Oksana Masters was unbeatable once again, winning her second gold medal in as many days. Meanwhile, swimming and track & field provided a few more medals for the United States, and Team USA advanced onward after winning do-or-die matches in wheelchair basketball, goalball and sitting volleyball.
Here are the top stories from Day 7 of the Tokyo Paralympics.
Road Cycling
Oksana Masters picked up her second gold medal in road cycling, her fourth Paralympic sport, by winning the women's H5 road race in a dominant 2:23.39, more than three minutes ahead of silver medalist Sun Bianbian of China. A key moment came around the 1:45 mark as Masters and Sun started to hit an uphill section. After Sun signaled to Masters to move in front of her, Masters did just that and proceeded to ratchet up the pace and leave a fatigued Sun behind. Masters won her first gold of the Tokyo Games one day earlier in the time trial event. She also has Paralympic medals in rowing, cross-country skiing and biathlon.
American Alicia Dana took bronze in the women's H1-4 road race in a time of 56:24, nine seconds behind gold medalist Jennette Jansen of the Netherlands. Jansen, 53, is a seven-time Paralympian and won her first-ever gold medal in cycling. She's won three other Paralympic gold medals in her career, all of which came in track & field at the 1988 Games.
Swimming
Add another medal to Jessica Long's career tally. She's up to 27 after taking silver, her fourth medal of the Tokyo Paralympics, in the women's 100m breaststroke SB7. In an exciting finish, Long touched the wall just 0.2 seconds ahead of Australia's Tiffany Thomas Kane to secure second place. Mariia Pavlova, representing the RPC, took gold.
In the men's 100m breaststroke SB13, David Abrahams took silver behind Germany's Taliso Engel to win his first Paralympic medal. Abrahams is a junior at Harvard and competes on the school's swim team. Engel initially set a world record in prelims, then lowered that mark even further during the final.
The day's other American medal went to Colleen Young in the women's 100m breaststroke SB13. It's the second medal for Young at the Tokyo Paralympics—she won silver in the individual medley earlier this week—and the third Paralympic medal of her career.
Track & Field
The world record was broken three times within minutes in the women's discus F41. First, Tunisia's Raoua Tlili launched a 35.58-meter attempt, then Morocco's Youssra Karim extended the record by nearly two meters with a 37.35-meter throw, only to be bested by Tlili's 37.91 for gold.
World record holder Andrei Vdovin, who represents the Russian Paralympic Committee, bested his own record to win the gold medal in the men's 400m T37, going 49.34. American Nick Mayhugh, racing in his first-ever competitive 400, set a new continental record to take the silver medal in 50.26. Mayhugh beat Vdovin in the 100m earlier in the Games.
Meanwhile, Josh Cinnamo picked up Team USA's second medal of the morning session, taking the bronze in the men's shot put F46 with a throw of 15.90 meters.
The Americans grabbed two more medals in the day's second session, starting with Cheri Madsen earning bronze in the women's 100m T54. Madsen, 44, competed at her first Paralympics in 1996 and won seven medals combined between the 1996 and 2000 Games. She then took a 13-year break from the sport before coming back and winning a silver medal in 2016.
Over in the field, Trenten Merrill won bronze in the men's long jump T64. It's the first career Paralympic medal for Merrill, who set a new continental record (7.08 meters) in the process. The winner, Germany's Markus Rehm, known as the "Blade Jumper," went 8.18 meters on his best attempt—a distance that would have put him in a tie for fourth place at this year's Olympic Games. That mark isn't even Rehm's best though. He set a world-record distance of 8.62 back in June.
Wheelchair Basketball
The defending champion United States defeated Turkey 52-45 in the first men's quarterfinal. Brian Bell led the Americans with 18 points, shooting 75% from the field, and Steve Serio (11 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds) came one board shy of a triple-double. Ozgur Gurbulak led Turkey with 21 points.
Next up, Team USA will play Spain in the semifinals later this week after Spain held off Germany for a 71-68 win. Spain is the only country in the tournament without a loss.
Goalball
The U.S. women overcame a 3-2 halftime deficit to win their quarterfinal game against the RPC and advance onward in the Paralympic tournament. Eliana Mason scored a hat trick of goals on her 26th birthday, including the decisive penalty shot midway through the second half, and Amanda Dennis contributed two goals of her own as Team USA earned a 5-3 victory.
The U.S. will move on to play Brazil in the semifinals. The two teams already met on the first day of the preliminary round, with the Americans managing a 6-4 win over the Brazilians.
Sitting Volleyball
In a must-win match for both teams, the United States defeated the RPC in straight sets (25-19, 25-15, 25-22) to advance out of the group stage in women's sitting volleyball. Both teams entered this match tied at 1-1 in the preliminary round and needed a win to finish in the top two and earn a spot in the knockout stage. Thanks to a balanced scoring effort from Monique Matthews (15 points), Lora Webster (13 points) and Heather Erickson (11 point), the U.S. got it done and will now move on to the semifinals.
Team USA's semifinal opponent will be Brazil. Brazil's women, the bronze medalists the 2016 Paralympic Games, defeated Italy 3-1 on Wednesday after dropping the first set. They remain unbeaten so far in the tournament. United States vs. Brazil will be a rematch of a semifinal from 2016, a match won in straight sets by the Americans.