Team USA Ends Day One With No Medals For First Time in Summer Olympics Since 1972

Team USA failed to medal day one of the 2018 Winter Games, but it has not happened during the Summer Games since 1972.

Day one of the Tokyo Olympics is coming to a close and despite multiple near-misses, Team USA failed to medal  for the first time in the Summer Games since 1972. 

China's Yang Qian was the first athlete to take home gold at 2020 Tokyo, snagging first place in the women's 10m air rifle final. USA's Mary Tucker was the favorite for the event, but the 20-year-old finished sixth. 

Weightlifter Jourdan Delacruz could not convert her three attempts at 108kg in the clean and jerk, ending her day at seventh in the women's 49kg division. 

Team USA's fencers did not make it past the table of 16, and archers Mackenzie Brown and world No. 1 Brady Ellison were upset in the first round in the mixed team. 

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Cyclist Brandon McNulty looked like he was going to be the first from the U.S. to snag the coveted gold as he pulled away from the pack in the men's road race with 24 kilometers to go. However, he finished sixth as Ecuador's Richard Carapaz brought home his country's second-ever gold medal. 

There was a stretch from the 1960, '64, '68 and '72 Summer Games when the U.S. did not medal on the first day, but had brought home at least one medal on the first day dating back to 1932. However, in the Winter Games, Team USA failed to medal day one of the 2018 Games. 

You can really only count starting in 1932 as there were no "first days" in earlier years, for various reasons. @TeamUSA has also failed to medal on day 1 at Winter Olympics recently in 2018 and 1998 and consecutively from 1980-1992. 2/end

— Bill Mallon (@bambam1729) July 24, 2021

Even though Team USA has not reached the podium yet, the group is not winless. The United States 3x3 basketball team beat France 17–10 while softball completed yet another sweep to improve to 3–0 after topping Mexico, 2–0. Women's Water Polo dominated Japan, walking away with a commanding 25-4 victory. 

According to USA Water Polo’s Twitter account, the team set Olympic records for goals in a game (25), margin of victory (21) and halftime score (14).