Poland on Friday took home the gold in the first-ever Olympic track & field mixed 4x400-meter relay.
Driving the news: The team, comprised of Karol Zalewski, Natalia Kaczmarek, Justyna Swiety-Ersetic and Kajetan Duszynski, finished with a 3:09.87 time, a new Olympic record.
The Dominican Republic won the silver, while the U.S. took the bronze.
TOKYO — After 125 years of having no openly transgender competitors at the Olympics, there are several transgender and nonbinary athletes at this year's Games.
Between the lines: While still small in number, the presence of trans athletes has been a major point of controversy at these Games, coming up repeatedly at IOC press conferences and in newspaper headlines around the world.
TOKYO — The presence of multiple trans and nonbinary competitors at this year's Olympics represents a hard-fought milestone that can inspire future generations to compete in sports as their authentic selves, several prominent trans athletes told Axios this week.
Why it matters: The participation of at least four openly trans and nonbinary athletes in this year's Olympics represents a historic first and an important counterbalance to a flurry of state-level laws in the United States aimed at excluding trans youth from participating in sports, those athletes said.
When sprinter Allyson Felix steps on the track at the Tokyo Olympic Games, she'll be thinking of her proudest accomplishment and what motivates her most: her two-year-old daughter Camryn.
The big picture: The 35-year-old enters her fifth, and likely last, Olympic Games in Tokyo with nine medals already under her belt. If Felix wins just one more medal, she will become the most decorated Olympian female track athlete from any country.
American swimming star Caeleb Dressel has already won three gold medals in Tokyo. On the last full day of indoor swimming at this year's Olympic Games, he will get a shot at one more.
The big picture: Dressel broke the world record in the men's 100-meter butterfly in Tokyo on Saturday. He won the men's 100m butterfly and 4x100m freestyle relay earlier in the week.
Great Britainclaimed the gold in the mixed 4x100-meter medley relay's Olympic debut on Saturday in Tokyo.
Driving the news: The team, comprised of Kathleen Dawson, Adam Peaty, James Guy and Anna Hopkin, finished with a 3:37.58 time, a new world record. China won the silver, while Australia took the bronze.
Swimming star Katie Ledecky concluded her Tokyo Olympic journey with four medals, including gold in the women's 800m freestyle and in the first-ever women's 1500m freestyle race.
The big picture: The 24-year-old has been dominating women’s swimming since winning her first gold at the 2012 London Games when she was just 15 years old. Since then, she's broken 14 world records and earned the title of "greatest female swimmer of our time" by Michael Phelps.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Manuel is one of the fastest swimmers in the world, but her journey to Tokyo was not easy.
The big picture: The pandemic forced Manuel to temporarily relocate training to a backyard pool. In late March, she was diagnosed with overtraining syndrome, severely limiting her time in the water before the Olympic trials. There, she failed to qualify for 100m freestyle, crushing her chance at defending her Olympic title.
Simone Biles will not compete in the individual vault or uneven bars finals at the Tokyo Olympics, USA Gymnastics announced Friday.
Why it matters: USA Gymnastics said Biles, who previously withdrew from the individual all-around and team finals to prioritize her mental health, will continue to be evaluated to determine if she'll compete in the balance beam or floor exercise events.
American superstar swimmer Katie Ledecky grabbed her second gold medal of this year's Olympic Games, winning the women's 800-meter freestyle race Saturday in Tokyo.
Driving the news: Ledecky, who holds the world record in the 800m freestyle, is considered one of the best women swimmers of all time. Saturday's final marks her third straight Olympic gold in the event.
American swimmer Caeleb Dressel broke the world record in the men's 100-meter butterfly final in Tokyo on Saturday, picking up his third gold medal of this year's Games.
The big picture: Dressel finished with a time of 49.45 seconds. Hungary's Kristóf Milák won the silver, and Switzerland's Noe Ponti took the bronze.
