Sayōnara from me. The Guardian’s American bureau are taking over on a brand, spanking new Day Eight blog which you can follow here.
Triathlon mixed relay: Germany’s Jonas Schomberg is first out of the water, closely followed by McDowell, Van Der Stel and Brownlee. They have a 35 second lead over the chasing pack.
Triathlon mixed relay: Katie Zaferes is first to hand over to her team-mate Kevin McDowell for Team USA, but he’s beaten to the water by the German Jonas Schomberg. Jonny Brownlee hits the water moments after the American.
Triathlon: Learmonth and Zafires put some road between themselves and Kingma and Lindemann. Learmonth will be sending Jonny Brownlee on his way when she slaps palms with him at the end of her run.
Triathlon mixed relay: Our four leaders dismount in the transition zone, park their bikes and pull on their trainers ahead of their two-kilometre run. Jess Learmonth is first out and the lead quartet have a lead of at least 15 seconds over the chasing posse.
Triathlon mixed relay: Jess Learmonth (Great Britain), Maya Kingma (Netherlands), Katie Zaferes (USA) and Laura Lindemann (Germany) have opened a fairly big gap on the rest of field on the bike leg of the first leg of this triathlon just 13 minutes into the event.
Triathlon mixed relay
They’re up with the lark in Tokyo, where the triathlon mixed relay is under way. Jess Learmonth is first up for the Brits and is in a lead group of four on her bike after being first out of the water. Each of the four athletes is expected take about 20 minutes to complete their three disciplines and the whole event should be over inside 90 minutes.
Gallery: Our pick of the best images from Day Seven
Updated
Today, Katie Ledecky puts one of sports' dominant streaks on the line in the 800 freestyle final. She hasn't lost this event since July 2010, to a 17-year-old when she was 13, has the 23 fastest times in history and, by my count, is on a 46-meet win streak (@USASwimming database)
— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) July 30, 2021
Mixed triathlon: Britain’s Olympic triathlon medallists Georgia Taylor-Brown, Alex Yee and Jonny Brownlee have all been named in the team for Saturday’s mixed relay in Tokyo.
The four-person event, featuring two men and two women, is making its debut at the Games. Jess Learmonth, who finished ninth in her individual event, is the lead-off athlete followed by London and Rio medallist Brownlee and then Tokyo silver medallists Taylor-Brown and Yee. Here’s how it works ...
Saturday’s medal events
- Athletics: Women’s 100m
- Athletics: Men’s discus
- Athletics: Mixed 4x400m relay
- Badminton: Men’s doubles final
- Fencing: Women’s team sabre
- Golf: Men’s stroke play (fourth round)
- Judo: Mixed team
- Rugby sevens: women’s semi-finals and final
- Sailing: Men’s RS:X
- Sailing: Women’s RS:X
- Shooting: Mixed trap
- Shooting: Women’s 50m rifle 3 pos
- Swimming: Men’s 100m butterfly
- Swimming: Women’s 200m backstroke
-
Swimming: Women’s 800m freestyle
- Swimming: Mixed 4x100m medley
- Tennis: Men’s singles bronze medal matche
- Tennis: Women’s singles bronze and gold medal match
- Tennis: Women’s doubles bronze medal match
- Tennis: Mixed doubles bronze medal match
- Trampolining: Men’s
- Weightlifting: Men’s 81kg
- Weightlifting: Men’s 96kg
Updated
Roger Kirkby still isn’t happy. “Now I know that the funds go to more than the five we sent to take part in the triathlon, but the max they can send is six because one of the races is mixed between the men’s and women’s teams,” he says. “So whoever on high decides how the lottery cash is spent, do they not look at how many medals it’s possible to win from that sport? To not fund some sports is just not fair. And to have equestrian (£12m) hockey (£12m) rowing (£24 m) and shooting (£6m) when other sports get none is, quite frankly, disgusting.”
More on triathlon expenses ... And who knew how prohibitive they could be?
Team GB’s main medal hopes for Saturday
Dina Asher-Smith and Adam Peaty top the list of medal hopes as Great Britain try to improve their podium tally across a handful of different disciplines.
Asher-Smith bids to become the first British woman to win an individual sprint gold but she is up against it after Friday’s heats. The 25-year-old from Orpingtopn eased through the opening round in a time of 11.07 seconds behind American Teahna Daniels but she will have to step up the pace in order to get close to favourite Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica.
Fresh from his 100m breaststroke triumph, Adam Peaty returns to the pool for his shot at a second medal in the mixed 100m relay - the sole British medal hope on the penultimate day of action in the pool.
Individual silver medallists Alex Yee and Georgia Taylor-Brown combine to give Team GB a strong chance of claiming another medal in the mixed team relay in the early morning triathlon in Tokyo.
Out on the ocean, Britain has high hopes from the Olympic regatta after a strong start across the fleet. Windsurfer Emma Wilson is the first to have guaranteed a place on the podium after an impressive preliminary campaign. She goes in the double-points medal race to determine her precise place on the podium.
Out on the shooting range, having disappointed in her opening event of the Games, world number one Seonaid McIntosh starts as favourite in the women’s 3x50m rifle. Fresh from his individual bronze medal, Matt Coward-Holley stands a chance of reaching the podium again as he teams up with Kirsty Hegarty in the mixed event.
And in the boxing ring, victory for reigning women’s world middleweight champion Lauren Price will earn her a place in the semi-finals and at the very least a guaranteed bronze. Meanwhile rising featherweight star Karriss Artingstall can go one better and book her place in the final if she overcomes home favourite Sena Irie.
Triathlon funding ...
A happy reader writes ...
There’s no comment from me because I didn’t watch the game but my understanding is that the video referral was refused because Team GB had already wasted theirs earlier in the game.
“If we’d used our referral better early doors we’d have referred it and it potentially might have gone [our way],” said defender Brendan Creed. “That’s one we’ll look back on but at the end of the day it’s not really changed much in terms of the outcome.”
Interview: Matty Lee talks us through that gold-winning dive
Back home in Leeds following his win alongside Tom Daley in the men’s synchronised 10m platform competition, Matty Lee took time out of his hectic Basking in the Warm Glow of Victory schedule to ... er, bask in the warm glow of victory and talk Jonathan Liew through that gold medal-winning dive. It’s a cracking read ...
Instagram Vs reality pic.twitter.com/4ndyi2H5jd
— Tom Pidcock (@Tompid) July 30, 2021
Michael Johnson assesses Dina Asher-Smith's chances
The athletics legend is on the BBC, talking up tomorrow’s women’s 100m final, a race many expect to be the highlight of these Games, even if it will do well to top Fiji winning the men’s rugby sevens, those two British BMX bandits from earlier today and the British men’s fours veering horribly off course in their rowing final.
“In the last couple of months, what’s been happening in the women’s 100m has just been phenomenal,” he says. THis first round didn’t disappoint, it just added more fuel to this fire ... that this is the premier event of this Olympics: the women’s 100m, not the men’s 100m. Getting ahead of ourselves, the next most exciting event is the women’s 200m.”
He goes on to say that Dina Asher-Smith is starting well out of the blocks with great reaction times but adds a note of caution. “She will have to run a personal best to win the 100m. She will have to run faster than Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson Hera did in the prelims this morning ... cruising. It’s a tall order for gold but there’s a chance of a medal for Dina in the 100m.” He goes on to say he fancies Fraser-Pryce to win tomorrow. The semi-finals start at 11.15am (BST) and the final is at 1.50pm (BST).
Women’s football: I’m just looking at the highlights of the quarter-final in which Team GB were knocked out by Australia, a game I saw most of earlier. There was some absolutely shocking defending from the British women, who as far as I can tell appear to have got no criticism whatsoever for throwing away a semi-final place that was there for the taking. Woeful, woeful stuff.
An email: “ I looked at the UK sport funding for the games and noticed that triathlon managed to bag £7m and sent five competitors for three races,” writes Roger Kirkby. “I’m all for funding our team but this seems a little out of proportion as they swim in the sea or lakes and run and cycle on roads. Not a lot of kit to buy either. Why did they need such a large amount?”
At a guess of the top of my head I’d say it goes on wages, coaching, medical bills, travel, equipment, nutrition, sports science, mechanics etc and so on. I am guessing that more than five athletes get funding which, spread out over a four-year cycle ... still seems quite a lot. Anyone?
A quick search on t’internet suggests Team GB’s Olympic and Paralympic triathletes will be getting combined funding of £10m in the cycle leading up to Paris 2024.
Boxing: Irish welterweight boxer Aidan Walsh guaranteed himself at least a bronze medal with a 4-1 split decision victory over Merven Clair of Mauritius in his quarter-final today.
However, the Belfast native celebrated so enthusiastically in the wake of his victory that he injured his ankle while jumping up and down in triumph, prompting terror in the Irish camp that the 24-year-old might not be fit for his semi-final against Great Britain’s Pat McCormack on Sunday.
“He’s fine, just a little bit of a scare,” the Olympic Federation of Ireland chief executive Peter Sherrard told RTE. “They’ve had a good look at it and feel that he’ll be ready and fighting fit so that’s the important thing and great news ahead of that big fight.
Swimming: South African swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker smashed an eight-year old world record to win the Olympics 200m breaststroke final today, posting a time of 2min 18.95sec. She broke the previous record of 2min 19.11sec set by Denmark’s Rikke Moller Pederson’s 2:19:11 in 2013.
“It’s indescribable,” she said. “It really hasn’t sunk in yet. The whole process went really quick. It’ll probably kick in when I get home. My first 100m isn’t always that fast, so I literally just focused on my own stroke and when we got to the last turn, it was anyone’s race.
“Whether I came first or last, I would have been able to walk out and know that I gave it my all. Everyone in that final swam a great race. Whether I came first or second, I knew I could walk away with a smile on my face.”
This is what @TRSchoenmaker came home (Team SA Olympic Village) to. I absolutely love being South African 😭🇿🇦❤️#TeamSA #Olympics pic.twitter.com/YW9FBdcAAB
— Maphuti Hlako🇿🇦 (@maphuti_africa) July 30, 2021
Open water swimming: When Alice Dearing plunges into the sea off Tokyo for the 10km race next Wednesday, she will not only have a chance of a place on the podium but will also be the first black female swimmer to have represented Britain at the Olympics, writes John Goodbody of an athlete who has endured more than her fair share of tribulations, tributaries and teeth-chattering, perishing cold. Read on ...
USA reinstated in 4x400 mixed relay
Athletics: The US Olympic mixed relay team has been reinstated after originally being disqualified and will compete in Saturday’s final. The team had been DQ’d for what officials said was an illegal baton pass between Lynna Irby and Elija Godwin.
The US team appealed and was reinstated and placed directly into the final. USA Track and Field did not give details of the reason for the appeal. The decision could give Allyson Felix a chance to win her record-setting 10th Olympic medal.
She is currently tied with Jamaican Merlene Ottey for the most for a female Olympian. Felix ran for the Americans and won gold when the event made its debut at the world championships two years ago.
Updated
Women’s football: Ellen White has gathered her thoughts and tweeted following Great Britain’s defeat at the hands of Australia in the quarter-finals, despite her best attempts to get them over the line with a hat-trick. White and her team-mates snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, going down 4-3 after extra-time, despite having been a goal up with just a minute of normal time remaining.
Team GB conceded a ludicrously soft late equaliser and missed a penalty in extra time shortly before Australia pulled two goals clear. White reduced the deficit with five minutes to go but her hat-trick goal ultimately proved too little too late.
I am utterly 💔 right now! The pride I feel being a part of this team is beyond words! And to have represented @TeamGB at #tokyo2020 was an honour & a privilege! Thank you for the support ❤️ pic.twitter.com/hj9naDGv5R
— Ellen White (@ellsbells89) July 30, 2021
Updated
Men’s hockey: Great Britain’s men will face India in the quarter-finals after twice being pegged back by world champions and gold medal contenders Belgium in a 2-2 draw in their final group match.
Rupert Shipperley’s first Olympic goal put GB ahead after 17 minutes and they were denied a second when the umpire ruled the ball had not crossed the line after a goalmouth scramble.
Britain had already used their referral so could not challenge the decision, but later television replays showed the ball had gone in. Tom Boon’s deflected drag-flick produced the equaliser early in the third quarter only for Liam Ansell to restore GB’s lead with his fourth goal in five matches a minute later.
However, Thomas Briels converted at the far post to make it 2-2, meaning the British finished third in their group behind Belgium and Germany. “Getting a point against the world champions, we’ll take that,” said goalkeeper Ollie Payne, who is now focusing on Sunday’s last-eight tie.
“I think with it being such a long tournament you want to work yourself into it, which is something we definitely feel like we’ve been doing. To be honest, you could have said we’d be playing anyone next and we would have fancied it, that’s just where we are as a group. We’re playing India in the quarter-finals where we’ll fancy our chances but also respect what they bring.”
Athletics: South Londoner Daryll Neita also finished second in her 100m heat, behind Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou, in a time of 10.96s to set a new personal best and qualifying for the semi-finals.
“I don’t want to say it, but it felt like it could have been better,” she said. “Obviously I’m really grateful and really happy for that first round, executing and getting a PB. Under 11 seconds is where you need to be heading into the final. I actually came here telling myself I have to be in that final.
“I don’t see any way other than that, honestly, so this is a great stepping stone to that and this shows I can do it. I’m more than capable, so now it’s just about going back, recovering and getting ready for tomorrow.”
Athletics: Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith finished second in her women’s 100m heat, behind USA’s Teahna Daniels, in a time of 11.07sec to qualify for tomorrow’s semi-finals.
“It felt good,” she said of her performance. “It felt good to be out here and to finally get going, and it’s just great to finally get my Olympics underway. Today was just about making it through to the next round safely at the same time as knowing I’ve got another level to give tomorrow, so I am really happy.
“And I do have another level – of course I do, it’s an Olympics.”
Asked about the lack of spectators in the stadium, Asher-Smith had this to say. “You are trying to go and perform and do well but I have to say, obviously as an athlete you love a full stadium, you love spectators. At the same time, it is what it is and you’ve still got the job to do.”
Kon’nichiwa everybody. Tokyo may be asleep, getting the Zs in ahead of another hot and humid day of Olympic action, but here in the UK we’re wide awake. We’ll pass the time looking back on another day’s action and look ahead to what tomorrow holds in store as things start to get serious on the track and elsewhere.
Thanks for your company today, everyone. I’m passing on the baton to Barry Glendenning. Drop him an email at Barry.Glendenning@theguardian.com or find him on Twitter @bglendenning. Enjoy the Games.
How Peckham took over Tokyo, by Damien Gayle.
Peckham BMX Club is an anomaly. British Olympians tend to be overwhelmingly suburbanites, with just 35% of the current team from the UK’s largest cities. BMX, a sport that requires costly equipment and space, is more associated with quiet and leafy middle-class districts than deprived urban areas such as Peckham. And yet Peckham BMX has already contributed seven British Olympic team members: at one point four out of seven in the BMX team came from the club.
Andrew Benton has been in touch about the sports that should be given more coverage. Bring back Grandstand and Ski Sunday!
@campbellwpaul Many of the winter sports are good. I loved the atmosphere on BBC's Ski Sunday back in the good old days, with Swiss cowbells ringing as the skiers set off. And not to forget John Noakes's bobsleigh exploits for Blue Peter!
— Andrew Benton (@thangnangman) July 30, 2021
This is great.
Greatly enjoyed this brilliant cameraman following the action at the trampoline gymnastics today pic.twitter.com/IikPbU8MvW
— Sara Hussein (@sarahussein) July 30, 2021
Some more pics of today’s action, via our Instagram account.
Simone Biles has provided more details on the mental block that has stopped her from competing in the team and all-around gymnastics finals in Tokyo.
For anyone saying I quit, I didn’t quit, my mind and body are simply not in sync as you can see here. I don’t think you realise how dangerous this is on a hard/competition surface. Nor do I have to explain why I put health first. Physical health is mental health.
Sometimes I can’t even fathom twisting. I seriously cannot comprehend how to twist. Strangest and weirdest feeling.
Something you have to take literally day by day, turn by turn. Literally cannot tell up from down. It’s the craziest feeling ever, not having an inch of control over your body. What’s even scarier is since I have no idea where I am in the air, I have no idea how I’m going to land or what I’m going to land on – head/hands/feet back.
Our chief sports writer Barney Ronay was inside the stadium for the opening day of the athletics in Tokyo.
At 8.14pm Tokyo time, as the public address burbled weirdly and a crew of lycra-wrapped athletes, male and female, collapsed together in a narrow corner of the Tokyo Olympic stadium, Marvin Schlegel, a 23-year-old German runner, leapt up on to a concrete walkway above the running track and began to roar into the empty space.
Fists clenched, neck muscles fanned, Schlegel continued to roar, a kind of wild-man victory bark. Ten minutes earlier he had run the anchor leg in Germany’s mixed 4x400 relay team. His quartet, two women and two men, had just qualified for Saturday’s Olympic final by the finest of margins.
He kept on roaring, fists pumping, pomp-rock style, and it was good, and fun and entirely uplifting because this felt like life. Blond, frightening, endorphin-crazed life. But life all the same inside this giant lighted bowl, host to 68,000 empty seats, and a monument on the opening day of the Tokyo 2020 athletics programme to sport in the time of plague.
It would be unkind to describe the Olympic events to this point as a worthy starter before the main dish. But it would also be correct. The summer Games would be a far lesser thing with its doomed Euro-aristo pastimes: the shooting, the splashing about, the homo-equine ballet. But it couldn’t exist at all without track and field.
The real allure of these events is their universality. Athletics is the best part of the Olympics because it is in outline entirely fair and egalitarian, the core of that old sporting ideal. You don’t need a boat or a horse. The most that’s required is an orb to toss or a bar to leap over. All you really need is legs and will.
How Sunisa Lee became an Olympic champion, by Joan Neilsen.
On Thursday night in Tokyo, moments after Sunisa Lee was awarded the gold medal in the women’s gymnastics all-around competition, the 18-year-old American called the experience “surreal.”
And of course it was. Lee, like every other US gymnast for most of the past decade, was supposed to play second fiddle, at best, to Simone Biles in Tokyo. In 2016, Biles’s teammate Laurie Hernandez told reporters at the Olympics: “If you get silver, you’re the best, because Simone doesn’t count.”
But Biles dropped out of first the team competition and then the individual all-around, and Team USA’s hopes fell to Lee, a whiz on the uneven bars who graduated high school in the spring and is competing in her first Games. So yes, the gold must have felt surreal – but that’s only the beginning of the reason why Lee’s victory felt so improbable.
“I just feel like I could have never been here ever,” she told reporters in Tokyo. “It doesn’t even feel like real life.”
A few readers have been in touch about the sports they would like to see televised more often after the Games.
Here’s Robert Pearce:
I enjoy watching the archery but it is difficult to find on the TV schedule. It is fun at the Olympics because the matches are short and the skill levels are amazing.
I enjoyed the three-by-three basketball – short in overall duration and continuous action. More of that. Same for rugby sevens. The trend here is switching to shorter versions of established sports for shorter time spans.
As a 73-year-old, no more BMX racing or skateboarding. The pavements are hazardous enough as it is. Plus, I just found the BMX racing hilarious as their little legs went around at a furious rate.
And Rakesh Nag:
I live in a cricket-frenzy country, so Tokyo 2020 has come as a positive distraction for me. I am following many sports that I don’t follow usually. Even my mum watched both penalty shootouts in the women’s football quarter-finals (Canada v Brazil and USA v Netherlands) today.
As response to your question about which sports should be covered more after the Games, my answer is: the 4x400m mixed relay, which is a terrific inclusion; archery; table tennis; rugby sevens (any match with Fiji); BMX racing; and triathlon.
My colleague Martin Belam has just sent out his daily briefing on the Games. You can receive Martin’s daily epistle on the action via email every day at 5pm BST.
It’s the perfect place to hear about the day’s action – with sections devoted to Team GB, USA, Australia and the hosts – and it also serves as a great preview for what’s happening next in Tokyo.
This is how the medal table looks after day seven in Tokyo.
In Rio five years ago, USA topped the medal table with 46 golds; Great Britain were second on 27; and China finished third with 26. Russia – who, of course, are absent from Tokyo – were fourth with 19 golds, above Germany in fifth with 17, and Japan in sixth with 12 golds. Any way you look at it, Japan are doing incredibly well.
This is the best thing I’ve read during the Olympics so far.
It was written by Rebeeca Liu, who – in her words – had a “beautiful, often hilarious and entirely strange childhood as a national champion rhythmic gymnast”.
This is the story of her six-year love affair with rhythmic gymnastics. Rebeeca fell for the sport as a six-year-old and retired when she was 12. She packed a lot into that short career. Her ability to not only remember her youth so vividly but also to describe it so beautifully is incredible. I can’t recommend this enough. It has blown apart my understanding of rhythmic gymnasts and given me a new appreciation of how it must feel to be a sporting success at such a young age.
There are three times as many LGBTQ+ athletes competing in Tokyo as there were in Rio five years ago. Our reporter Alexandra Topping has been writing about the Rainbow Olympics.
When, still damp from the pool after winning his long-awaited gold medal, British diver Tom Daley declared his pride at being a gay man and also an Olympic champion, there were tears and full hearts across the nation.
And while there was little shock – Daley has been a vocal advocate of LGBTQ+ rights for years – there was a joy and ease to his pronouncement that was new. With more publicly out athletes in these Olympics than in all other Games combined, Tokyo 2020 is being hailed as the Rainbow Olympics, with LGBTQ+ rights campaigners hoping its message of positive inclusivity can have a lasting, global impact.
There are at least 172 LGBTQ+ and out athletes competing in Tokyo, more than three times as many as Rio 2016, according to Outsports.com, which celebrates the achievements of LGBTQ+ sportspeople. Outsports counted 23 publicly out Olympians in London 2012 and 56 in Rio 2016. The US tops the table of most out stars in 2021, with Team GB taking bronze with 16 out athletes.
The Outsports co-founder Cyd Zeigler says the site is being contacted by LGBTQ+ athletes in the Olympic village asking to be added to the list, a dramatic shift from five years ago when the opposite was more likely to happen. “That really reflects the pride that these athletes take in being LGBTQ. It’s not something that they want to hide any more, they want to be recognised as part of the community,” he says. “It’s clear that these really are the Rainbow Games.”
Which sports should be covered more after the Games?
Part of the joy of the Olympics is getting the chance to watch sports you have not seen for
four
five years. The novelty and scarcity – combined with the sheer quality of the athletes – makes them more enjoyable. But which of the various disciplines in Tokyo would you like to see on TV more regularly after the Games?
If I worked for a broadcaster, I would definitely be trying to buy rights for more BMX racing, rugby sevens and three-by-three basketball. Which sports would you like to see covered more?
Drop me an email at Paul.Campbell@theguardian.com or send me a tweet.
Women’s football: The quarter-final between Australia and Great Britain was one of the highlights of the Games today. Here’s Samantha Lewis on how Australia won it 4-3 in extra time to set up a semi-final against Sweden.
Fencing: You might have noticed that three of the four men in the United States épée team wore pink masks today before their competition. They did so for a reason. Here’s the full story.
Andy Bull, one of our many reporters in Japan, was in the Tokyo Olympic Stadium to see Selemon Barega win gold for Ethiopia.
The first night of Olympic athletics opened with a big screen video montage of Usain Bolt’s greatest moments. It was an odd choice, another reminder of something else the competition was missing, along with the 60,000-odd fans. Their absence, on top of what was a pretty limited programme of events, made the occasion feel distinctly underwhelming.
Still, there was an Olympic debut for a new event, a little drama, caused by a handful of disqualifications, a first gold medal, won by Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega in the men’s 10,000m, one astonishing run by the Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan in the women’s 5,000m, and, this being the Olympics, a sprinkling of tears, too.
This is one of the photos of the day.
Rugby sevens: In case you missed it earlier, Team GB are in contention for a medal in the women’s rugby sevens. They beat the United States 21-12 today to set up a semi-final against France on Saturday. Fiji and New Zealand will be facing off in the other semi-final.
British players Celia Quansah and Alex Matthews spoke to the media after the match. “The grit and determination we showed, especially in that defensive set at the end was unreal,” said Quansah. “We showed heart like no other, and I am just so proud of the team. We know what we’ve got to do – fuel up and come back firing tomorrow.”
Alex Matthews added: “It was backing each other up, trusting each other to make those one-on-one hits. We’ve got some of the smallest girls; we are not a big team. Defence wins you the game and makes it easier once you have got the ball.”
Women’s football: I was writing earlier about how heartbroken Ellen White must feel after scoring a hat-trick for Team GB yet finding herself on the losing team in their quarter-final against Australia. She has been talking to our reporter Suzanne Wrack at the Ibaraki Kashima Stadium, saying she “would have given up every single goal to win a gold medal”.
I’m devastated. I really thought we could win the game. I thought we played some amazing football. I really thought that with this group of players we would go on to win gold. So yeah, absolutely heartbroken, but I couldn’t be more proud of the team and the staff.
We haven’t been together very long but the relationships, the connections, the family-like feel, it’s been amazing. It’s a horrible feeling but I wish Australia the best of luck in the next round.
We were so close. That’s why we love and hate football at the same time. I can’t fault anybody; we gave absolutely everything in 90 minutes and then extra time. It’s just those fine margins in football. We’ll have to regroup as players and go again.
A selection of our favourite pictures from Tokyo today. I’m a big fan of the judo photos.
Women’s football: A quick report from the USA v Netherlands quarter-final.
Megan Rapinoe converted the deciding penalty in a shootout and the United States advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s Olympic football tournament 4-2 following a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands.
United States goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher stopped Vivianne Meidema’s opening attempt in the shootout. She then saved a shot from Aniek Nouwen before Rapinoe put her penalty away. It was Naeher’s third penalty save of the match after she had stopped Lieke Martens’s effort in the 81st minute, which would have given the Dutch a 3-2 lead.
After Rapinoe scored, she turned to her teammates, folded her arms and grinned in triumph.
Meidema scored a pair of goals in the first 90 minutes for the Netherlands, giving her 10 goals for the tournament an Olympic record. Miedema put the Netherlands ahead in the 18th minute but the Americans equalized when Sam Mewis headed in a goal off a feed from Lynn Williams in the 28th. Williams then gave the Americans the lead in the 31st. Meidema, who was playing in her 100th game for the Netherlands, made it 2-2 in the 54th.
The United States will next face Canada, who advanced to the semi-finals 4-3 on penalties after a scoreless draw with Brazil in Rifu.
Swimming: You might have read this story earlier. Now we have footage of Ryan Murphy’s press conference. After winning a silver medal in the 200m backstroke, the American said he was “swimming in a race that’s probably not clean”. Murphy has lost to Russian swimmer Evgeny Rylov twice this week. This is what he had to say after the 200m backstroke final:
I’ve got about 15 thoughts, and 13 of them would get me into a lot of trouble. It is a huge mental drain to go through the year knowing that I’m swimming in a race that’s probably not clean, and that is what it is. The people that know a lot more about the situation made the decision that they did. I don’t have the bandwidth to train for the Olympics at a very high level and try to lobby the people that are making the decisions that they’re making the wrong decisions.
To be clear, my intention is not to make any allegations. Congratulations to Evgeny; congratulations to Luke; they did an incredible job and they’re both very talented swimmers who work very hard and have great technique.
One of the things that’s frustrating is that you can’t answer that question with 100% certainty, and I think over the years that’s come out, so I can’t answer that question. I don’t know if it was 100% clean and that’s because of things that have happened in the past.
Men’s hockey: The match between Great Britain and Belgium finished 2-2, which suited both teams. Great Britain expect to play India in the quarter-finals on Sunday, with Belgium taking on Spain.
Following today's results, we believe we will play 🇮🇳 (India) in our quarter-final on Sunday 1 August 📅
— Great Britain Hockey (@GBHockey) July 30, 2021
We will bring you official confirmation & a start time once we have received it 🏑 pic.twitter.com/hZn9Du4SmQ
Women’s football: USA’s victory over the Netherlands sets up two enticing semi-finals.
USA v Canada
Sweden v Australia.
Megan Rapinoe scored the winning penalty for the USA.
Tennis: This has not been a good day for Novak Djokovic, who will be leaving Tokyo without a gold medal.
He was beaten in the singles semi-finals earlier by Alexander Zverev – Djokovic’s first defeat in 23 matches – and has now lost in the mixed doubles semi-finals alongside his Serbian teammate Nina Stojanovic. The golden slam is most certainly off.
Here’s Tumaini Carayol on Djokovic’s defeat in the singles, in which Zverev won 10 of the last 11 games.
Women’s football: USA have reached the semi-finals, beating the Netherlands on penalties!
Women’s football: Netherlands v USA has finished 2-2 and gone to penalties.
Table tennis: Another medal for China. Ma Long has beaten his compatriot Fan Zhendong in the all-China final. That victory makes him the first man to win four table tennis gold medals at the Olympics; he won team golds in 2012 and 2016, as well as the singles event at Rio.
Women’s football: It looks as if the Netherlands v USA quarter-final will go to penalties (expect to see a last-minute winner now). It’s still 2-2 with two minutes to play.
An email from Edwin Hayward, who has been in touch about Japan’s success as these Games.
Japan’s gold in the men’s fencing team epee made it 17 golds for them, which is one more than their previous best haul to date (Tokyo 1964 and Athens 2004 each landed Japanese athletes 16 golds apiece). Thanks.
China are currently top of the medal table with 18 golds, with Japan second on 17, USA third on 14, the ROC fourth with 10 and Australia fifth with nine golds.
On the topic of Tokyo hosting the Games back in 1964, intriguingly the city was meant to host back in 1940.
Men’s hockey: Great Britain now have a 2-1 lead against Belgium in their pool game. Rupert Shipperley opened the scoring for Team GB before Belgium equalised but Team GB have the lead again thanks to Liam Ansell.
Team GB have already qualified from the pool but they are hoping to finish second so they avoid Australia in the quarter-finals. As it stands, they will face Argentina.
Updated
Rakesh Nag has been in touch from Bangladesh to make a point about bronze-medal matches.
After the semi-finals, is it really fair to have a bronze-medal match? Boxing does a good thing in this scenario – both the losing semi-finalists are awarded bronze medals. I can’t even imagine the agony of the athletes and teams who lose semi-finals and then have to play again in a third-place match! Why don’t other events follow the same rule as boxing?
What do we think? I see where Rakesh is coming from but, I suppose, sport is all about competition and giving out two bronze medals isn’t ideal either.
Men’s hockey: Great Britain have a 1-0 lead over Belgium at the halfway point.
Strong half from our men's hockey team to lead Belgium 1-0 at the break.#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/KTfaaiAW9b
— Team GB (@TeamGB) July 30, 2021
Updated
Women’s football: There will be extra-time in the quarter-final between The Netherlands and USA. Canada, Australia and Sweden have already booked their places in the semi-finals. You can follow the match over on our live blog with Bryan Graham.
We’ve been showcasing some of our favourite photos from the Olympics on our Instagram page every day. Give us a follow if you want.
Women’s football: The Netherlands have missed a penalty in their quarter-final against USA. It’s still 2-2 with a few minutes to play.
My colleague Barney Ronay has been writing about the presence of 335 Russian athletes at the Games – and how other countries have reacted.
Men’s hockey: Team GB have taken a 1-0 lead against Belgium, who are not just the world champions but also the European champions. Rupert Shipperley scored the goal.
An email from Des Brown, who writes:
As a point of comparison with the last three Olympic Games – Team GB’s most successful of the modern era – this is where Team GB were at the end of Day 7.
Beijing 2008: 3 Golds, 2 Silvers, 3 Bronze 3. Total 8 medals.
London 2012: 8 Golds, 6 Silver, 8 Bronze. Total 22 medals.
Rio 2016: 7 Golds, 9 Silvers, 6 Bronze. Total 22 medals.
Tokyo 2021: 6 Golds, 9 Silvers, 9 Bronze. Total 24 medals.
So though at this stage in 2012 and 2016 Team GB were ahead in golds, in terms of overall medals, Team GB at Tokyo is ahead with 24.
Drop me an email this afternoon at Paul.Campbell@theguardian.com.
Men’s hockey: Great Britain, who have already clinched their place in the quarter-finals, are currently in action against Belgium, the reigning world champions. It’s goalless.
Athletics: A nice stat from the men’s 10,000m, where Joshua Cheptegei won silver and Jacob Kiplimo won bronze for Uganda.
STAT ALERT: This is the first time Uganda have won two medals in the same event!
— Olympics (@Olympics) July 30, 2021
Jacob Kiplimo takes #bronze for #UGA in the men’s 10,000m #Athletics final.@WorldAthletics | #StrongerTogether | @Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/QTWQikOeyj
Women’s football: There has been a goal in the USA v Netherlands quarter-final, Vivianne Miedema finding the net to make it 2-2. You can follow that match live here. There’s half an hour to play.
Thanks Niall. I’m still recovering from Team GB’s 4-3 defeat to Australia in the women’s football quarter-finals.
Spare a thought for Ellen White, who scored a hat-trick yet still ended up on the losing side. In nearly 30 years of the Premier League, only four players have achieved that unusual feat: Matt Le Tissier, Dion Dublin, Roque Santa Cruz and Dwight Yorke
Strangely enough, Le Tissier did it twice for Southampton: in a 4–3 defeat to Oldham in 1993 and in a 4-3 defeat to Nottingham Forest in 1995. According to the man himself, his hat-trick against Nottingham Forest was made up of three set pieces – two free-kicks and a penalty – and he was the player fouled for all three.
Time for me to pass the live-blog baton to Paul Campbell, who will guide you through the rest of the day’s events, and reaction to all the big stories. Thanks for joining me, it’s been real.
One more update from me today, from the men’s 1,500m freestyle swimming heats. The fastest times came from a star-studded third heat, with Ukraine’s Mykhailo Romanchuk qualifying fastest ahead of 800m winner Robert Finke. Team GB’s Dan Jervis made it in from the second heat, qualifying fifth-fastest behind Florian Wellbrock (Germany) and Gregorio Paltrinieri (Italy).
Updated
Here’s Suzanne Wrack on the seven-goal skirmish between Team GB and Australia, where Ellen White scored a hat-trick but still ended up on the losing side:
Australia will play Sweden in the semi-finals after they beat Japan 3-1. In the other quarter-final, USA lead Netherlands 2-1 at half-time, with Canada waiting in the final four.
Day seven headlines so far
If you’re just joining us, here are the big stories from Friday in Tokyo:
- Alexander Zverev has dashed Novak Djokovic’s “golden slam” dream and will face Karen Khachanov in the men’s tennis final
- US swimmer Ryan Murphy has claimed that the 200m backstroke final, where he came second to ROC’s Evgeny Rylov, was “probably not clean”
- Australia have beaten Team GB 4-3 in extra time to reach the women’s football semi-finals
- Britain’s Beth Schriever and Kye Whyte claimed gold and silver in BMX racing
- Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was third-fastest in the women’s 100m heats with Dina Asher-Smith qualifying in 11th
- Team GB beat USA to reach the women’s rugby sevens semi-finals, while Fiji stunned defending champions Australia
- And Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega has won men’s 10,000m gold as athletics events began
Gold for Ethiopia! Selemon Barega maintains Ethiopia’s fine 10,000m tradition, bursting clear at the back straight and holding off a resurgent Cheptegei, who takes silver, and fellow Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo in bronze.
Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi is fourth, with USA’s Grant Fisher fifth and Canada’s Ahmed sixth.
Updated
At the final bell, the world champion, Joshua Cheptegei, doesn’t seem to have enough in the tank. Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega makes a surprise early move on the back straight ...
Men’s 10,000m: After Stephen Kissa drops out, having been unable to stretch the race, the main contenders muscle their way to the front. With two laps to go, Canada’s Mohammed Ahmed makes a move, followed by three Ethiopians ...
In the 10,000m, early leader Kissa has been reeled in by the pack, who are now stretched out down the home straight. It’s been cagey but with 10 laps to go, we may start to see the field thin out. Sam Atkin is struggling at the back, possibly running with an injury.
There’s swimming action going on too, with a lively evening session of heats. Here’s what’s been happening:
In the men’s 50m freestyle heats, Caeleb Dressel qualified fastest for the semi-final ahead of France’s Florent Manaudou and Greece’s Kristian Gkolomeev. Britain’s Ben Proud is through in 13th place.
In the women’s event, Emma McKeon was the fastest qualifier, in front of Pernille Blume, Cate Campbell and Sarah Sjöström. Team GB’s Anna Hopkin opted out of the heats, saving her energy for the mixed relay. The men’s 1,500m freestyle heats are ongoing.
The men’s 10,000m is under way, with Uganda’s Stephen Kissa setting the pace up in front. GB’s Sam Atkin and Marc Scott are in the pack, being led by Kenya’s Rhonex Kipruto and Weldon Langat. Just over 2k raced.
GOALS! Netherlands 1-2 USA Two goals in quick succession for the USA, Mewis and Williams on target. The winner of that one will face Canada in the semis.
Women's football: Australia beat Team GB 4-3 (aet)!
There’s no miracle equaliser for Great Britain, who were two minutes from victory inside 90 minutes and missed an extra-time penalty. Sam Kerr’s two goals see Australia though, where they will (probably) face Sweden.
Fencing gold for Japan! They seal a 45-36 win over ROC, Koki Kano securing victory before being mobbed by his teammates. Watch the sword, lads.
That is, by my count, Japan’s 17th gold of these Games – they’re back within one of China at the top of the medal table.
Updated
GOAL! Team GB 3-4 Australia (White) They think it’s all over ... it isn’t now! Ellen White heads home to complete her hat-trick, and Team GB have around five minutes to get an equaliser. Follow that one here.
Sweden lead Japan 3-1 and are heading to the semi-finals ... and Netherlands lead the USA, Vivianne Miedema with the opener!
The USA have been disqualified from the mixed 4x400m relay heats! Having come home first in Heat 1, they were penalised for a shoddy baton handover – not the first time American teams have suffered with this particular issue.
Ireland came second in that heat, and will be joined in the final by Belgium, Poland, Netherlands, Jamaica, Germany, Spain and Great Britain, who qualified with the eighth-fastest time.
Here’s Team GB duo Beth Schriever and Kye Whyte on their BMX success earlier today:
Japan are edging towards another home gold, this time in the fencing men’s team épée. They lead the ROC 34-29, with two more bouts to go of the nine scheduled.
GOAL! Team GB 2-4 Australia (Kerr) That may be that for Team GB’s medal hopes, as Sam Kerr climbs above Steph Houghton to head home!
Should they hold on, the Matildas are likely to face Sweden in the semis. They lead the hosts, Japan, 2-1.
The women’s rugby sevens semi-finals are set after France overcame China by a score of 24-10.
New Zealand v Fiji
Great Britain v France
Those games, and the gold/bronze medal matches, will take place on Saturday.
Updated
GOAL! Team GB 2-3 Australia (Fowler) Two minutes after Weir’s penalty is saved, 18-year-old Mary Fowler puts the Matildas in front! Her strike from distance takes a deflection off Lucy Bronze and loops beyond Ellie Roebuck into the top corner.
Updated
Penalty saved! Team GB earn an extra-time penalty, but Caroline Weir sees her spot-kick saved! It’s still 2-2 in Kashima. Canada have booked their place in the semis, winning their penalty shootout against Brazil 4-3. Hold on a minute ...
Here are the thoughts of Rory McIlroy, who is in contention for a medal in Tokyo and feeling mentally refreshed:
“I think all the tools are there physically. Mentally there were a few things [in the Open] at St George’s. I was crapping myself about hitting it out of bounds right and I hit it so far left with a three-iron and I chunked a two-iron on Sunday as well.
“I was just thinking too much about consequences and when you do that you are not as effortless, you are not as free, athletic, instinctive, all that sort of stuff. I actually needed to get away from the game a little bit so I didn’t touch the clubs for most of the week.
“I just wanted to get into contention going into the weekend and at least feel like I was part of the tournament. And I’ve done that.”
McColgan will have another opportunity in the 10,000m – speaking of which, the men’s 10k final is coming up in half an hour.
In the other heat, GB’s Jessica Judd also came up short. Here are the qualifiers for the final:
S Hassan (Neth), AJ Tirop (Ken), S Teferi (Eth), E Taye (Eth), Rengeruk (Ken), G Tsegay (Eth), H Obiri (Ken), N Battocletti (It), E Cranny (USA), KB Grøvdal (Nor).
Over at the Olympic Stadium, bitter disappointment for Eilish McColgan, who has failed to progress from the 5,000m heats.
McColgan, the daughter of 1988 silver medallist Liz McColgan, could only finish 10th in her heat, one place behind teammate Eloise Markovc. McColgan faded badly in the final stages, having appeared to be clipped.
More on two missed chances for Australian medals today.
The women’s rugby sevens side crashed out after a shock defeat to Fiji in the quarter-finals. Alowesi Nakoci and Ana Maria Naisami both scored in the first half as costly mistakes robbed the defending champions of possession.
Faith Nathan finally crossed after Fiji were yellow carded to leave the favourites down 14-5 at half-time. Charlotte Caslick scored with a minute to play but time ran out as Fiji progressed to a semi-final against New Zealand.
In the tennis mixed doubles, Ashleigh Barty and John Peers lost their semi-final to the ROC’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev by a score of 5-7, 6-4, 13-11.
GOAL! Team GB 2-2 Australia (Kerr) Team GB looked to be seeing this one out fairly comfortably – but you can’t give Sam Kerr a sniff of goal. She pounces on a defensive lapse to equalise with two minutes to go!
Elsewhere, it’s a penalty shootout between Canada and Brazil, while the Netherlands take on the USA in a heavyweight quarter-final:
It looks unlikely that the golf will resume today amid bad weather and fading light. Here is the current leaderboard, with Paul Casey (on 17), Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy (both finished) also well placed on -7. There is no cut in this event, so everyone will play on over the weekend.
Scores after the second day of men's @Olympics #Golf
— Olympic Golf (@OlympicGolf) July 30, 2021
-11 (F) #USA Schauffele
-10 (F) #MEX Ortiz
-8 (F) #CHI Pereira
-8 (F) #SWE Noren
-8 (F) #AUT Straka
-8 (16) #JPN Matsuyama pic.twitter.com/wT2A9hDNTc
Updated
Here’s Tumaini Carayol on Alexander Zverev’s surprise win over Novak Djokovic, which ended the all-conquering Serb’s hopes of a “golden slam”:
Brianna Holt writes on Simone Biles:
“Biles is held to impossible expectations. That is not only because she is the greatest in her sport, but also because she is a Black woman dominating an industry that has neglected and discriminated against athletes of her kind. A woman like Biles was never meant to be the greatest gymnast of all time, and because of that, she is held to higher standards.”
Here’s Team GB’s Megan Jones: “We’re not here to win a quarter-final, we’re here to go all the way. We’re probably a bit smaller [physically] than some other nations, but this energy we’ve got is insane. I’m oozing with pride right now.”
GOAL! Team GB 2-1 Australia (White) Oh my. Australia fail to clear their lines and Ellen White, Team GB’s supreme poacher, is on hand to fire into the far corner.
The USA have grabbed two late tries, but it’s not enough to deny Team GB a semi-final place. It finishes Team GB 21-12 USA. There are tears on both sides, with the USA’s Abby Gustaitis absolutely devastated by the defeat.
Before that, Fiji edged out Australia 14-12 in a fierce battle. The final quarter-final at Tokyo Stadium pits France against China.
Updated
In the women’s rugby sevens, there were expectations of a tough quarter-final for Team GB against the unbeaten US team. It hasn’t worked out that way, with two tries from Jaz Joyce and one for Abbie Brown putting them 21-0 ahead ...
GOAL! Team GB 1-1 Australia (White) Team GB had been getting frustrated, but Ellen White’s looping header gets them level. Canada v Brazil is still goalless, halfway through extra time.
Gold! Another for the Czech Republic, this time in judo as Lukas Krpalek wins the men’s +100kg final, beating Georgia’s Guram Tushishvili.
Elsewhere, another medal for a true Olympic legend:
4 Olympic appearances, 4 Olympic medals!
— Olympics (@Olympics) July 30, 2021
Teddy Riner takes #bronze for #FRA in men’s +100 kg #judo#Bronze Beijing 2008#Gold London 2012#Gold Rio 2016#Bronze Tokyo 2020#StrongerTogether | #Tokyo2020 | @Judo pic.twitter.com/QvLwrIbC3y
Here’s what’s coming up in the athletics (all times BST):
11am Women’s 5000m heats
11.05am Women’s triple jump qualification
11.25am Women’s shot put qualification
12pm Mixed 4x400m relay heats
12.30pm Men’s 10,000m final
Updated
Here’s what’s going on right now at 11am in London, 7pm in Tokyo, 8pm in Sydney and 6am in New York:
- Team GB are facing USA in the women’s rugby sevens, after Fiji and New Zealand booked their semi-final places
- Canada v Brazil has gone to extra time in women’s football, with Australia leading Team GB 1-0 in their quarter-final
- The evening athletics program is about to begin with the women’s 5000m heats
- We’re also heading back to the pool, with the men’s 50m freestyle swimming heats
- The second round of eventing dressage is under way, with Britain well-placed in the team standings
Novak Djokovic’s bid for a “golden slam” is over – sort of. He is still in the mixed doubles, where he and Nina Stojanovic will take on ROC’s Aslan Karatsev and Elena Vesnina in the second semi-final. The winners of that will play Rublev and Pavlyuchenkova in the final, after they beat Australia’s John Peers and Ash Barty in a final tie-break. It’s not the gold medal he wanted, either way.
In the men’s singles, Zverev will face Karen Khachanov in the gold medal match, with Djokovic playing Spain’s Pablo Carreño Busta for bronze. Zverev’s compatriot, Steffi Graf, remains the only tennis player to win the “golden slam” – all four grand slams and singles Olympic gold in one year.
Updated
Zverev beats Djokovic in men's semi-final!
Wow. Not many would have seen this coming after Novak Djokovic won the first set 6-1, but Alexander Zverev turned the match on its head to win 1-6, 6-3, 6-1! As Djokovic heads off court, Zverev takes it all in, practically alone in the arena.
Updated
From my colleague Richard Adams, a piece of history was made in the rowing earlier, with New Zealand coxswain Caleb Shepherd has becoming the first man to win a women’s Olympic Games medal. Shepherd steered the women’s eight to silver behind Canada on Friday. More on a golden day for NZ here:
On the subject of quickfire gold medals, Joe Rodrigo suggests judo might theoretically be in with a shout. “Sharofiddin Boltabaev from Uzbekistan won by ippon in 2.88 seconds during a match of the IJF World Tour in Tashkent in 2019.”
Zverev breaks again! It’s all happening now. From 6-1, 3-3 Djokovic has lost seven games on the spin, and Zverev leads 4-0 in the final set!
GOAL! Team GB 0-1 Australia (Kennedy) Team GB had made most of the early running but failed to take the lead – and now Australia are ahead with their first shot on target. It’s Alanna Kennedy who heads home from a corner!
Another home gold for Japan! It goes to judoka Sone Akira, who dominated her +78kg final against Cuba’s Idalys Ortiz.
What a performance from SONE Akira for #JPN
— Olympics (@Olympics) July 30, 2021
She wins #gold in the women’s +78 kg #judo#StrongerTogether | #Tokyo2020 | @judo pic.twitter.com/Bg7kKiMuCA
Djokovic had a host of break points in Zverev’s next service game, but couldn’t convert – and Zverev digs deep to hold and leads 1-6, 6-3, 2-0.
In the mixed doubles semi-final, Australia’s Ash Barty and John Peers have won the first set 7-5 against the ROC’s Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
An extraordinary war of words has broken out after the men’s 200m backstroke final. The ROC’s Evgeny Rylov won gold, with the USA’s Ryan Murphy second. After the race, Murphy said: “It is a huge mental drain to go through the year knowing that I’m swimming in a race that’s probably not clean, and that is what it is.”
At a tense press conference an hour later, Murphy insisted he was not accusing Rylov of anything, but added: “I don’t know if it was 100% clean and that’s because of things that have happened in the past.” Britain’s Luke Greenbank, who came third, was supportive of Murphy’s view. Barney Ronay reports:
Zverev strikes back! He breaks to take the second set 6-3, and breaks Djokovic again to start the decider! Is Novak’s “golden slam” bid under threat?
Updated
Canada and Brazil are still deadlocked at 0-0 in their quarter-final, although Vanessa Gilles has just hit the bar with a header for Canada. Team GB have struck the woodwork twice early on against Australia, where it’s also goalless.
Stuart Jenkinson suggests the shot put for the quickest way to win a medal:
“It’s basically only a few seconds per effort, so one good effort to qualify and then a really good first shot (put?) in the final. Sit back and let everyone else try to get close, spend six seconds in total actually taking part.”
Sean Ingle was at the Olympic Stadium to see the athletics action begin with an explosive set of women’s 100m heats, on what looks a very fast track.
“Six women crashed through the 11-second barrier. Another 22 set personal bests. And 10 national records fell. Sprint heats are usually about loosening limbs and conserving energy. This was a sustained assault on the senses – and the record books.”
Here’s Bryan Armen Graham with a nugget of tennis info. Sounds like a root-and-branch review of US tennis is urgently required:
With Austin Krajicek and Tennys Sandgren’s loss to Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus in the men’s doubles bronze medal match, US tennis players have failed to win a gold medal at an Olympics for the first time since 1920 (although tennis was not on the programme between 1924 and 1988).
Team GB and Australia have kicked off their quarter-final in Kashima. Follow it live with Emma Kemp here:
Zverev is making a much better go of things in the second set, where it’s on serve at 4-3 to the German. Djokovic won the first set 6-1.
Meanwhile, my colleague and golfing guru Dave Tindall informs me that Xander Schauffele has moved into the clubhouse lead on -11. Play has been suspended due to these pesky storms over Tokyo, with Hideki Matsuyama (-8) and Paul Casey (-7) yet to finish their second rounds.
One of my alternative heroes of the Games – this guy eats, sleeps, breathes volleyball. Sadly, he couldn’t inspire Argentina to victory over the ROC earlier today.
Everyone needs a hype teammate like Facundo Conte. 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/VpmAXywJnD
— Olympics (@Olympics) July 30, 2021
Here’s a quick Team GB boxing update from overnight:
Caroline Dubois is through to the quarter-finals in the women’s lightweight boxing after a points win over Rashida Ellis of the USA, while two medals have been guaranteed in the men’s events.
Pat McCormack will pick up at least a welterweight bronze after a victory over Bobo-Usmon Baturov, and Ben Whittaker will do likewise after his light-heavyweight win over Brazil’s Keno Machado.
In his jubilant post-fight interview, Whittaker also stated his ambition to become “the mayor of Wolverhampton”, with the promise of a grill and a chain for every citizen. He would get my vote.
The women’s rugby sevens quarter-finals are due to take place this morning, with New Zealand beating ROC 36-0. It sounds like a storm is brewing above Tokyo Stadium, however, so the remaining games may be delayed. Fiji v Australia is next, then Team GB v USA and France v China.
Updated
Craig McEwan has a very good question. “I was wondering about the time in competition needed to win a medal. Does anyone know (or care?!) which events need most and least time to win a medal?”
Off the top of my head, I’m thinking 100m sprinters and gymnasts in single-apparatus competitions would be among the quickest. The gold-winning golfer will be out on the course for maybe 20 hours, but there are probably athletes working longer shifts.
I’ll confess to having no real idea how long sailing takes, for example. Let me know your suggestions via the usual methods.
Updated
This is a great stat from Tom Waterhouse:
“Team GB may not be top of the medal table, but it’s worth pointing out that they have won medals in a remarkable 13 different disciplines – more than any other country. Of the teams above them in the table, China and the US have won in 12, Japan and the ROC in 10, and Australia in only five.”
Archery gold for South Korea! A dramatic finish in the women’s individual final, with An San fighting back to force a tie-break round against ROC’s Elena Osipova. An shoots first and hits the bullseye for 10 points, with Osipova unable to match it.
Victory means An has won three golds at these Games after helping her nation to women’s and mixed team’s events. South Korea have won five golds in Tokyo, and four of them have come in archery.
Updated
The second men’s tennis semi-final is following the script so far, with Novak Djokovic winning the first set 6-1 against Alexander Zverev. ROC’s Karen Khachanov awaits in the final.
The women’s football quarter-finals take place today, and the tireless Emma Kemp is on hand for coverage of Team GB v Australia. Canada v Brazil is goalless with 30 minutes played.
You might recall that the USA’s women’s water polo lost a match the other day. They’ve put that right against ROC today, winning 18-5, with Maggie Steffens earning a piece of Olympic history in the process.
Maggie Steffens🇺🇸 of @TeamUSA now owns the all-time scoring record in women's #Olympics #Waterpolo
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) July 30, 2021
4⃣9⃣goals and still counting! #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/bk3bDnfeOY
Team GB’s BMX bandits, Bethany Shriever of Leytonstone and Kye Whyte of Peckham, have been speaking to Hazel Irvine on the BBC.
Shriever: “It feels amazing, everything was perfect for racing today. It’s our first Games and we’ve absolutely loved it. I could barely walk afterwards, I left it all on the track. It’s been a long, hard journey, I’ve had to rely a lot on my family, and the team for supporting me to become a full-time athlete.”
Whyte: “It’s a crazy achievement. The track is simple but technical at the same time – I didn’t like it at first! My brothers were not selected, but they’ve taught me a lot, helped me get here and earn my medal.”
Updated
“Can we all take a moment to marvel at the Everest-like achievements of Beth Shriever and Kye Whyte,” says peterg2806 in the Readers’ Village below the line. “BMXing has had zero funding since Rio – they’ve literally funded this through crowdfunding and Shriever working as a part time teaching assistant. Absolutely stupendous!”
Updated
More gold for China in the badminton mixed doubles, with Huang Dongping and Wang Yilyu defeating compatriots Huang Yaqiong and Zheng Siwei. China’s gold medal tally is now 18 and they’re pulling away at the top of the medal table.
🏸 #UnitedByEmotion pic.twitter.com/d8ozjf9ckv
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) July 30, 2021
Here’s a quick roundup of some Team GB efforts so far today, with Bryony Page taking bronze on the trampoline. China’s Zhu Xueying and Liu Lingling took gold and silver.
@niallmcveigh Daniell and Venus have won the Men's Doubles tennis bronze for NZ!
— KitblissNZ ⚽👕 (@KitblissNZ) July 30, 2021
They have indeed! They’re the first New Zealanders to win an Olympic tennis medal since Anthony Wilding, who represented Australasia way back in 1912.
Here’s a report from the women’s basketball, where the USA pulled off a dominant win over Japan – their 51st straight Olympic victory. I’m going to stick my neck out and back the Americans for gold.
The headlines so far on day seven
Here are the big stories so far from Tokyo:
- There was dramatic double medal joy for Team GB in the BMX racing. Beth Shriever won gold minutes after teammate Kye Whyte secured silver in the men’s event behind Dutchman Niek Kimmann
- US racer Connor Fields fell heavily in the men’s semi-finals and was taken to hospital. He is now awake. Australia’s Saya Sakakibara also crashed in the women’s semis and gave an emotional in a post-race interview
- Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith finished second in her 100m heat behind America’s Teahna Danielsm, but her time of 11.07 was only 11th fastest across the eight heats. Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou (10.78) was quickest with Jamaican pair Elaine Thompson Herah (10.82) and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (10.84) second and third
-
Tatjana Schoenmaker upstaged American Lilly King and set a new world record (2:18.95) in the women’s 200m breaststroke
- Duncan Scott picked up his third swimming medal with silver in the 200m medley final
- Russian Evgeny Rylov beat American Ryan Murphy and GB’s Luke Greenbank to the men’s 200m backstroke gold. More on the fallout from that to come shortly ...
- Emma McKeon won her eighth Olympic medal with gold in women’s 100m freestyle
- Rowing concluded with bronze for Team GB in the men’s eight, but the inquest has already started after an Olympic campaign without a gold medal
The women’s individual archery final is under way, with ROC’s Elena Osipova up against South Korea’s An San, the winner of two team golds in Tokyo already. Osipova defeated GB’s Bryony Pitman 6-0 on her way to the final. In the bronze medal match, Italy’s Lucilla Boari beat the USA’s Mackenzie Brown 7-1.
The two Australian track and field athletes and one coach caught up in a Covid scare after American pole vaulter Sam Kendricks tested positive will have to remain in isolation for the remainder of the Games.
The pair, believed to be vaulters Kurtis Marschall and Nina Kennedy, will still be able to compete in their events as long as they continue to return negative tests. While not competing, they will remain away from the athletes’ village and in “isolation centres” set up by the AOC, Australia’s chef de mission said on Friday.
“We made the decision to continue to isolate the three people from the track and field team as a precautionary measure,” Ian Chesterman said. “While they tested negative today, we want to make sure they continue to test negative and we want to make sure that we continue to look after our team.”
Australia’s team doctor, David Hughes, said he rated the risk of infection as “low to moderate” after the trio had met Kendricks in the open air and while wearing masks.
The men’s pole vault competition opens on Saturday with the women’s starting on Monday.
A diplomatic incident is developing after Iran’s Javad Foroughi won a shooting gold medal. Foroughi is a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, labelled a terrorist organisation by the US in 2019.
The men’s golf has been ticking along overnight as they approach the halfway mark at the Kasumigaseki country club – and it’s been a big day for the pair representing Ireland, Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy. Lowry shot six-under-par, McIlroy five-under to leave both on -7, three shots off the leader, Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz.
Mito Pereira, Alex Noren and Xander Schauffele are tied for second (-8); Schauffele is still out on the course. Home favourite Hideki Matsuyama is also seven-under and has five holes to play; Team GB’s Paul Casey is currently on six-under-par.
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“If anyone else was wondering, according to Wikipedia Tennys Sandgren was named after his Swedish great-grandfather,” tweets LillaMW.
Speaking of Sandgren, he’s going for bronze in the men’s doubles tennys – but alongside fellow American, Austin Krajicek, he is 7-6, 3-1 down to NZ pair Michael Venus and Marcus Daniell.
France’s Boris Neveu can only finish sixth, so it’s down to the world No 1, Jiri Prskavec. The Czech shrugs off an early mistake to lead at the first split and storms down the rest of the way. It’s gold for Prskavec (Czech Republic), silver for Grigar (Slovakia) and bronze for Aigner (Germany). Team GB’s Bradley Forbes-Cryans has to settle for sixth.
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Slovakia’s Jakub Grigar finishes three seconds ahead of Aigner and takes up the gold medal position, ending Forbes-Cryans’ medal hopes as he does so. Next up is USA’s Michael Smolen, who can only finish fourth. Grigar is guaranteed a medal with two left to go ...
Bradley Forbes-Cryans is off – but a decent start stalls as he goes wide at Gate 5! He’s still ahead of the leader, Germany’s Hannes Aigner, at the first split – but a two-second penalty leaves him three seconds behind Aigner and in the bronze medal position with Austria’s Felix Oschmautz second. Four more contenders to go, and he’ll struggle to hold on for a medal.
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The Russian Olympic Committee will almost certainly have another medal to celebrate in tennis, where Karen Khachanov is one game from victory over Spain’s Pablo Carreño Busta. He leads 6-3, 5-2. The second semi-final will feature Novak Djokovic and Sacha Zverev.
Gold! Vitalina Batsarashkina has won the women’s 25m pistol event in shooting. It’s her second gold of the Games (she also won the 10m pistol) and the ROC’s 10th at Tokyo 2020.
30 July- #Shooting - Women's 25m Pistol
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) July 30, 2021
🥇Vitalina Batsarashkina #ROC
🥈KIM Minjung🇰🇷
🥉XIAO Jiaruixuan🇨🇳#UnitedByEmotion | #StrongerTogether | #Olympics | #Tokyo2020
Thanks Emma, and hello everyone. What’s coming up? What isn’t? But we’ll have more from track, field and pool, plus football, tennis and much more. First up, we’re off to the Kasai Canoe Slalom Course, where Britain’s Bradley Forbes-Cryans is bidding for gold in the men’s K1 slalom. Strap yourselves in!
Khachanov has taken the first set 6-3 in the men’s tennis singles semi against Carreño Busta and it up 2-1 in the second.
And on that note, it’s time for me to hand over to Niall McVeigh, who has quite a packed few hours ahead! Ciao for now.
Shriever has a high-profile fan.
🙌👏🙌 One good thing about jet lag is I got to watch @bethanyshriever and @kye969 smash it live!! Amazing!! 🥇🥈 https://t.co/bLXY716uf4
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) July 30, 2021
Another for the Brits to keep an eye on shortly is the men’s kayak final, which starts at 4pm local time (8am BST) at the Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre and features Team GB’s Bradley Forbes-Cryans. He will be out to take home another slalom medal after compatriot Mallory Franklin claimed silver in the women’s canoe yesterday.
Updated
Some of today's highlights
- It’s been a day of drama at the BMX track. Beth Shriever won racing gold minutes after Great Britain teammate Kye Whyte secured silver in the men’s event, which was won by Dutchman Niek Kimmann
- There were also a couple of scares, with American race Connor Fields coming down heavily in the men’s semi-finals and taken to hospital. He is now awake. Australia’s Saya Sakakibara also crashed in the women’s semis. She was medically cleared but emotional in a post-race interview
- Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith finished second in her 100m heat behind America’s Teahna Danielsm, but her time 11.07 was only 11th fastest across the eight heats. Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou (10.78) was quickest with formidable Jamaican pair Elaine Thompson Herah (10.82) and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (10.84) second and third respectively
- New Zealand continued their superb rowing form with their third gold to make them the best nation of the Games. Germany took silver and Great Britain bronze
- Tatjana Schoenmaker upstaged American Lilly King and set a new world record (2:18.95) in the women’s 200m breaststroke
- Russian Evgeny Rylov beat American Ryan Murphy and Luke Greenbank to the men’s 200m backstroke gold. The American and Brit won silver and bronze respectively
- Emma McKeon won her eighth Olympic medal with gold in women’s 100m freestyle
- Duncan Scott picked up his third swimming medal with silver in the 200m medley final, while Luke Greenbank added bronze in the 200m backstroke
- Team GB won bronze in the men’s eight, but the inquest has already started after a disappointing rowing campaign
Still to come!
- Team GB topped their group in the women’s football and face an Australian side led by Chelsea striker Sam Kerr in the quarter-finals (6pm local time). Another one not to miss is the Netherlands v USA (8pm)
- The first athletics gold medal will be awarded to the winner of the men’s 10,000m (8.30pm)
- An all-China men’s singles table tennis final starts at 9pm between Ma Long and Fan Zhendong. China got the gold-silver one-two in the women’s singles as well after world No 1 Chen Meng overcame compatriot Sun Yingsha
Great Britain’s Bryony Page has claimed her second Olympic medal on the bounce with bronze in the women’s trampoline event at the Ariake Arena. The 30-year-old, who won a surprise silver in Rio in 2016, scored 55.735 to finish behind Chinese pair Zhu Xueying and Liu Lingling.
The men’s tennis singles semi-finals are under way at Ariake Tennis Court, where Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta is 2-1 up in the first set against Karen Khachanov, with the match on serve. The men’s doubles bronze medal match has also begun between US pair Austin Krajicek and Tennys Sandgren and Kiwi duo Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus. The former are also up 2-1 and it is also on serve.
Technology these days, eh. If you would like to see a sport revolutionised, archery is a fitting example. They always appear so outwardly calm, but first the first time at an Olympics a vision-based heart-rate monitor allows TV audiences to feel the tension as competitors shoot for bullseye.
It is not everybody’s cup of tea, and there is disquiet in some quarters on accuracy and surveillance implications of the technology.
Thanks Scott! I’m in canoe slalom land, which is a very happy place indeed. France’s Boris Neveu has usurped American Michal Smolen and then Czech Jiří Prskavec displaces him. His time is 94.29 seconds, and Lucien Delfour is up. His run starts clean, his turns crisp. Then he wastes time getting out of a couple of holes, and eventually finishes in 97.52 which is good enough for sixth. But the judges are having a close look at one of the final gates, which Delfour cleared by leaning back and ducking and turning his head like a ninja. Did he touch it? They eventually rule no, so he is in.
An early mistake from one of the favourites, Italian Giovanni De Gennaro, costs him a spot in the final. He is goooone. Even Germany’s fastest semi-final qualifier Hannes Aigner is off the pace but he qualifies seventh.
And that is all from me. Now handing over to my esteemed colleague, Emma Kemp. Thanks for your company and banter today. Bye for now.
Canoe Slalom: the latest from the men’s kayak semi-finals is that USA’s Michal Smolen remains the fastest with a time of 96.11 (with zero penalty seconds) but Bradley Forbes-Cryans of Team GB has been relegated to third by Slovakia’s Jakub Grigar. The top 10 go through to the final. Much is expected of Australia’s Lucien Delfour and his run is nigh.
Kurt Perleberg writes in: “What do you remember about Lolo Jones?”
Well, Kurt, I’m glad you ask. Lolo - or LJ as I liked to call her - was an accomplished hurdler and bobsleigher who competed at both the summer and winter Olympics as well as winning gold medals at numerous world championships.
Update on Rio gold medalist Connor Fields, the American BMX racer who could not take his place in the men’s final earlier today after coming down heavily in the third semi-final run. Fields was taken to hospital after the crash and it is good to hear he is awake.
Team USA's Connor Fields, Olympic champion at Rio 2016, is "awake and awaiting further medical evaluation" following a crash in the semi-finals of the men's BMX racing event at Tokyo 2020.https://t.co/QCYzN7qi8l
— Olympics (@Olympics) July 30, 2021
Updated
Thanks, Eric, and good on you for being a fully paid-up member of the #Staring4Paris movement. I like your idea. Needs fleshing out perhaps but the winner would surely be deserving. It’s a competitive field.
Due to popular demand, here’s a classic Staring bout from yesteryear. It’s an all-time classic featuring two giants of the game, Nanak and Duran. Well, one giant and a little fellow who hides under the table.
Updated
Canoe Slalom: the men’s kayak semi-finals are under way at the Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre. Close to halfway through, USA’s Michal Smolen is setting the pace with a run - stroke/paddle? - of 96.11. Bradley Forbes-Cryans of Team GB has just clocked 96.48 and is presently second fastest. Australia’s Lucien Delfour is to come.
Rugby Sevens: with the final women’s Pool A match now complete - New Zealand beat ROC 33 points to zip - here are the quarter-final match-ups for later on today:
- New Zealand v ROC (hmmm, I wonder who will win that)
- Fiji v Australia
- USA v Great Britain
- France v China
For early bird readers who may be waking up around now in Great Britain, here’s an update on the day so far for Team GB
- It’s been an incredible day at the BMX track, where Bethany Shriever won gold in the women’s race and Kye Whyte silver in the men’s
- Duncan Scott picked up his third swimming medal with silver in the 200m medley final, while Luke Greenbank added bronze in the 200m backstroke
- Team GB won bronze in the men’s eight, but the inquest has already started after a disappointing rowing campaign
- The athletics competition is under way and Dina Asher-Smith, Daryll Neita and Asha Philip qualified for the 100m semis
- In the women’s rugby sevens competition, the women smashed Kenya 31-0
And...
👊
— Team GB (@TeamGB) July 30, 2021
Caroline Dubois is through to the quarter-finals after winning via split decision (3-0) against the American Rashida Ellis.
Just one fight away from a guaranteed medal.#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/LidUGqMzR9
The runaway #Staring4Paris movement is now officially a thing - my, that didn’t take long - and has also got people thinking about what other sports should be pulled from the shadows and given their time in the sun at the next Olympics.
Here’s what you have to say:
Jonathan Perry: “My pick for new Olympic sport is the random decathlon - like the decathlon, only the 10 sports can be any 10 individual Olympic events picked at random, and you don’t know what they will be until 10 minutes before the first event. So the athletes turn up on day one and they might have to do the 10 metre platform dive, the pole vault, the 50km walk or whatever. It would help answer the age old question of ‘Who is the best at sport?’.”
Yes, yes, yes, JP. Love it.
Matjaz Hribar: “Pétanque. It has everything to become popular and intriguing member of Olympic sports’ family: outdoors settings, peacefulness and dynamism, drama, fight … repetitively. It can be played anywhere, in Southern Pacific or Northern Europe and on any kind of the terrain. It has already well developed bad words addressing any situation and competitors available to interested audience. One of the rare sports that is giving an opportunity for grandmother/grandfather to attend Olympic games with BMX granddaughter or skateboarding grand-granddaughter. Just imagine set of stories in media…”
Christopher Moss: “If you’re going to add staring to the Olympic roster, some other sport would have to make way. I suggest we combine horse dancing with something gymnastic. I’d buy tickets to see a horse on a trampoline.”
You wouldn’t be alone, Chris, unless of course Covid is still rampant in Paris. Then not only wouldn’t you be alone, you wouldn’t be there. If that makes sense.
For what it’s worth, my take on what should or should not be in the Olympics is this: if the sport or activity has the capability for one person (or animal) to beat another, then it’s in.
Here’s another big staring battle from years gone by.
Updated
Kurt Perleberg asks: “Has any American won a gold medal at the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics?”
Thanks for writing in, Kurt. To my knowledge, Eddie Eagan and Gillis Grafström are the only two athletes to win gold in both the summer and winter Olympics. Eagan, a boxer and bobsleigher, represented the USA. So the answer to your question is: yes.
Not being funny, but Google is good for this kind of thing. Just saying.
Lovers of the bean will, erm, love this story about Australia’s secret weapon in Tokyo - a bloody good cup of coffee.
Athletics: Okay, back to the National Stadium and the women’s 100m heats. To recap from my earlier post (and to pad out with subsequent results), here goes:
- Heat 1 went to Teahna Daniels of the USA in a time of 11.04, with Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith clocking an easy 11.07 in second place. Both women were impressive.
- Heat 2 was taken out by Jamaican superstar Elaine Thompson-Herah in a sizzling 10.82. This is the start of Thompson-Herah’s bid to follow up her heroics of Rio where she claimed the rare sprint double.
- Heat 3 went to Germany’s Alexandra Burghardt in 11.08, with USA’s Javiane Oliver coming in second.
- Heat 4 was a quick one, with Côte d’Ivoire’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou stopping the clock at 10.78 ahead of Team GB’s Daryll Neita, who also ran under 11 seconds.
- Heat 5 was won by Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who recorded 10.84 in her defeat of Switzerland’s Ajla Del Ponte.
- Heat 6 went the way of Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare, who clocked 11.05 in her victory over Asha Philip of Team GB.
- Heat 7 was taken out by Michelle-Lee Ahye, the Trinidad & Tobago sprinter winning in 11.06 ahead of Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson.
With the top three from each heat going through to the semi-finals (plus the next-fastest three runners), Australia’s Hana Basic is out after finishing fifth in the final heat.
We know that Saya Sakakibara is up and about after that horror crash in the women’s BMX Racing semi-final, but here is the official word from the Australian Olympic Committee:
Saya Sakakibara crashed in the semi-final for BMX Racing this morning. She was stretchered off the course and assessed by medical. At the time Saya showed signs of a mild concussion but after 30 minutes fully recovered and was medically cleared.
She has sustained a few bumps and bruises and will continue to be monitored over the next 24 hours as a precaution. Saya is currently up and around at the course talking to family and conducting media interviews.
Hockey: Australia have been held 1-1 by Spain at the Oi Hockey Stadium. Tom Wickham put the Kookaburras ahead after five minutes before Pau Quemada Cadafalch equalised on 66 minutes. The result was essentially immaterial for Australia, however, with top spot in Pool A already locked up. Quarters next.
FT' We complete the pool stages in the top spot of Pool A.
— Kookaburras (@Kookaburras) July 30, 2021
Next stop, a quarter-final on Sunday.
🇦🇺 1-1 🇪🇸 #AUSvESP #HockeyInvites #PrideOfTheKookas #TokyoTogether pic.twitter.com/7Q8X9fduPZ
Proud Brit mpeel (not sure if real name, but unlikely) has written in and makes a great point regarding Team GB’s efforts at the Ariake Urban Sports Park today:
“I’ve just woken up in London. My daughters are both experienced BMX racers. I know you are in Australia, but the women’s gold and men’s silver is an amazing achievement for a sport that cycling generally hasn’t taken seriously enough.”
Agreed, huge result. Hopefully a big deal will be made of this by the British media given BMX doesn’t get much airplay.
A good day on the track for #GBR!
— Olympics (@Olympics) July 30, 2021
Kye Whyte takes silver in the men's BMX racing final.@UCI_BMX_SX @TeamGB #BMXRacing pic.twitter.com/ONWZhmc4Q3
Badminton: for purveyors of the shuttlecock - and I know you are out there - the first badminton medal of Tokyo 2020 has been won, with Watanabe Yuta and Higashino Arisa taking bronze for Japan in the mixed doubles.
#Badminton bronze for #JPN!
— Olympics (@Olympics) July 30, 2021
Watanabe Yuta and Higashino Arisa win the first badminton medal of #Tokyo2020 in the mixed doubles.@bwfmedia @Japan_Olympic pic.twitter.com/SfU13yVi1l
Updated
Joel Eley writes in, agreeing that Staring should become an Olympics sport. I can feel the #Staring4Paris movement gathering pace.
“Hi Scott, I like your suggestion. My Australian mate is dead set on Prawning becoming an Olympic event. Personally I am not too sure but as we have been on pretty much lockdown for 3 months this is now the level of debate. Stay safe and all the best from Kuala Lumpur.”
Hey Joel. Staring, yes, Prawning, not so much.
I feel like I’ve let everyone down. This sucks for sure. Thank you everyone for supporting me all the way. I feel like a gave my best today. I don’t feel like it’s clicked that it’s over. It would have been great to be in that final and go for gold.
These are the words of Australia’s Saya Sakakibara, who took a heavy tumble in the third women’s semi-final run (having won the second heat) in the BMX Racing event. The pure emotion of it all after years of striving for this moment. She will be bigger and better in Paris. The good thing is she is safe and well. That stack looked nasty.
Updated
Bethany Shriever wins gold in the women's BMX Racing
1 Shriever (GBR) – 44.358
2 Pajon (COL)
3 Smulders (NED)
The Brit capitalised on a brilliant start to hold off the Pajon, denying the Colombian a third successive Olympics gold medal. Pajon was coming so hard in the the run to the line but Shriever pulled out plenty as the line approached. Australia’s Lauren Reynolds finished fifth after being pushed wide on the first turn.
Incredible finish!
— Olympics (@Olympics) July 30, 2021
On her Olympic debut, #GBR's Bethany Shriever is crowned women's BMX racing champion at #Tokyo2020.@UCI_BMX_SX @TeamGB #BMXRacing pic.twitter.com/nUkqjsjIop
Updated
Women’s BMX Racing final: Reynolds in action for Australia but she will have her hands full against Pajon and Shriever.
Niek Kimmann wins gold in the men's BMX Racing
1 Kimmann (NED) – 39.053
2 Whyte (GBR)
3 Ramires Yepes (COL)
A dominant performance by the Dutchman but the final was notable for the absence of USA’s Connor Fields, who was hurt in a bad crash during the semi-final runs. We await and update on his condition.
The women’s final is next.
What a race!#NED's Niek Kimmann becomes the men's BMX racing Olympic champion at #Tokyo2020.@UCI_BMX_SX @nocnsf #BMXRacing pic.twitter.com/MpVn1zd007
— Olympics (@Olympics) July 30, 2021
Updated
Athletics: the heats of the women’s 100m are under way at the National Stadium:
- Heat 1 went to Teahna Daniels of the USA in a time of 11.04, with Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith clocking an easy 11.07 in second place. Both women were impressive.
-
Heat 2 was taken out by Jamaican superstar Elaine Thompson-Herah in a sizzling 10.82. This is the start of Thompson-Herah’s bid to follow up her heroics of Rio where she claimed the rare sprint double.
Updated
BMX Racing: more drama at the Ariake Urban Sports Park, with Australia’s Saya Sakakibara crashing out in the third semi-final run barely moments after Connor Fields suffered a big stack in the men’s event. I am hearing both riders have been taken to hospital. Fingers crossed both are okay.
Updated
Women’s Rugby Sevens: today’s final pool games have yielded some interesting results:
- Pool B: Fiji 41-5 Brazil
- Pool B: Canada 0-31 France
- Pool C: China 29-0 Japan
- Pool C: Australia 12-14 USA
- Pool A: Great Britain 31-0 Kenya
- Pool A: ROC-New Zealand (delayed)
With the last Pool A game to be played, these results mean Australia will play Fiji in tonight’s quarter-final stage, with USA and France also through.
Making history 📝
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) July 30, 2021
Reapi Uluinasau becomes the first #Rugby sevens player to score four tries in one match at the #Olympics #HowWeSevens | #Tokyo2020 | @fijirugby pic.twitter.com/9SjOeQMpzn
Updated
BMX Racing: back briefly to the Ariake Urban Sports Park, and big news coming out of the third run in the men’s semi-final with USA’s Connor Fields crashing out early on. France’s Romain Mahieu won again. Fields has qualified in fourth position overall despite the stack but he doesn’t look in a good way and is receiving medical attention. He might not be fit for the final.
Updated
I might be late to discussion on these pages about sports that aren’t in the Olympics but should be. If you can indulge me a belated contribution, how on earth is staring not there?
BMX Racing: great run by Australia’s Saya Sakakibara to finish second in the first women’s semi-final run. She finished behind Colombian superstar Mariana Pajon and in front of USA’s Felicia Stancil. Great Britain’s Bethany Shriever was awesome in the second run, outpointing Simone Christensen of Denmark and Australia’s Lauren Reynolds.
BMX Racing: France’s Romain Mahieu won the first men’s semi-final run ahead of USA’s Connor Fields. In run No 2, Ecuador’s Alfredo Campo finished in front of Dutchman Niek Kimmann with Great Britain’s Kye Whyte in fourth. The third run is to come.
Updated
Right, with the manic swimming hour now a thing of the past and the athletics going on all day (seemingly), let’s take a look at BMX.
The Queen of BMX! 👑
— Olympics (@Olympics) July 30, 2021
Flashback to Mariana Pajón's thrilling Olympic debut at London 2012! 🤩
The Colombian would go on to win gold in London and again at Rio 2016!
Will she make it three Olympic 🥇 in a row? The #Tokyo2020 final starts shortly! #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/QnFfH7xERT
Am at the cavernous Tokyo Olympic Stadium, which in normal times would now be packed with 68,000 people but is now largely empty - save for a few thousand officials, media and volunteers.
Not a bad atmosphere mind, thanks to the top French DJ - sorry, I don’t know his name - that World Athletics have recruited. The British 800m women have all just finished their heats, with Jemma Reekie looking particularly impressive in winning hers in 1:59.97.
Meanwhile, the Australian Brandon Starc and Britain’s Tom Gale both qualified for the high jump final.
Wang Shun wins gold in men's 200m individual medley
1 Wang (CHN) – 1:55.00
2 Scott (GBR)
3 Desplanches (SUI)
Lochte’s record was never in threat but that was a very strong swim by Wang. Another individual silver for Scott after his relay gold. Andrew dropped away sharply in the freestyle leg to finish out of the placings.
But now Andrew regains the lead with just the freestyle leg to go. But Wang is coming hard. And here comes Scott. Big finish coming up!
Not a good turn for Andrew. Out of the medals heading into breaststroke.
Andrew leads after the butterfly leg followed by Cseh and Wang. Big start by the American.
Men’s 200m individual medley: Great Britain record holder Duncan Scott is a medal chance but the man to beat is Michael Andrew of the USA. Fastest qualifier Wang Shun of China is also a swimmer to watch.
Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell embrace.
“This is my fourth Olympics but only second individual medal,” Campbell tells Channel Seven, holding back the tears. “I’m so happy for Emma and so happy I will be standing on the podium with her. I wanted to put forward my best performance. After a very challenger year, it’s been a really long journey to get here. I’m so thrilled.”
Well said, Cate. Australia’s stunning performance in the pool continues. That’s six swimming gold medals now, five provided by Australia’s women.
Updated
Emma McKeon wins gold in women’s 100m freestyle
1 McKeon (AUS) – 51.96 (OR)
2 Haughey (HKG)
3 C Campbell (AUS)
Eight Olympics medals now for McKeon and her first individual gold in Tokyo. An Olympic record to boot. Star. Led all the way.
“It doesn’t feel real,” McKeon tells Channel Seven. “This week has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster.”
Updated
And they’re off. McKeon in the lead straight away. Haughey in second and Cate Campbell in bronze position at the turn.
Women’s 100m freestyle final: Emma McKeon is looking to add to Australia’s gold medal haul. After smashing the Olympic record in the preliminary heats with a personal best of 52.13, McKeon starts in lane four in pursuit of her fourth medal of the Games. Hong Kong’s 200m freestyle silver medallist Siobhan Haughey could be McKeon’s closest challenger, followed by Australia’s triple Olympic relay gold medallist, Cate Campbell. The field also features Canada’s defending Olympic champion Penny Oleksiak, Sweden’s world record holder Sarah Sjostrom and 2016 medley relay gold medallist Abbey Weitzeil of the United States.
Not long now...
Evgeny Rylov wins gold in men's 200m backstroke
1 Rylov (ROC) – 1:53.27 (OR)
2 Murphy (USA)
3 Greenbank (GBR)
Murphy came hard in the final 25m but Rylov pulled out enough to secure the double.
What a race from ROC's Evgeny Rylov to secure gold and a new Olympic Record in the men's 200m backstroke final.@fina1908 #Swimming pic.twitter.com/G0idCg0szT
— Olympics (@Olympics) July 30, 2021
Updated
Rylov is 0.72 ahead of Murphy at the 150m. The Russian in front. Murphy is coming.
Murphy is going for a fourth Olympics gold here and he is amongst the leaders at the first turn. Rylov showing up in the lead.
Updated
Men’s 200m backstroke final: Ryan Murphy, who took gold in both the 100m and 200m backstroke events in Rio, finished with the third fastest time in the semi-finals on Thursday, and he’s a strong medal contended in a race where Russia’s Evgeny Rylov is favoured. Murphy won bronze in the 100m event, where he holds both the world and Olympic records, finishing .21 seconds behind Rylov.
Here we go.
Upcoming medal events in the pool:
- Men’s 200m backstroke
- Women’s 100m freestyle
- Men’s 200m individual medley
Tatjana Schoenmaker wins gold in women's 200m breaststroke
1 Schoenmaker (RSA) – 2:18.95 (WR)
2 King (USA)
3 Lazor (USA)
First woman ever under 2:19. What a swim.
Updated
But here comes Schoenmaker. She takes over from King at the 150m and is asserting.
Women’s 200m breaststroke final: this is all about Tatjana Schoenmaker, who starts well but is trailing USA’s Lilly King at the halfway mark.
Updated
Men’s 100m butterfly semi-final 2: Dressel dominates, not in world record time but the American obliterates Milak’s semi-final winning time of 50.31 to clock in with a blistering 49.71 ahead of Noe Ponti (SUI) and Jakub Majerski (POL). Milak held the Olympic record for all of three minutes. The USA’s Tom Shields touched home in last place.
Australia’s Matthew Temple qualifies for the final sixth fastest.
Updated
Men’s 100m butterfly semi-final 2: Dressel starts well in lane four and touches the wall first. Korstanje in second but this is all about Dressel. World record in the offing?
Men’s 100m butterfly semi-final 1: Hungarian Kristof Milak has taken the first semi in an Olympic record 50.31. Josif Miladinov, Andrei Minakjov and Australia’s Matthew Temple followed him home. Great swim from the 200m butterfly gold medalist but up next is the dominant American, Caeleb Dressel.
Hello all. Thanks Tom. We are now in the sweet spot of the Olympics where athletics and swimming cross. And while there is understandably much excitement at the commencement of action at the National Stadium, for the next hour or so we will be concentrating on events at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, where four medal events – the women’s 200m breaststroke, men’s 200m backstroke, women’s 100m freestyle and men’s 200m IM – will be bookended by semi-finals in the men’s 100m butterfly and women’s 200m backstroke.
Without further ado…
With the rowing over, I’ll hand the reins to Scott Heinrich. Bye!
New Zealand win the rowing men's eight!
GB cut into NZ’s lead but the Kiwis continue their superb regatta with their third gold - the best nation of the Games. GB get bronze and Germany silver. The US are fourth and Australia sixth.
The Kiwis are powering through now and have a 1.31 second lead over GB in second. Germany are in bronze with 500m to go.
Halfway and NZ pick up the pace and move into first place past GB and Germany. But it’s still anyone’s race.
At 500m it’s Germany, GB and NZ but it’s pretty close. Even Australia back in sixth are not out of this one.
The final event of the rowing regatta now (see you on a nice lake in France in three years). It’s the men’s eight. USA, New Zealand, Germany, Netherlands, Great Britain and Australia are ready to start.
Away from the Olympics, the NBA draft has taken place. The Detroit Pistons picked Cade Cunningham with the No 1 overall pick. Our Australian readers may be interested in the No 6 overall pick: Josh Giddey from Melbourne. He was selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder. The full report is below:
China move up on the Kiwis in second as Canada maintain their big lead. But NZ fight back and get back into silver as Canada win their first gold in the women’s eight since 1992. New Zealand are second and China third. The longtime champs of the US boat are well out of the medals. Australia finish fifth.
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500m to go and Canada are stretching out their lead with NZ in silver, China third and Australia in fourth.
USA have a great history in this event. It’s Canada, Australia and NZ in first, second and third through 500m but every crew is still in it.
And now the women’s rowing eight. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, USA, Romania and China are your crews. This is the big stuff!
The men’s steeplechase is taking place. Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia and Abraham Kibiwott of Kenya won the first two heats. USA’s Mason Ferlic and Benard Keter; GB’s Zak Seddon and Phil Norman; and Australia’s Edward Trippas all missed out on automatic qualification for the next round (which is also the final).
France are through as Group B winners in the women’s sevens. They saw off Canada in a 75% Francophone battle.
A thrilling finish with three rowers all in a shout for gold in the last 500m. But it’s Greece’s Stefanos Ntouskos who pulls clear in the final stages. Norway’s Kjetil Borch gets second and Croatia’s Damir Martin is third. That’s Greece’s first-ever rowing gold.
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We’ve had the women’s single sculls final so logic dictates we now have the men’s. Mindaugas Griskonis of Lithuania, Croatia’s Damir Martin, Norway’s Kjetil Borch, Greece’s Stefanos Ntouskos, Sverri Nielsen of Denmark and ROC’s Alexander Vyazovkin are your gladiators. Water gladiators. With no swords. Or those trident and net things.
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NZ's Emma Twigg wins gold in the women's single sculls
New Zealand’s Emma Twigg has too big a lead in the closing stages for ROC’s Prakatsen to catch her. Austria’s Logbnig wins bronze just ahead of GB’s Thornley.
500m to go and Twigg still has the lead - and it’s a big one. Prakatsen is second and is a fast finisher. Twigg’s lead is 2.5sec. Lobnig is third.
At the halfway point it’s still NZ’s Twigg with a healthy lead over Austria’s Lobnig and then Jiang Yan of China. The TV commentary team tell me Twigg has a tendency to fade late. GB’s Thornley looks well out of the medals.
It’s an experienced field: Hanna Prakhatsen is the only woman under 30 in the race. Twigg of New Zealand gets out to a quick start along with Lobnig of Austria. Twigg leads at 500m followed by Lobnig and Gmelin of Switzerland.
We have a medal race coming up in the rowing. It’s the women’s single sculls and your start list is:
1) Jiang Yan (China)
2) Jeanine Rosanna Gmelin (Switzerland)
3) Hanna Prakhatsen (ROC)
4) Emma Twigg (New Zealand)
5) Victoria Thornley (GB)
6) Magdalena Lobnig (Austria)
Hanna Prakhatsen will be strong for ROC but NZ’s Emma Twigg has a decent chance of a medal ... and possibly a gold.
Fiji need a win against Brazil to make it the quarter-finals of the women’s rugby sevens (the men’s team won gold a few days back). And it’s safe to say they’re going to make it: they’re 41-5 up with a a minute or so left.
The final heat of the women’s 100m preliminaries. Antigua’s Joella Lloyd wins in 11.55sec , followed by Malawi’s Asimenye Simwaka and Indonesia’s Alvin Tehupeiory. Malta’s Carla Scicluna creeps in to the next round as the fastest loser by 0.01 seconds. Phew. The first round proper is in a few hours.
I’m at the pool for the third-last day of swimming competition at Tokyo 2020. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it was beginning to feel a little like groundhog day: hotel - pool - hotel - repeat. But we’ve had excitement at every turn - dominant winners, unexpected medallists and the odd controversy along the way. So no complaints from me.
This morning we have four gold medals on offer, and the highlight, at least from an Australian perspective, will be the blue riband women’s 100m freestyle. Emma McKeon broke the Olympic record in qualifying and Cate Campbell will swim next to her in lane three. But over such a short distance, anything can happen - Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey has had a good meet, while Canada’s Penny Oleksiak is looking strong. A must-watch.
And the athletics has started. The first event is the women’s 100m preliminary round. The big guns will not compete in this round - they come in in the next round. Three from each heat in this preliminary round go to the first-round proper. Natacha Ngoye of Congo, Maggie Barrie of Sierra Leone and Amya Clarke of St Kitts and Nevis all make it through to the next round. The winning time was 11.47 seconds.
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You may have noticed there’s not much live sport here at the moment. And that’s because there’s not much going on before the start of the athletics in around 10 minutes. But we do have some results! Kazakhstan’s Vladislav Yakovlev has just won the D final in the men’s single sculls, he beat Zimbabwe’s Peter Purcell-Gilpin by 0.48 seconds.
In men’s golf, Chile’s Guillermo Pereira is off to a hot start and is three under for the round after six holes. That’s moved him up to fifth overall. Second placed Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand is the only one of the first-round leaders in action at the moment. He’s on par through four holes and is still in second place.
Dina Asher-Smith will start her campaign today. The sprinter is attempting to do what no British woman has done before: win Olympic gold over 100m or 200m. Here’s Sean Ingle on an extraordinary athlete:
When Dina Asher-Smith ran her first cross-country race in primary school she hated it so much she nearly stopped – only for her parents to bribe her with an ice cream to keep going. It worked – and then some. Asher-Smith ended up sprinting through the field to finish fifth out of 400 and a glittering athletics career was born.
Now, at the age of 25, Asher-Smith has accumulated an athletics CV to die for. It includes five world championship medals – including world 200m gold and 100m silver in Doha in 2019 – as well as a 4x100m bronze at the Rio Olympics and numerous British records. Now she is at her peak and seeking to achieve what no British female sprinter has accomplished before: win Olympic gold over 100m or 200m.
“I’m in good shape, I’m actually in really, really good shape so I’m really excited,” she says when asked whether she can make history. “And I’m a championship performer.”
She will have to be. On paper, her biggest rivals have all gone faster than her in 2021. In the 100m, for instance, the world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has run 10.63sec, making her the second quickest woman ever behind Florence Griffith Joyner – while the reigning Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah recently flew home in 10.71sec. But races are not won on paper.
You can read the full article below:
A big day for Australia at the Olympics. Going for gold in the pool are Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell, while the Matildas seek a place in the women’s football semi-finals and the track and field competition begins. For a full rundown of Aussies in action try our handy guide:
And seeing as we’ve covered the Aussies, here are highlights for the Americans.
9.41pm EDT: women’s 200m breaststroke final
Americans Lilly King and Annie Lazor both qualified for the final, though it’s unlikely anyone will top South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker, who on Thursday posted the best semifinal time by more than a second. King is coming off a bronze in what was her signature event, the 100m breaststroke; both she and Lazor, a 26-year-old first-time Olympian who won this event at the US trials, should be in the running for silver or bronze.
9.50pm EDT: men’s 200m backstroke final
Ryan Murphy, who took gold in both the 100m and 200m backstroke events in Rio de Janeiro, finished with the third fastest time in the semifinals Thursday, and he’s a strong medal contended in a race where Russia’s Evgeny Rylov is favored. Murphy won bronze Wednesday in the 100m event, where he holds both the world and Olympic records, finishing .21 seconds behind Rylov’s first-place time.
9.59pm EDT: women’s 100m freestyle final
Abby Weitzeil, a specialist in the freestyle sprint events, will compete in lane 1 in the 100m freestyle final; but don’t let that positioning color your view of her changes. Weitzeil, who’s won three Olympic medals in relays (two in Rio and one in Tokyo), and she now has a shot at her first individual hardware. The semifinal yielded a tight field; Aussie Emma McKeon set an Olympic record in the semifinal, but Weitzeil finished just .67 seconds slower and is very much within reach of a medal.
2am EDT: men’s doubles tennis bronze medal match
USA’s Tennys Sandgren and Austin Krajicek face off against Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus of New Zealand in the bronze medal match after falling to Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic of Croatia – the reigning Wimbledon champions – in the semifinal round. This is the first Olympics for both of the Americans, who are ranked No 48 in the world (Krajicek) and No 208 (Sandgren), and they control the US’s last remaining chance to medal in tennis in Tokyo.
1am/3am EDT: men’s kayak semi-final and final
One American, Michal Smolen, qualified for the men’s kayak semifinal, and he’ll be the second boat to start on Friday in Tokyo. Smolen, who was born in Poland and is the son of a canoer (his father, Rafal) and handball player (his mother, Agnieszka), both of whom represented Poland in international competition. Smolen’s family emigrated to the US, and he began canoeing when he was 10. Smolen is one of 20 athletes to make the semifinal, and he’ll need a top-10 time to advance.
I, for one, am very excited about the early heats of the athletics. The worst runners at the Olympics are waaaaay faster than you (unless Usain Bolt is an unexpected fan of the Guardian’s liveblog). And when you see them in the early heats? They are crushed by the top sprinters. So what would those athletes do to you, mortal? It reminds me of this clip of members of the public confidently predicting they could beat NFL players in a 40-yard dash. With predictable results:
The golfers are the first out for the day, enjoying a casual round at the Kasumigaseki Country Club. A reminder of the leaders after round one - and they’re not exactly giants of the game. Sepp Straka of Austria leads at -8; Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond is-7, while Belgium’s Thomas Pieters and Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz are -6.
Preamble
Hello! The athletics/track and field starts today as the end of the swimming looms into view (it’s not over just yet though). Here is my colleague Martin Belam with what’s hot and what’s also hot today at the Games:
All events are listed here in local Tokyo time. Add an hour for Sydney, subtract eight hours for Glasgow, 13 hours for New York and 16 hours for San Francisco. Confused? Surely not by now.
🌟If you only watch one thing: 9am-9pm Athletics – in some ways it never feels like the Olympics have truly got under way until there are people throwing things, jumping over things and running round in circles chasing each other in the main stadium. Call it athletics, call it track and field, whatever you want to call it, the real deal begins on Friday. There are qualifying rounds for the women’s 100m, 800m and 5,000m. Men go in qualifiers for the 400m hurdles, 4x400m relay and the 3000m steeplechase. There’s also men’s discus and high jump action, and the women are doing triple jump and shot put. The first track and field medal race will start at 8.30pm when the men race in the 10,000m. I can’t wait.
- 2am Tennis – the first medals are doled out in the men’s doubles final: an all-Croatian affair 🥇
- 7.45am-10.35am Rowing – the final day at Sea Forest Waterway should end with the men’s and women’s finals in the single sculls and the eights 🥇
- 9.30am-4.45pm Archery – it is the women’s individual contest on Friday 🥇
- 10am-11.50am Cycling BMX racing – there are three runs of semi-finals, and then by 11.40am we are into the men’s final followed by the women’s final 🥇
- 10.30am-11.42am Swimming – there are four finals scheduled this morning. The men go in the 200m backstroke and the 200m individual medley. For women it is the 200m breaststroke and the 100m freestyle 🥇
- 1pm-2.50pm Trampoline gymnastics – blink and you miss it, the trampoline gymnastics starts today, and almost immediately gets straight into the women’s final 🥇
- 2pm-4pm Canoe slalom – it is the men’s kayak semi-final followed by the final 🥇
You can find our full interactive events schedule here. As well as telling you what is coming up, it carries scores and results throughout the day, like a live dashboard of whatever is happening. It’s brilliant.
