PARIS – A triumvirate of triathletes took home gold for Team USA on Monday, three of five golds earned by the Stars and Stripes on day five of the Paralympic Games.

After winning silver medals in PTS2 in both Rio and Tokyo, 33-year-old Hailey Danz finally broke through. Her impressive bike time of 36:06 vaulted her into first place, and she ran just quickly enough to hold off Italy’s Veronica Plebani by a minute for the title.

“It’s gonna take a bit to sink in,” said Danz. “I’ve wanted (gold) for so long. I have been fighting it for so long.”

Joining Danz on the podium, the two-time reigning gold medalist, Allysa Seely took home bronze.

Chris Hammer ran himself from 4th place to the gold medal in the Men’s PTS5 Para Triathlon, his first-ever Paralympic medal. Grace Norman donned the gold for the second time after winning the women’s PTS5.

Team USA was represented on the podium by four other triathletes, including silver from Mohamed Lahna, Carson Clough, and Kendall Gretsch.

At Stade de France, 19-year-old Ezra Frech shocked the whole stadium, including himself, by winning gold in the Men’s 100m T63, edging out Denmark’s Daniel Wagner. Frech will compete for gold in the high jump on Tuesday, the event for which he currently holds the world record.

In the pool, Morgan Stickney set a Paralympic record in the Women’s 400m Freestyle S7. Stickney assumed the lead in the second 50m, and never gave it up. Her third career Paralympic gold medal came in dominant fashion, defeating second place by the same margin that split second place from 7th place.

The aforementioned silver medalist was also an American, with McKenzie Coan nabbing her seventh Paralympic medal.

“It’s really special,” said Coan on sharing the podium with Stickney. “Before we left that call room, I looked around and there were three Team USA caps in there. That’s a really special feeling, to look to my left and my right and see my teammates, people I grind with on a daily basis, the people that I share this journey with. It’s just really powerful.”

Staying in the pool, Gia Pergolini took silver, losing only to a Paralympic record set by Brazil’s Maria Carolina Santiago, in the Women’s 50m Freestyle S13. Just 20 years old, Pergolini already has three medals to her name, including 100m backstroke golds in each of the last two Games.

In an entertaining battle, Japan took home gold with a 48-41 win over Team USA wheelchair rugby. It marks the third consecutive Paralympics in which the U.S. has finished one win short of gold in this competition.

“It’s obviously disappointing,” said captain Chuck Aoki. “We set our sights and goals on gold, but I’m always proud of this team and always proud to be part of it as well.”

Japan also had Team USA’s number in goalball, eliminating the red, white, and blue in the quarterfinals by a score of 6-4. Tyler Merren cut the Japanese lead to one in the second half, but Kazuya Kaneko delivered the dagger on a penalty throw with just over two minutes to play.

On the hardwood, women’s wheelchair basketball was able to get the best of Japan, 62-52. Lindsey Zurbrugg and Becca Murphy ran the offense with precision, combining for 16 assists with just one turnover.

The U.S. led the whole way, and Japan had to abandon attacking the basket for three-point attempts to try to get back in the game. The result was a 1-12 outside shooting performance, and a 10-point loss.

Jayci Simon and Miles Krajewski’s impressive run on the badminton court came to an end in the gold medal match. The pair fell in straight sets to the Chinese team of Fengmei Li and Naili Lin, but will still leave Paris with silver.

26-year-old Yan Xiao Gong took home Team USA’s first shooting medal in eight years, winning silver in the Mixed 25m Pistol SH1.

On day five, Team USA improved its medal count to 42 (13 gold, 19 silver, 10 bronze), and set itself up for more chances in the coming days.

Looking Ahead to Tuesday

Team USA sitting volleyball plays a must-win game against Italy. Men’s wheelchair basketball takes on France in the quarterfinals. Fencers Noah Hanssen and William Schoonover will compete in the Sabre categories B and A respectively. Goalball finishes up competition with a consolation matchup against Iran. In athletics, Breanna Clark (Women’s 400m T20), Jaydin Blackwell (Men’s 400m T38), and Ezra Frech (high jump) highlight a day that could really serve to boost the gold medal tally. Finally, three Para Table Tennis players will compete, including quarterfinal matchups for Ian Seidenfeld (MS6) and Jenson van Emburgh (MS3)