TOKYO — Caeleb Dressel is pretty much invincible when he has a lane to himself.
But give him a deficit of more than 8 seconds?
Well, that’s too much for even the world’s greatest swimmer to overcome with two laps of the pool.
On a morning of mixed emotions and chaotic racing at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, Dressel set a world record in the 100-meter butterfly, but was basically doomed before he even dove into the pool on the new mixed relay Saturday.
So went his chances of joining a very exclusive club. His bid to win six gold medals fell apart with another U.S. relay debacle. The Americans were too far behind in the 4×100-meter mixed medley when their top swimmer took over, so the best Dressel could do was rally the U.S. to a fifth-place finish in an event that features two men and two women on each team. Britain set a world record to win the gold.
“Fifth place is unacceptable for USA Swimming,” Dressel said. “It stings.”
It was a disappointing capper to a golden morning for the Americans, whose biggest swimming stars both ascended to the top of the medal podium.
After Dressel won his third gold of the games, Katie Ledecky closed out her grueling Olympic program with a third straight victory in the 800 freestyle.
Ledecky was pushed hard by Australian rival Ariarne Titmus, but the American held on in a race she hasn’t lost since 2010.
Ledecky finished up with two golds, two silver and a fifth-place finish at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre — not as successful as she was five years ago in Rio de Janeiro, but not bad at all.
Ledecky became the first female swimmer to capture six individual gold medals in her career with another Olympic title in the 800 free, winning with a time of 8 minutes, 12.57 seconds .
Titmus closed strong to claim the silver in 8:13.83, while the bronze went to Italy’s Simona Quadarella in 8:18.35.
“I could see her the whole way,” Ledecky said of Titmus. “I was trying to keep tabs on her and trying to inch my way out a little bit each 50. I knew she was just going to be lurking there the whole time.
Ledecky lost her first two individual matchups with Titmus, but finally beat the Terminator in their final showdown.
“I knew I had to have a little gap,” Ledecky said, “because if we were neck and neck on the last 100, I know she has that finish.”
Dressel led right from the start in the fly and held off Hungary’s Kristof Milak to touch in 49.45 seconds, breaking the mark of 49.50 that the American set at the 2019 world championships.
Milak, winner of the 200 fly, earned the silver with a blistering 49.68. The bronze went to Switzerland’s Noe Ponti.
When he saw the “WR” beside his name, Dressel smiled and joined hands with Milak in the lane next to him. They raised their arms together before Dressel flexed his left arm and pumped it in the air.
“He’s going to put me out of a job one day, so I’m just trying to hang on as long as I can,” Dressel said. “Kristof executed perfectly. We both swam exactly the race we needed to.”
The Australian women added another gold.
Kaylee McKeown completed a sweep of the backstroke events with a victory in the 200 butterfly. Her winning time was 2:04.68.
The silver went to Canada’s Kylie Masse in 2:05.42, with another Australian, Emily Seebohm, claiming the bronze in 2:06.17.
Americans Rhyan White and Phoebe Bacon finished fourth and fifth.
It’s been a huge Olympics for the Aussie women. They have won six of their team’s seven gold medals at the pool.
In another bummer for the Americans, Simone Manuel failed to advance to the final of the 500 free, her only individual event in these games.
The first Black American woman to win an individual swimming gold posted the 11th-best time in the semifinals and was eliminated, capping a trying year in which she was diagnosed with overtraining syndrome.
Dressel advanced easily in the men’s freestyle semifinals with the top final time (21.42).
The mixed medley was another story.
For the second time at these Olympics, the U.S. failed to win a relay medal, joining a fourth-place finish in the men’s 4×200 freestyle. Before Tokyo, the Americans had never failed to finish in top three of an Olympic relay they entered.
The Americans tried a different strategy than everyone else, going with Dressel on the freestyle while the other seven teams all closed with a woman.
The Americans faltered when 17-year-old Lydia Jacoby — already the only woman swimming the breaststroke leg —had her goggles knocked off on her dive into the water.
The 17-year-old struggled to finish in 1:05.09, her goggles dangling from her mouth as the rest of the field pulled away.
“I’ve never really had that happen before,” said Jacoby, who one wears a single cap while most swimmers wear two largely to prevent such a problem. “I was definitely panicking a little. My turn was where it was most rough because I couldn’t see the wall.”
Her teammates praised her effort.
“Anyone that swam with their goggles in their mouth like she did (knows) she did fantastic,” said Ryan Murphy, who took the opening backstroke leg.
When 18-year-old Torri Huske passed off to Dressel after the butterfly leg, the Americans were 8.01 seconds behind the leaders in last place.
Dressel furiously tried to cut into the huge gap. His 46.99 leg was better than his winning time in the 100 free individual event, but it wasn’t nearly enough to chase down all the teams ahead of him.
“Everyone swam as well as they could in the moment,” Dressel said. “We got beat by a better team.”
Britain’s team of Kathleen Dawson, Adam Peaty, James Guy and Anna Hopkin claimed the gold with a world record of 3:37.58. The silver went to China in 3:38.86, while Australia took the bronze in 3:38.95.
Dressel touched in 3:40.58, also finishing behind Italy.
He was hoping to sweep his six events, which would have made him only the fourth swimmer and fifth athlete overall to win six gold medals at a single Olympics.
Swimming icon Michael Phelps did it twice, capturing six golds at the 2004 Athens Games before setting the record with eight golds in Beijing four years later.
For Dressel, who has two more races on the final day of swimming, five golds is now the best he can do.
Matsuyama in final group at halfway point of Olympic golf
KAWAGOE, Japan — Coping with high expectations at home and low energy from his COVID-19 recovery, Hideki Matsuyama stayed on pace in his bid to add a gold medal in golf to his Masters green jacket.
Matsuyama holed a 5-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole Saturday morning and saved par from just off the 18th green to complete a 7-under 64 in the rain-delayed second round of the men’s golf competition.
That left him two shots behind Xander Schauffele, the 27-year-old American whose grandparents still live in Japan. Between them is Carlos Ortiz of Mexico.
They are in the final group for the third round of Kasumigaseki Country Club, with the Japanese star at the center of attention.
“My feeling is not that great, but I am coming into the weekend with a good condition,” Matsuyama said. “So I would like to do my best.”
These could have been the best of times in so many ways. Matsuyama’s victory at Augusta National in April took interest in golf to another level in a country that already had a big passion for the sport. But there are no spectators allowed for these pandemic-delayed Olympics, and Kasumigaseki is largely empty.
Matsuyama did not come into this event in the best form. Along with pedestrian results since he won the Masters, he had a positive COVID-19 test a month ago, didn’t practice for some 10 days and this is first time playing he weekend since the U.S. Open.
He worried as much about his stamina of walking 72 holes on a rain-soaked course. Thunderstorms have suspended play each of the last two days, and the second round could not be completed until Saturday morning.
British, American rowing boats flop
TOKYO — Rowing at the Tokyo Olympic Games may be remembered more for the British and American dynasties that sunk rather than the boats that won.
After so much success in London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Britain leaves Tokyo with just two medals, and its famed men’s four nearly caused an embarrassing crash in a stunning loss.
The Americans didn’t win anything at all for the first time in since 1908, excluding the boycotted Games of 1980. The once-dominant U.S. women’s eight that had won three consecutive Olympic titles, finished fourth.
The British and U.S. programs have work to do for Paris 2024, and leaders of both programs say changes will be made.
“Change is clearly necessary,” U.S. Rowing Chief Executive Officer Amanda Kraus, who took over the program in late 2020, wrote in an open letter on the program’s website. “We cannot maintain the same systems, culture, and structure and expect better results. The athletes who dedicate their lives to achieve success in our sport deserve the very best we can possibly provide.”
U.S. Rowing went to the Games while still waiting for the results of a months-long assessment commissioned by the U.S. Olympic &Paralympic Committee of the rowing programs, including longtime men’s coach Mike Teti, who has been criticized by some rowers for what they call his intense and intimidating style. Some have accused him of making physical threats and verbal attacks.
Teti has previously said he believes he has coached “fairly, with the athletes’ well-being in mind.”
New Zealand and the Netherlands led the Tokyo medals with five each. Seventeen countries medaled overall, and China looks like a country on the rise after three, including a bronze in the women’s eight that shut out the U.S. in its best event.
Rapinoe converts and U.S. gets past Netherlands on penalties
YOKOHAMA, Japan — When Megan Rapinoe stepped up to take her penalty, she was just trying to stay as calm as possible in the moment.
“You can either take one and lose it, or take one and win it,” she said. “It’s going to go one of two ways.”
This one was a winner.
Rapinoe converted the deciding penalty in a shootout and the United States advanced to the semifinals of the women’s Olympic soccer tournament 4-2 following a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands on Friday.
U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher stopped Vivianne Miedema’s opening attempt in the shootout and then saved a shot from Aniek Nouwen before Rapinoe put her penalty away.
After Rapinoe converted, she turned to her teammates, folded her arms and grinned in triumph.
Afterward, she joked about the pressure.
“I just try to stay calm. I always say to myself, `The worst that’s going to happen is you’re going to lose the whole thing,’” she smiled.
Miedema scored a pair of goals in regulation time for the Netherlands, giving her 10 goals for the tournament — an Olympic record. But the Dutch are headed home.
Miedema put the Netherlands ahead in the 18th minute but the Americans equalized when Sam Mewis headed in a goal off a feed from Lynn Williams in the 28th. Williams then gave the Americans the lead in the 31st.
Miedema, who was playing in her 100th game for the Netherlands, made it 2-2 in the 54th. Naeher stopped Lieke Martens’ penalty in the 81st minute and the game went to overtime.
“I felt amazing. I should have taken the penalty in the game,” Miedema said. “I should have just stuck with my plan and go from there. But it’s life. It’s football and I just need to move on.”
The Associated Press’ Doug Ferguson, Jim Vertuno and Anne M. Peterson contributed to this report.