The United States wins the first gold medal of the Paris Olympics in the men's 4x100 meter freestyle relay

The United States earned its first gold medal at the Paris Olympics with a solid performance in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay.

Caeleb Dressel won his seventh career Olympic gold medal, and the first of the Paris Games for the United States team, anchoring them to a second consecutive 4x100 meter freestyle triumph on Saturday.

The team, which included Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong, and Caeleb Dressel, finished 1.07 seconds ahead of Australia's silver medal team. Italy earned bronze.

Australia got silver, Italy took bronze, and China finished fourth, missing out on the medals.

Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong, and Dressel combined for a time of 3 minutes 9.28 seconds, defeating Australia by 1.07 seconds in the final of a chaotic opening night at the La Defense Arena.

"Relays are a little more special to be honest," Dressel said. "So doing it with these guys has been awesome. It takes me back to my first gold. It really doesn't get old. Really special standing on the podium with these guys watching the flag go up. I'm extremely proud of them. It made my job easy."

Dressel will still try to defend his gold medals from the Tokyo Olympics in the 100 butterfly and 50 freestyle. Three years ago, he won the 100 and the 4x100 medley relay. Dressel won gold in both relays in Rio de Janeiro eight years ago.

So far, the United States has earned five medals: one gold, two silver, and two bronze. Chloe Dygert, an American cyclist, won bronze in the women's individual time trial in road cycling.