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Epic Soccer Showdown, Thrilling Track and Field and More Tokyo Day 7 Must-Sees

From the Tokyo debut of track and field to the U.S. women's soccer team and the last rowing finals, there was plenty to see

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There was no shortage of must-see action on Day 7 of the Tokyo Olympics. A thrilling track and field slate finally got underway Thursday with heats in six events and the first medals coming early Friday.

The women of USWNT survived a scare against the Netherlands to advance to the semis in soccer, while the Tokyo rowing competition wrapped up finals in the men's and women's eight, where both U.S. teams came up just short.

And while Team USA didn't quite dominate once again in the pool, it still walked away with three more medals, including two in one race.

Without further ado, here are our 4 to Watch on Day 7:

DON'T MISS THE ACTION: For a complete rundown of all the day's events in Tokyo, visit the streaming schedule page for NBCOlympics.com. Watch every event live there, on the NBC Sports App and connected set-top boxes and catch the highlights in primetime on NBC.

1. US Women's Soccer Survives Scare vs. Netherlands to Reach Semis

Former President Donald Trump says the U.S. women's national soccer team's opening match loss at the Tokyo Olympics was a good example of "wokeism" causing people to lose.

The U.S. Women's National Team would not allow history to repeat itself.

Not after the team waited five years to avenge a quarterfinal loss on penalty kicks in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Not when they found themselves in that very position once again on Friday in Tokyo. Not in what could be the final Olympic run for a group of veteran players who are looking to restore pride and the team's long-established gold standard.

Their run continues after the U.S. defeated Netherlands in penalty kicks during their quarterfinal knockout matchup of the Tokyo Olympics. Megan Rapinoe scored the winning PK to the upper corner, sending the United States to the semifinals against Canada.

Rose Lavelle, Alex Morgan and Christen Press each scored during penalty kicks, while U.S. keeper Alyssa Naeher made two stops - plus another on a penalty kick late in regulation to protect a 2-2 tie - to seal the dramatic victory.

MORE: U.S. women tie Australia 0-0, advance to knockout round


2. Thrilling Track and Field Slate Kicks Off in Tokyo

Teahna Daniels, Javianne Oliver and Jenna Prandini all advanced to the women’s 100m semifinals.

The track and field competition in Tokyo begins with a full day of action, broken into two sessions.

The first session began Thursday night with heats in six events: men’s high jump, men’s steeplechase, men’s discus, women’s 800m, men’s 400m hurdles and women’s 100m.

New Jersey's Athing Mu had the best time in her heat for the women's 800m, and moves on to Saturday's semifinals. Two other Americans will also compete in the semis, including Rawvyn Rogers and fellow New Jerseyan Ajeé Wilson, who is from Neptune Township.

JuVaughn Harrison was among the leaders after the qualifying round for the men's high jump. He will compete in the finals Sunday morning, along with Team USA's Shelby McEwen.

Mount Vernon, New York-born Rai Benjamin won his heat in the men's 400m hurdles, posting the fourth-fastest time overall. The two other Americans in the event, Dave Kendziera and Kenneth Selmon (who posted the fifth-best overall time) will join Benjamin in the semifinals Sunday morning.

Just one member of Team USA, Benard Keter, moved on to the final for the men's 3000m steeplechase.

The second session begins at 6 a.m. ET Friday and will see the first track and field medals of the 2020 Olympics awarded.

The session features women’s 5000m heats, women’s triple jump qualification, women’s shot put qualification and 4x400m mixed relay heats. Keturah Orji (women’s triple jump), Jessica Ramsey (women’s shot put), Raven Saunders (women’s shot put) and a star-studded women’s 4x400m relay team that has won six straight Olympic titles headline the Team USA participants.

The night concludes with the men’s 10,000m final. Grant Fisher, Woody Kincaid and Joe Klecker will be competing for the U.S.

MORE: NJ's Sydney McLaughlin breaks NYC's Dalilah Muhammad's world record in 400m hurdles


3. Ryan Murphy, Lilly King, Annie Lazor Medal

Australia’s Emma McKeon won gold in the women's 100m freestyle and set a new Olympic record, while Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong took silver and Cate Campbell of Australia took bronze.

The U.S. swim team had a three-medal performance as four events were decided on Thursday night.

Reigning Olympic champion Ryan Murphy won silver in the men's 200m backstroke. Evgeny Rylov of the Russian Olympic Committee got the best of Murphy again in a backstroke final. Rylov defeated Murphy in the 100m backstroke on Monday night. Wednesday night Rylov was once again victorious, this time in the 200m. Rylov prevented Murphy from repeating as Olympic champion with a time of 1:53.27, just ahead of Murphy (1:54.15).

The 2016 champion earned a silver medal in Tokyo, and Luke Greenbank of Great Britain won bronze.

In the women's 200m breaststroke, Lilly King and Annie Lazor claimed silver and bronze respectively. South African Tatjana Schoenmaker set a new world record to win the gold medal; the first individual swimming world record of the Tokyo Olympic Games. Two Americans grabbed the other two medals, with Lilly King winning the silver medal and Annie Lazor taking home the bronze. Lazor and King, training partners and friends outside of Olympic swimming, held their arms around each other after winning their medals.

Team USA failed to reach the podium in the two other finals -- the women's 100m freestyle and the men's 200m individual medley. Emma McKeon of Australia captured the gold medal in the women’s 100m freestyle, followed by Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong for the silver medal and Cate Campbell of Australia for the bronze medal.

U.S. swimmers Lilly King and Annie Lazor took silver and bronze in the women’s 200m breaststroke Thursday at the Tokyo Olympics.

American Abbey Weitzeil finished eighth.

In the men’s 200-meter medley, Wang Shun of China won the gold medal with a time of 1:55.0. British swimmer Duncan Scott captured second place while Jérémy Desplanches of Switzerland brought home the bronze medal. The race marks the first time a different swimmer than Michael Phelps has won the event since the 2000 Sydney Games.

MORE: Finke's first gold and Dressel's emotional win highlight Day 6 in the pool


4. Rowing Competitions Close as Team USA Narrowly Misses Out on Medals in Men's and Women's Eight

Some Olympic rowing competitions have been rescheduled due to expected high wind and rain from a forecasted tropical storm

The U.S. rowing team was hoping to take away medals in two of the sport’s biggest races, the men’s and women’s eight finals, but came up just short.

The U.S. women’s eight came in confident, having won their previous heat with the third-fastest overall qualifying time. The team also had won the previous three Olympic gold medals, but the strong competition proved to be too much, as Team USA finished fourth behind Canada, New Zealand and China.

The U.S. men’s eight came even closer to a medal, also finishing in fourth place — just 1.02 seconds behind Great Britain for third, and 2.11 seconds behind New Zealand who won the race.

After finishing second in its heat and third in the repechage race, the team had hopes of getting its first Olympic medal since 2008 and first Olympic gold since 2004.

After dealing with weather-related rescheduling earlier this week, the men’s and women’s eight finals were the last two rowing races at the Tokyo Games. The final rowing session also included finals for men’s and women’s single sculls.

MORE: Italy surges to gold medal victory in women's double sculls


In one of Tokyo’s busiest intersections, you’ll find a statue of Hachiko. The Akita dog would wait for his owner at a train station every day after work. When the owner suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, Hachiko still waited every day, for nine years.
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