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That’s enough Olymping for me. Time to hand over to Simon Burnton, as the swimming heats roll on and so does the football.
What has happened today? We’ve had gold medals for China in the women’s 49kg weightlifting and the women’s 10-metre air rifle, via Hou Zhihui and Yang Qian. The men’s 10-metre air pistol gold went to Iran’s Javad Foroughi. Korea won gold in the mixed teams archery via Je Deok Kim and An San. We’ve also had the men’s road race in the cycling with a dramatic solo effort for gold by Richard Carapaz.
There will be more medals to come in judo and fencing in the final hours.
From an Australian perspective, we’ve seen a couple of national records already in the swimming heats, and the Matildas went down fighting to Sweden 4-2. In the other ongoing women’s football match, Netherlands and Brazil are 1-1.
Lucy Bronze wants gold. She sends in a cross from deep on the right, and Ellen white times her run to get a header across goal and past the Japanese keeper. It has been a frustrating half of football for the GB team but now they feel some relief. Substitutions have immediately started on the bench. There hasn’t been much threat from Japan offensively today.
There are two bronze medals up for grabs in the men’s 60kg category for some reason, which have gone to Kazakhstan’s Yeldos Smetov and France’s Luka Mkheidze.
Coming up to 65 minutes in the Japan-GB women’s football match and the stalemate continues. The Brits are trying to be patient, laying off passes at the back, pushing up on the wings, but can’t find a way through.
Katrina Lehis of Estonia has won the women’s épée bronze over the Russian Aizanat Murtazaeva. After which Jungwhan Kim of Korea overcame a deficit and a twisted ankle to beat Georgia’s Sandro Bazadze in the men’s sabre.
Emma Weyant of the USA qualifies fastest for the women’s 400m individual medley. Also going through are Aimee Wilmott of Great Britain and Yui Ohashi of Japan.
Fencing these days really does look like Daft Punk fighting.
The fencing medals are getting underway now as well, with the women’s épée and the men’s sabre bronze and gold matches to come in quick succession.
The Australians dead-heat in the fifth heat of the men’s 400 freestyle. Eiljah Winnington and Jack McLoughlin touch at the same time and just hold off the USA pair of Kieran Smith and Jake Mitchell. Not that it matters, it’s all about qualifying, and all four of them do. The standings for the final:
Henning Muhlleitner (GER)
Felix Auboeck (AUT)
Gabriele Detti (ITA)
Elijah Winnington (AUS)
Jack McLoughlin (AUS)
Kieran Smith (USA)
Jake Mitchell (USA)
Ahmed Hafnoui (TUN)
Still 0-0 between GB and Japan in the football as we move towards half time. The final heat of the men’s 400 metres is about to raced in the pool. And the last qualifying round of the men’s artistic gymnastics team event is underway.
In the other Group F women’s football match, Netherlands and Brazil have kicked off and Netherlands have taken a fast lead via Miedema in the third minute.
A note from David Williams about the football. “Interestingly they cut away for 2 mins of Korea vs France at judo during the British anthem and then cut back again. Am assuming the GB women took a knee and they’re still censoring it here.”
I’ve got the squash fans out in force. Here’s Ian.
@GeoffLemonSport Squash’s ongoing exclusion from the Olympics is a VERY sore point. It’s also probably why Heather McKay has never got the Australian recognition she was owed.
Meanwhile in the men’s hockey Great Britain are running down time in the fourth period and leading South Africa 3-1.
A deflected strike on goal from Japan was their best opening of the match so far, but GB hold them at bay in the women’s football. Still no score as we tick past 27 minutes at the Sapporo Dome.
Distria Krasniqi wins Kosovo’s second ever gold medal in the 48kg division of the women’s judo, denying a dream result to Tonaki Funa to win Japan’s first gold medal of the games. She takes the silver though, and Japan’s first gold comes in the very next bout: the 60kg men’s bout, where Naohisa Takato beats Yung Wei Yang of Taipei.
Cannot wait to see this superstar go around in the days to come. Our feature on Simone Biles.
Related: Unbeatable Simone Biles’s only competition at Olympics is herself | Bryan Armen Graham
Emma McKeon sets a new Australian record in the heats for the 100m women’s butterfly. She was ahead of the world record pace coming into the last half of her second lap but slowed a touch, and China’s Zhang Yufei caught up for a dead heat on times. Qualifiers are:
Zhang Yufei (CHN)
Emma McKeon (AUS)
Sarah Sjoestrom (SWE)
Torri Huske (USA)
Margaret MacNeil (CAN)
Louise Hansson (SWE)
Anastasiya Shkurdia (BUR)
Marie Wattel (FRA)
We’re 10 minutes into the women’s football between Great Britain and Japan. Still at nil-all, a fairly cagey start.
Quite the drama in the 400m IM medley heats for the men. Daiya Seto, the Japanese favourite, is out. He raced in Heat 4 and was looking good, but faded towards the end to miss out by 0.33 of a second. In the meantime, Australia’s Brendon Smith was fourth in that heat and trailing badly, but stormed home in the freestyle leg to win the heat and clock the fastest time in qualifying – also an Australian record, and a personal best for him by over a second.
Sweden up 4-2 in the last few minuts against Australia. More women’s football later tonight, with Great Britain to take on the home side.
Team GB to face Japan
Roebuck, Bronze, Houghton, Williamson, Stokes, Walsh, Ingle; Parris, Little, Hemp, White
Subs: Telford, Weir, Daly, Bright, Stanway, Scott, Charles
Se-Bom Lee of Australia comes in second in his 400m IM heat: he was leading into the second lap of the breaststroke leg, but got mowed down by Spain’s Joan Lluis Pons Ramon. They’re both faster than any of the times in the first heat, with Lee clocking 4:15:76 and Pons Ramon 4:12:67. Two heats to come.
It’s 1-1 between South Africa and Great Britain at half time.
Great Britain pressing in the hockey, pushing up in attack with a couple of minutes left in the second term, but they lose possession when they try to go inside the D. Instead the South Africans surge on the counterattack. I didn’t know we’d brought video replays into hockey as well, but there are many replays to see whether a ball has clipped the leg of a British player and should be a penalty corner. The South African team challenge does not find anything conclusive.
The first events in the pool tonight are the four heats for the men’s 400m individual medley, if you’re wondering.
Ok, over to the men’s field hockey for Pool B, where Great Britain is taking on South Africa. This is taking place at the excellently named Oi Hockey Stadium, and it’s 1-1 in the second quarter. Tevin Kok has just been given a green card by a very annoyed ref. “I’ve told you three times!” says the official. What he’s told him, I don’t know. But it must have been good.
The swimming starts soon as well, so I’ll have a look there shortly.
Sweden take the lead 3-2 against Australia in the women’s football match that’s still going.
Related: Sweden v Australia: 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games women’s football – live!
More squash corro from Robert Speed. “The exclusion of squash from the Olympics is like some decades-long practical joke played by the IOC. The fact that such niche ‘sports’ (breakdancing, synchro swimming, among others) can get in but squash routinely gets overlooked is actually a travesty. They desperately want to be included, and it’s a widely played proper racket sport. I don’t even play the game, but its treatment at the hands of the IOC makes me angry.”
A save! From the Zambian keeper Nali with 93 minutes on the clock as China put a couple of passes together in the box to create a shot. They’ve been under siege down the other end for the last few minutes but have suddenly switched that around. Could have won 5-4. There’s a head clash in midfield and Liu for China comes off with a nosebleed. Then Zambia get one last long-range shot but it’s blocked. What a game between these two teams. Banda scored a hat-trick in that remarkable 10-3 result against Netherlands, and another here today. Neither has led to the joy of a win, though.
China and Zambia draw 4-4 in Group F.
Banda goes down in the area under pressure in the 90th minute, but there’s no penalty from the referee. The score stays at 4-4.
… and a red card for China to follow. Chopped down Banda as she was going through on goal, having already scored three times today and three times in their previous match. Just past 86 minutes on the clock.
China level up to 4-4 against Zambia in the football…
The hosts off to a good start in the men’s volleyball as Japan beat Venezuela three sets to nil in their pool match.
Zambia go up 4-3 against China in the women’s football. This match is the gift that keeps on giving. Meanwhile, two more goals in Sweden-Australia makes it 2-2 over there. Australia took the lead via Sam Kerr before Lina Hurtig equalises with another cross-and-poke.
That was such a fantastic men’s road race @GeoffLemonSport. A proper selection with Pogacar, Van Aert, Buchmann, Yates. But Carapaz was outstanding taking the break when he did then going it alone. 6 hours in that humidity is brutal. These guys all raced the Tour too. Wow.
We’re now under an hour away from the first swimming session of Tokyo 2020 in the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It’s all heats tonight, with the first medals on offer tomorrow morning. From an Australian perspective, there are three big races to watch:
Women’s 100m butterfly – Emma McKeon and Brianna Throssell are both in heat five. McKeon put down a fast qualifying time in Adelaide last month, but faces stiff competition for gold from American Torri Huske and China’s Yufei Zhang.
Related: Australian swimmers eager to entertain on the eve of Olympics duel with US | Kieran Pender
Great Britain’s Peter McGrail has been beaten in the men’s featherweight boxing by Thailand’s Chatchai-Decha Butdee. The 36-year-old Thai beats the 25-year-old in a unanimous points decision.
Where else but the Olympic Games would you get the USA playing France in the women’s 3×3 basketball? This is the half-court sport that can be played in pop-up fashion anywhere around the world. The Americans got home 17-10 in this pool match.
Loving this China-Zambia game in the football: they’re 3-3 with 65 minutes on the clock and still popping off shots aplenty.
“Always been a mystery to me why squash isn’t in the Olympics,” writes in David Patten. “Pakistan I seem to remember was very good at it. Glass courts make it very visible for TV I’d have thought.”
It is strange, given that table tennis and badminton are there. It seems like a natural part of the set. Very compact in terms of space requirements. I’m not sure whether Pakistan more broadly was a hotbed of squash talent or whether it’s more that the greatest of the greats was from Pakistan, Jahangir Khan. Just about the most dominant record of any player in any sport, maybe rivalled by someone like Bradman but that’s harder to quantify in sports that aren’t head to head. There was also a Jahangir Khan who played cricket, the one who bowled a ball that supposedly knocked off a sparrow mid-flight.
The Matildas equalise at 1-1! Who else but Sam Kerr. Gets a great delivery into the box from Kyah Simon and powers the header over. It takes some glove from the keeper but has enough force on it to push past and over. It’s nearing half time.
In the other women’s football matches, Zambia have drawn level with China 3-3 in the second half, and Chile scored against Canada to trail 2-1 in the second.
Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski win their first-round men’s doubles! That was a tough fight, ending up 13-11 in the third set which is played as a 10-point tiebreaker.
Murray and Skupski are having a ding-dong battle with Molteni and Zeballos. The British pair went up 10-9 in the tiebreaker set, then the Argentines came back to 10-10, then out to 10-11, and now the Brits have brought it back to 11-11.
Good that Suzy is taking the time to soak everything in.
Work in progress, trying to capture the lovely Sapporo Dome… now to do some actual work. #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/cjXU1fEdl9
Sweden go 1-0 up against Australia in the women’s football. A good chain of passes, a broken tackle, a cross into the area by Jakobsson, and Fridolina Rolfö side-foots it home.
In the tennis, Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski have gone into a third set tiebreaker against the Argentine pair Andres Molteni and Horacio Zeballos. The Brits won the second set 6-4 after losing a tiebreak in the first. By Olympic rules, the third set of doubles matches will consist of a 10-point tiebreaker.
Spain beat Germany 28-27 in the handball. It nearly went awry though: Spain won possession with five seconds left, then turned it over and conceded a foul within scoring range. Had to assemble a defensive wall to protect a shot after the buzzer. But it goes wide.
A real bruising heavyweight encounter early in the handball tournament: Germany and Spain in the preliminary round for Group A. They’re 26 apiece with about five minutes to play. Lots of body contact, lots of heavy falls, a couple of penalties being pulled out as well.
Richard Antonio Carapaz Montenegro crosses the line first for Ecuador! A Giro d’Italia in 2019, and now an Olympic gold in 2021.
The chasing group with seven riders in contention arrives 1:07 behind him. This is spectacular from Carapaz. He formed a breakaway of his own so far back in the race with only McNulty for company. Then as McNulty foundered, Carapaz went out on his own. That is such a hard way to win a race, but he kept extending his lead over the final kilometres.
Carapaz is doing it! He’s blown out his lead to 43 seconds, now 44, as the chasing group start to think about silver and bronze instead of gold. They’re eyeing each other off, sideways glances, as Carapaz hits 50 seconds in front with a kilometre to go.
Two kilometres left in the men’s road race. McNulty has been swallowed up but Carapaz has taken his lead out to 39 seconds! He’s going for it with everything he’s got.
Eight riders in the chasing group, then McNulty fading back into them, and they’ve blown up Pogacar as they chase. Uran and Woods are doing the chasing. Carapaz is still out in front with 30 seconds advantage. Four kilometres to go.
Just under 6 kilometres left in the road race. Brandon McNulty and Richard Carapaz are still out in front but McNulty is fading. Carapaz has decided to go out on his own. He’s going for it, and the chasing group is about 20 seconds behind. Woods of Canada is going up after McNulty now.
For readers in Australia, especially, the Matildas match tonight will be the main item of interest. That’s the Australian women’s football team, much loved at home, who have a massive game against a very good Swedish side that beat up the USA the other night.
I won’t be doing exhaustive coverage of that match here because Scott Heinrich is doing it blow-by-blow at our dedicated live blog. Head over if you like, come back anytime.
Related: Sweden v Australia: 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games women’s football – live!
The men’s road race is getting real: Carapaz of Ecuador and McNulty of The Wire… sorry, the USA… are out in front in a breakaway of their own. They’re 15 kilometres from the finish and 45 seconds in front of their fellow breakers, with another chasing group a couple of minutes behind and the peloton three minutes back.
Around the grounds, if you will, Germany and Spain are facing off in the men’s handball, while Japan plays Venezuela in the men’s volleyball. Canada leads Chile 1-0 and China leads Zambia 1-0 in the women’s football.
Reuters is reporting tennis players struggling with the heat in Tokyo, which has been a feature across the day’s competition in most sports. I guess the swimmers will be ok?
Daniil Medvedev (above) said it was some of the worst heat he has played in after beating Kazakh Alexander Bublik 6-4 7-6 (8) on Centre Court. “But you have to play, it’s the Olympics,” world number two Medvedev said. “You go for the medal. You’re not here to cry about the heat. It was really tough for both of us.”
“I’m pretty happy that I’m into the second round and not only the humidity and temperature was hard but also the sun, because on one side it was pretty hard to serve,” said Iga Swiatek, who beat Germany’s Mona Barthel 6-2, 6-2. “We had to adjust quickly and change our ball toss. That was hard but the players who can adjust are going to be the best ones here.”
Wijler shoots first in the decisive fourth. Must win it for Netherlands to stay in the hunt. He shoots a 9. His teammate Schloesser lands a 10 to follow!
Je Deok Kim shoots for Korea, a 10 in response. Ice cold. An San does the same! What a performance from this team. Leading 20-19.
The gold medal match in the mixed archery is well underway at 1-1. Je Deok Kim of Korea is getting very pumped up, shouting to his team in the stands to encouraging them to cheer back. Even more shouting when he nails a 10 to begin. An San follows with an 8. Wijler shoots a 6 for Netherlands that costs them the third set.
Australia beat Canada 8-5 in the women’s water polo, as it looked like would happen towards the end of that match.
In the men’s road race, the breakaway group is seven riders, who are heading up the Mikuni Pass, the second highest of the day at 1171 metres, and they’re 5:13 ahead of the peloton.
POGACAR (SLO), BETTIOL (ITA), URAN (COL), CARAPAZ (ECU), KWIATKOWSKI (POL), WOODS (CAN), McNULTY (USA).
Yasemin Anagoz of Turkey fires wide, opening the door for Mexico, and Valencia hits an 8 before Alvarez finishes it off with a 7, enough to take the fourth set and win 3-1. The third medal for a Mexican woman in the sport, and the first for a man.
Luis Alvarez of Mexico had a horror shot that only scored a 2 in Mexico’s last losing set, but comes back to hit two 10s and win the third set along with Alejandra Valencia.
In the archery bronze medal match, Turkey and Mexico are tied at one set apiece.
Canada close to 7-5 against Australia in the women’s water polo, but a defensive steal from Rowie Webster lets her streak up the pool and score to take the margin back out to 8-5. A couple of minutes left.
That’s gold medal #22 for Iran historically, as Foroughi sets a new Olympic record of 244.8 in the process.
The Aussie Stingers water polo team are leading Canada 7-4 at the end of the third term, but Australia have a player removed from the water by the ref shortly before that final whistle. Hannah Buckley the centre back has been fouled out.
The Netherlands are into the mixed team archery gold medal match against Republic of Korea.
Gabriela Schloesser misses one chance to beat Turkey, but gets another, and takes herself and Steve Wijler through 5-3. Turkey will take on Mexico for the bronze.
Thanks JP, hello all. Good grief, there is a lot of sport going on today. I’ve been scanning the listings and it’s like my childhood hobby of reading the phone book. Like Jonathan, I’m coming to you from Australia, so there’ll be a bit of a Bruce MacAvaney flavour to our local coverage. If you know the vocal stylings of Bruce, I’ll ask you to hear in your mind’s ear: “Clever. Special!”
If you don’t know Bruce, start where Cathy Freeman’s finest hour provided the chance for his best work.
Thank you very much for your company for the past few hours. Next up is Geoff Lemon to bring you the conclusion of the men’s road race, and much more besides.
Catch you here tomorrow, same time, same place.
Archery – We’ve reached the semi-finals of the mixed archery. Right now we have South Korea taking on Mexico, which will be followed by Netherlands v Turkey.
Cycling – It’s beginning to heat up in the men’s road race as the peloton descends Mt Fuji. That’s two of the three climbs done now, but the last is the steepest. The breakaway group has almost been reeled in as we reach the 158km mark, roughly two-thirds race distance.
China make it two from two today with weightlifter Hou Zhihui dominating in the women’s 49kg category. She set a new Olympic record in the snatch, then again in the clean and jerk, raising the benchmark for the overall total.
India’s Chanu Mirabai took silver, bronze went to Windy Aisah of Indonesia.
Weightlifting – Just three lifters remaining in the women’s 49kg final. We’re into the second half of that discipline with the clean and jerk. The second medal of the day will be awarded in just a few minutes.
By the way, weightlifting is one of the easiest sports to get into as an outsider. Easy to follow format, moves quickly, excellent English language commentary. One to enjoy during this opening week.
Cycling – Approaching the summit of the second and highest of the three climbs in the men’s roads race, the peloton is now just eight minutes behind the breakaway leaders. 96km to go.
Tennis – Barty and Sanders have cruised through the opening round of the women’s doubles in under an hour.
Weightlifting – China’s Hou Zhihui has taken a stranglehold on the women’s 49kg category, as expected. She has just broken the Olympic record with a snatch of 94kg (2kg shy of the world record she set in April). There’s daylight to second and a bunched pack of contenders scrapping for silver and bronze in the clean and jerk portion of the final.
Cycling – There are just over 100km left to ride in the men’s road race. The breakaway five now lead by 13 minutes as the peloton gradually reels them in at the start of the second and highest climb of the course.
Archery:
It’s a quarter-final finish for archery’s Sarah Bettles and @SirHuckPatton
They lose out to the Mexican pair in the mixed team event.#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/C4L3JE36WQ
“Hello Jonathan,” hi Kári Tulinius. “The qualification round of the Men’s 10m Air Pistol is over. My rooting interest, Iceland’s Ásgeir Sigurgeirsson, didn’t make the cut for the final. Before he started qualifying for Olympics, I’m not sure I was even aware that there were air pistol competitions at the Olympics. Being from a country with a small population can sometimes be unexpectedly educational.”
It’s part of the joy of the Games, isn’t it? Learning about new events, finding out you have an interest in something unexpected, maybe becoming drawn to a competitor you’d never heard of previously.
Tennis – Women’s world No.1 Ash Barty is on court alongside Storm Sanders in the women’s doubles. The sixth seeds are taking on Japanese pair Nao Hibino and Makoto Ninomiya.
In scorching mid-morning heat at the Oi Hockey Stadium, the hosts overcame an early deficit to enter the half-time break with the advantage. While the Kookaburras battled back to clinch victory in the second half, the tight result – against a team 14 places below them in the rankings – gave the Australians a scare heading into a tough encounter with India on Sunday.
Related: Kookaburras made to sweat in Tokyo heat but do enough to shade Japan
Weightlifting – There’s a chance the next medal handed out won’t in fact be the men’s road race, but the women’s 49kg weightlifting. We’re in the early stages of the snatch portion of the final.
Cycling – The expert commentators covering the men’s road race have informed viewers that the peloton now means business, approaching halfway. The breakaway group has splintered and the five remaining riders are beginning to be reeled in as the course flattens out following the first descent.
If you’re just dipping into the blog for the first time, here’s a rundown of some of the action so far this Saturday.
12 years old and at the Olympics. ✨
Syrian #tabletennis player Hend Zaza is the youngest athlete competing at #Tokyo2020. She suffered defeat in her opening match but showed great sporting spirit by congratulating opponent Jia Liu on her win. #StrongerTogether @ittfworld
Tennis – Muraay and Salisbury have done it!
In their first ever professional match together, Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury dismantle second seeds Nicolas Mahut and Pierre Hugues Herbert 6-3, 6-2 to reach the second round of the Olympics.
That is a result.
Tennis – Sam Stosur didn’t last long in the women’s singles. The Australian was *bundled out* in straight sets by rising Kazakh Elena Rybakina.
I’ve always been more a Cracklin’ Rosie or I am… I said guy, but each to their own.
Fresh from his Euro 2020 success, Neil Diamond makes it to Tokyo 2020. Has anyone had a better summer than Neil? pic.twitter.com/4N0xeLis1p
Rowing:
Mixed morning on the water
Our men’s four progress straight through to Wednesday’s final, with our women’s pair and lightweight women’s double sculls into the semi-finals.
The remaining crews face the repechage.#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/ZfqK13BYyg
Time for a commercial indie break while I pop the kettle on.
Tennis – Great Britain’s Heather Watson is out of the women’s singles. She lost in straight sets to Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam.
An Algerian judoka has been suspended and sent home after withdrawing from the Tokyo Olympics when his draw set him on course to compete against an Israeli.
Speaking before his suspension, Fethi Nourine, a competitor in the men’s under-73kg division, said that his political support for the Palestinian cause made it impossible for him to compete against Israeli Tohar Butbul, who he was due to meet in the second round.
Related: Algerian judoka sent home from Olympics after refusing to compete against Israeli
Cycling – CRASH! Geraint Thomas, one of the great hopes of Team GB is down in the men’s road race. Another British rider is on the deck too.
It’s still early in a slow race, so they can still get back into the mix, but that’s far from ideal. Thomas is a magnet for bingles.
The men’s road race is well underway, and it is blistering hot in Tokyo. The heat could prove a decisive factor for the men in the latter stages of today’s race, and tomorrow in the women’s road race.
It might be tempting for Australians to think that our riders have the upper hand in hot conditions, given they spend the entire Australian summer battling it out in temperatures that sometimes exceed 40C. But Grace Brown, one of the four Australians racing for gold tomorrow, told me that the heat here feels very different. “It’s hot and humid and we get very sweaty,” she said. “You sweat and it just doesn’t evaporate. It’s uncomfortable, but you just have to accept that’s how you feel. It’s not like the scorching oven heat of an Australian summer.”
Related: ‘Race smart’: Australia’s Olympic road cyclists target dominant Dutch | Kieran Pender
Cycling – 77km, or around one third race distance, into the men’s road race and the leaders are heading towards the summit of the first climb. That breakaway bunch is down to seven, but they continue to extend their lead, which is now over 18 minutes from the peloton.
Those leading seven are: DLAMINI (RSA), KUKRLE (CZE), SAGAN Juraj (SVK), GROSU (ROU), TZORTZAKIS (GRE) AULAR SANABRIA (VEN), DAUMONT (BUR).
Tennis – Good news for Aussie John Millman. He moves on to play 16th seed Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. And if he gets through that, he is scheduled to face the Golden Slammer-elect Novak Djokovic.
.@johnhmillman takes the win and secures his spot in the second round at #Tokyo2020, defeating Lorenzo Musetti 6-3 6-4 #TokyoTogether | #Tennis | @TennisAustralia pic.twitter.com/HjldwnGzQJ
Tennis – Sir Andrew Barron Murray, a legend of Olympic tennis, is on court in the men’s doubles alongside Joe Salisbury – and he’s just served out the first set in the opening round clash against Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The Frenchmen have five grand slam doubles titles as a duo, so this would be some scalp for the Brits if they can see it home. At the very least, let’s hope Murray’s bionic hip holds out.
Spot quiz time:
Wonder if @JPHowcroft can explain what the repecharge is in rowing. Interested to know his it works.
Tennis – Iga Swiatek is a serious medal chance in the women’s singles and the sixth seed Pole is underway with a routine 6-2 6-2 victory over Mona Barthel. Swiatek is in Naomi Osaka’s quarter of the draw.
Badminton: Team GB’s Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith are ranked eighth in the world in mixed doubles, and they began their Olympic campaign confidently earlier today.
Up and running.
A straight sets victory for @ellis_marcus111 and @LaurenE_Smith in the badminton mixed doubles.
They defeat French pair Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue (21-18, 21-17) in their first group game. #TeamGB pic.twitter.com/TRGbDXaupL
Cycling – 46km into this race, another 188km to go, and the men’s road race is beginning the long ascent to the first of three peaks. There is still a massive gap from the peloton to the breakaway group of eight unfancied riders.
DLAMINI (RSA), KUKRLE (CZE), SAGAN Juraj (SVK), GROSU (ROU), TZORTZAKIS (GRE) AULAR SANABRIA (VEN) WANG (CHN) ASADOV (AZE).
Can you get more Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, than this? World No.28 golfer Cam Smith on the fast track to cult status.
Aussie Cam Smith is a few days away from Tokyo but he’s ready!#TokyoTogether pic.twitter.com/mQAyXEcZmh
Rowing:
It’s the repechage for our men’s eight after 4th place in the heat & with only first placed GER qualifying for the final.
Widdicombe, Dawson, Masters, Purnell, Keenan, Booth, O’Brien, Lavery & coxswain Sim will have another chance on Wednesday #TokyoTogether #Rowing
What are the sports you get sucked into during the Games? I’m always drawn to volleyball – both indoor and beach. I used to play a bit in my youth, and now I can only marvel at the athleticism of those repeat jumps on sand. My calves ache just watching. There’s been plenty of beach action already today, highlighted by Brazil doing the double over fierce rivals Argentina.
Softball – Quick update for our Australian readers, and it isn’t a good one. Canada are cruising 7-1 in the seventh inning. The Aussies are heading for their second heavy defeat in their opening three matches. Their group stage concludes with fixtures against the unbeaten USA tomorrow and winless Mexico on Monday.
The first reviews of Australia’s Olympic coverage are in:
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Cycling – With 206km to go in the men’s road race the breakaway group are now eight minutes ahead of the peloton. The favourites have been unperturbed so far, happy to fuel up, take on water, but now they’re stepping on the gas.
Women’s 10m air rifle – Yang Qian has just received her gold medal – the first of the Games. She placed it around her neck herself, in another sign of the Covid protocols at these Olympics. The socially distanced podium looks like it’s been designed for giants but populated by Lilliputians. We’ll get used to it soon, I’m sure.
The 21-year-old looks unsure what to do with herself as the Chinese flag is raised and the national anthem is played. Eventually she does the most adorable Mobot heart sign with her arms over her head, and my throat tightens up a touch. There’s a minor incident when the trio of medallists bump into each other on their way out of the arena. Giggles all round from the competitors. Thomas Bach looks on bloodlessly.
Greatest Olympian – For what it’s worth, Agnes Keleti deserves a mention. She survived the holocaust in incredible circumstances, became the leading medal winner at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, claimed asylum in Australia while the Soviet Union were driving tanks through Budapest, resettled in Israel, and is still going strong at 100! She is a dead set legend.
If you want to learn more, Sean Ingle wrote beautifully about her earlier this year. I’m delighted she was involved in the opening ceremony.
Greatest Olympian – Here’s an impossible question to chew over for the rest of time: who is the greatest of all Olympians? As the IOC suggest below, Michael Phelps, with 28 medals (23 gold), has very, very strong claims. But then, swimming has so many events there has to be some kind of algorithm to compare Phelps with Usain Bolt, or Jesse Owens, or Eric Moussambani.
The greatest Olympian?
Throwback to the London 2012 Games! ♂️
When Michael Phelps became the most decorated medalist in Olympic history! #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/3OwpSADJa9
Cycling – There’s been a breakaway group of eight very very early into this 234km road race:
DLAMINI (RSA), KUKRLE (CZE), SAGAN Juraj (SVK), GROSU (ROU), TZORTZAKIS (GRE) AULAR SANABRIA (VEN) WANG (CHN) ASADOV (AZE).
The first gold medal of these Games has been won! After a high quality final the last pair of shots were full of nerves but Qian Yang proved the goldeneye, holding off Anastasia Galashina (ROC). Nina Christen (SUI) picks up the bronze.
We’re down to the final pair of shooters in the women’s 10m air rifle final. Anastasia Galashina and Qian Yang. Who will win the first gold medal of Tokyo 2020?
Huzzah for the Kookaburras! Australia prevail in a rollercoaster. 2-0 up, 2-3 down, then 5-3 victors. More from Kieran Pender to follow.
After that shiny poptastic palate cleanser it’s time to thank Bryan and the US crew for their excellent lead-off work on this day-long liveblog extravaganza. It’s now time for Team Australia to carry the baton around the first corner.
What’s on the agenda over the next five or so hours?
Ruddy hell, it’s the Olympics. And this is Olympia…
That’s all for me, but our Jonathan Howcroft is stepping in to take you through the next few hours.
The first ever Olympic 3×3 basketball result is in the books as the top-ranked Russian women’s team held off a spirited challenge from hosts Japan to win 21-18, reaching the 21-point mark with 25.6 seconds remaining at the Aomi Urban Sports Park.
The rules for 3×3 basketball are made for a faster-paced competition than the traditional five-on-five game. Teams play with one- and two-point baskets over a single 10-minute period (with a 12-second shot clock), though a game can end sooner if a team reaches 21 points inside the distance. If a game is tied at the end of regulation, the first team to score two points in overtime wins. Each side is awarded two free throws from the seventh team foul, then two free throws and possession after the 10th.
Portuguese surfer Frederico Morais, the world No 11 who is regarded as the top European surfer in the Tokyo Games, has announced that he tested positive for Covid-19 and will miss the sport’s Olympic debut.
“This is likely the saddest video I’ve ever had to post. In 2019 I qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that were postponed because of Covid-19. And now, because of the virus I won’t be able to compete nor represent my country,” Morais stated on Instagram.
Syrian table tennis player Hend Zaza, who is the youngest competitor in Tokyo, has just launched her Olympic campaign at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. The 12-year-old is facing Austria’s Jia Liu in the women’s singles preliminary round.
Zaza, who was her country’s female flag bearer in the opening ceremony, becomes the fifth-youngest known Olympian in history and the youngest since Romanian figure skater Beatrice Hustiu in 1968.
I’m heading off now but Bryan Graham is coming on deck to take you through the next hour or so.
A small storm is brewing in the pool. The US Olympic team revealed that around 100 of its 613 athletes are not vaccinated (which is around the same rate as athletes at the Olympics as a whole). One of those is swimmer Michael Andrew, who said he had not got a jab as it could affect his training routine.
That led former Olympic champion – and one of three athlete representatives on USA Swimming’s board of directors – Maya DiRado to voice her concerns on Twitter.
Related: At least 100 of 613 US athletes unvaccinated as Tokyo Olympics begin
The hosts are facing Australia in the men’s hockey at the moment. It’s still early days and it’s 0-0 after 15 minutes or so.
Tom Dart is following Team USA for us in Tokyo and has an update on what today holds for the expected medal table-toppers:
After yesterday’s flag-waving at the opening ceremony, with baseball’s Eddy Alvarez and basketball great Sue Bird wielding the big Stars and Stripes for Team USA, much American interest today will revolve around the women’s soccer team, who face New Zealand at Tokyo Stadium.
Related: ‘We got our asses kicked’: Sweden come back to haunt USWNT again at Olympics
Among the new sports in Tokyo is surfing. It kicks (paddles?) off this weekend and Mike Hytner has a little more on its Games debut:
Related: Surf’s up: a watershed moment for boarders at the Tokyo Games
One to watch in the women’s 10m air rifle today is Luna Solomon, who is competing for the Refugee Team. She fled her country, Eritrea, in 2015 before arriving in Switzerland. She took up shooting there and is now competing in Tokyo. She’s near the bottom of the qualifying round at the moment and almost certainly won’t make the final but just being here is quite something.
Barack Obama would like to wish you good luck (if you are a world-class athlete. And American. But I’m sure he wishes you well even if you’re not):
I could not be prouder of the incredible athletes representing @TeamUSA at the Olympics. Their determination and hard work got them this far, and they’re ready to seize this moment. We’ll be rooting for them all the way.
Last night was a big one for team Australia, with the pageantry and symbolism of the opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium. Even though just 63 members of Australia’s 480-odd delegation formally marched, the rest gathered around their televisions in the athletes’ village or their team hotels (for those out of Tokyo).
There might be a few sleepy heads this morning. It was an emotional night for the Aussies, with Patty Mills becoming the first Indigenous Australian to fly the flag in an opening ceremony. Mills has been a major force for Australian basketball, with Tokyo 2020 his fourth Olympics and he is widely-admired by his peers for his sporting success and social justice activism.
Related: Patty Mills flew three flags in Tokyo: one in his hand and two in his heart | Kieran Pender
We asked earlier which new sports you’d like to see at the Olympics. Brucie Morris wants to see lacrosse:
“It’s a sport that hasn’t appeared since 1948, and 1908 was the last time it was a medal sport (Canada beating GB 14-10). The international federation, World Lacrosse has just been awarded full IOC member status, and the big aim is to be invited to the LA 2028 Summer Games due to the popularity in North America.
Some facts about Team USA (and NBA) star Kevin Durant:
1) He is very good at basketball
Team USA sang happy birthday to KD.
His birthday is in September
(via @JaValeMcGee) pic.twitter.com/q6NvRQUBa3
Following last night’s opening ceremony, the sun has risen on the first full day of action at Tokyo 2020. The heat has been stifling on the ground so far – even last night at the Olympic Stadium the temperature was in the high 20s celsius until past midnight. How the athletes cope with the humid conditions has been a major topic of conversation in the build-up; we saw the effects it could have yesterday when a Russian archer passed out from heat stress.
Hello. We’re finally underway (even if we’ve been sort of underway for a few days now, but here is what is coming up in the next few hours:
Women’s 10m air rifle: now
The obvious event to include in The Olympics is Parkour – but I don’t think they’d accept the invitation @duresport.
So, darts it is.
My friend and colleague Jeff Zillgitt and I once had the idea for a Pub Games that would include darts, various billiard/pool sports, foosball and that shuffleboard thing you sometimes see. Today’s bar-goers in the US are more attached to trivia contests, which could be a lot of fun. Maybe Jeopardy legend Ken Jennings could do commentary.
Trivia and new sports
Miguel Aviles has answered my question about the hat trick in the first day of women’s football competition with Vivienne Miedema of the Netherlands. I suppose so, though she went on to score a fourth. I’d actually forgotten about her because, in the same game, Zambia’s Barbra Banda also had a hat trick.
On new sports, Stephen Broadley asks a legitimate question: “Why are they introducing so many sports that can’t be measured objectively?” Because controversy sells! (Also because the kids seem to like these things.)
Trinidad and Tobago doesn’t have many athletes in the Olympics in events other than track and field / athletics, but one of them, rower Felice Chow, just left her fellow competitors in the single sculls repechage not just in her wake but behind her wake. Not bad for a 44-year-old. (It all goes downhill after that, I say as a 51-year-old who hasn’t take care of himself in the last 25 years.)
This was a question raised in the last blog when we talked about Ultimate, which was left off the Paris program in favor of breakdancing. Sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding will be carried over from Tokyo; baseball, softball and karate will not.
One thought from bethyl t via email: “firstly to resurrect the swimming obstacle race, last seen in the 1900 games, because there seem to be endless swimming disciplines but none that involve swimming over poles and underneath boats. bring it back.
You’ve seen the ceremony (or at least the highlights). You’ve seen some football and softball (or at least some highlights, hopefully including the women’s football hat-trick – first person to email beau.dure.freelance@theguardian.com with the name of the scorer wins … their name in this blog). You’ve seen rowing preliminary heats (or at least some highlights). You’ve spent a couple of hours playing the Google Doodle.
Now it all begins for real.
