1 Team USA Leads In Gold Haul; Allyson Felix Makes History
The Olympics are officially over and the United States walked away at the top of the medal count – winning a total of 113 medals. China placed second after winning 88 medals followed by Russia in third place with 71 total medals. The U.S. also finished the Summer Games with the most gold medals with 39. China was a close second place with 38 gold while the host country of Japan finished in third place with 27 gold medals. As part of that, here are some of the big headlines from the weekend: Allyson Felix has moved past Carl Lewis to become the most decorated U.S. track and field athlete in Olympic history. She ran the second leg of the United States' gold-winning 4-by-400 meter relay team, giving her an 11th Olympic medal. This comes after she took the record for most medals by a female track and field athlete with a bronze finish in the 400-meter race. Felix closes her Olympic career with seven golds, three silvers and one bronze. While Jessica Springsteen may have the name recognition, it’s Laura Kraut who has proved that age was only number at the Olympic Games. At 55-years-old, Kraut has become the oldest American woman since 1904 to win a medal. Kraut and the U.S. took the silver in a dramatic jump off with Sweden in the team jumping finals. It's her second Olympic medal, after winning gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Kraut competed with Springsteen, the daughter of Bruce Springsteen, who won silver at what was her first Olympics. Team USA women's basketball defeated host Japan, 90-75, to capture its seventh straight Olympic gold medal. The U.S. men's basketball team is also bringing home its fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal. The United States has completed a sweep of the 4-by-400-meter relay. The men followed the women's victory, with a gold medal winning race at two minutes 55-point-seven-zero seconds. The team of Michael Cherry, Michael Norman, Bryce Deadmon and Rai Benjamin cruised to the finish line, well ahead of the field. U.S. has now won gold in the men's 4-by-4 in eight of the past 10 Eddy Alvarez is etching his name into the U.S. Olympic history books. The Miami native became the third American ever to win medals at both the Winter and Summer Alvarez accomplished the feat as he and the United States' baseball team won silver, falling to Japan in the final. Alvarez also took home a silver medal at the 2014 Sochi Games, as a speed skater on the U.S. four-man short track team. The last American to pull off the winter-summer medal double was Lauryn Williams, who did it at the 2012 and 2014 Games.
2 Dixie Fire Continues To Grow, Now Second Largest CA Fire
The Dixie Fire in northern California is now the second-largest wildfire the state has ever seen. It's currently over 463-thousand acres and is only 21% contained. CalFire officials say the only fire that's larger was the August Complex fire which burned more than a million acres in 2020. That was multiple fires that merged together. The Dixie Fire is the largest single fire in state history. So far, more than 400 structures have been destroyed and over 13-thousand have been threatened since the Dixie Fire first sparked last month. Officials believe it won't be fully contained until later this month. To compare and contrast, according to CalFire, the Dixie Fire has surpassed 2018's Mendocino Complex fire in total acreage burned (459,123 acres) and last year's SCU Lightning Complex fire (396,624 acres).
3 Top Cuomo Aide Resigns, As “Executive Assistant #1” Files Charges
The aide who has accused New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of fondling her breast is speaking publicly for the first time. In an interview with "CBS Sunday Morning", Brittany Commisso – who was previously known as ‘Executive Assistant Number One’ in court document, says she was glad to file a criminal complaint. Commisso says it was "the right thing to do," and that Cuomo "needs to be held accountable." She added, "what he did to me was a crime, he broke the law." Commisso was one of eleven women whose allegations of harassment were detailed in last week's bombshell report by New York's Attorney General. Meanwhile, a top Cuomo aide is resigning. This, after she was mentioned in a report that details the sexual harassment complaints against him. The “New York Times” reports Melissa DeRosa stepped down last night. In the report issued by the state's Attorney General's office, DeRosa led the efforts to retaliate against one of the women who spoke out against the Governor. Cuomo has denied all wrong-doing.