PARIS, France — The Paris Olympics was one for the books! Many athletes broke records and even won their first Olympic medal.
The Games started strong with swimming events and ended with track and field and wrestling. While Team USA secured the most medals, we want to highlight the athletes who brought home the gold, silver and bronze.
Erika Connolly 🥈
Erika Connolly and Team USA secured silver in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay.
According to Tennessee Athletics, she is the first Lady Vol swimmer ever to win three Olympic medals. Connolly joined Melvin Stewart as the only swimmer in Tennessee history to achieve the feat.
Gretchen Walsh 🥇🥇🥈🥈
Nashville native Gretchen Walsh brought home four Olympic medals: Two silver and two gold.
She won the first two silver medals in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay and 100m butterfly.
In the last weekend of swimming, Walsh finished the Olympics by securing gold in the mixed 4x100m medley relay and women's 4x100m medley relay.
Team USA broke a world record in the mixed 4x100m medley relay with a time of 3:47.43.
Brody Malone 🥉
Brody Malone and Team USA won bronze in the men's gymnastics team final. This was Team USA's first team medal since 2008.
Mona McSharry 🥉
Mona McSharry won bronze in the women's 100m breaststroke.
According to Tennessee Athletics, she is the second Irish swimmer ever to win an Olympic medal. Her performance marked the first-ever medal in a breaststroke event for Ireland. She joins Michelle Smith as the only Irish swimmers ever to win a medal.
Cierra Burdick 🥉
Cierra Burdick and Team USA won an Olympic medal after defeating Canada in the Bronze Medal Final event in women's 3x3 basketball.
It was a decade in the making, but Burdick secured her first Olympic medal. According to Tennessee Athletics, she is the 15th Lady Vol basketball player to earn an opportunity to compete in the Olympic Games.
Olivia Reeves 🥇
Olivia Reeves secured gold in the women's 71kg event. The 21-year-old lifted 117 kilograms in the snatch, taking the record. She then lifted 145 in the clean and jerk, adding up to a total of 262 kilograms.
Reeves won the U.S.' first Olympic title in the event since Sydney in 2000, according to NBC Olympics.
Uroš Plavšić 🥉
Former University of Tennessee men's basketball standout Uroš Plavšić secured his first Olympic medal in men's basketball on Saturday.
Serbia and Germany went head to head in the Bronze Medal Final, with Serbia coming out on top, 93-83.
Plavšić is the third Tennessee men's basketball player to win an Olympic medal. Before, it was Ernie Grunfeld (United States, gold in 1976) and Allan Houston (United States, gold in 2000), according to Tennessee Athletics.
Christopher Bailey 🥇
Christopher Bailey is coming home as an Olympic medalist. The University of Tennessee runner secured gold in the men's 4x400m finals on Saturday. This is his first Olympic medal.
Team USA included Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Rai Benjamin.
The former Vol helped Team USA set an Olympic record of 2:54.43.
