded eight points and three assists in the loss.
Team USA will take on Iran on Wednesday (Tuesday evening, Los Angeles time) and the Czech Republic on Saturday in the final two Group A games. Should the United States win both of those games, the team can advance to the quarterfinal round in the 2020 Olympics. Wednesday's game will
Gymnastics
Jordan Chiles and Team USA qualified for Tuesday's team final with a second-place finish in the preliminary round. The U.S. scored 170.562 to finish behind Russian Olympic Committee, who scored 171.629. Chiles had her team's second-highest scores on vault (14.700 with a 9.3 execution score) and floor exercise (13.566).
Brooklyn Moors posted Canada's highest all-around score with a 53.966 and qualified for Thursday's all-around final with a 22nd-place finish in the preliminaries. Moors scored 13.0 or higher on all four events and had Canada's top marks on uneven bars (13.0) and floor exercise (13.533). Canada recorded a team total of 160.964 and finished two spots shy of the team final in 10th place.
After being diagnosed on Friday with a torn ACL, Jamaica's Danusia Francis was only able to compete in one event, the uneven bars. Performing a few skills on the low bar before hopping off on her good knee, she completed her Olympic journey with a scored routine and the highest execution score of the night on that event – a 9.033.
The team final on Tuesday will begin at 3:45 a.m. PT, while Thursday's all-around final begins at 3:50 a.m. PT. Both will stream live on NBCOlympics.com and on Peacock.
Rowing
Former UCLA standout Marie Jacquet rowed in the repechage of the women's quadruple sculls on Sunday at Sea Forest Waterway. Jacquet, rowing with France, led her crew to a fifth-place finish in the repechage finishing ahead of the United States. France posted a final time of 6:47:41, crossing the finish line behind (in order) Australia, Italy, New Zealand and Great Britain. The top two finishers (Australia, Italy) qualified for the Final A race.
Softball
The United States softball team won in walk-off fashion on Saturday to clinch its spot in the gold-medal game, defeating Australia 2-1 in eight innings. Ally Carda, placed on second base to start the eighth under the international tiebreaker rules, scored the tying run on the two-run, walk-off single. Three of the four Bruins played. Bubba Nickles earned her first Olympic start, batting seventh and starting in right field, and reached in both of her plate appearances on a second-inning, line-drive single to left and a fifth-inning walk. Delaney Spaulding, the starting shortstop, hit sixth and walked in three trips to the plate. Rachel Garcia was not entered into the game.
The U.S. will play Japan on Sunday in a tune-up for Tuesday's gold-medal game, as both teams have already clinched a spot in that contest. Sunday's matchup will begin at 6 p.m. PT and will air on USA Network and NBCOlympics.com.
Tennis
Marcos Giron earned a three-set victory in his first Olympic Games appearance, dispatching of Slovakia's Norbert Gombos for Team USA. Jennifer Brady and Ena Shibahara, meanwhile, suffered losses in their debuts on the women's side.
Giron, whose match went late into the night in the United States, took four of the first five points in an opening-set tiebreaker en route to an early advantage. Gombos countered in the second, thanks to the match's first break of serve at 1-1. The third was all Giron, who won the first four games and never looked back for a 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-2 win. He will next face Kei Nishikori of host Japan, who upset seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev of the Russian Olympic Committee.
No. 11 Brady of the United States, who was forced to bow out of her last professional tournament at Roland-Garros due to injury, could not gain an edge against Camila Giorgi of Italy. Brady scored a break in each of the match's two sets, but they were too little, too late. Giorgi prevailed by a 6-3, 6-2 score.
Representing Japan, the second-seeded Shibahara and partner Shuko Aoyama went the distance with Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland in the doubles first round. A 16-point seventh game proved to be the difference in the first set, as Bencic/Golubic earned its second break. Bencic/Golubic took a 4-3 lead in the second-set tiebreaker before Shibahara/Aoyama grabbed four of the last five points to force a first-to-10 third. Bencic/Golubic controlled that for a 6-4, 6-7(5), 1-0(5) decision.
Men's Water Polo
Team USA opened the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with a come-from-behind 15-13 win, defeating host Japan in the opener for both teams.
The Americans trailed by as many as three goals (7-4 at the 3:29 mark of the second quarter). Team USA used a 5-0 scoring run (down 10-8 with 6:32 left in the third and led 13-10 with 5:01 remaining in the game) to take control of the game.
Max Irving was in the starting lineup and scored his first Olympic goal in the fourth quarter (6:28) that put Team USA ahead 12-10. He then had a huge steal with 1:02 to go and the Americans clinging to a 14-13 lead. Reserve goalkeeper Alex Wolf did not play.
Up next for Team USA will be a pool play match with South Africa on Monday, July 26 at 6:00 p.m. PT. The game is slated to be televised on CNBC and streamed on NBCOlympics.com.
Bruin Olympians in the News
Jamaican Gymnast Danusia Francis Makes Olympic Dream Come True – Sports Illustrated (Danusia Francis)
Danusia Francis shakes off years of heartbreak to realise lifelong dream – Jamaica Observer (Danusia Francis)
The perfect Olympic beach volleyball storm of Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil – Volleyball Magazine (Sarah Sponcil)
Mitch Stahl achieves Olympic dream in Tokyo on Team USA Men's Volleyball roster – ABC27 (Mitch Stahl)
Olympic preview: Dozens of current Bruins, alumni represent UCLA in Tokyo – Daily Bruin
Social Media Highlights
4sUp!
Team USA opened the men's volleyball competition with a sweep over France.
Danusia Francis embodies the Olympic spirit.
Jrue Holiday and Zach LaVine made their Olympic debuts with Team USA on Sunday in Tokyo. The U.S. Olympic Team lost to France, 83-76, snapping a streak of 25 consecutive Olympic victories for Team USA. Holiday totaled a team-high 18 points for the U.S. squad, finishing with seven rebounds and four assists. LaVine recorded eight points and three assists in the loss.
Team USA will take on Iran on Wednesday (Tuesday evening, Los Angeles time) and the Czech Republic on Saturday in the final two Group A games. Should the United States win both of those games, the team can advance to the quarterfinal round in the 2020 Olympics. Wednesday's game will
Gymnastics
Jordan Chiles and Team USA qualified for Tuesday's team final with a second-place finish in the preliminary round. The U.S. scored 170.562 to finish behind Russian Olympic Committee, who scored 171.629. Chiles had her team's second-highest scores on vault (14.700 with a 9.3 execution score) and floor exercise (13.566).
Brooklyn Moors posted Canada's highest all-around score with a 53.966 and qualified for Thursday's all-around final with a 22nd-place finish in the preliminaries. Moors scored 13.0 or higher on all four events and had Canada's top marks on uneven bars (13.0) and floor exercise (13.533). Canada recorded a team total of 160.964 and finished two spots shy of the team final in 10th place.
After being diagnosed on Friday with a torn ACL, Jamaica's Danusia Francis was only able to compete in one event, the uneven bars. Performing a few skills on the low bar before hopping off on her good knee, she completed her Olympic journey with a scored routine and the highest execution score of the night on that event – a 9.033.
The team final on Tuesday will begin at 3:45 a.m. PT, while Thursday's all-around final begins at 3:50 a.m. PT. Both will stream live on NBCOlympics.com and on Peacock.
Rowing
Former UCLA standout Marie Jacquet rowed in the repechage of the women's quadruple sculls on Sunday at Sea Forest Waterway. Jacquet, rowing with France, led her crew to a fifth-place finish in the repechage finishing ahead of the United States. France posted a final time of 6:47:41, crossing the finish line behind (in order) Australia, Italy, New Zealand and Great Britain. The top two finishers (Australia, Italy) qualified for the Final A race.
Softball
The United States softball team won in walk-off fashion on Saturday to clinch its spot in the gold-medal game, defeating Australia 2-1 in eight innings. Ally Carda, placed on second base to start the eighth under the international tiebreaker rules, scored the tying run on the two-run, walk-off single. Three of the four Bruins played. Bubba Nickles earned her first Olympic start, batting seventh and starting in right field, and reached in both of her plate appearances on a second-inning, line-drive single to left and a fifth-inning walk. Delaney Spaulding, the starting shortstop, hit sixth and walked in three trips to the plate. Rachel Garcia was not entered into the game.
The U.S. will play Japan on Sunday in a tune-up for Tuesday's gold-medal game, as both teams have already clinched a spot in that contest. Sunday's matchup will begin at 6 p.m. PT and will air on USA Network and NBCOlympics.com.
Tennis
Marcos Giron earned a three-set victory in his first Olympic Games appearance, dispatching of Slovakia's Norbert Gombos for Team USA. Jennifer Brady and Ena Shibahara, meanwhile, suffered losses in their debuts on the women's side.
Giron, whose match went late into the night in the United States, took four of the first five points in an opening-set tiebreaker en route to an early advantage. Gombos countered in the second, thanks to the match's first break of serve at 1-1. The third was all Giron, who won the first four games and never looked back for a 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-2 win. He will next face Kei Nishikori of host Japan, who upset seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev of the Russian Olympic Committee.
No. 11 Brady of the United States, who was forced to bow out of her last professional tournament at Roland-Garros due to injury, could not gain an edge against Camila Giorgi of Italy. Brady scored a break in each of the match's two sets, but they were too little, too late. Giorgi prevailed by a 6-3, 6-2 score.
Representing Japan, the second-seeded Shibahara and partner Shuko Aoyama went the distance with Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland in the doubles first round. A 16-point seventh game proved to be the difference in the first set, as Bencic/Golubic earned its second break. Bencic/Golubic took a 4-3 lead in the second-set tiebreaker before Shibahara/Aoyama grabbed four of the last five points to force a first-to-10 third. Bencic/Golubic controlled that for a 6-4, 6-7(5), 1-0(5) decision.
Men's Water Polo
Team USA opened the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with a come-from-behind 15-13 win, defeating host Japan in the opener for both teams.
The Americans trailed by as many as three goals (7-4 at the 3:29 mark of the second quarter). Team USA used a 5-0 scoring run (down 10-8 with 6:32 left in the third and led 13-10 with 5:01 remaining in the game) to take control of the game.
Max Irving was in the starting lineup and scored his first Olympic goal in the fourth quarter (6:28) that put Team USA ahead 12-10. He then had a huge steal with 1:02 to go and the Americans clinging to a 14-13 lead. Reserve goalkeeper Alex Wolf did not play.
Up next for Team USA will be a pool play match with South Africa on Monday, July 26 at 6:00 p.m. PT. The game is slated to be televised on CNBC and streamed on NBCOlympics.com.
Bruin Olympians in the News
Jamaican Gymnast Danusia Francis Makes Olympic Dream Come True – Sports Illustrated (Danusia Francis)
Danusia Francis shakes off years of heartbreak to realise lifelong dream – Jamaica Observer (Danusia Francis)
The perfect Olympic beach volleyball storm of Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil – Volleyball Magazine (Sarah Sponcil)
Mitch Stahl achieves Olympic dream in Tokyo on Team USA Men's Volleyball roster – ABC27 (Mitch Stahl)
Olympic preview: Dozens of current Bruins, alumni represent UCLA in Tokyo – Daily Bruin
Social Media Highlights
4sUp!
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— UCLA Softball (@UCLASoftball) July 24, 2021
?? @acarda3 #USABruins#OlympiansMadeHere #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/FasXIiN7kg
Team USA opened the men's volleyball competition with a sweep over France.
First match ? First win ? for the U.S. Men at the #TokyoOlympics!
— USA Volleyball (@usavolleyball) July 24, 2021
Head Coach John Speraw and Outside Hitter Taylor Sander talk about the W after the match: https://t.co/RRBxcMz9CY pic.twitter.com/nXAO2SkgIE
Danusia Francis embodies the Olympic spirit.
This is the definition of resilience and grace. You can't control the circumstances, but you CAN control your reaction to them. @danusiafrancis endless positivity is what we should all aspire to show every day! https://t.co/OypgSvAx5R
— Mikaela Gerber (@mikkigerb) July 25, 2021
Monday, June 29
Wednesday, June 24
Wednesday, June 17
Friday, June 12