© John Cheng

TOKYO, August 1, 2021 – MyKayla Skinner of Gilbert, Ariz., vaulted her way to the silver medal on the first night of individual event finals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, while Sunisa Lee of St. Paul, Minn., took bronze on uneven bars.

Skinner – the veteran World team gold medalist who replaced teammate Simone Biles of Spring, Texas, in the vault final following her withdrawal on Saturday – delivered first and second vault scores of 15.033 and 14.800 for a combined 14.916. She was topped only by Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade who claimed gold with a 15.083. Seojeong Yeo was third with a 14.733. Jade Carey of Phoenix, Ariz., finished eighth and will be back in action Monday in the floor exercise final.

Lee, who is the reigning Olympic women’s all-around champion, was the lone U.S. representative in the uneven bars final following Biles’ withdrawal. She earned a 14.500 to secure the bronze medal and complete the full color spectrum of Olympic hardware – gold, silver and bronze – that will be heading back to the U.S. with her. Nina Derwael of Belgium (15.200) took gold with Anastasiia Iliankova of the Russian Olympic Committee (14.833) claiming silver. Lee is set to compete for an additional medal in the balance beam final on Tuesday.

On the men’s side, Yul Moldauer of Wellington, Colo., finished sixth on floor exercise, notching a 13.533. Artem Dolgopyat of Israel (14.933) edged Rayderley Zapata of Spain (14.933) in a tie break, while Ruoteng Xiao of China (14.766) earned bronze.

Pommel horse specialist Alec Yoder of Indianapolis, Ind., also finished in the sixth position, posting a 14.566 in the second men’s event final of the evening. Max Whitlock of Great Britain topped the pommel horse field with a commanding 15.583, while Chinese Taipei’s Kai Chih Lee (15.400) and Japan’s Kazuma Kaya (14.900) rounded out the podium.

Artistic event finals will continue Monday at 4 a.m. ET with men’s still rings and vault and women’s floor exercise. The men’s parallel bars and horizontal bar finals and the women’s balance beam final will wrap up competition on Tuesday.