» FULL LIST OF PAC-12 TOKYO OLYMPIANS & MEDAL COUNT (SORTABLE)
» FOLLOW THE PAC-12 TO TOKYO
» JULY 25 OLYMPIC RESULTS

The long-awaited return to the Olympic stage for Katie Ledecky (STANFORD) ended like many expected it would on Day 2, with the U.S. swimmer cruising ahead to comfortably win her heat in the women’s 400-meter freestyle. 

"It is always good to get the first one under the belt,” Ledecky said. “I felt really confident and relaxed coming into it. I'm definitely feeling the energy from our team. We (Team USA) had a really great session this morning, so I'm trying to feed off of that and get my meet rolling."

Ledecky has won five gold medals during her storied Olympic career entering Tokyo. She has the chance to become the all-time leader in women’s swimming gold if she can win four at these Games, passing Jenny Thompson of the U.S. who holds eight. 

Ledecky is entered in four events - 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle, 800 freestyle and the new 1,500 freestyle - and is the favorite to win gold in all four. 

» After a dominant run to the finals, the U.S. softball team is on the brink of its first gold medal since 2004 after a thrilling victory 2-1 over Australia on Sunday. 

Team USA features eight Pac-12 athletes: Ali Aguilar (WASHINGTON), Valerie Arioto (CALIFORNIA), Ally Carda (UCLA), Rachel Garcia (UCLA), Dejah Mulipola (ARIZONA), Bubba Nickles (UCLA), Janie Reed (OREGON) and Delaney Spaulding (UCLA).

Both Nickles and Reed got on base with hits against Australian pitcher Tarni Stepto (OREGON STATE), who surrendered five hits and struck out three before the United States pushed the two winning runs across in the eighth inning. 

» Competition in 3x3 basketball continued in its Olympic debut as well, as Kelsey Plum (WASHINGTON) led Team USA to a 20-16 victory over the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). Plum was 1 of 7 on two-pointers, but still added five points to push Team USA to four straight victories. 

» Jrue Holiday (UCLA), Zach LaVine (UCLA) and Team USA suffered a loss to France, 83-76. It was the first U.S. men’s basketball loss at the Games since 2004. Holiday led the team with 18 points and played the most minutes despite arriving overnight after his NBA Finals victory with the Milwaukee Bucks. 

» Team USA men’s beach volleyball put on a gritty performance in a 2-0 victory over Italy. Just before the Games, regular Jake Gibb (UTAH) lost his partner Taylor Crabb to a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. In stepped Tri Bourne (USC), who helped Gibb top the Italian team on short notice. 

Tokyo Talk: Morgan Pearson (COLORADO) will compete in the men’s triathlon final at 2:30 p.m. PT. Pearson is competing in his first Olympics final just four months after his brother Andrew passed away in March. 

After qualifying for the Games in Yokohama, Pearson said, "He gave me the boost I needed today, and I was just thinking about him. Hopefully when I’m at the Olympics, he’ll be there with me.”

Looking Ahead: The women’s 400-meter freestyle finals is scheduled for 7:20 p.m. ET. The race will be Ledecky’s first attempt at gold in these Games. 

Quote of the Day: “It felt great to step on the sand and just play. I thought I was gonna have to take a month off or more and have to watch these guys compete, but you know, I had the opportunity to step in for Taylor (Crabb). And that's a huge honor, because I have so much respect for him and his game and everything about the guy. So, I'm honored to step on.” - Tri Bourne (USC), on replacing Taylor Crabb

Jack Johnson is a journalism student at Arizona State University. This story is part of a collaboration between the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee and ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

WHAT'S NEXT

A schedule of NBC’s Olympic coverage can be found on NBCOlympics.com/full-schedule.

Sunday, July 25

Triathlon: Men's Individual - 2:30 p.m. PT (**Medal Opportunity**)

• USA: Morgan Pearson (COLO)

Women's Beach Volleyball: United States vs. Latvia - 5 p.m. PT

• USA: Kelly Claes (USC), Sarah Sponcil (UCLA)
• Latvia: Tina Graudina (USC)

Fencing: Men's Foil Individual Table of 64 - 5:25 p.m. PT

• USA: Alex Massialas (STAN)
  • Medal rounds begin at 4:15 a.m. PT on Monday, July 26

Rugby: South Korea vs. New Zealand - 6 p.m. PT

• South Korea: 

  Andre Jin Coquillard (CAL)

Women's Basketball: Spain vs. South Korea - 6 p.m. PT

• Spain: Maite Cazorla (ORE)

Softball: United States vs. Japan - 6 p.m. PT

• USA: Ali Aguilar (WASH), Valerie Arioto (CAL), Ally Carda, (UCLA), Rachel Garcia (UCLA), Dejah Mulipola (ARIZ), Bubba Nickles (UCLA), Janie Reed (OREGON), Delaney Spaulding (UCLA)

Swimming: Women's 100 Fly Final - 6:30 p.m. PT (**Medal Opportunity**)

• USA: Torri Huske (STAN)

Men's Volleyball: USA vs. ROC - 7:05 p.m. PT

• USA: Micah Christenson (USC), Garrett Muagututia (UCLA), Kawika Shoji (STAN), Erik Shoji (STAN), Mitch Stahl (UCLA)

Swimming: Women's 400 Free Final - 7:20 p.m. PT (**Medal Opportunity**)

• USA: Katie Ledecky (STAN)

Rugby: United States vs. Kenya - 7:30 p.m. PT

• USA: Danny Barrett (CAL), Brett Thompson (ARIZ)

Swimming: Men's 100 Back Semifinals - 7:31 p.m. PT

• Romania: Robert Glinta (USC)
• Spain: Hugo Gonzalez (CAL)
• USA: Ryan Murphy (CAL)

Swimming: Women's 100 Back Semifinals - 7:53 p.m. PT

• Canada: Taylor Ruck (STAN)
• USA: Regan Smith (STAN)

Swimming: Men's 4x100 Free Relay Final - 8:05 p.m. PT (**Medal Opportunity**)

Women's Water Polo: United States vs. China - 10 p.m. PT

• USA: Rachel Fattal (UCLA), Makenzie Fischer (STAN), Aria Fischer (STAN), Kaleigh Gilchrist (USC), Stephania Haralabidis (USC), Paige Hauschild (USC), Amanda Longan (USC), Maddie Musselman (UCLA), Jamie Neushul (STAN), Melissa Seidemann (STAN), Maggie Steffens (STAN), Alys Williams (UCLA)

Softball: Canada vs. Italy - 10:30 p.m. PT

• Canada: Victoria Hayward (WASH), Danielle Lawrie (WASH), Jenn Salling (WASH)
• Italy: Giulia Koutsoyanopulos (ARIZ)

Women's Water Polo: Hungary vs. ROC - 11:30 p.m. PT

• Hungary: Anna Illes (CAL)

Monday, July 26

Women's Basketball: Canada vs. Serbia - 1:20 a.m. PT

• Canada: Nirra Fields (UCLA), Kim Gaucher (UTAH), Shaina Pellington (ARIZ)
• Serbia: Angela Dugalic (UCLA)

3x3 Basketball: United States vs. Italy - 1:55 a.m. PT

• USA: Kelsey Plum (WASH)

Rugby: South Korea vs. Australia - 2 a.m. PT

• South Korea: 

  Andre Jin Coquillard (CAL)

Women's Water Polo: Australia vs. Netherlands - 2:20 a.m. PT

• Australia: Hannah Buckling (USC), Bronte Halligan (UCLA), Tilly Kearns (USC), Lena Mihailovic (ASU), Rowie Webster (ASU)
• Netherlands: Kitty Lynn Joustra (CAL), Maud Megens (USC)

Rugby: United States vs. Ireland - 2:30 a.m. PT

• USA: Danny Barrett (CAL), Brett Thompson (ARIZ)

Men's Gymnastics: Team Final - 3 a.m. PT (**Medal Opportunity**)

• USA: Brody Malone (STAN)

Swimming: Women's 200 Free Heats - 3:02 a.m. PT

• Israel: Andi Murez (STAN)
• USA: Katie Ledecky (STAN), Allison Schmitt (ASU)

Swimming: Men's 200 Fly Heats - 3:16 a.m. PT

• France: Leon Marchand (ASU)
• Singapore: Zheng Wen Quah (CAL)

Swimming: Women's 200 IM Heats - 3:34 a.m. PT

• Hungary: Katina Hosszu (USC)
• Great Britain: Alicia Wilson (CAL)

Swimming: Women's 1,500 Free heats - 3:49 a.m. PT

• Austria: Marlene Kahler (USC)
• USA: Katie Ledecky (STAN)

Women's Water Polo: Canada vs. Spain - 3:50 a.m. PT

• Canada: Kelly McKee (CAL), Hayley McKelvey (USC), Kindred Paul (CAL), Gurpreet Sohi (STAN), Emma Wright (CAL)
• Spain: Anni Espar (USC), Roser Tarrago (CAL)

Softball: Mexico vs. Australia - 4 a.m. PT

• Mexico: Dallas Escobedo (ASU), Chelsea Gonzales (ASU), Taylor McQuillin (ARIZ), Danielle O'Toole (ARIZ), Sashel Palacios (ASU), Anissa Urtez (UTAH)
• Australia: Gabbie Plain (WASH), Tarni Stepto (OSU)

3x3 Basketball: United States vs. China - 5 a.m. PT

• USA: Kelsey Plum (WASH)