(Allowing myself the luxury of watching chess this weekend, rather than dealing with administration.)
Open section
USA 2 - 2 RUS
Karjakin seemed to have some chances against Caruana, but perhaps I was just hallucinating. In any event, Caruana never seemed ruffled, and was able to secure the draw just after time control.
Nakamura-Kramnik never went much of anywhere, and they swapped down to a R+P ending on move 30. The draw was signed 12 moves later.
Grischuk seemed to have a good N versus Robson’s B in a Q+B vs. Q+N ending, but it was hard to see where Black would break through. However, Robson was in time trouble near the end of the first control, and that may have played a large role in his choices between moves 36-40, when he transitioned into what appeared to be a dead-lost K+P ending. (Anish Giri’s face could be seen blanching on camera as he evaluated Robson’s position after the time control.) Grischuk efficiently cashed in the full point, putting Russia up 2-1.
Fortunately, So had matters against Nepomniachtchi well in hand. So had enjoyed an edge since the late opening, and Nepo’s 38th was enough to give So a winning edge. However, So still had to play accurately - and 42 … Rxh4 was the crown jewel of So’s consolidation, IMHO. Nepo played on for a handful of moves, but eventually conceded that he would not be able to save the Q+6P vs. Q+2P ending.
So, USA sits on 14, along with IND (who beat ENG 2.5-1.5). UKR-GEO is currently 1-1, but Ukraine appears to be winning on boards 3 and 4, so they will also likely join the party at 14. Round 9 looks like IND-UKR on table 1, with USA playing on table 2. (USA has already played both IND and UKR.)
Other notes about the open section…
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NOR won again, 3-1 over PER. This puts the Norwegians on 13 MP, just outside the lead group. No, they’re not likely to medal - but they’ve got a solid board 2 in Hammer, and a much bigger “hammer” on board 1. They could be a spoiler in the late rounds.
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Even though Georgia looks to be losing this round, one can’t fault their board 1. Baadur Jobava is having a monster Olympiad. He’s an undefeated 6/7, including 3.5/4 against players 2700+.
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China is having a nightmare Olympiad. The defending gold medalists are stuck in neutral - and, unless Ding Liren can find a way to win what appears to be a completely drawn ending against Richard Rapport, they’ll be going in reverse, as they currently trail Hungary 2-1.
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Keep an eye on the two young Iranians, Parham Maghsoodloo and Alireza Firouzja. Unless they decide to emigrate, they look like mainstays for the Iranian team for years to come.
I wish I had the time to give the women’s section a similar write-up…but I’ve been dealing with pneumonia all week, so now that I’m feeling somewhat human, and I don’t have office stuff to do, I’m being dragged offline by family. 
I’ll just say that the USA appears to be headed for no worse than 2-2 with Russia, which would be an excellent result given the rating deficit USA faces on every board. So far, the hero appears to be WGM Katerina Nemcova, who didn’t even need to reach time control to beat WGM Olga Girya. Krush has an exchange for one pawn against Kosteniuk, but they’re both close to playing on increment…so anything can still happen. However, if Krush can win, the US likely beats Russia, which would, IMHO, qualify as a big upset.
(Scratch “likely”…Zatonskih’s draw with Pogonina came in while I was typing this paragraph.)
ETA: Krush defeats Kosteniuk, sealing the 2.5-1.5 USA victory.