OLYMPICS: Wilson leads US women past Japan

PARIS — A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Brittney Griner dominated the paint and helped the U.S. win its Olympic opener as the Americans chase an unprecedented eighth straight gold medal. Wilson had 24 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocked shots to help the U.S. beat Japan 102-76 on Monday night."Points in the paint and controlling the boards are going to be huge for us moving forward," Wilson said. "So if we can continue that, I feel like we're in good shape."Stewart scored 22 points and the Americans now have a 56-game Olympic winning streak that dates to the 1992 Barcelona Games.The U.S. also beat Japan in the final at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago for its seventh straight gold medal.Now Monday's victory tipped off the run to keep that streak going.Stewart, who is playing in her third Olympics, said there were some nerves before the game."It was great to get this first win under our belt. A team like Japan is a dangerous team if you really let them get going and us to just kind of build that trust on the fly I think is really important," Stewart said. "And now we kind of know the tone and the standard of, you know, what we're going to do game in and game out."The Americans, who next play on Thursday against Belgium, put the game away in the third quarter. The U.S. made only four of its 20 3-point attempts.Nadal falls in singles On the clay court where he won 14 French Open titles, Rafael Nadal likely bid adieu to Roland Garros on Day 3 of the Paris Olympics.Nadal was feted Monday by a rowdy crowd as he met Novak Djokovic in the second round of the men's tennis tournament for a record 60th — and probably final — time.The Spaniard wouldn't say if he plans to retire after the Olympics, but his 6-1, 6-4 loss to Djokovic showed just how diminished his game has become at age 38. The chants of "Ra-fa! Ra-fa!" began as soon as Nadal walked on the court and even helped him win four consecutive games in the second set, including a forehand winner to break to make it 4-all.After the defeat, the two-time Olympic champion was weary of being asked about his future. He's still playing at the Olympics, pairing with Carlos Alcaraz in doubles for Spain, and what comes next he does not know.Super swimCanadian phenom Summer McIntosh claimed her first gold medal with a dominating victory in the 400-meter individual medley. The 17-year-old McIntosh collected her first medal of any color on the opening night of swimming, taking a silver in the 400 freestyle behind Ariarne Titmus — and ahead of Katie Ledecky.She pushed the pace hard through the first half of the grueling race — the butterfly and backstroke legs — to leave everyone in her wake except American Katie Grimes.Grimes, who is also swimming the open water event in Paris, held on to claim the silver and the Americans also grabbed the bronze when Emma Weyant touched third.Japan wins team gold The Japanese men's gymnastics team claimed Olympic gold with an epic comeback over its top rival.With China looking poised to claim its first Olympic title in 12 years with one rotation to go, Japan surged ahead to win the men's team competition after an intense and nail-biting duel.The Japanese overtook their rivals on the final rotation, after China's Su Weide fell twice off the horizontal bar. Japan won with a small margin of 0.532 points.The Americans, meanwhile, earned bronze for their first medal since 2008.Water polo losesThe U.S. women's water polo team was handed a rare loss at the Olympics, falling 13-11 to Bea Ortiz and Spain in a rematch of the final at the Tokyo Games.The U.S. is going for its fourth consecutive gold medal. No team — men or women — has won four straight water polo titles at the Olympics. It was the program's second loss at the Olympics since it dropped the 2008 final. It went 5-0-1 in London, 6-0 in Rio de Janeiro and 6-1 in Tokyo.Triathlon swim canceled Concerns about the water quality in the Seine River led officials to call off the swimming portion of an Olympic triathlon training session for a second straight day.Organizers overseeing the event at the Paris Games are optimistic that triathletes will be able to swim in the city's famed waterway when the competition starts Tuesday.The sport's governing body, World Triathlon, its medical team and city officials are banking on sunny weather and higher temperatures to bring levels of E. coli and other bacteria below the necessary limits to stage the swim portion of the race, which also includes biking and running.Tuesday's highlights Simone Biles leads the U.S. women into the gymnastics team final (12:15 p.m. EST) as part of an action-packed slate Tuesday at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The 27-year-old Biles is in the lineup to compete in all four events of the team final despite a calf injury. Biles tweaked her left calf while warming up for floor exercise during qualifying on Sunday. She still topped the all-around with the highest scores on floor and vault. Also, the U.S. women begin defense of their 2021 Olympic title in 3x3 basketball. Dearica Hamby and Rhyne Howard of the WNBA join Hailey Van Lith and former WNBA player Cierra Burdick on the team. They will face Germany at 11 a.m. at La Concorde. Later, the U.S. 3x3 men's team will take on Serbia. The U.S. men did not qualify for the Olympics in 2021.Katie Ledecky is back in the pool to compete in the women's 1,500-meter freestyle, one of her signature events. The qualifying heats start at 11:44 a.m. Ledecky is the world and Olympic record holder in the event and is a favorite to defend her 2021 title. The gold and bronze medal matches for women's rugby sevens at Stade de France will start at 1 p.m., followed by the gold medal match at 7:45.