MEDAL ALERT
Japan won Olympic gold in mixed doubles to end China’s dominance in table tennis.
Jun Mizutani, Mima Ito defeated a Chinese team that had often appeared unbeatable. China won all four gold medals in Rio de Janeiro Games 2016. The team of Xu Xin, Liu Shiwen and Liu Shiwen were heavy favorites.
Mizutani won bronze at singles in Rio. Ito is often considered China’s greatest threat in the female ranks.
China won the first two matches 11-5 and 11-7, but Japan won the third three 11-8 and 11-9. Japan won the seventh game, winning China’s sixth game 6-1. The host nation took an 8-0 lead, and held on to win 11-6.
China’s table tennis team has so much strength that Liu, the world champion in singles, didn’t make it to the women’s team. She is now only participating in team events.
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MEDAL ALERT
Maksim Khramtcov won the gold medal for men’s 80-kilogram Taekwondo at Tokyo Olympics. He beat Saleh El-Sharabaty from Jordan 20-9, despite what the Russian Olympic Committee claimed was a broken bone in either his right arm or wrist.
As a two-time European champion, Khramtcov is one of the top athletes in the sport. He also cemented his reputation at Makuhari Messe convention centre despite sustaining an injury.
Khramtcov won all four of his bouts with a combined score of 68-16.
Silver medal for Jordan was won by El-Sharabaty. Ahmad Abughaush was awarded gold in Taekwondo Rio de Janeiro, Jordan’s first ever medal.
Bronze was won by Toni Kanaet from Croatia and Seif Eissa, Egypt.
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MEDAL ALERT
Matea Jelic, from Croatia, has won the first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. She defeated Lauren Williams of Britain 25-21 to win the women’s taekwondo (67-kilogram) final.
Jelic was trailing by six points at the Makuhari Messe convention centre with less than twenty seconds left. However, she miraculously landed three head kicks to take the lead. Jelic, 23 years old, is currently the European champion. She defeated former U.S. bronze medalist Paige McPherson 15-4 in semifinal.
Bradly Sinden, Williams’ teammate, suffered a painfully similar loss to Ulugbek Rashitov from Uzbekistan on Sunday during a gold-medal bout.
Bronze was won by Hedaya Malak from Egypt and Ruth Gbagbi from Ivory Coast.
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MEDAL ALERT
To edge Japan and China in the men’s team gymnastics final, the team representing Russia Olympic Committee had remarkable performances by Artur and Nikita Dalaloyan.
This victory was the Russians’ first Olympic title since 1996 Atlanta Games.
Russia’s 262.500 points were just enough to beat the other superpowers. Japan surpassed China with a stunning high-bar routine by Daiki Hashimmoto in the final rotation. This allowed them to score 262.397.
Lin Chaopan’s fall on the floor during the first rotation caused the Chinese to lose their composure.
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MEDAL ALERT
After winning the 55-kilogram weightlifting category for women, Hidilyn Diaz became the first Olympic gold medalist of the Philippines.
On her last lift in clean and jerk, Diaz beat Liao Qiuyun from China by a whopping 224 kilograms. Liao was one less.
China had already won the three events and was looking to win the gold medals at the remaining eight competitions. Liao was the world record holder for the weight of 227kg.
With 213kg, Zulfiya Chinshanlo from Kazakhstan won bronze. Chinshanlo won the 53-kilogram class at 2012 London Olympics, but she was stripped of her gold after being positive for two banned steroids.
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Through the three-days of 3-on-3 basketball’s Olympic debut, six games have been won by the U.S. women.
To close the American day, Kelsey Plum was seen behind the arc making the game-winning 2-pointer in 21-19 win over China.
They will play another pool match Tuesday against Japan. For Wednesday’s semifinals, and the medal games, the U.S. will be ranked as the number one seed.
Serbia is the only undefeated men’s team.
In 3-on-3, shots taken from within the arc count for one point while shots from outside it count for two. If 10 minutes have passed, the first team to 21 wins is victorious. In this case, the team ahead wins.
The eight-team tournament was not open to the men of the United States.
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MEDAL ALERT
Cheung Ka Long beat Daniele Garozzo, the defending champion, 15-11 to win Hong Kong’s second Olympic medal.
Cheung won the game with a video review of the final point. He then ran to celebrate the victory with his coach. Garozzo had earlier been injured in a match against Cheung, and needed treatment.
The only Olympic gold medal Hong Kong has ever won was for Lee Lai Shan, in women’s windsurfing, 1996.
Alexander Choupenitch, who beat Takahiro Shikine from Japan 15-8 to win bronze for the Czech Republic, won bronze.
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MEDAL ALERT
Sofia Pozdniakova won an all Russian fencing final 15-11 to win goal in women’s sword and give Sofya Velikaya a third consecutive silver medal.
Pozdniakova, the daughter of Stanislav Pozdnyakov, president of Russian Olympic Committee and four-time winner of gold medals, is Pozdniakova. He was watching from the arena. Russia competes at the Tokyo Games under the ROC. This is in response to the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s latest doping-related sanctions.
Velikaya was the individual saber runner up at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. Velikaya also holds a 2016 team gold.
Manon Brunet, France won bronze after beating Anna Marton, Hungary 15-6.
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At the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, the Olympic debut of the 1,500-meter freestyle for women has been made.
Although the men have raced the metric miles for a long time, a women’s event was only added in Tokyo. This gives long-distance swimmers like Katie Ledecky another chance at winning a medal.
Only three swimmers participated in the first heat of the evening’s preliminaries. Canadian Katrina Bellio, aged sixteen, touched first in 16:24.37 seconds. The arena announcer declared that she was the first Olympic record holder.
Bellio was shocked to be asked if she had heard the announcement and she exclaimed, “Oh my god. That was something I didn’t know. Wow.
FINA, the world’s governing body, clarified later that the Olympic record would only be officially recognized after the fifth heat. However, it is impossible to forget that Bellio was the first person to touch the 1,500 mark in Olympic history.
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Halfway through the men’s final of the men’s gymnastics team, Russian athletes lead the charge.
With three rotations remaining, the Russian athletes trailed host Japan and China by just 2.6 points. Russia is looking for its first Olympic medal since Sydney 2000. Artur Dalaloyan, despite having a surgically repaired Achilles tendon in the left leg, has been the leader of his team.
Japan won qualifying with China in second. Lin Chaopan’s early fall on the floor during the first rotation of finals saw the Chinese win.
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ALERT MEDAL
After a thrilling final against Lasha Shavdatuashvili, Shohei Ono, Judo’s superstar, has won his second Olympic gold Medal.
Ono and Shavdatuashvili were 5:26 into the golden score, before the Japanese champion finally gave up on Shavdatuashvili to make way for a waza.ari. To get Shavdatuashvili up, he used both his legs and pushed him hard onto his left.
Ono, who hasn’t lost a judo contest since 2015, was not afraid of Shavdatuashvili. Ono was penalized for two in the golden score against the Georgian competitor, who fought harder and avoided being caught in a match-ending throw just one minute before Ono.
Ono is Japan’s fourth gold medalist in six weight categories in Tokyo in Judo, Japan’s national martial art. Japanese judokas also have won one silver medal and one bronze.
An Changrim of South Korea won one bronze medal in a thrilling match with Azeri No. The bronze was won by Rustam Orujov (1 seed), and Tsogtbaatar Tsend Ochir (Mongolia’s) (2nd seed).
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Officials from World Rowing have confirmed that the Dutch team has tested negative for COVID-19, but they will continue to avoid other teams when competing in Tokyo.
After making his Olympic debut on Friday in the men’s single-sculls, Finn Florijin, a Dutch rower, was positive. He was then removed from the competition. Josy Verdonkschot (coach of several Dutch women’s soccer teams), then tested positive for HIV on Sunday. Both are now isolated.
Officials from the team claim that the rest of their team has now tested negative, and that no rowers or coaches are considered close to Florjin or Verdonkschot.
The team’s decision to exclude other rowers from the competition is made “out of respect for other stakeholders”.
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MEDAL ALERT
Nora Gjakova won Kosovo’s second medal in Judo at the Tokyo Olympics. She defeated Sarah Leonie Cysique, France’s Sarah Leonie Cysique, in the women’s division of judo weighing 57-kilograms.
Gjakova was joined by Distria Krasniqi who won gold at 48kg Saturday as the second and third gold medalists of Kosovo’s Olympic history. Majlinda Kelmendi won Kosovo’s first at Rio de Janeiro in 2016, also in judo.
Gjakova was declared winner at 2:45 in the fight when Cysique was penalized with a hansuko penalty for what officials called a deliberate dive on her head to escape a hold. Cysique was confused by the outcome, but Gjakova rejoiced the greatest victory of her career.
Gjakova won the semifinal against Japan’s Tsukasa Yashida and reached the final, becoming the first judoka ever to defeat the national entrant. Yoshida won the bronze medal. Canada’s Jessica Klimkait took the bronze.
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The men’s team final in gymnastics is underway. Russia, China, and Japan are expected to compete for the top spot.
These three teams have been battling for supremacy for the past five years. The Japanese will defend the Olympic title that they won in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and are hoping to defend it. China won the 2018 world championship, with Russia rising to the top for 2019.
The Japanese posted the top score in qualifying. In the final, the scores are reset and the format is adjusted to allow each team to count their score. Teams were allowed to lose their lowest qualifying score.
Great Britain and the United States have the best chance of reaching the podium if they are among the top three falters. However, both programs were far behind the pace in qualifying.
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Top-ranked tennis player Novak Djokovic remains on course for a Golden Slam after a 6-4, 6-3 win over Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany at the Tokyo Games.
Djokovic aspires to be the first man to win all four Grand Slam titles as well as Olympic gold in one calendar year.
Already this year, the Serb won the Australian Open and French Opens. To complete his unique collection, he will need the Tokyo title as well as the U.S. Open trophy.
Steffi Graf was the only tennis player who won the 1988 Golden Slam.
Djokovic will next play 16th-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina from Spain. John Millman from Australia was defeated by Davidovich Fokina 6-4, 7-6 (4), and 6-3.
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MEDAL ALERT
South Korea has defended its Olympic men’s archery team title at the Tokyo Games.
Kim Je-deok, a 17-year-old energetic teenager, won the semifinals against host nation Japan. She then beat Chinese Taipei 6-0 in the gold-medal match at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field.
It was difficult to determine the cause of an inconsistant wind just before a potential typhoon moved into the area. Some matches were moved to another time due to the impending rain and high winds.
Hiroki Muto, Japan’s bronze medalist, defeated the Netherlands in a shootoff using a walk-off bow that almost landed in the target’s heart.
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The U.S. has rallied to beat Japan 2-1 to win their Olympic softball group stage, and the right to bat last in the gold medal game.
Kelsey Stewart scored the game-winning run in the seventh inning. The United States won the Olympic softball group stage with a late rally to defeat Japan 2-1.
Stewart stated, “It’s almost like you have a dream, as a child, about hitting a homerun at the Olympics or even a walk-off.”
Stewart’s August 2018 single was the culmination of a three-run 10th against Yukiko Ueno, Japan’s ace. This gave the U.S. victory at 7-6 at the Women’s Softball World Championships in Chiba. The U.S. earned the Olympic berth.
Before she drove the 98th pitch of Yamato Fujita (0-1), just above Yuka Ichiguchi’s glove, Yuka Ichiguchi was 1 for 12.
American players ran onto field to celebrate their second consecutive walk-off victory.
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MEDAL ALERT
Tom Pidcock has won the Olympic men’s mountain bike race, extending Britain’s dominance from the road and track to the dirt.
The 21-year-old prodigy in multidiscipline continued to dominate the most difficult course in Olympic history, leaving Nino Schurter, the reigning champion, and Mathias Flueckiger, his Swiss teammate, behind on the fourth lap.
Flueckiger chased in vain, but was awarded a silver medal. David Valero Serrano from Spain won a surprising bronze.
Pidcock, who alternates between mountain and road biking, won the Nove Mesto World Cup race earlier this year. This made him an Olympic favourite. After being hit by a car, Pidcock broke his collarbone while riding on a training ride. He was unable to ride for approximately a week and many wondered if he would have the same legs as the Tokyo Games.
They turned out to be even better.
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Imagine Simone Biles, a gymnast, didn’t make it to the Olympic all-around.
This is how Brady Ellison saw his team’s early exit in the team archery competition. His U.S. teammates were eliminated in the quarterfinals at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field’s men’s team competition. The combination of Ellison and Jack Williams lost 5-1 against Japan on a windy afternoon.
In each of the two previous Olympics, the U.S. men’s hockey team won silver medals.
Ellison stated, “It was impossible for us to walk away from this competition without a medal.” It would be like Simone Biles missing the all-around. “I don’t know what to say.”
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MEDAL ALERT
Vincent Hancock has become the first skeet shooter to win three Olympic gold medals, giving the Americans a sweep after Amber English won the women’s event.
Hancock was again a gold medalist in 2008, 2012, but had a disappointing result at Rio Games 2016.
Fort Worth, Texas’ 38-year old hit 26 of his targets in Tokyo and set an Olympic record of 59 out 60 overall. He defeated Jesper Hanen, Denmark, by four.
After winning bronze at the Rio Games, Kuwait’s Abdullah Al-Rashidi was awarded bronze.
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MEDAL ALERT
Benjamin Savsek from Slovenia has won the men’s canoe race ahead of Lukas Rohan, Czech Republic, and Sideris Taasiadis, Germany.
Savsek is No. 7. After a straight run without any time penalties, he knew he had the time to beat and pumped his first time as he crossed that finish line. He was able to watch his time of 98.25 seconds stand up and be declared the winner.
Rohan finished 3.71 seconds behind the lead after a gate touch, 2 second penalty and Rohan’s run. Tasiadis was ranked No. Tasiadis, who was ranked No. 1 in the world, won silver in 2012, and was only 5.45 seconds slower that Savsek.
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ALERT MEDAL
Britain’s Tom Daley, and Matty Lee won gold in the men’s 10-meter synchroized diving. This puts an end to any possibility of China winning at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
Lee and Daley sealed their win with a spectacular final dive. They received one perfect 10 rating from the judges. All other marks except one were either 9.0 or 9.5.
Daley and Lee ended with 471.81 points. This was just 1.23 less than Chen Aisen and Cao Yuan of China. This was Daley’s first Olympic gold, a long-standing star of British diving. He previously won a pair bronze medals.
The Chinese team did a great final dive and waited at the pool’s edge for their scores. The British contingent, who sat mostly empty in the stands, erupted in cheers when the marks were posted. Daley and Lee watched nervously from the pool deck and then jumped up and hugged when they realized that the gold was theirs.
Russia’s Aleksandr Bondar won the bronze, while Viktor Minibaev took home 439.92.
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MEDAL ALERT
Amber English, an American shooter, has broken the Olympic record for women’s skeet.
English, ranked No. English, ranked No. 1 in the world, met 56 of 60 targets to rebound from just missing out on the U.S. Olympic Team for the 2012 and 2016 Games.
Bacosi was able to match English with 47 of 50 shots, reaching the final. However, she missed her third attempt to win and misses out on the chance to be crowned Olympic champion.
After tying a qualifying world record, China’s Wei Meng won bronze
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Tokyo Olympics organizers claim that 153 athletes have been tested positive for COVID-19 since July 1st.
This total includes 19 athletes who were positive in Japan between July 1 and Sunday. Some of these athletes are from the Olympic Village where 16 others have tested positive.
These people moved from the apartments overlooking Tokyo Bay to quarantine hotels.
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According to the International Tennis Federation, Jean-Julien Rojer, a Dutch player has been confirmed positive for COVID-19. He was subsequently withdrawn from the doubles tournament along with Wesley Koolhof.
The eighth-seeded couple were to face Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus from New Zealand. Venus and Daniell were granted a walkover to the quarterfinals.
Rojer was placed in isolation
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Before facing Israel’s Tohar Yetbul in the 73-kilogram Division, a second judo competitor has been dropped out of the Olympics.
Olympic officials claim that Mohamed Abdalrasool, Sudan’s Mohamed Abdalrasool, didn’t turn up for Monday’s round 32 bout against Butbul despite him being weighed in earlier.
The International Judo Foundation did not immediately provide a reason for Abdalrasool’s inability to compete. They also didn’t respond promptly to requests for comment. Officials from the Sudanese Olympic Committee also declined to comment.
Fethi Nourine, Algeria’s tennis player, was sent home by the Tokyo Games. He was also suspended on Saturday by the IJF after he withdrew from the matchup with Butbul. Nourine was to face Abdalrasool to win the right to meet Butbul.
Abdalrasool ranks 469th in the world for judo in his weight class. The accomplished Butbul is 7th.
Nourine also resigned from the World Judo Championships in 2019, just before Butbul was due to face him.
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Japan’s Momiji Nishiya has won the first ever Olympic Skateboard Competition for Women.
The 13-year-old gave the host nation a sweep of golds in the street event a day after after Yuto Horigome won the men’s event.
Rayssa Leal (13-year-old Brazilian skateboarder) won silver. This is her second win in skateboarding, after silver was won by Brazilian Kelvin Hoefler on Sunday in men’s competition.
Funa Nakayama (also from Japan) won the bronze medal for women.
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In pool-play action, the Russian men’s volleyball team beat the United States.
Two match points were held by the Russians before they won the second set, 27-25, to make it 2-0. The Americans rallied to win the third set before falling 25-23 in the final set for their first loss of the tournament.
In its first pool play match, the U.S. beat France 3-0. After beating Argentina in the first match, the ROC team is now 2-0.
For its second consecutive win, Iran defeated Venezuela 3-0 in a pool play match on Monday.
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Naomi Osaka has advanced to the third round in the Tokyo tennis tournament.
The host country’s superstar stepped up her game when she needed to in a 6-3, 6-2 win over 49th-ranked Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland to reach the last 16 at Ariake Tennis Park.
Next, Osaka, second in the rankings will face Marketa Vondrousova from the Czech Republic or Mihaela Bugzarnescu from Romania, who is the 2019 French Open runner up.
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Due to low tide at Tsurigasaki beach (90 miles east of Tokyo), the men’s surfing competition at the Olympics was delayed by 90 minutes
According to the International Surfing Association (the sport’s Olympic governing body), low tide and shifting weather have destabilized surf conditions for the sport’s big debut.
After the eight 1-on-1 heats of the women’s competition ended, the call was made for the men’s match. It will now start at 1:18 p.m. local.
These delays are common in competitive surfing. It is the only organized sport that is dependent on the weather and defined by an uneven playing field, the ocean.
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MEDAL ALERT
Caeleb Dressel is off on his quest for six swimming gold medals at the Tokyo Games, leading off an American victory in the men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
Dressel gave the U.S. an advantage it would not relinquish, swimming the first leg in a record 47.26 seconds.
Blake Pieroni, Bowe Becker and Zach Apple kept the Americans in front. Zach Apple then turned in an anchor leg at 46.69 to make it clear that they were victorious.
The third-fastest relay in history, 3:08.97 seconds, was won by the United States. It took silver in 3:10.11, while Australia won bronze in 3:10.22.
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MEDAL ALERT
Australia’s Ariarne Titmus has defeated American Katie Ledecky in the 400-meter freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics.
Titmus won the gold medal in the fastest time ever recorded, winning one of the most anticipated races at the games.
Titmus, who was trailing by almost a full length at the halfway point of the eight-lap race and had lost nearly half his body-length, quickly picked up the speed to touch the finish line in 3 minutes 56.69 seconds.
Ledecky, the Olympic champion and holder of the world-record Ledecky won the silver in this race in 3:57.36 — fourth fastest time ever recorded.
Nobody else came even close. In 4:01.08, China’s Li Bingjie won the bronze.
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MEDAL ALERT
Adam Peaty, from Britain, has been crowned the Olympic champion in the 100-meter breaststroke for men at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
Peaty was the most surest man at the Olympic pool. He was the first to break the 58 and 57 second barrier in his signature event. To blow out the field, he posted the fifth fastest time in history (57.37 secs).
Arno Kamminga, from the Netherlands, claimed silver in 58.00. Italy’s Nicolo Martenghi took bronze in 58.33. American swimmer Michael Andrew finished next in 58.84. This was the second consecutive final in which a U.S. swimmer placed fourth. He was not awarded a medal.
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Due to the possibility of high winds and rain during a typhoon, the Olympic archery schedule was modified for Tuesday.
Officially, the morning sessions that involve first- and second-round matches will be delayed to noon local time at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field. The afternoon session was postponed.
It is planned to replace the matches on Wednesday and Thursday. The Tokyo Games’ individual finals are still set for Friday and Saturday.
According to World Archery, this is the first time that the Olympic archery schedule has been affected by the weather. There was an hour delay at the 2008 Beijing Games.
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MEDAL ALERT
Canada’s first ever gold medal at the pool was won by Maggie MacNeil in the 100-meter butterfly.
The world champion touched first in 55.59 seconds. She was just 0.02 seconds behind Zhang Yufei (55.64) who took the top spot. Emma McKeon, from Australia, won the bronze medal in 55.72 seconds. She beat Torri Huske, an American teenager.
Huske started fast and was close to the front, with only 10 meters remaining. She lost her last strokes and was just able to miss a place on the podium.
The first medal was not awarded to the U.S. swimming team.
Sarah Sjostrom, defending champion and holder of the world-records was seventh.
