2024 Paris Olympics – Day 2; Rugby ends, pistol has one more try, and soccer triumphs: Recap of July 27 Games

Soccer success

Team USA rebounded from its opening loss to France with a dominant win against New Zealand 4-1 on Sunday. This is the first time the two men’s soccer teams have faced each other during the Olympics. Team USA will next play Guinea on July 30. 

The staggering four goals set an Olympic record for USA Soccer and is the first Olympic win since 2008 in Beijing. It seems Team USA was primed for redemption after their 3-0 loss to France in the opening men’s soccer game. Taylor Booth, a native of Eden, Utah, subbed in for Team USA at the 69th minute.

Rugby dreams come to an end

Saturday marked the end of the 2024 Olympic journey for Maka Unufe, and the Team USA men’s rugby sevens team, after consecutive losses to Ireland and Argentina. With the losses, the team finished eighth overall. 

In its match against Ireland, Team USA went into the half tied but eventually fell to the Irish 17-14. Following that match, Team USA duked it out with Argentina to fight for 7th place, but was shut out, 19-0, putting it in eighth place.

Unufe, a Provo native, played for four minutes in the match against Ireland, but didn’t play against Argentina.

Ultimately, Team France won the gold medal with Fiji silver (Team USA’s first loss) and South Africa bronze. 

Air pistol shot out

Alexis Lagan, a Nevada native and University of Utah graduate, did not proceed to the next round after placing 25th on Saturday in the qualifying rounds. Only the top eight in the event advance.

All is not lost as Lagan has one more event on Friday for the 25m Pistol event. Lagan is most skilled at this event so she may still win a medal. 

Lagan’s final scores were 95, 96, 93, 93, 96, and 97.