Elaine Thompson-Herah won the women’s 100m and Great Britain won the triathlon mixed relay on another action-packed day in Tokyo
- Read the Guardian’s latest daily Olympic briefing
- The fresh liveblog for Sunday 1 August, featuring the final round of golf
BONG! Big Ben has struck 12, and I have turned into a pumpkin. Happily there’s a new blog, and Tom Lutz is ready to ride it, Townend-style, over whatever obstacles the Olympics throws at him. Here it is. Bye!
Related: Tokyo 2020 Olympics: men’s golf, athletics, boxing and more – live!
Eventing: Townend completes the course in 7min 40sec, five seconds inside the permitted time, and seems pretty happy with himself.
Eventing: Oliver Townend seems to be doing a very fine job. It’s hard to tell, given that nobody else has completed the course yet. If you want to know more about the obstacles they’ve got to clear, there’s all sorts of information here.
Splash! Chavatanont and her horse, Boleybawn Prince, end up in the water, not the most auspicious start to proceedings.
Further sport ahoy: The Equestrian cross country event has begun. The second of three eventing, um, events, the event ends with the jumping tomorrow. Arinadtha Chavatanont of Thailand is the first to take on the course, with Britain’s Oliver Townend to follow.
Sport ahoy! The fourth round of the golf starts in a few minutes, with players going out in groups of three in reverse leaderboard order. So the first three off the tee will be the two players tied in 58th and the one in 60th, namely Rafael Campos, Gavin Green and Ondrej Lieser. The three leaders are due to get their final rounds under way a little over 90 minutes later.
Sean Ingle has now written about Laura Muir and her lambing-based activities:
Related: Laura Muir’s journey: from chasing lambs to racing for Tokyo 1500m gold
Shooting: Teresa Reinhardt has done better searching than I did, and emails with further information about Emil Grünig. Daniel and Rolf Grünig, sons of Kurt Grünig, relation to Emil Grünig unclear but clearly quite close, run Grünig + Elmiger, a gun shop in Malters, Switzerland. If this Facebook post is anything to go by, Nina Christen, today’s gold medallist, is a customer of theirs, which is pleasing circularity.
Athletics/lambing: Excellent and unexpected athletics-lambing crossover in this PA Media preview:
Laura Muir insists she can handle the pressure in Tokyo after the lambing season helped her prepare for the Olympics.
The European 1500 metres champion, a qualified vet, races in the 1500m heats on Monday. She has spent some of her time helping out on a farm in Scotland, which has kept her on her toes for the Games in Japan.
“We had a great system, me and the farmer: he would drive the quad bike and at the last minute, I would jump off. I’d catch the lambs, because I was quick, and then we’d spray them, and then I would hop back on and we’d be off again. Running came in handy for that, I thought that was quite funny.”
Muir takes another shot at the 1500m after disappointment in Rio where she sat third with 200m left but faded to finish seventh. Since then she has become a quadruple indoor champion, a European champion in 2018 and claimed silver at the World Indoor Championships.
“It will come down to the race. Things can change so quickly. It’s very hard to see how things are going to pan out but I know I’m in the best position anyway that I can be to be successful. I think I’m such a different athlete from where I was in Rio. Really a lot more all-round a different athlete, a lot stronger.”
Muir initially entered the 800m in Tokyo as well but pulled out earlier this month to ensure she would be in peak condition for the 1500m.
Shooting: Continuing our occasional series of people we overlooked a bit today, Nina Christen became the champion of the women’s 50m rifle three positions, making history as the first Swiss shooting gold medalist since 1948. Despite extensive delving on popular search engines and even a few newspaper archives I can’t tell you anything significant about Emil Grünig, the 1948 champion, except that he too won a three-position title, he was apparently 33 at the time, and there’s a picture of him looking rather dapper here. Anyway, congratulations Nina Christen. Here’s a picture of her from earlier. I don’t think this was one of the three positions she had to shoot stuff from, but I can’t be absolutely sure.
Seventeen. That is the number of gold medals the Australian Olympic team won at the 2004 Games in Athens. It represents the most successful ever Olympics for Australia, one gold medal ahead of Sydney 2000 and four ahead of Melbourne 1956.
Of course, there are many ways to measure Olympic success. The Americans are fond of ordering their medal tally by total medals won, which sometimes boosts the United States above other nations. After the 2008 Games, when China won the most gold medals and the USA won the more medals overall, then-International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge took a diplomatic stance. “I believe each country will highlight what suits it best,” he said. “We take no position on that.” (Although the medal count on the IOC website ranks by gold).
For some Australian athletes, getting to the start-line is an immense achievement in itself. Others talk about the importance of personal bests on this global stage, whether or not a medal follows. For others still, nothing but gold will sate their Olympic appetite. Boosters of high performance sport also talk about the intangible benefits – national pride and entertainment, increased grass-roots participation – though such metrics defy easy quantification.
Related: Tokyo medal haul puts Australia’s Olympians on verge of golden era
Quote of the day (perhaps) came from Dong Dong, the trampolinist who claimed his fourth Olympic medal in his fourth Olympic Games at the age of 32, taking silver behind Ivan Litvinovich.
Today, I did my utmost. Litvinovich had a few problems during his routine, but he still won. So I am really getting old. I have been to four Olympics, but Olympics are for young people.
Tennis: Roger Federer never quite managed to achieve it, nor did Martina Hingis, Stan Wawrinka, Patty Schnyder or many of the notable Swiss players before her. But late on Saturday night in Tokyo, Belinda Bencic stepped into the light and clinched the greatest achievement of her career by becoming an Olympic champion, defeating the Czech Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
In a tense, volatile match filled with sharp momentum swings, Bencic was considerably more disciplined than her opponent and her consistency was rewarded on the biggest points at the close as she won the final three games to take the match. Despite how composed she appeared, Bencic said she spent much of it on the edge.
Much more here:
We definitely haven’t made enough of a fuss over Fares El-Bakh, who won Qatar’s first ever Olympic medal today in the men’s 96kg weightlifting – and it was gold. He pushed the extravagantly-named Keydomar Giovanni Vallenilla Sanchez into second place (the Venezuelan was pushing through a knee injury and said he “turned off my pain emotions and turned on my other emotions” to do so), with Georgia’s Anton Pliesnoi getting the bronze.
As the sun began to rise on a blistering Tokyo morning, one of Britain’s most popular athletes, Jonny Brownlee, stood on the podium cradling his first gold medal like a newborn after finally ending his Olympic jinx. As it set, Team GB’s biggest track and field star Dina Asher-Smith broke down after revealing her secret injury heartache. In between, another day of seesawing drama played out again.
But when the dust had settled, Britain was proudly celebrating two more golds in triathlon and swimming, another couple of bronze-plated medals in boxing and windsurfing, with the alluring promise of more riches to come.
Much more here:
Related: Praise and pain in another day of drama for Team GB’s young squad
Athletics: Dina Asher-Smith did pretty well, all things considered, to keep it together for the opening minute and seven seconds of a startlingly raw post-race debrief in the bowels of the Olympic Stadium, and fresh from elimination in the semi-final of the 100 metres.
The past five weeks have, it turns out, been an extraordinary story of cloak and dagger rehab for the fastest British woman ever to take to the track. On 26 June Asher-Smith felt a pop in her hamstring en route to winning the Team GB trials in Manchester in a time of 10.97sec. As she told the gathered journalists in that Tokyo hanger, “You were all looking at the clock, you didn’t know what the story was.”
Much more here:
Related: Dina Asher-Smith’s extraordinary tale of desperate dash for Olympic fitness
Stephen Francis, who coached Elaine Thompson-Herah to a second Olympic 100m gold, and previously helped Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce to gold in 2008 and 2012 (she got a new coach last year), has been speaking about his athlete’s performance, which he described as “almost perfect”. “I think she was a bit hesitant at the start, but the middle part was as I had wanted it to be,” he said. As for where this achievement sits in his personal pantheon, he told the Jamaican Gleaner: “Well I mean I’ve won many of them. I think this is the fourth one, it’s obviously satisfying, but sometimes we don’t really spend much time looking back, rather we try and see how we can get on in the future.”
Now Thompson-Herah turns her focus onto the 200m. “I’m not one to do time predictions,” he said. “Let’s say that my expectations are the same as they were for the 100m. I have said she’s in good shape, so my expectations are no different, but I’m not going to say what is my expectation.”
Hello world! I join you at a time of great excitement! Sure, it’s about 2am in Tokyo and nothing’s happening any time soon, but that leaves us free to let anticipation run wild ahead of yet another packed day of stuff tomorrow. Here are some of the medals that will be handed out on Sunday:
BMX Freestyle (men and women) – in which people do stuff on bikes that really shouldn’t be done, either on bikes or anywhere else. I mean, look at this dude. This is definitely not how I was taught to ride a bicycle. I’ve checked the Highway Code, and this kind of nonsense is nowhere to be seen.
Sayōnara. And on that bombshell, I’ll bid you all good day and hand over to Simon Burnton. If you, like Anis, feel your country’s achievements has been overlooked or not been given the credit they deserve, feel free to let him know and I’m sure he’ll be only too happy to rectify the situation.
An email: “Updates from the badminton section,” writes Anis Aslaam. “Malaysia have got a bronze medal via the third place playoff in the men’s doubles category. Finally, we’re joining our Southeast Asian brethren Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines in the medals chart. Here’s hoping for more in the remaining seven days.”
Athletics: In breaking Florence Griffith-Joyner’s Olympic record, Elaine Thompson-Herah has begun the process of removing a long-standing millstone around women’s sprinting,” writes Andy Bull.
Related: Great Jamaicans start to shift their sport out of Flo-Jo’s shadow
Athletics: Jamaican long jumper Tajay Gayle qualified for the final with his third jump despite being in obvious discomfort from a knee injury he’d suffered upon landing in his previous attempt.
With his knee heavily strapped, the 2019 World Champion pulled an impressive effort measuring 8.14 metres out of the bag but appeared to further exacerbate his injury in doing so. WHether or not he will be fit enough to compete in Monday’s final remains to be seen.
Steven Bloor has been busy in his dark room, dipping bits of paper in chemicals and hanging them up to dry in order to present his favourite photos from the day’s action for your viewing pleasure.
Related: Tokyo Olympics 2020: day eight – in pictures
Late to today’s party? Martin Belam is here with the latest piping hot edition of his Tokyo 2020 Daily Briefing, bringing you all the news that’s fit to print and a little that probably isn’t. If you’re not already a subscriber, you can register here for free.
What are you waiting for?
Related: Tokyo 2020 Olympics briefing: mixed relays and mixed emotions
Men’s golf: The fourth and final round of takes place on Sunday with USA golfer Xander Schauffele in the lead on 14 under after 54 holes at Kasumigaseki Country Club. He leads Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (-13) England’s Paul Casey (-12) and Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz (-12). Rory McIlroy (Ireland), Sebastian Munoz (Columbia), Mito Pereira (Chile) and Sepp Straka (Austria) are all a further shot back on -11.
Athletics: Alongside Jemma Reekie and Alex Bell, 19-year-old Keely Hodgkinson from Wigan was one of three Brits to qualify for Tuesday’s women’s 800m final.
“I’m happy – I’m really happy, happy for the girls as well,” she said. “Three out of three, definitely history being made here right now, so a big thumbs up from me.
Athletics: Team GB’s Daryll Neita spoke after her eighth place finish in the women’s 100m final and was extremely hard on herself.
“That wasn’t good, I’m so disappointed,” she said of her performance. “I’m not happy with that, not happy with that at all. That’s not what I came here to do. I need to go away and sort a few things.
Women’s tennis: In all the excitement, I seem to have overlooked the women’s tennis final … so humble apologies to Belinda Bencic from all at Guardian Towers for failing to mention her gold medal-winning performance.
The 24-year-old ninth seed from Switzerland battled to a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Marketa Vondrousova to continue a dream week in Tokyo and follow in the footsteps of her male compatriots Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, who won gold in men’s doubles in 2008, and 1992 singles champion Marc Rosset.
Men’s 100m: Running from lane one in the final heat, Australia’s Rohan Browning stopped the clock in 10.01 seconds – a personal best. He beat a stunned Yohan Blake, a former 100m world champion and relay teammate of Usain Bolt, to guarantee a spot in tomorrow’s semi-finals. Kieran Pender listened ion on his post-race musings …
Related: ‘The world’s best are on my hitlist’: Browning sprinting into history books
Men’s basketball: Despite an early setback, the Americans are headed to the quarter-finals at the Tokyo Games with a shot of being good as gold once again. Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, Kevin Durant added 23 and set a pair of USA Basketball men’s Olympic records, and the US defeated the Czechs 119-84 on Saturday to clinch a berth in the knockout stage.
Related: ‘Losing helps you grow’: US men recover to make basketball quarter-finals
Beach volleyball: The last 16 fixtures in men’s and women’s Olympic beach volleyball were decided on Saturday after the final round of pool matches, while select third-placed teams qualified via the lucky loser playoffs at Shiokaze Park.
With the majority of the top two teams from the six pools qualifying for the knockouts over the last two days, the best third-placed teams discovered if they were guaranteed automatic qualification or moved into the playoffs.
An email: “Will Michael Phelps record of 28 Olympic medals – 23 gold, three silver and two bronze – ever be broken?” asks Kurt Perleberg. Well Kurt, I would say that depends entirely on the answer to that other great imponderable: “Will there ever be a boy born who can swim faster than a shark?”
Some correspondence: “We definitely need to stop referring to his Lordship as anything other than ‘Diby Jones’ (sic) from now on,” writes Sean Clayton. “And if he’s offended by Alex Scott, Dibbers is going to have an aneurysm if he ever hears Clinton Morrison.”
Women’s rugby sevens: As well as winning a gold medal today, New Zealand’s Ruby Tui became quite the viral sensation yesterday following a pitchside interview with BBC’s Jill Douglas in which she came across as … well, the kind of generous, upbeat, cheerful person you’d really just love to be friends with. The video in question is below, while you can read an indepth interview with Ruby in The Australian Women’s Weekly by clicking on this link. Suffice to say, she’s had an interesting, if not always easy life.
Ruby Tui take a bow, that’s how you nail a post match interview…. I challenge you to listen to this and not want to be her mate. Loved it @JillADouglas pic.twitter.com/saAqlIXIXa
Broadcasting: No stranger to tedious abuse on social media, Alex Scott’s apparently poor elocution came under fire from Sir Digby Jones on Twitter. The former England international turned TV presenter and pundit has blasted back with both barrels, saying she is proud of her working class roots.
Enough! I can’t stand it anymore! Alex Scott spoils a good presentational job on the BBC Olympics Team with her very noticeable inability to pronounce her ‘g’s at the end of a word.Competitors are NOT taking part, Alex, in the fencin, rowin, boxin, kayakin, weightliftin & swimmin
Related: BBC’s Alex Scott ‘proud’ of working class accent after peer’s elocution jibe
Women’s hockey: Ireland ease out of competition with Great Britain defeat. Or, to put it another way …
Related: Team GB: Women’s hockey team ease into quarter-finals with Ireland win
Women’s hockey: The quarter-final line-ups are complete after the last of today’s pool matches. The following matches will take place on Monday …
Women’s rugby sevens: Portia Woodman and her New Zealand team-mates put the disappointment of their final defeat at the hands of Australia in Rio behind them by taking gold this time around with a 26-12 win over France.
“Looking back on Rio, that emotion of scoring the last try but still not being able to win the game, crying underneath the posts, is definitely one that I’ve looked back on,” said the 30-year-old. “But now it’s gone.”
Related: US anti-doping chief dismisses Russian Olympic ban as a ‘farce’
Men’s tennis: Novak Djokovic will leave the Tokyo Olympics without a medal after falling in the men’s bronze medal match 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3 to Pablo Carreño Busta of Spain, capping a painful 24 hours during which he lost three matches before giving a walkover in the mixed doubles bronze medal match to Ashleigh Barty and John Peers, writes Tumaini Carayol from Tokyo.
Related: Pablo Carreño Busta sends Novak Djokovic home from Tokyo without a medal
Athletics: In a tearful interview given to the BBC a couple of hours ago, Dina Asher-Smith revealed that she has been nursing a serious hamstring injury for the past four weeks. It hampered her efforts to qualify for the final of the women’s 100m final and has now prompted her to pull out of the 200m.
Related: Dina Asher-Smith pulls out of Olympic 200m due to hamstring injury
Women’s football: Having had a day to mull over Team GB’s exit at the hands of Australia, Suzanne Wrack has concluded that the familiar failings of a largely English team were to blame despite the best efforts of their star goalscorer Ellen White. Read on …
Related: Team GB’s footballers undone by flaws familiar to England supporters
Related: Team GB win triathlon relay as Jonny Brownlee ends jinx and finally gets gold
Related: Elaine Thompson-Herah takes stunning Olympic gold in women’s 100m
Women’s hockey: The Irish team is out after a 2-0 loss to defending champions Great Britain in their final Pool A game at the Oi Stadium. The British advance to the quarter-finals.
Daryll Neita speaks: “It’s obviously great to make the Olympic final but I came here with that ambition and nothing less,” she tells the BBC after finishing eighth in a time of 11.12sec. “This performance is not ideal for me and it doesn’t represent where I’m at all but I mean, it’s an Olympic final.
“Yeah, I’m just still processing. I’ve ticked a lot of boxes for myself this year and coming into these championships. It’s the Olympics, I made the final where anything could happen but it wasn’t the race I wanted. It’s still a major achievement regardless.”
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce speaks: “It wasn’t the best [opening]30 because I had a stumble at the third step and I never recovered from it,” she tells the BBC. “But nevertheless I’m grateful to be able to come out here and represent the gift what God has given me. I’m just excited because mainly as a mother … and my fourth Olympic Games … to be able to stand on the podium again is just a tremendous honour.
“I’m hoping that wherever in the world, mothers, athletes, females … we understand that there is so much more we can achieve. I’m hoping that they draw some inspiration from this.”
Elaine Thompson-Hera is a double Olympic champion. “It was never in doubt,” says Denise Lewis in the BBC studio. “She got an amazing start and executed that race to perfection,” adds Michael Johnson. I think – subject to confirmation – that Great Britain’s Daryll Neita finished last of the eight finalists.
Elaine Thomson-Hera wins the women’s 100m: She sets an Olkympic record in a time of 10.61sec, a new Olympoic record. She looked home and hosed by the 50-metre mark and to say Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce looks gutted would be a considerable understatement. She and Jackson offer their congratulations to Thompson-Herah … eventually, but it’s very muted. There is clearly no love lost between them.
The Jamiacan wins, with her compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in second and Shericka Jackson in third. It’s a Jamaican one-two-three.
The introductions are over and the race is about to begin.
We’re just moments away from the women’s 100m final, from which Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith will be conspicuous by her absence. Following her failure to qualify for the final, a tearful Dina announced she would be pulling out of the 200m because of a hamstring injury. But enough about who won’t be competing in this final, here are the eight ladies who will be there.
Relay specialists Poland celebrate victory in a time of 3min 09.87sec. The Dominican Republic finish second ahead of the USA. Both Great Britain and Ireland looked to be well down the field. Germany crashed out after losing their baton in a handover collision.
Mixed 4x400m relay: The Dutch hand over first with Great Britain and Ireland both struggling after the first leg. The Dominican Republic take over in the lead following their reinstatement.
Mixed 4x400m relay: The teams are being introduced for the mixed 4x400m relay final, where Ireland, Great Britain, the USA and Australia are among the representatives. All nine teams are going in the following order: man-woman-woman-man.
Men’s discus: Em, it would appear the men’s discus may have got away from me. Matthew Denny misses out on a medal despite throwing a personal best of 67m 02cm. Sweden’s Daniel Stahl takes the gold with a throw of 68m 90cm, his compatriot Simon Pettersson makes it a one-two for Sweden by claiming the silver ahead of Austria’s Lukas Weishaidinger. “I’M A SWEDISH VIKING!!!” roars Stahl as he’s congratulated by his team-mate.
Men’s discus: Australia’s Matthew Denny leads the field after the first round of the first field final of these Games.
Men’s football: Hosts Japan have edged out New Zealand 4-2 in a penalty shootout to reach the men’s semi-finals, while Spain survived a scare in an extra-time win over Ivory Coast.
Kon’nichiwa everybody. You join me just as Great Britain get their third competitor into the women’s 800m final. Keely Hodgkinson will join her team-mates Jemma Reekie and Alex Bell in Tuesday’s showdown. Well done to them.
It’s been another fun day. That’s enough from me, Barry Glendenning will be your next guide through the catacombs of sport.
Here’s our full story on Dina Asher-Smith.
Related: Dina Asher-Smith pulls out of Olympic 200m due to hamstring injury
How many ways are there to stab someone? Lots. That’s why we have so many fencing events. The Russians get the job done 45-41 over France.
Boxing: Missed this earlier, but Great Britain’s Karriss Artingstall missed out on proceeding to a gold medal bout, instead taking bronze against Japan’s Sena Irie in the women’s featherweight earlier. Very close: split decision, one point difference with each judge, three judges went with the Japanese boxer.
Athletics: Got the qualifiers for the men’s long jump final, too. Tajay Gayle the world champ looks in trouble though, he’s injured his knee and had it heavily strapped. Landed badly on one jump, seemed to get his foot jammed in the sand and maybe hyperextended the joint? So there’s a lot of doubt about whether he can come good for the final.
Cuba: Juan Miguel ECHEVARRIA
Spain: Eusebio CACERES
Sweden: Thobias MONTLER
Jamaica: Tajay GAYLE
China: Changzhou HUANG
Italy: Filippo RANDAZZO
Finland: Kristian PULLI
Germany: Fabian HEINLE
USA: Juvaughn HARRISON
Greece: Miltiadis TENTOGLOU
Japan: Yuki HASHIOKA
Cuba: Maykel MASSO
Athletics: Rohan Browning has just produced the run of his life! A personal best of 10.01, and first place in the heat. This sort of thing doesn’t happen very often. Australia doesn’t have much form producing sprinters. But Browning in Lane 1 goes out hard, takes it up to Yohan Blake in the middle, and beats the Jamaican who used to take it up to Usain Bolt. You could see Blake looking across in surprise to see someone coming up the inside rail. He runs 10.06 to qualify second, while GB’s Chijindu Ujah runs 10.08 in third.
That’s heat seven, and done.
Here’s what Dina Asher-Smith had to say on television in an emotional address, at one point pausing while in tears.
“In the trials final I actually pulled my hamstring at 60 metres. I was initially told in Manchester that it was a rupture, and I would require surgery, and it would take three to four months to get back. It’s been a lot to deal with because that diagnosis, you’re like, yeah I just can’t go to Tokyo. We had this whole statement ready to go. But then I thankfully went and got a second opinion. It was a slight misdiagnosis, even though there was still quite a major tear, it wasn’t a rupture. So we turned over every single stone to make sure that I could stand on the line.
“I think the most frustrating thing for me was the fact that I was in really good shape, I was in the shape of my life, and I can say that with my hands on my heart about six weeks ago I was very confident I was gonna win this, because I knew that every part of my race, my start, my transition and my finish was better than some of the fastest women in the world.
“I’m really proud to have been able to execute my races here today and I’m really proud of everything that I’ve done to this point, but when you’re talking about the standard that I want to be, that I know I’m capable of. There’s plenty more championships for me to come and kill. We’re in the middle of a four to five year cycle. And yes, I got a hamstring tear at the most inconvenient time, but it doesn’t really change the fact of the calibre of athlete I actually am.”
Athletics: Another qualifier from South Africa in the men’s 100 metres, Akani Simbine in a cruisy 10.08. Arthur Cisse gets Cote d’Ivoire a spot in 10.15, and Paulo Andre Camilo from Brazil in 10.17.
It sounds like Asher-Smith has had a bad hamstring tear for the past four weeks and has been trying to run through it. The timing of that, having waited five years for this Olympics, is hard to fathom.
Massive news, huge blow for Great Britain’s campaign. Asher-Smith has just told BBC radio that she’s pulling out of her pet 200 metres event. Says that she has a hamstring injury from before the games and can’t make it work. She did run the 100 metres heats an hour or so ago, and didn’t look entirely comfortable, but still turned in a pretty fast time. That’s very sad.
Athletics: Reece Prescod for Great Britain gets a reprieve for a false start in heat five: he didn’t visibly break, but the weight sensor in the starting blocks says his foot lifted 0.093 seconds after the bell. They give a green card as a warning.
Then there’s another false start, this time Divine Oduduru of Nigeria. Same thing, slight movement, barely visible. But he gets disqualified. So what is the reasoning here? His reaction time was 0.096, slower than Prescod’s. But Oduduru is shown the red card.
Here’s Kieran Pender on Ash Barty’s bronze.
Related: Ash Barty and John Peers win mixed doubles bronze after Serbian walkover
Finally, someone can withstand Japan in a gold judo match. It ends up 4-1 in the teams final, with the sixth bout not required.
The winning team is Clarisse Agbegnenou, Axel Clerget, Romane Dicko, Teddy Riner, Sarah Leonie Cysique, Guillaume Chaine.
Athletics: Lamont Marcell Jacobs sets a new Italian record while winning the third 100m heat in 9.94. The young Jamaican Oblique Seville runs second in a personal best of 10.04, with Shaun Maswanganganyi of South Africa qualifying in 10.12.
Much slower in the fourth heat, another South African in Gift Leotela winning in 10.04. The powerful Chinese running Bingtian Su eases up at the end after leading and is happy to come in second in 10.05. Jason Rogers representing St Kitts and Nevis qualifies third.
Baseball: The USA have come back with a couple of home runs in the fourth to lead Korea 2-1.
Football: Japan and New Zealand have gone to extra time in the men’s quarter finals and still nary a goal to be found. Brazil lead Egypt 1-0, and Korea-Mexico is scoreless.
Athletics: The men’s 100m heats start up. Ronnie Baker wins the first in 10.03 for the USA. Jimmy Vicaut of France second and Usheoritse Itsekiri of Nigera third. They’re the automatic qualifiers.
Another Nigerian gets through to win the second heat, Enoch Adegoke in a personal best of 9.98. His first time in three figures. Massive boilover though, because USA’s Trayvon Bromell has slumped to fourth. He’s routinely run times under 10 seconds but gets through today in 10.05. Beaten by Qatar’s Femi Ogunde and Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain.
Football: Speaking of Cote d’Ivoire, they’ve had a spectacular implosion in their quarter final. They went ahead 2-1 in the 91st minute, then not only let in a goal after that to take the match to extra time, but ended up losing 5-2. Rafa Mir scored a hat-trick that started after 93 minutes of play!
Lane 2: Darryl Neita (GBR)
Lane 3: Teahna Daniels (USA)
Lane 3: Elaine Thompson-Herah (JAM)
Lane 4: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (JAM)
Lane 5: Marie-Josee Ta Lou (CIV)
Lane 6: Jackson Shericka (JAM)
Lane 7: Ajla del Ponte (SUI)
Lane 8: Mujinga Kambundji (SUI)
Three Jamaicans and two Swiss, interesting there. One each for the Brits, the US and Cote d’Ivoire.
For all of our GB readers invested in that country’s queen of the track, she’s missed out by five hundredths of a second. Ran the 10th-fastest time across the three semis.
Heat 3
Jamaica: Shelly-Ann FRASER-PRYCE 10.73
Switzerland: Mujinga KAMBUNDJI 10.96
USA: Teahna DANIELS 10.98 PB
Great Britain: Daryll NEITA 11.00
Nigeria: Nzubechi Grace NWOKOCHA 11.07
Gambia: Gina BASS 11.16
Cote d’Ivoire: Murielle AHOURE 11.28
Italy: Anna BONGIORNI 11.38
… and she qualifies fastest! Runs through in 10.73, no one anywhere near her, her bright yellow and red hair streaming out behind her.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is in the third heat…
Heat 2: women’s 100m
Cote d’Ivoire: Marie-Josee TA LOU 10.79 (.784)
Jamaica: Shericka JACKSON 10.79 (.787)
Trinidad & Tobago: Michelle-Lee AHYE 11.00
Germany: Alexandra BURGHARDT 11.07
USA: Javianne OLIVER 11.08
Canada: Crystal EMMANUEL 11.21
China: Manqi GE 11.22
Great Britain: Asha PHILIP 11.30
Athletics: Ta Lou and Jackson is an absolute ding-dong battle at the front! They were way ahead of the pack but were locked in with each other. Jackson was hanging on and hanging on. They end up clocking the same two-digit time – 10.79 – though Ta Lou shades her on the deeper decimals by three thousands of a second. Y’know, sprint things.
Shericka Jackson of Jamaica, GB’s Asha Philip, Cote d’Ivoire’s Marie Josee Ta Lou in this second heat…
Heat 1: women’s 100m
Jamaica: Elaine THOMPSON-HERAH: 10.76
Switzerland: Ajla del PONTE 11.01
Great Britain: Dina ASHER-SMITH 11.05
USA: Jenna PRANDINI 11.11
Canada: Khamica BINGHAM 11.22
Bahamas: Tynia GAITHER 11.31
Germany: Tatjana PINTO Tatjana 11.35
The first two qualify, the others will have to wait and see what comes next.
Athletics: The Jamaican runs 10.76 to come in first. Flies through her first 50, burns off the rest of the field in the second half. Asher-Smith was in second for a lot of the race but got reeled in by del Ponte of Switzerland.
Dina-Asher Smith smiles and blows kisses as the camera pans past her. Looks comfortable.
Athletics: We’re about to start the women’s 100 metres semi-finals on the track. Three races, 23 spots after a drug violation ban took out one racer earlier today, coming down to eight for the final.
Baseball: Interesting start with Korea leading the USA 1-0 in the first inning.
Football: Meanwhile, Japan and New Zealand are still 0-0 in their match, into the second half. Same score for Brazil and Egypt who just started.
Football: Good Lord! Max Gradel of Cote d’Ivoire scored a deadlock-breaker in the first minute of injury time against Spain. Then Rafa Mir equalised in the 93rd minute! We’re into extra time for this quarter final.
Judo: Israel win the other bronze medal in the mixed teams event over the Secret Russians, 4-1.
Rugby sevens: We missed the bronze match earlier, but when Fiji beat Great Britain 21-12 they became the first women from Fiji to take home a chunk of Olympic metal. They also took a knee on the podium while receiving their medals to support Black Lives Matter.
“This team had zero funding and had to use second hand kit and equipment for their training,” a correspondent from Fiji tells me. “They haven’t seen their families for months.They really deserved this.”
The women of the brilliant Fiji women’s team each taking the knee here while receiving bronze medals. The first Fiji women to medal at any Olympics #fij #olympics #Rugby pic.twitter.com/sBTjTiiGnb
Basketball: The gulf opens up in the end, Australia pushing out to 89-76 with 30 seconds to go. There’s a timeout, not sure which team called for it, but the scores don’t change thereafter. Australia top Group C with three wins from three.
“Morning, Geoff!” writes Ladka Lal from somewhere where it must be morning. “Carreno Busta of course was the opponent when Djokovic was disqualified in Flushing Meadows last year. Has a decent record all things considered. Played great.”
Sure did.
Basketball: The Boomers blow their lead out to 11 points, game-high, though Voigtmann whittles it back with a couple of free throws.
Basketball: Time out for Germany at 81-72 down, after Mills charges in, draws three defenders, and feeds through a pass for Kay to make a close-range basket.
Basketball: Goulding misses a three, but takes a rebound at the other end, before being subbed off for Dante Exum. It’s 72-67 to the Boomers. Mills and Ingles trading passes before Mills drains a step-back three. 75-67.
Basketball: Joe Ingles drops a three to start the fourth quarter, taking the Boomers out to a 10-point buffer. Danilo Barthel spins into a layup at the other end for two, and makes a free throw for another. Then starts a counterattack, lays off to Giffey for a three-pointer that cuts the gap to 4. Ingles makes another three from the top of the arc to respond. Back out to 7.
Tennis: I did wonder how this would work – Djokovic was scheduled to play the mixed doubles bronze match with Nina Stojanovic later today against the Australian pair. Would have been the first time that two World No1 players had faced off since Serena Williams and Lleyton Hewitt in a mixed doubles match in 2003. But after his long singles bout Djokovic has pulled out. No medal chance for his partner, and Barty won’t come home emptyhanded after her surprise early singles loss.
Basketball: Ticking down towards the end of the third quarter and Australia still holds that 4-point lead over Germany. It’s 57-61.
Football: 68 minutes on the clock and still 1-1 between Spain and Cote d’Ivoire men.
A penalty for New Zealand near the French try line with seconds to go, and they form a scrum as the clock ticks down. They get the ball out, kick it into touch, and win the match over France 26-12.
Another big prize for New Zealand rugby, and there are tears out there as the teammates embrace one another.
Basketball: Half time for Australia, leading Germany 44-40 in the men’s competition. The Aussies started strong with 10 points to nothing before the Germans reeled off 9 in a row. Pretty even at the break. Australia are second in Group B on 4 points, Germany third on 3. This is a pretty relaxed qualification process, with three groups of four playing off, but eight of them going through to quarters.
I cannot tell you why, but teams get two points for a win and one point for a loss. So Italy lead the group with five points (two wins, one loss). Australia would tie the group three ways with a loss here, bringing in points difference and head-to-head to decide the qualification. Much more simple, they can lead the group with a win.
Judo: Germany win the mixed team bronze over Netherlands, 4-2. There’s another bronze up for grabs from the other half of the draw, with Israel and the Home Brand Russians.
Football: Quarter-finals, baby. All level in the second half for Spain and Cote d’Ivoire, 1-1 with Dani Olmo and Eric Bailly the scorers. New Zealand and Japan started half an hour ago and no one has scored.
Carreno Busta is in tears on the court. Djokovic has already left, and the Spanish player is sitting out there alone, head in hands, weeping and weeping, shaking. It’s such a strange and sad and lonely thing: there is no crowd to applaud, no friends in the stands to go and hug. Just one player, alone with what he’s achieved.
Tennis: An ace for Carreno Busta to gain the advantage, then an unforced error on the forehand to go back to deuce. Three match points that Djokovic has saved now, with one in the previous set. He faces a fourth, as Carreno Busta grabs the line serving across court and Djokovic’s video challenge fails. But his point-save doesn’t fail, dragging his opponent very wide in a rally and beating him.
Fifth match point, as CB serves wide and Djokovic drags it back into the net. Saves this match point, with a huge forehand that just catches the sideline near the baseline.
Tennis: Carreno Busta serves big, very wide, and Djokovic can only get a sliver of racquet on it. Gets a look at a second serve for the following point, and sets up an extended rally, then Djokovic produces a perfect drop shot, making the Spaniard scramble to get it over, at which point Djokovic lobs him and lands it right on the baseline to make the game 15-15.
Another long rally, and again Djokovic sets it up, runs Carreno Busta around the baseline, then comes to the net and puts away a smash.
Tennis: Djokovic wins a service game to love, but still trails 5-3 in the third set. Carreno Busta will serve for a medal.
Judo: Theresa Stoll gets a golden-score win over Sanne Verhagen, taking the Germans ahead 3-2 with one bout to go, the 73kg blokes.
Judo: It’s also amazing how much judo looks like really unskilled drunk fighting sometimes. “Come here, you. I said… cmere. I’ll grab your jacket. I grab you jacket. Stop moving. Stop moving! We goin on the floor.”
Judo: I love the bit where the referee does the a-ram-sam-sam arm movement. Not sure what it means but points for style.
Tennis: Busta move! Carreno Busta has opened up a break on Djokovic, he’s leading 4-1 now in the third set.
Judo: Mixed teams judo, what a thing. Six different judoka, three men and three women. Big judo teams from Netherlands and Germany, who knew? A giant bald man named Henk Grol, this is fantastic. The only disappointment is that all 12 fighters don’t just pile into the arena at the same time. Instead they fight one on one.
This bronze medal bout is tied at 2-2 with two fights left.
Rugby sevens: Australia lead the USA 10-0 in the second period of their women’s match for fifth and sixth spots, but with a couple of minutes left Naya Tapper produces a brilliant run down the sideline, breaks two tackles, and produces a one-handed offload for Kriste Kirshe to score. They convert, close it to 7-10, and have a chance at a win. Demi Hayes eventually shuts the door on that with a try for Australia. They win 17-7.
Beach volleyball: One of my favourite things about this wondrous sport: the playoff process where third-placed teams in the group can qualify for the final 16 is called Lucky Loser. It sounds like a David Spade movie.
Miki Ishii and Megumi Murakami are the home team taking on Spaniards Liliana Fernandez Steiner and Elsa Baquerizo McMillan.
Big news on the doping front.
Related: Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare out of women’s 100m semis after doping ban
Shooting: Nina Christen takes out the prize at the range, with an Olympic record of 463.9. The Russians Yulia Zykova and Yulia Karimova take silver and bronze. Seonaid McIntosh for Great Britain finished 14th.
Tennis: Novak Djokovic has won the second-set tiebreak 7-6 against Pablo Carrena Busta, and now we’ll go into the format that they use at the Olympics, where third sets are 10-point tiebreakers. Bronze medal on the line. No, scrap that, it’s a proper third set for the medal match.
Mauro Nespoli shoots an 8 to finish but raises a clenched fist with a big smile in celebration of his silver medal. The young Mete Gazoz, looking like a bookish kid who has wandered out of the library, celebrates with his coach. The final archery event is top quality.
Archery: It comes down to the fifth set, then. Gazoz starts with a 9 that is only millimetres from a 10. Nespoli misses wide with an 8! Huge opening for Gazoz, who hits a 10 to lead. Nespoli does the same to respond. It’s 18-19 to the Turkish archer, who shoots for the match…
and scores a 10!
Archery: Duelling 10s to start the fourth set, duelling 9s to follow. They’re 19 apiece. Gazoz hits the middle once more, finding his range. So does Nespoli! Under pressure, you could see the look on his face, had to nail that and he did. They split the set at 29 apiece, and all up they’re level on set points 4-4.
Archery: Gazoz fires high for a 9, then lands another 10. Nespoli goes 9 first up but misses for his first 8 of the day. Gazoz though errs in the same way, but hits a 9 to finish and win his first set.
Archery: Gazoz shoots first again, and again starts with a 9. Hasn’t hit the centre of the board yet. Nespoli drags low and left for a 9, and Gazoz responds with his first 10 of the day. Nespoli matches it, then Gazoz very nearly hits an 8 but just gets a bit of the line to keep it at 9. Nespoli hits a similar shot, and the set is tied.
Tennis: The second set between Djokovic and Carreno Busta is 6-6, so we’re off to a tiebreak.
Archery: Gazoz opens proceedings and lands a 9. Nespoli sneaks in a 10. Gazoz fires just as the time limit buzzer goes, and drifts wide for an 8, opening things up for Nespoli who nails another 10. Gazoz shoots a 9, and Nespoli only needs a 7 to take the set. He shoots a 9.
Archery: The gold medal bout is about to begin between Mauro Nespoli of Italy and Mete Gazoz of Turkey.
Archery: The bronze medal goes to Takaharu Furukawa in the men’s individual, beating Chih-Chun Tang of Taipei by shooting a 10 with his very last arrow. Another one for Japan, they’re swimming in medals.
In the mixed doubles bronze medal match when Novak Djokovic-Nina Stojanovic play Ash Barty-John Peers it will be the first time singles world No1’s square off since Serena Williams and Lleyton Hewitt were across the net from one another in the 2003 Hopman Cup final.
Tennis: Djokovic is leading 5-4 now in the second set, with games still on serve.
Water polo: Croatia and Serbia are in the pool for the big Balkan men’s match. Winner comes second in their group behind Spain. And it looks like Croatia will get the chocolates. They’re leading 14-12 with just over a minute to go, but Serbia have just scored a goal.
The Dutch surfer Kiran Badloe, resplendent with his bright blue forelock and bleached crewcut, wins the RS:X event.
Tennis: Djokovic burns through a service game to move to 4-3, after Carreno Busta took a couple of deuce points to hold his serve in the previous game.
Tennis: There will be no Golden Slam this year for Novak Djokovic, who is currently playing off for one of the bronze medals in the men’s singles. He lost the first set to Pablo Carreno Busta, and it’s 3-3 with games on serve in the second. Djokovic is playing nicely enough but is pretty flat in demeanour.
Hello all, wherever you may be around the world. We’re deep into the Olympics now, the middle laps of the 1500 if you will, and we’ve settled into our pace. Keeping track of all that’s going on. Coming up I’ve got:
That is all from me. Enjoy the rest of the day’s action. I’ll now leave you in the capable hands of Geoff Lemon.
Table tennis is a criminally overlooked, undervalued sport. In most other sports, an athlete who competed in Sydney and is still going in Tokyo would be a household name. Not Australia’s Jian Fang Lay. But that could be about to change.
Related: Jian Fang Lay becomes cult figure of Australian table tennis at sixth Olympics | Kieran Pender
Diving: Australia’s Esther Qin has dropped down to 13th place in the women’s 3m springboard semi-finals after a poor 51.15 dive in the second of five rounds.
Qin’s countrywoman, Anabelle Smith, continues to show among the leading group after following up her opening 65.10 effort with a 63.00 dive in the second round. Malaysia’s Nur Dhabitah Sabri, Germany’s Tina Punzel and the Netherlands’ Inge Jansen are well placed at the top of the rankings. But there is a long way to go.
Some Covid-related goings-on in Tokyo. This from the good folk at Reuters:
Tokyo Olympics organisers said on Saturday they had revoked accreditation of a Games-related person or people for leaving the athletes’ village for sightseeing, a violation of measures imposed to hold the Olympics safely amid the pandemic.
The organisers did not disclose how many people had their accreditation revoked, if the person or people involved were athletes, or when the violation took place.
“We took away accreditation as we believe going out of the athletes’ village for sightseeing is something that should not happen,” Tokyo 2020 spokesperson Masa Takaya told a daily briefing.
This is the first time accreditation has been revoked since the start of the Tokyo Olympics on July 23. Without it, one cannot enter any Olympic facilities, he said. Residents of the athletes’ village are not allowed to go out for non-Games related purposes, such as sightseeing.
Trampoline: China’s Dong Dong fell just short in his bid to add Tokyo gold to his Beijing bronze, London gold and Rio silver, finishing second to Ivan Litvinovich of Belarus in the men’s final at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. New Zealand’s Dylan Schmidt won bronze but there was no podium finish for Australia’s Dominic Clarke.
Dong Dong wins silver!
The #CHN gymnast is the first athlete in history to win four trampoline medals after placing second in the men’s individual event.@gymnastics #TrampolineGymnastics pic.twitter.com/YlaScQ4FCf
Sailing: Team GB’s Emma Wilson has claimed bronze in the women’s windsurfer RS:X final. China’s Yunxiu Lu won the gold medal with France’s Charline Picon taking silver.
Emma Wilson earns #GBR a bronze medal in the women’s windsurfer RS:X!@WorldSailing #Sailing @TeamGB pic.twitter.com/POxoQpmMrF
Diving: Australia’s Esther Qin and Annabelle Smith are impressing in the early stages of the women’s 3m springboard semi-finals.
With the first of five rounds almost complete, Qin is leading the way with a 69.00 dive, with Smith not far behind with a score of 65.10.
Trampoline: the bounce-off for the men’s gold medal is up, up, up and away at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. Just four routines in, ROC’s Dmitrii Ushakov is setting the pace with a score of 59.601. Australia’s Dominic Clarke is to come.
I wonder how Bollo would get on in this event.
Some good news: American BMX racer Connor Fields is out of intensive care after yesterday’s heavy crash that saw him suffer a brain hemorrhage.
Related: American BMX racer Connor Fields out of ICU after suffering brain bleed in crash
Basketball: the preliminary stages continue in the men’s competition and France have consolidated their spot atop Group A of with a 79-62 victory over the Islamic Republic of Iran. In Group B, with five or so minutes remaining in the third quarter, Italy and Nigeria are locked at 46 points apiece.
Later this evening, Australia will be looking to keep their unbeaten record intact when they face Group B opponents Germany.
When Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus won the women’s 400m freestyle at Tokyo 2020 on Monday, her coach Dean Boxall went viral with his exuberant celebration. The world watched on as Boxall jumped and gyrated with joy.
Earlier today, after winning her fourth medal of the Tokyo 2020 swim meet, Titmus revealed the video had been bringing her joy, too. Asked what the most “fun” part of the week had been, the Australian said she had been watching the video on replay in her room in the athlete’s village.
For those waking from their slumber in Great Britain, here’s an update on the day so far for Team GB:
A NEW WORLD RECORD!
Take a bow @Dawson_Kathleen, @adam_peaty, @Jimbob95goon and @annahopkin #TeamGB pic.twitter.com/YfKP0MPkuj
Thanks Jonathan. Lots to come from hereon but for the pugilists among us, the first medal in boxing at Tokyo 2020 has been won, Italy’s Irma Testa claiming bronze after losing to Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines in the women’s featherweight semi-final.
It’s a bronze medal for #ITA‘s Irma Testa in the women’s featherweight category – the first #Boxing medal of #Tokyo2020!@coninews pic.twitter.com/RRJ8xjZKkj
And with that, I shall bid you farewell for the day. I’ll be back again tomorrow for our final session in the pool. I’ll leave you in the safe hands of Scott Heinrich. See you tomorrow.
Gymnastics – Back to Biles, briefly, here is that video she posted of her demonstrating the “twisties”.
On her IG stories, Simone Biles responds to people who think she “quit” on her team by explaining the “the twisties” she’s been experiencing and what it feels like “not having your mind and body in sync” …. pic.twitter.com/79hN973rkd
Sailing – Or, to be more accurate, we are not sailing, as Rod Stewart might sing in an alternate universe.
After a brief moment of action, the Nacras race was abandoned due to the conditions. The Finns and 49ers wait by the start line.
Gymnastics – This was buried earlier on amongst the swimming mayhem, but Simone Biles has confirmed she is sitting out at least another two apparatus finals.
On Friday, Biles posted a video of her attempting a double twisting double somersault dismount into a foam pit on uneven bars in training that morning. In both videos, she lost track of herself in the air and crashed onto the soft surface. She says that previous mental blocks have taken weeks to resolve and they usually only affect her on the floor and vault. It is currently affecting her twists on all four events.
Related: Simone Biles’ Olympics in doubt as she withdraws from vault and uneven bars
Trampoline – Australian Dominic Clarke is currently in second place behind Uladzislau Hancharou (BLR) in qualification for the final of the men’s individual competition.
Golf: Tomorrow’s final round is going to be superb and hopefully show how the Olympics could feel like a major championship to one of the sports perhaps not yet in the fullest of warm embraces with the Olympic fold.
There’s a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard with Xander Schauffele (USA), Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) and Carlos Ortiz (MEX) all -12 through eight holes in their third rounds. Paul Casey (GBR) and Sepp Straka (AUT) are next on -11, with the Irish pair of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry both on -10. Tommy Fleetwood (GBR) has grown into the tournament steadily and he’s in a four-way tie on -9 in a group featuring Australia’s Cam Smith.
Hockey – Australia’s women have finished top of Pool B with victory over second place Argentina in their final group match. Five from five for the Aussies who are on track for what should be a routine quarterfinal before the competition heats up in the final four.
Shooting – Spain and San Marino will contest the gold medal in the Mixed Team Trap event. Slovakia and the USA will battle for bronze. Australia’s entrants finished in sixth and seventh place.
Archery – The men’s individual competition is down to the quarterfinal stage, and that round will take place without Australian Taylor Worth, who fell 7-1 in his eliminator to Turkey’s Mete Gazoz.
Water Polo – Australia’s men are near-enough out of the Games after being pummelled 16-5 by Spain. The Aussies are fifth in their pool, and require a miracle to make it into the top four with one round of matches remaining. Spain, on the other hand, are four from four.
Sailing: An update on the sailing from Reuters:
Saturday’s Olympic sailing programme at the Enoshima Yachting Harbour is getting underway after a delay due to a lack of wind, with the Nacra and Finn classes heading out on the water and hopes that the RS:X medal races can still be decided on the day.
The day’s forecast from World Sailing predicted very light winds of up to eight knots, with gusts of up to 11 knots, but the early morning brought a mild breeze and calm seas, leading the organisers to postpone the start of competition. The medal races in the men’s and women’s RS:X windsurfing class are due to take place later on Saturday afternoon, but World Sailing officials were unable to say if the winds would be strong enough to proceed.
Athletics: A quick round up of this morning’s heats so far.
BMX Racing: A positive update on Connor Fields (USA) from Reuters:
American BMX racer Connor Fields suffered a brain bleed during a horror crash in Friday’s Olympic event but has been moved out of intensive care, according to his mother Lisa. A message posted on Facebook on Saturday said the 28-year-old, who crashed in the third run of his semi-final heat, was “cogent and communicative when awakened.”
Thanking followers for their “companionship and concern and prayers for Connor”, Lisa Fields updated a previous message in which she said surgery was a possibility. “Latest CT scan shows no additional brain injury and no additional bleeding so he has been transferred from ICU critical care to high level care and does not require surgery at this time,” she wrote.
Golf: The third of round of a golf tournament is known as moving day, and that’s exactly what Paul Casey (GBR) is doing. He is -4 through seven holes to move joint-top of the leaderboard alongside Xander Schauffele (USA) on -11.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama are among a bunch of four one shot behind, then comes Rory McIlroy (IRE) alone on -9. Cameron Smith (AUS) has moved up to -7 for a tie of 11th.
BMX freestyle – for a sport that appears on the face of it to be wildly unpredictable, in that all it takes is one false move for a rider’s hopes and dreams to be shattered, there has been a degree of predictability to the start of the men’s comp at Ariake Urban Sports Park today. The previously mentioned Logan Martin of Australia has lived up to expectations with runs of 91.90 and 90.04 for an average of 90.97 after the seeding ride. That put him at the top of the table ahead of local boy Rim Nakamura (87.67) and Daniel Dhers of Venezuela (85.10). Team GB’s Declan Brooks finished seventh, with American pair Justin Dowell and Nick Bruce eighth and ninth respectively.
Sailing – Not good news for sailing fans, I’m afraid. The start of Saturday’s programme has been postponed due to a lack of wind on the water at Enoshima. There were 13 races supposed to start at just after midday local time, with the first medals in men’s and women’s RS:X class slated to be won later on in the afternoon. The forecast is slightly better – winds of up to eight knots are expected, with gusts of up to 11 knots – but racing will not restart until the winds reach five knots or more.
Pole Vault – 5.65m proved enough to qualify for the men’s pole vault final. Bo Kanda Lita Baehre (GER) and Chris Nilsen (USA) cruised through with three clear jumps. Armand Duplantis (SWE), Kurtis Marschall (AUS), KC Lightfoot (USA), and Renaud Lavillenie (FRA) all through safely. The final is on Tuesday, and should be appointment viewing.
Rugby sevens: New Zealand will take on France in the final of the women’s rugby sevens. The Kiwis needed extra time to pip Fiji 22-17, while France held off Great Britain 26-19. Fiji v GB for bronze.
Emma McKeon earns her fifth medal of the Tokyo Olympics. She should win two more medals tomorrow to become the second woman to win seven medals at an Olympics after Soviet gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya in 1952. (Olympedia)
Swimming – The USA finished a disappointing fifth, denying Caeleb Dressel another medal. Lydia Jacboy (women’s 100m breaststroke gold medalist) lost almost ten seconds on Adam Peaty (men’s 100m breaststroke gold medalist), not helped by losing her goggles early on her opening lap.
@JPHowcroft OK, who messed with Lydia Jacoby’s goggles?
Australian update – Away from the pool there are some Aussies making moves:
Logan with a massive run! Scores 91.90 to lead the field after Seeding run 1 #TokyoTogether #bmxfreestyle @AusCyclingAus pic.twitter.com/8llxxWeD8C
That makes 3 birdies on the bounce for Cam Smith and he is now seven under, 4 shots from the lead at Kasumigaseki. He’a inside the top 10 and charging. #Tokyo2020 #TokyoTogether #golf pic.twitter.com/q6zJvPcvR6
Swimming – That was wild. No idea what to make of it. Adam Peaty (GBR) is stoked, punching his pecs. Emma McKeon was again the star for Australia, making up ground on the final leg and almost pinching silver, bringing her alongside Ian Thorpe and Leisel Jones. Regardless, it’s her ninth Olympic medal. Incredible athlete.
#GOLD for #TeamGB in the mixed 4x100m medley relay with a new world record!
Adam Peaty is a triple Olympic champion.
James Guy is a double Olympic champion.
Team GB have matched their best ever swimming medal haul at an Olympics.
Gold – GBR
Silver – China
Swimming – Great Britain have stormed into the lead, overtaking China and Italy. One leg to go…
Swimming: With men swimming against women, it’s hard to know what on earth is going on until the final leg. At the halfway stage it’s Italy, China, and Russia ahead – but they’ve all gone with a man-man start.
Swimming – As with all the mixed events at these Games the order of the athletes is fascinating. In this race all teams have gone with a female swimmer on the last leg, with the exception of the USA – who have gone with Caeleb Dressel. Watching him chase down a series of rivals like some terrifying shark is going to be a sight.
Swimming: To give you an indication of how manic this meet is, Emma McKeon is suiting up in consecutive races, without a break! She is currently cooling down/warming up in the practice pool. Crazy.
Swimming: Next up is the final of the mixed 4x100m medley relay. Want to know more about it? Here’s Kieran Pender:
Related: Australian swimming’s ‘relay project’ that is paying off at Tokyo Olympics | Kieran Pender
Swimming: Emma KcKeon is in some serious form. She wins the second 50m free semi in 24.00 – a new Olympic record! Abbey Weitzeil (USA) finished second, Kataryna Wasick (POL) third, and Cate Campbell (AUS) qualifies safely for the final in fourth.
Swimming: The first semi-final of the women’s 50m freestyle was a blanket finish with everyone finishing under 25 seconds! Pernille Blume from Denmark touched the wall first, world record holder Sarah Sjoestroem (SWE) finished second, Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) third.
Australia’s Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell up next.
Australia’s medal rush at the Tokyo 2020 continued on Saturday with the Dolphins adding gold, silver and bronze to their already sizeable haul at the pool. Kaylee McKeown won her second individual gold of the Olympics with victory in the women’s 200m backstroke, while two-time gold medallist Ariarne Titmus added a silver to her tally in the women’s 800m freestyle.
Related: Kaylee McKeown leads Australian charge as Olympic swimming medal haul swells
Swimming – How good is Katie Ledecky at the 800m free? And how good was Ariarne Titmus’ swim for silver?
Ariarne Titmus just swam a 8:13.83, which is the fastest 800m swim ever by somebody besides Katie Ledecky!
…
…
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and tied with the 24th-fastest swim of all time with Katie Ledecky’s 24th-best swim
100m hurdles:
The smile says it all after a clinical performance from Liz Clay at her Olympic debut. She advances to the 100m hurdles semi-finals after clocking 12.87 to finish 2nd in her heat. #TokyoTogether #ThisIsAthletics #Olympics pic.twitter.com/K5ooX0dYtM
Swimming – Caeleb Dressel, fresh from winning the 100m fly a few minutes ago, blasted to victory in the second 50m free semi. Kristian Gkolomeev (GRE) finished second and Great Britain’s Ben Proud came in third, tied with the USA’s Michael Andrew.
Another gold is Dressel’s for the taking. What a phenomenon.
Swimming: The first men’s 50m freestyle semi was been taken out by France’s Florent Manaudou ahead of Brazil’s Bruno Fratus and Thom de Boer (NED).
Pole Vault – Australia’s Kurtis Marschall was in trouble in the qualifying round but cleared 5.65m on this third attempt, then 5.75m on this first vault. He’s looking safe for the final. As is Renaud Lavillenie, who struggled at 5.50m, but has also cleared 5.75m, and Armand Duplantis, who has three clean vaults from four attempts to reach 5.75m.
Rugby sevens: The USA will take on Australia in the fifth-placed match.
Statement win to advance into the 5th place final. #TeamUSA #Olympics #Rugby pic.twitter.com/OO3GwGNEj8
Swimming – Emily Seebohm is in floods of smiley tears, unable to string a sentence together in her post race interview. “So lucky” is discernible, “so proud,” too as she gathers herself. “It’s been the favourite thing of my entire career being on this team.” Seebohm now has six Olympic medals (and counting) most recently a bronze to go with two gold and three silver.
Gymnastics – Here’s more on Simone Biles’ withdrawal from the finals of the vault and the uneven bars.
Related: Simone Biles’ Olympics in doubt as she withdraws from vault and uneven bars
Swimming – Titmus swam a PB by two seconds! And was still 1.26 behind Ledecky. Few Olympians of any discipline have ever been so dominant as Ledecky in the 800m free. “She’s a great person and a tough competitor,” concedes a breathless Titmus.
Top 30 times in the women’s 800m in history:
29x Katie Ledecky
1x Rebecca Adlington
0x everyone else#Swimming #Tokyo2020
Gymnastics – A quick break from the pool for a Simone Biles update:
After further consultation with medical staff, Simone Biles has decided to withdraw from the event finals for vault and the uneven bars. She will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether to compete in the finals for floor exercise and balance beam. pic.twitter.com/kWqgZJK4LJ
Swimming – Back-to-back-to-back for the great Katie Ledecky. She led from the front and was never challenged for 800 powerful metres of freestyle swimming. Ariarne Titmus swam her own race in second to add a silver to her brace of golds. Italy’s Simona Quadarella held off the pack to win bronze.
Katie Ledecky laughing at the suggestion that she is retiring after these games. She said she’ll back for 24 and maybe even 28.
Gold – Katie Ledecky (USA)
Silver – Ariarne Titmus (AUS)
Swimming – Ledecky leads by 1.7 seconds from Titmus with 200m to go. We’re in for a brilliant final sprint.
Swimming – Ian Thorpe is making encouraging noises about the pace (not hugely quick) at the halfway mark, and how that can work to Titmus’ advantage. This is now a two-swimmer race with Ledecky leading Titmus and nobody else in the frame.
Swimming – Still the same 1,2,3 in the final of the women’s 800m freestyle at the 200m mark, but Ledecky is extending her lead.
Swimming – Ledecky set out powerfully, making a statement to lead after 100m. Titmus is keeping pace for now, and Katie Grimes (USA) is in third.
Swimming – The racing doesn’t stop! We’re straight into the final of the women’s 800m freestyle – Katie Ledecky v Ariarne Timus III. The first two rounds (200m and 400m freestyle) have gone to the Australian, but this is Ledecky’s pet event. She is the two-time defending Olympic gold medalist in the event, won gold at the World Championships in July 2019 and holds the 23 fastest times ever swum in the distance. Titmus has enjoyed a miraculous meet, but this would be remarkable to top Ledecky this morning. Let’s find out how they go.
Swimming – The story of this meet in the pool has been Australians storming home to win or upgrade medals in the final laps – and Kaylee McKeown does it again! Incredible racing. She doubles up her 100m with the 200m backstroke. And Emily Seebohm snags bronze in her fourth Games! This is an astonishing Games in the pool for Australia. Kylie Masse (CAN) led from the start, and dominated for 150m but McKeown found an extra gear on the final lap and powered through.
Gold – Kaylee McKeown (AUS)
Silver – Kylie Masse (CAN)
Swimming: Masse (CAN) leads from McKeown (AUS) and Bacon (USA) at halfway. The Canadian looks in superb form.
Swimming: Quickly into the final of the women’s 200m backstroke. A pair of Aussies, a pair of Americans, a pair of Canadians, and a pair of Chinese swimmers. 100m gold medalist Kaylee McKeown and fastest qualifier Emily Seebohm carry Australian hopes.
Swimming: That was a demonstration from Caeleb Dressel, who joins Mark Spitz as the only men to do the 100 free/100 fly double at the same Games. That’s his fifth career gold, and he sets a new world record at 49.45 too. Milak came strong at the end, and also finished inside 50 seconds, but he couldn’t do enough. Bronze for Switzerland some way back. Australia’s Temple came a creditable fifth.
Gold – Caeleb Dressel –
Silver – Kristof Milak (HUN)
Swimming – Ok, into the pool we go. Today should be Caeleb Dressel’s day. He’s in the 100m fly any second now, then he has the 50m free heats, followed by the 4x100m mixed medley. Hungary’s Kristof Milak will be no pushover in this first final of the day. Keep an eye out for Australia’s Matthew Temple too.
Rugby Sevens: Australia’s women’s team are through to the fifth-placed match.
Full time and your #Aussie7s have had a big win over Russia! #TokyoTogether #Aussie7s #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/4dTUvCkkzk
This session should bring an expected outcome – Katie Ledecky winning the 800m freestyle for the third Olympics in a row – but there are one or two quirks to watch out for.
Even a swimmer as gifted as Caeleb Dressel might be feeling a little weary by the end of this session in the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. The American star is going for gold in the men’s 100m butterfly final at 10.30 local time – then races in the 50m freestyle semifinals 46 minutes later. Then goes for gold in the mixed 4x100m medley relay less than a half-hour after that. No wonder he’s taking the anchor leg (all the other finalists have picked women to go last) – he could use all the recovery time he can get.
Men’s Pole Vault – Duplantis has registered a height in his second vault. He went miles over the bar at 5.50m. Australia’s Kurtis Marschall also nailed 5.50m with ease. Automatic qualifying is 5.80m.
Badminton – If you wondered why we dropped in a pic of Guatemalan badminton contender Kevin Cordon, here’s why. He’s 34, world ranked 59, at his fourth Games, named after former England striker (and manager) Kevin Keegan, and he’s through to the men’s singles semi-finals. In their entire history, Guatemala have only ever won one Olympic medal, silver in the 20km walk in 2012.
Men’s 800m– Australia’s Peter Bol broke the national record to reach the semi-finals. Compatriot Charlie Hunter is not an automatic qualifier, but could sneak in among the fastest losers.
Pole Vault – Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis, one of the faces of track and field, has just failed with his first vault of the Games. The world record holder failed at 5.50m, and he was closely followed with a surprise failure by the man he took the world record from, France’s Renaud Lavillenie. If you’re unfamiliar with Duplantis, check him out, he could be The New Bolt™.
Related: Mondo Duplantis breaks own pole vault world record with 6.18m clearance
Thanks Tom. Hello everyone. Deep breath.
There’s not just a lot going on right now, there’s too much. If some of it could just chill out for a while, I’d be grateful.
And that’s it for me. Jonathan Howcroft will be here shortly to take you through a big day in the pool (and elsewhere).
USA’s Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil secure the No 4 seed going into the beach volleyball knockout rounds with a win over Brazil’s Rebecca Cavalcanti and Ana Patrícia Ramos.
One highlight from today’s action-packed program at the pool is the mixed medley relay – the first time the men and women have swum together in a relay at the Olympics. Australia are having a bumper relay meet, winning four medals from four relays, and are hoping to continue that streak. I dived into Australia’s ‘relay project’ for a weekend long-read.
Related: Australian swimming’s ‘relay project’ that is paying off at Tokyo Olympics | Kieran Pender
The third round of the men’s golf is underway. Xander Schauffele of the US leads on -11, followed by Carlos Ortiz of Mexico on -10 and home hope Hideki Matsuyama on -9. Rory, McIroy, competing for Ireland is on -7 as is GB’s best-placed player, Paul Casey. Australia’s Cameron Smith is on four-under.
The fifth and final heat of round one of the women’s 400m hurdles. As expected the superb Dalilah Muhammad eases home in first. “I’m feeling good. I’ve been training in Fort Worth, so I’m familiar with the humidity,” she says after the race.
Germany’s Carolina Krafzik, Switzerland’s Lea Sprunger and Joanna Linkiewicz of Poland also make it into the semi-finals.
USA’s Dalilah Muhammad, the Olympic champion, runs in heat five of the women’s 400m hurdles. She has a very good chance of gold in this one, despite world record holder Sydney McLaughlin’s presence.
Heat four is won by Netherlands’ Femke Bol. GB’s Jessica Turner, Barbados’ Tia-Adana Belle and South Africa’s Wenda Nel also qualify. Australia’s Sarah Carli gets a season’s best but is out of the qualification spots. Sadly for fans of brilliant names Trinidad’s Sparkle McKnight did not start the race.
GB’s Jessie Knight, the British No 1, falls before the first hurdle, strikes it and is out of the race – and Olympics. USA’s Sydney McLaughlin jogs home in first, five seconds off her world record. No need to tire herself out early on… Panama’s Gianna Woodruff, Sara Slott Petersen of Denmark and Leah Nugent of Jamaica also qualify. Oh, Nugent has been DQ’s and Vietnam’s Thi Lan Quach goes through in her place.
Another Ukrainian in the hear three of the women’s 400m hurdles! Is it the national sport? Sydney McLaughlin the world record holder should win this. GB’s Jessie Knight is in lane one.
Viktoriya Tkachuk of Ukraine and Anna Ryzhykova also of Ukraine – don’t enter a 400m hurdles race in Kiev – won heats one and two. USA’s Anna Cockrell and Canada’s Sage Watson also made the next round. GB’s Meghan Beesley came seventh in her heat and did not progress
It’s the women’s 400m hurdles heats now. Sydney McLaughlin, the world record holder, is only 21. By her age I had not broken any world records but I did get my school swimming certificate. But I think maybe they just gave those to the kids who didn’t win anything else because I wasn’t particularly outstanding at swimming. And, come to think of it, I got the swimming certificate when I was seven, so the next 14 years were pretty barren on the prizes front. Anyway, you can read more about Sydney here:
Related: Sydney McLaughlin already has a world record at 21. Now she wants Olympic gold
Dan Christmas writes in on that triathlon relay: “So it was all bluster from France’s Luis. It was some bluster though – I was sold,” he writes. Me too – he was gunning it on the bike and looked like he had Yee’s measure but the 23-year-old looked smooth on the run and Luis didn’t have the legs. Which I believe are important when you’re running.
BMX freestyle makes its Olympic debut this weekend. Riders have 60 second runs to pull all the tricks and flips they can think of in a skate park arena. It is truly remarkable. Before the Games I interviewed Australia’s gold medal favourite in the men’s event, Logan Martin, and he described it as ‘gymnastics on a bike’. For those watching from home, the BMX freestyle is highly-recommended. The seeding rides are today, followed by the medal rides tomorrow.
Related: Logan Martin targets Tokyo gold for ‘gymnastics on a bike’
That relay win for GB now means Jonny Brownlee has his first Olympic gold in what is almost certain to be his final Games. He won bronze in 2012, silver in 2016 and gold this time. If he decides to come out of retirement in 2024, he’ll get … platinum?
Yee comes home in gold 14 seconds ahead of Pearson of USA in silver. Luis is 23 seconds back in bronze for France.
France were the favourites coming into the race but Luis had a big lead to make up and hurt himself on the bike and faded on the run. GB converted their two silver individual medals into gold in the relay. And a great effort by Pearson of the US to win his country silver.
Triathlon relay final leg: USA’s Pearson has put time between him and France’s Luis in bronze. GB’s Yee is still out front in first.
Triathlon relay final leg: GB’s Yee lopes ahead of France’s Luis in second. The Briton has a 11 second advantage over Pearson (USA) and Luis (France) with 1km to go.
Triathlon relay final leg: And we’re on to the run for gold. GB’s Yee and France’s Luis are neck and neck but USA’s Pearson is still in this a few seconds back. It’s going to be a very entertaining 2km – they’re all strong runners (for triathletes. For normal people they are EXCELLENT runners).
Triathlon relay final leg: GB’s Yee is a good runner so will fancy his chances if it’s even when they get to the run. But Yee may have tired himself finishing second in the individual race – France’s Luis was only 13th. USA are still in bronze.
Triathlon relay final leg: France are on a charge! Luis is now up into second. He finished 13th in the individual but is making strides in the relay and is catching up with GB’s Yee in first. And he’s past Yee! It’s now France, GB and USA. But Yee and Luis are neck and neck, all still to play for as we reach the final lap of the bike.
Triathlon relay final leg: GB’s Alex Yee comes off the swim 17 seconds ahead of USA’s Morgan Pearson. Vincent Luis of France is in bronze, 19 seconds behind Yee. Australia, who are second in the world rankings in the triathlon relay, are around two minutes off the pace.
Triathlon relay: And we’re on to the final leg. Alex Yee, the individual men’s silver medalist, will look to anchor GB home to gold. The British have a 21 second advantage over USA in second as Yee starts the swim. Yee is a very strong runner so if he has an advantage when we get to the run, it will be a good sign for GB. France are 33 seconds off the lead in bronze.
Triathlon relay: USA’s Taylor Knibb has eaten into the lead of GB’s George Taylor-Brown as they go into the run. USA are now just nine seconds back from the British team, having been 23 seconds back not too long ago. Did Taylor-Brown go too hard too early? Germany are in third, around 27 seconds behind Knibb.
For our Australia readers: more success today in Tokyo today? Almost certainly! It’s Titmus v Ledecky round four, while Matthew Denny has a shot at gold in the discuss later on.
You can read the full rundown of Aussie hopes/dreams/aspirations here:
Related: Australia at the Olympics on Saturday: day 8 schedule of who and when to watch in Tokyo today
The final lap on the bike for the women on leg three. GB still lead the US by 22 seconds. Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium are 38 seconds off GB in a pack.
By the way, the individual gold medalists – Flora Duffy of Bermuda and Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway are not in this. Bermuda, understandably, don’t have four world-class triathletes while Norway had three qualified men but only one woman.
Taylor-Brown’s campaign in the individual triathlon earlier this week was hit (deflated?) by a puncture. It looks like she has some frustration to let off and has set a blazing pace in the swim. She comes out of the water with a 23 second advantage over the US in second. The favourites, France, are 26 seconds off first – and are moving up the rankings in third. Germany are 28 seconds off GB in the lead. Australia and NZ are still a good distance back and it would take a miracle for them to finish in the medals.
Jonny Brownlee hands over to Georgia Taylor-Brown for the third leg and GB have a nine second lead over the US in second. Netherlands and Germany are 13 seconds behind that. Advantage Great Britain at the moment.
We’re on the run of the second leg of the triathlon relay now. A brief reminder of the rules: each country has four triathletes: two women and two men. The women go on the first and third legs, which I guess means the men go on two and four. Each athlete does a mini triathlon of a swim for 300m, cycle for 8km and a run for 2km.
It’s Great Britain and Jonny Brownlee in the lead by about two seconds, closely followed by USA, the Netherlands and Germany. Then there’s a gap of around 25 seconds to Italy, Belgium and France. France had been expected to challenge in this event thanks to their strength in depth but they’re struggling to make an impact. Australia and New Zealand are near the back around 90 seconds behind the leader.
Hello! It’s Saturday in Tokyo and we have a spectacular run of events coming up. Here’s my colleague Martin Belam with his rundown of the highlights for the day.
All events are listed here in local Tokyo time. Add an hour for Sydney, subtract eight hours for Gateshead, 13 hours for New York and 16 hours for San Francisco. You’ve got this sorted now, right?
