And as everything hots up in the marathon, and should also be soon in the golf, we have one of those awkward continuity links as this blog closes down and Saturday’s shiny new one starts up. And with that I’ll hand the baton over to Tom Lutz and thank you for your company and comments. Night.
Women’s marathon: The lead group of eight is now led by Salpeter, Seidel, Jepchirchir and Kosgei, the world record holder, who also looks ready to pounce. This is heading for a tight finish with just under 8km to go. But poor old Ruth Chepngetich has bailed, and is now walking disconsolately some way back.
Updated
A sequence of twists and turns in the route tests the leading group, which is now led by Seidel of the USA, with 30km gone. Further back, the world champion, Ruth Chepngetich, is losing ground and toiling.
Marathon – Brits latest: Jess Piasacki has dropped down to 38th and Steph Davis has moved up to 58th. An undercooked Steph Twell is struggling further back though, just going through 25k now.
Sally Kipyego has dropped back off the leading group, as she hits a bit of a mid-race wall as they turn left after a long 5k straight. The heat isi rising as the time nudges past 7.30am in Tokyo. We’re 26.5km in now, around two-thirds of the way through. Jepchirchir still leads the front 10.
Quite a bit of laughing and banter it would seem as the lead group come away from a water station after 24km. Amateur marathon runners are always told to pace themselves sufficiently so that they’re able to conduct conversations in the first half of the race; these athletes can do it effortlessly well beyond that. Anyway, the front group comprises eight or nine runner, with Salpeter and Jepchirchir nudging out front. Seidel still looking steady just behind them.
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Something for our Australian readers: a guide to what to look out for on Saturday, with Nicola McDermott and Eleanor Patterson seeking high jump gold while Oliver Hoare and Stewart McSweyn are in the 1500m final and the Boomers seek to win bronze against Slovenia.
Jepchirchir of Kenya now leads a thinned-out front group at the halfway stage, with Israel’s Salpeter and Johannes of Namibia tucked in among them. Seidel still looking composed and well placed too.
Updated
Thanks Niall. There’s a front group of about 15 now as we approach 19km, with Maeda of Japan and Molly Seidel leading the tightly bunched pack as they hit the flat top section of the course, through the university sector. (Insert predictable ‘you won’t find any students awake at this hour’ gag here)
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At 16km, we pass the northernmost point of the course and the leaders turn left. Britain’s Steph Twell is around a kilometre off that main group, who are approaching another feed station. Quite a few spectators out on the road taking in the race. The temperature and humidity are rising, and Ethiopia’s Zeineba Yimer has dropped a long way off the leaders.
On that note, time to hand over to Tom Davies, who will pace you through the next few kilometres.
Updated
In the golf, none of the early starters are likely to trouble the podium places although Jessica Korda, sister of leader Nelly, is one-under after the first, and up to -3 overall. Meanwhile, Mexico’s Maria Fassi is two-under after two, and -4 overall.
Updated
All the race markers, whether on the road or on the screen, are in kilometres rather than miles. The course is 42.2km, so we’ve covered a third of the distance. The contenders outlined below are all present and correct in a thinning main group – US duo Molly Seidel and Sally Kipyego are visible at the front, as is Israel’s Lonah Salpeter and Ethiopia’s Roza Dereje. Ireland’s Fionnuala McCormack is also sticking with the main group, while Jess Piasecki has made up some ground.
At 13km we pass the city’s TV tower, which marks the end of the southern loop. The remainder of the race will be run over two laps of a circuit leading north of the city centre. Runners are picking up bags of ice and putting them under their hats, with a couple trying to run with the bag balanced on their head.
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We’ve crossed the Toyohira river and are heading back to the city centre. The main group of contenders are beginning to shed stragglers, with Britain’s Jess Piasecki, wearing bib number 2020, among them.
The main group pass the 10km mark in a split time of 36min 16sec – not an especially quick time by elite standards, although as NordicSkot pointed out below, this is still very, very fast. “It’d be handy to have some average Joes on the course to show just how fast these women are running.”
The final round of the women’s golf event is about to begin at Kasamigaseki country club, on the northern outskirts of Tokyo. The first group are teeing off but the main medal contenders won’t begin for at least another 90 minutes.
By that time, we may have a better idea of the impact that Saturday’s tropical storm will have on the final round. As it stands, Nelly Korda (-15) and India’s Aditi Ashok (-12) are set for gold and silver, but there are four women tied for third on -10.
They are: Lydia Ko (NZ), Hannah Green (Australia), Emily Pedersen (Denmark) and Imani Mone (Japan). If the weather intervenes, the final round and any potential playoffs could be completed on Sunday.
We have an early withdrawal, with Turkey’s Meryem Erdogan dropping off the pace. Clearly struggling with an injury, she decides to call it a day. The pack are still grouped together but Kosgei and her Kenyan teammates are cranking up the pace as they pass the 6km mark.
With a hefty doff of the cap to World Athletics, here are some contenders to watch out for:
The world record-holder, Brigid Kosgei, starts as favourite although she has not raced at this distance since the 2020 London Marathon in October. Her Kenya teammates, Peres Jepchirchir and world champion Ruth Chepngetich, will also be major players.
Ethiopia’s Birhane Dibaba finished second in the 2020 Tokyo city marathon, while Roza Dereje and rising star Zeineba Yimer complete another strong east African team. Israel’s Lonah Salpeter, who beat Dibaba to the line in Tokyo last year, and Namibia’s Helalia Johannes will also be hoping to make the podium.
Home hopes rest with the 2020 Nagoya marathon winner, Mao Ichiyama, and Mizuki Matsuda, who won the Osaka marathon last year. Team GB’s three runners are Stephanie Davis, Jess Piasecki and Stephanie Twell.
The USA trio are Sally Kipyego, Molly Seidel and Aliphine Bolton, while Australia are represented by Ellie Pashley, Lisa Weightman and Sinead Diver. Aoife Cooke and Fionnuala McCormack are racing for Ireland.
The athletes are heading out onto the first of two city-centre loops, with plenty of shade offered by skyscrapers. After that, they will head south and climb steadily uphill until the 8km mark.
After that, they turn back to the centre and complete a wide circuit back to the start. That entire loop is roughly the length of a half-marathon, and they will then run the northern section of it again before crossing the finish line.
Look, it’s probably easier if you watch this official video of the course. Or this charming, fact-packed guide from the city of Sapporo itself.
It’s 6am in Sapporo, but it’s already a sweltering 26 degrees (78.8F). The race was moved north, and begins an hour early, to avoid extreme heat. In Tokyo, it’s currently 27 degrees.
Welcome to day 15!
The sun is rising over Tokyo, while 500 miles north, the women’s marathon is about to begin in Sapporo. Also starting early are the contenders in the women’s golf at Kasumigaseki, with the final round brought forward to 6.30am (local time) to avoid the bad weather expected around Tokyo. Nelly Korda is in charge of that contest, leading India’s Aditi Ashok by three strokes.
In the evening, there are track and field medals galore, culminating in the 4x400m relay finals. In men’s football, Brazil face Spain in the final. Elsewhere there are golds to be won in canoe sprint, beach volleyball, diving, rhythmic gymnastics, basketball, boxing, baseball, karate, modern pentathlon, track cycling, equestrian team jumping, handball and artistic swimming. Plan your viewing and power naps here:
Before we shift our focus to Saturday’s early events, props to Michael Ireton for this great summary of his personal highlights:
“I was one of those who were highly skeptical in advance of the Games. But danged if they didn’t suck me in. I think it started with Anna Kiesenhofer winning the cycling road race. You don’t get a lot of math PhDs winning Olympic gold.
“I loved the young skateboarders, their joie de vivre and camaraderie were fun and refreshing. And the medals going to a trio with a combined age of 42 was delightful. I loved the Japanese brother and sister winning judo gold on the same day.
“As a Canadian, I have to mention Penny Oleksiak becoming our country’s most decorated Olympian, Andre de Grasse winning the 200m and two other medals, and the Canadian women finally winning the football gold.
“My favourite moment of all has to be the men’s high jump. Barshim simply asking, ‘Can we have two golds?’ and Tamberi’s reaction.”
While we’re on the subject, a word for the athletes who (as it stands) have earned their country’s only medal at these Games:
Gold: Flora Duffy, Bermuda (triathlon); Soufiane Elbakkali, Morocco (steeplechase); Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Puerto Rico (110m hurdles).
Silver: Christine Mbomba, Namibia (200m); Polina Guryeva, Turkmenistan (weightlifting); Laura Asadauskaite, Lithuania (modern pentathlon); Dejan Georgievski, North Macedonia (taekwondo).
Bronze: Hugues Fabrice Zango, Burkina Faso (triple jump); Samuel Takyi, Ghana (boxing); Kirani James, Grenada (400m); Ruth Gbagbi, Ivory Coast (boxing); Abdullah Alrashidi, Kuwait (shooting); Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh, Malaysia (badminton doubles); Man Assad, Syria (weightlifting).
“These Games have broken the record for most countries winning a gold medal (63, up from 59) and most countries to win at least one medal of any kind (89, up from 87),” writes Roger Kirkby. Which in these Covid times is pretty spectacular. That’s my moment of the Games.”
Here are some Saturday highlights, courtesy of Martin Belam’s excellent daily briefing email:
All events are listed here in local Tokyo time. Add an hour for Sydney, subtract eight hours for Bristol, 13 hours for New York and 16 hours for San Francisco.
7.35pm-9.50pm Athletics – there’s only one session in the stadium on Saturday and it is final after final. We get the women’s high jump and the men’s javelin. The women’s 10,000m final is at 7.45pm. The men’s 1500m final is 8.40pm. Then we finish the track events in the stadium with the explosive double whammy of the women’s and men’s 4x400m relay finals 🥇
- 6am Women’s marathon – held in Sapporo to try and avoid the Tokyo heat, the women will start at around 10pm UK time so you can settle in with your Ovaltine for a late night watching someone else run 26.2 miles to gold 🥇
- 6.30am Golf – it should be the fourth and final round of the women’s golf – weather permitting 🥇
- 9.30am-12.47pm Canoe sprint – there are four finals on Saturday, in the women’s canoe double 500m, men’s canoe single 1000m, and the kayak four 500m in both flavours 🥇
- 10am-12.20pm Beach volleyball – the men’s bronze match features pairs from Latvia and Qatar, followed by Norway and Not Russia serving for gold 🥇
- 10am and 3pm Diving – the men’s 10m platform semi-final and then the final 🥇
- 10am, 11.30am and 3.20pm Rhythmic gymnastics – the morning sessions are qualifications for the group all-around. The afternoon is the individual all-around final 🥇
- 11.30am, 4pm and 8pm Basketball – the morning starts with the men’s gold medal game between the USA and France. At 4pm, it’s the women’s bronze final (France v Serbia) with the men’s bronze medal match between Australia and Slovenia at 8pm 🥇
- 12pm and 7pm Baseball – first the bronze medal match between the Dominican Republic and South Korea, and then the final in the evening between Japan and the USA 🥇
- 2pm-3.15pm Boxing – four final bouts today in men’s fly, women’s fly, men’s middle and women’s welter weights. Britain’s Galal Yafai faces Cuba’s Carlo Paalam at 2pm 🥇
- 2pm-8.45pm Karate – featuring the men’s Kumite +75kg and women’s Kumite +61kg. The bronze medal bouts and the finals get going around 7.20pm 🥇
- 2.30pm-7.30pm Modern pentathlon – the men’s competition features swimming, fencing, show jumping and then the combined cross-country run interrupted by having to shoot at things 🥇
- 3.30pm-6.25pm Track cycling – races all day, but one final to look out for: the men’s madison final at 4.55pm 🥇
- 5pm and 9pm Handball – it is Egypt v Spain for bronze first, then France v Denmark for the gold in the men’s competition 🥇
- 7pm Equestrian – it’s the final day with the horses today, and it is the jumping team final 🐴🥇
- 7.30pm Artistic swimming – the team free routine final lights up Saturday on the final day of events 🥇
- 8.30pm Football – it’s the men’s final in Yokohama, featuring Brazil v Spain 🥇
Updated
As a Brazilian expat in Dublin, the prospect of Brazil matching the USSR as the top Olympic volleyball medallists is quite exciting,” writes Flavia Gouveia. “The women’s team have clinched a spot in the final (against the USA), but it depends on the lads beating our hermanos Argentina in the bronze medal game.”
I’m definitely excited about another Brazil v Argentina showdown. Shame it’s not the final but that may not dampen the intensity – because in this game, the loser gets nothing. Given how fierce their battle in the group stage was, it could be a wild one.
Perhaps on Monday we can just keep going and run a 24-hour retro Olympics blog, with the help of YouTube clips and several gallons of Lucozade? In that spirit, here’s a nice piece from David Tindall, written about one of the Games’ strangest track triumphs:
“For me the moment that’s stuck in my mind was watching Kye Whyte watching Beth Schriever winning her gold medal,” writes Kelly Strudwick. “It was so heart warming watching his absolute utter support, joy and then concern for her welfare when she came off her bike after she’d won. It’s been a joy reading the blog, will miss it on Monday morning.”
What has it been like covering these strange, shut-off Olympics in Japan? Barney Ronay offers some insight on a Games of two halves:
“It is a mark of Tokyo’s grace as a host that the experience for its guests has been marked by gentleness. Whatever the ultimate point of this thing, whatever we come to remember about it, that care and kindness will remain, a lesson in how to exist in such close proximity in these gruelling times.
That is one part of being here: the human part, the extraordinary act of shared will in managing this experience. The other part, and the opposite pole, is the tech element of being inside that IOC bubble, which feels at times like a slightly alarming experiment in digital monitoring.”
“One highlight was waking to find Tom Daley had finally got his gold medal,” says vsbain67. “A teary moment.”
What I loved about Daley and Matty Lee’s win was how they are clearly such good friends. The same applies with Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald today; I know there’s a lot more to it, but that mutual respect and understanding goes a long way.
Here’s a heartwarming tale from Reuters: Ariel Torres, who won bronze in karate for the USA earlier on Friday, has paid tribute to his family for their sacrifices.
When Torres was 11, he stood with a collection jar at a traffic light, day in and day out, striking karate poses with his father. The money they raised helped them rent a van and travel to North Carolina for Torres’ first contest.
“My parents came to the US for a better life, sacrificed everything,” said Torres, whose parents left Cuba when he was four. “They did everything for me to do karate ... this medal is going to change our life forever.”
“Well done, Laura Muir. You had me out of my chair, jumping up and down, shouting and, finally, crying,” writes TruthCounts below the line. “What a race! You were sensational.”
Here’s Teo Teng Kiat with a piece of Olympic history: “Liu Shiying’s victory for China in the women’s javelin is the first gold for an Asian athlete in either the men’s or women’s event – in fact, she is the first Asian to win a javelin medal of any colour.”
Team GB watch: If you simply cannot wait for Team GB to pile up even more medals on Saturday, here’s the events to watch out for (via PA).
Boxing Galal Yafai takes on Carlo Paalam of the Philippines in what is likely to be a fast and furious affair as he seeks what would be Britain’s first boxing gold of the Games.
Athletics Only outside bets remain on the track, including Josh Kerr in the men’s 1500m final and Morgan Lake in the women’s high jump. The women’s 4x400m relay team is also in contention for a medal.
Cycling Matt Walls goes with Ethan Hayter in the men’s Madison, and the pair have every chance of emulating the success of Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald in the women’s race.
Modern pentathlon After a thrilling gold medal for Kate French, Great Britain can brace for more modern pentathlon medals with both Joe Choong and Jamie Cooke targeting the podium (and hoping for a good draw in the equestrian event).
Diving Tom Daley has qualified in second place for the morning semi-finals of the 10m platform event, where he will go for a place in the afternoon final.
Equestrian The team jumping final offers Great Britain the chance for a record six medals in the event.
Friday’s 4x100m relays brought mixed emotions for Team GB after a silver for the men and a bronze for the women.
“There was that bittersweet moment of anger and frustration, knowing that you were a hundredth of a second away from an Olympic gold medal,” said Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, pipped to the finish line by Italy’s Filippo Tortu.
“I dare you all to get your phone out and try to start and stop your watch on one hundredth. You can’t do it. And that’s how close we were.”
Euro 2020! Men’s 100m gold! 4x100m relay gold! 36 other medals, including the transcendent Moment of the Games! And Eurovision! It’s been a golden summer for Italy, alright.
Do let me know your Olympic highlights so far. I would particularly love to hear from anyone who has managed to catch a glimpse of real-life Olympic sport in Japan, where spectator access has been so restricted.
Failing that, tales of unusual events at previous Games are more than welcome. Were you also at the Excel Centre for the boccia in 2012? Email me, tweet or comment below the line ...
Day 14 headlines
- Laura Kenny has become the first British woman to win gold at three Olympics after winning the madison alongside Katie Archibald.
- Kenny and Archibald’s masterful win capped another golden Team GB day as they climbed to fourth in the medal table
- Canada are Olympic women’s football champions for the first time after a thrilling penalty shootout win over Sweden
- Faith Kipyegon took gold and Laura Muir silver ahead of Sifan Hassan in a classic 1500m race
- GB’s Kate French won gold in a dramatic women’s modern pentathlon
- IOC chief Thomas Bach has faced a backlash for praising the ‘soul’ of the Covid-hit Tokyo Games
The hot topic of the day still appears to be Annika Schleu and her equestrian failure in the modern pentathlon.
“I read a comment from a previous Olympic pentathlete who said she couldn’t understand why Schleu didn’t change her horse,” says Sally. “It had done similarly badly on its first go-round with its previous rider. She said that although horses are allocated randomly, there is the possibility to exchange if necessary, and Schleu didn’t.”
I’ve tried to dig into this, pushing my rudimentary knowledge of German and equestrian regulations to the absolute limit. As best as I can tell, Schleu and her coach did want to change horses, but as Saint Boy only refused three jumps for his first rider, the ROC’s Gulnaz Gubaydullina, they weren’t allowed to.
“We could only change horses if it stopped four times beforehand,” the German team coach said. “But it only stopped three times. That means we had to take that horse. He doesn’t even want to run. It’s not Annika’s fault.” Schleu has also said she broke down in tears because she knew the horse was unlikely to cooperate, after which it all became a bit hard to watch.
Thanks, Paul. Time to seize the baton and lumber down the back straight, as we look back on an action-packed Friday at the Games, and forward to a somehow even more action-packed Saturday. Let’s go!
Updated
I’m passing on the blog to Niall McVeigh, who will carry you through for the next few hours. Thanks for all your company and emails today. It’s been fun. You can email him at niall.mcveigh@theguardian.com or drop him a tweet.
Updated
Team GB are up to fourth in the medal table, behind China, USA and Japan.
To put that in some context, Great Britain finished fourth in Beijing in 2008, third in London in 2012 and second in Rio in 2016. Although they were also 36th in Atlanta in 1996.
The full story of how Laura Muir won silver in the 1,500m, by Sean Ingle.
I’ve been thinking about Rhys McClenaghan all week. McClenaghan went into the pommel horse final on Sunday expecting to win the gold medal, but he made one mistake and finished seventh. No gold. No podium. No open-top bus parade. His Olympics effectively came down to a one-minute routine and it was defined by a mistake: he misplaced a finger.
This is what he had to say after the event: “It didn’t go to plan and that’s sport exactly. One finger placement went off and that was me off the horse. You know, that’s the finest of margins in gymnastics – one finger got caught under the handle and that was it, that knocked me off.”
After training for five years for a one-minute routine that went all wrong in one movement of one finger, he was very stoic, saying: “I’m standing here in front of you an Olympian, an Olympic finalist, the first-ever Irish gymnast to achieve that and to be honest, for me, I’ll be walking away from this a more dangerous man, a more dangerous man than ever before, because with disappointment comes an incredible amount of motivation and inspiration.”
We all know the margins are tight at the elite level, but some stories stand out more than others. I suppose McClenaghan had more time competing at the Games than the 100 metre sprinters who lost their first heat. Some of them were sent home having been in action for less than 11 seconds.
A new development in the Krystsina Tsimanouskaya story:
The IOC has expelled two Belarusian coaches who pulled sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya from the Olympic Games and tried to force her to board a flight home to Minsk.
Athletics head coach Artur Shumak and team official Yuri Moisevich had their accreditations rescinded and were asked to leave the Olympic village, the organisation announced in a Twitter post on Friday.
Our reporter Kieran Pender has been writing about Australia’s unexpected success at the Olympic Stadium.
Australia is internationally renowned for its prowess in many sports. Several notable exceptions aside, track and field events are not among them. While athletics accounts for 21 of the 150-odd gold medals won by Australia in Olympic history, second only to swimming, just four of these have come in the past three decades. Australia dominates in the pool and has traditionally been strong in rowing, sailing and cycling – on the track and in the field, Australian athletes have had less success.
It was a notable moment then, when, midway through proceedings on Friday, five Australian women were in action in athletics finals at the same time. In the javelin, Barber, Kathryn Mitchell and Mackenzie Little had all made the final eight. As they were deep in competition, the women’s 1500m final, featuring Australians Linden Hall and Jessica Hull, was run and won (Hall finished sixth, Hull 11th). “To have that many amazing athletes in the stadium – it was absolutely unreal,” said Little afterwards.
The key events for tomorrow, via our daily briefing.
All events are listed here in local Tokyo time. Add an hour for Sydney, subtract eight hours for Bristol, 13 hours for New York and 16 hours for San Francisco.
Athletics (7.35pm-9.50pm)
There’s only one session in the stadium on Saturday and it is final after final. We get the women’s high jump and the men’s javelin. The women’s 10,000m final is at 7.45pm. The men’s 1500m final is 8.40pm. Then we finish the track events in the stadium with the explosive double whammy of the women’s and men’s 4x400m relay finals.
Women’s marathon (6am)
Held in Sapporo to try and avoid the Tokyo heat, the women will start at around 10pm UK time so you can settle in with your Ovaltine for a late night watching someone else run 26.2 miles to gold.
Golf (6.30am)
It should be the fourth and final round of the women’s golf – weather permitting.
Canoe sprint (9.30am-12.47pm)
There are four finals on Saturday, in the women’s canoe double 500m, men’s canoe single 1000m, and the kayak four 500m in both flavours.
Beach volleyball (10am-12.20pm)
The men’s bronze match features pairs from Latvia and Qatar, followed by Norway and Not Russia serving for gold.
Diving (10am and 3pm)
The men’s 10m platform semi-final and then the final.
Rhythmic gymnastics (10am, 11.30am and 3.20pm)
The morning sessions are qualifications for the group all-around. The afternoon is the individual all-around final.
Basketball (11.30am, 4pm and 8pm)
The programme is all topsy-turvy – possibly for the benefit of US TV audiences – but the morning starts with the men’s gold medal game between the USA and France. At 4pm, it’s the women’s bronze final (France v Serbia) with the men’s bronze medal match between Australia and Slovenia at 8pm.
Baseball (12pm and 7pm )
First the bronze medal match between the Dominican Republic and South Korea, and then the final in the evening between Japan and the USA.
Boxing (2pm-3.15pm)
Four final bouts today in men’s fly, women’s fly, men’s middle and women’s welter weights. Britain’s Galal Yafai faces Cuba’s Carlo Paalam at 2pm.
Karate (2pm-8.45pm)
Featuring the men’s Kumite +75kg and women’s Kumite +61kg. The bronze medal bouts and the finals get going around 7.20pm.
Modern pentathlon (2.30pm-7.30pm)
The men’s competition features swimming, fencing, show jumping and then the combined cross-country run interrupted by having to shoot at things. It is so great to watch.
Track cycling (3.30pm-6.25pm)
Races all day, but one final to look out for: the men’s madison final at 4.55pm.
Handball (5pm and 9pm)
It is Egypt v Spain for bronze first, then France v Denmark for the gold in the men’s competition.
Equestrian (7pm)
It’s the final day with the horses today, and it is the jumping team final.
Artistic swimming (7.30pm)
The team free routine final lights up Saturday on the final day of events.
Football (8.30pm)
It’s the men’s final in Yokohama, featuring Brazil v Spain.
My colleague Martin Belam has just sent out his daily briefing on the Games. You can receive his daily epistle every day at 5pm BST via email.
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.
Martin includes an interesting fact in his email every day. Here is today’s:
The traditional handover of the Olympic flag takes place during the closing ceremony, when it is handed to the mayor of the next host city. On Sunday it will be handed to the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo. At the same time, Paris 2024 organisers are planning to try and set a new world record – by flying the biggest flag ever made from the Eiffel Tower.
Simone Manuel, the two-time Olympic champion, has asked journalists to “please stop interviewing athletes right after a disappointing performance before they have any time to process anything”.
“It’s not on public display when someone gets fired from their job or fails a test,” she adds. “As athletes, we aren’t obligated to give people all of our soul. And it seems like that’s what the media and some spectators like. By no means is this an attack on the media. Just offering solutions that I believe many athletes feel need to be made.”
What do you think? Should athletes be interviewed straight after events – or at all?
Our reporter Suzy Wrack was at the Yokohama Stadium to watch Canada win gold in the women’s football final.
Ingo Herzke has sent me a very helpful email. I was trying (unsuccessfully) to remember the name of the pentathlete who broke down and went from 1st to 31st.
The German pentathlete who was leading (by quite a margin) before that horse destroyed her hopes is called Annika Schleu. And the horse had already disqualified another rider in the first round because he was so panicked. I really don’t get why she couldn’t change horses.
I’m guessing – and I am not an expert on the modern pentathlon – that the idea behind giving the rider a horse she does not know is to make the sport more fair. But perhaps it can work the other way. This is what former modern pentathlete Hugh Forde said about the event on Irish TV:
Annika Schleu had that medal wrapped up, she is a supreme athlete. Everything she worked for is out the door because of that horse. To be quite frank, it’s not good enough. Those horses have been tested around those tracks, but that behaviour from that animal, you would expect a higher standard at this level. It’s too cruel.
It applies as well to Natalya Coyle. She did absolutely nothing wrong in her round. She didn’t deserve it. It’s absolutely devastating.
More success for Team GB’s showjumpers (and another pun about Jessica Springsteen).
An email from Buffy Lovekin about Kate French winning gold in the modern pentathlon earlier today:
Quite honestly, this event has to be the hardest to master, with talents so wide and varying it boggles the mind. How many individuals across on the planet know when they’re a kid that they can be a pentathlete? A skillset where horses you’ve not met need jumping around a course, 800m running with some firearms thrown in, oh wait here’s a sword and can you be really good at swimming?
Seriously, how can that be a thing? Never mind you’re in fifth position and you smash the field and win gold. It was one of the greatest Olympic performances I’ve witnessed for any country by any athlete. An absolute treat. Please let us as a nation remember this gold in the same bracket as Jess Ennis-Hill, Chris Hoy, Linford Christie and Kelly Holmes. Thank you Kate French.
I followed the modern pentathlon a few hours ago and have just watched the highlights again. Kate French’s victory was great but the image – and sound – that has stayed with me was seeing the woman whose horse just would not budge. I think she was in the lead at the time but her hopes of winning were crushed by her horse’s intransigence. Hearing her sob uncontrollably while still competing was awful. I’m not sure what she’s called but anyone who saw it will know who I mean. My heart went out to her.
Now for something a little different. Five years ago, when the Olympics went to Rio, the Brazilian artist Andre Gola compiled a series of cartoons for us about how it felt to welcome the Games to his home country. They were funny and political and cutting and interesting.
Andre has been in touch with me again to share this cartoon about the Tokyo Games.
Women’s javelin: Amid all the football and relay action earlier, I didn’t tell you who won the women’s javelin.
Liu Shiying won gold for China thanks to an opening throw of 66.34m. Maria Andrejczyk picked up the silver medal for Poland thanks to a throw of 64.61m. And the Kelsey-Lee Barber threw 64.56 metres with her sixth and final attempt to reach the podium for Australia.
Whatever you think about penalty shootouts as a way of deciding games of football – even Olympic finals – you have to admit they offer the most photogenic finish to a match possible.
This is terrible.
“Making the unpredictable look predictable is one measure of greatness in sport,” writes William Fotheringham as he analyses how Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald dominated in the madison.
Our favourite photos from the Games today.
Our chief sports writer Barney Ronay has been writing about the last few weeks in Tokyo.
What has it been like at these Olympic Games? Towards the end of any major global sports event it is tradition for newspaper reporters to file a grand deconstruction of the country they’ve spent three weeks studying via the ancient medium of hotel lobbies and taxi driver chat. So here’s the thing, right, about Russia/China/the tribes of the Bedouin.
Readers have been spared these insights by the quarantine period that has meant complete immersion within the approved boundaries of the Olympic-industrial complex. The only place any member of the Guardian’s Tokyo staff went in the opening 14 days, other than an Olympic venue, was a convenience store at the foot of the hotel, the contents of which have already been broodingly overanalysed, and at one point pitched as content for a searing feature article. So here’s the thing right, about vacuum-packed pork cutlet and cabbage sandwiches.
That period of restriction is over. Tentative steps have been taken into the wider world, albeit with a sense of needing to tread as lightly as possible. Because the first thing to say about being at Tokyo 2020 is that the everyday people of this city have been extraordinarily generous and patient with this swarm of nonessential visitors.
It seems I was not the only journalist live-blogging the athletics today.
Laura Muir!!!!!! (My favorite runner just won the silver in the 1500).
— Malcolm Gladwell (@Gladwell) August 6, 2021
Women’s football: That is tough on Sweden, who have to settle for silver for the second successive Olympics. But they had their chances in that shootout. The Europa League final it was not.
The Canada manager, Bev Priestman, has a great backstory. Our writer Louise Taylor told it this week.
Canada win women’s football final on penalties
We are into sudden death. Jonna Andersson has her penalty saved and now Canada have the chance to win it.
And they do. Julia Grosso scores to give Canada gold!
That was a strange shootout: 12 penalties and only five of them went in. Not that Canada will care.
Canada have won the gold medal 3-2 on penalties!
Updated
Women’s football final penalty shootout.
WOW! The Sweden captain Caroline Seger had the chance to win it but she blasted her shot over the bar.
Deanne Rose has to score for Canada. And she does! That was incredible. Side-footed it into the top corner. Such calm.
So, it’s now 2-2 after five penalties each.
Women’s football final penalty shootout.
My my. Anna Anvegård fails to score for Sweden. Can Canada equalise? No! Another save. That was a poor penalty from Adriana Leon.
Sweden are still 2-1 up after four penalties each.
Updated
Women’s football final penalty shootout.
Olivia Schough scores for Sweden to give them a 2-1 lead. The pressure is now on Canada as Vanessa Gilles steps up. She hits the bar.
Sweden are now on top! They are 2-1 up after three penalties each.
Updated
Women’s football final penalty shootout.
Nathalie Björn scores for Sweden to pull it back to 1-1 and then Ashley Lawrence has her shot saved. It’s 1-1 after two penalties each.
Women’s football final penalty shootout.
The women’s gold medal match has never before been decided on penalties but after a 1-1 draw between Sweden and Canada over 120 minutes in Tokyo, we have a shootout.
Kosovare Asllani to shoot first for Sweden. She hits the post. Can Canada take the lead? They can. Jessis Fleming scores for Canada. It’s 1-0 to Canada after one penalty each.
Updated
Women’s football final: It’s going to penalties after a 1-1 draw between Sweden and Canada.
Men’s 4x100m relay: A few quotes from the British silver medallists.
Nathaneel Mitchell-Blake, who ran the last leg, said: “Apologies if I seemed ungrateful at first. It’s just we put a lot of work and effort into this. We believe we’re the best quartet in the world and we wanted to display that when the time comes. We want to show the world we deserve to be on the platform we are.”
Mitchell-Blake’s teammate Richard Kilty was really positive and supportive, saying: “This man ran an amazing leg. He looked disappointed but this is a team – he’s been part of three of the fastest teams in British history. He’s a legend and he brought us home in incredible style.”
An email from Des Brown:
Interesting stat. Team GB have won 58 medals with two days left. At London 2012, with two days left, the total was 57. It is entirely possible that by Sunday afternoon Team GB could exceed their London 2012 total (albeit with fewer golds).
Here is the full medal table.
Men’s 4x100m relay: Look at how close Team GB were to Italy at the finish line. It looks like one of those VAR decisions that holds up Premier League games by five minutes.
SO CLOSE.
— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 6, 2021
Our men's 4x100m team have to settle for silver after a photo finish in the relay.#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/SQ0KgoCSho
Wrestling: The American Gable Steveson beat the triple world champion Geno Petriashvili to win the super heavyweight gold medal earlier today. Petriashvili did not take it well. He punched a sign and shouted in despair as he returned to the dressing room, and did not raise his head once during the medal ceremony. Here’s our full report.
Women’s football: Meanwhile we’re at the midway stage of extra-time in the final between Canada and Sweden. It’s still 1-1. If no one scores in the next 15 minutes, the Olympic gold medal will be decided on penalties.
USA beat Australia 4-3 to win the bronze yesterday.
Men’s 4x100m relay: The four British runners are speaking to the BBC. They say they are a team. They are proud. And they are silver medalists. All four of them are smiling and laughing together now. That’s good to see. Another medal for Team GB.
By the way, Jamaica, the big favourites, finished fifth.
1. Italy - 37.50
2. Great Britain - 37.51
3. Canada - 37.70
4. China - 37.79
5. Jamaica - 37.84
6. Germany - 38.12
7. Ghana - 38.40
8. Japan - DNF
Filippo Tortu is sobbing. He can’t believe what he’s just done. And quite frankly, neither can I. That was the stuff of dreams.
Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, meanwhile, looks gutted. He ran the last leg for Great Britain and clearly feels as if the gold should have been theirs. That is tough for him.
Italy won that relay final by the smallest of margins. Their time was 37.50 and Great Britain’s was 37.51.
Filippo Tortu ran the final leg for Italy and he looked like a man possessed. He believed in himself and hunted down the British runner Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, leaning over the line to clinch gold. It was an outrageous finish. That was one of the moments of the Games for me.
1. Italy - 37.50
2. Great Britain - 37.51
3. Canada - 37.70
Updated
Italy have won gold in the men's 4x100m relay
Oh wow! Great Britain looked set to win the gold, but Italy came steaming through at the end to clinch gold. That was sensational. What a storming finish from the Italians. My goodness.
Italy are having quite the summer. The Euros, the 100m sprint, the 4x100m relay, and even the Eurovision! I did not see this coming. Canada won bronze.
The women’s football final is going to extra time! It’s Sweden 1-1 Canada after the full 90 minutes.
Next up on the track we have the men’s 4x100m relay final.
These are the eight finalists:
Ghana
Germany
Canada
Jamaica
Great Britain
China
Italy
Japan
Jamaica won gold in the event in 2012 and 2016.
You’ll notice that the United States are not in the final. They finished sixth in their semi-final and missed out. Carl Lewis, the man with 10 Olympic medals, was far from impressed.
There are some great details about 10-time Olympic medallist Allyson Felix in here. I particularly enjoyed the part about her winning her medal while wearing a shoe she designed for a company she created.
Women’s football: It’s still Sweden 1-1 Canada in the final, with just seven minutes of normal time to play. It looks like we could be heading for extra-time and maybe even penalties. That would be fun.
Women’s 4x100m relay: Asha Philip, Imani Lansiquot, Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita are celebrating on the track and, after a second look at the race, it seems the changes were fine. A bronze for Team GB.
Jamaica win the women's 4x100m relay final
Jamaica dominated that race to win gold, with USA picking up silver and Great Britain claiming bronze. There are a few worried faces on the track though – some of those changes were smooth so these positions may change.
Updated
Athletics: It’s relay time on the track. Women’s 4x100m up first.
Jamaica are the favourites, but USA and Great Britain are also hoping to win gold. Switzerland are also fancied. Here are the eight teams:
Netherlands
France
Germany
Great Britain
United States
Switzerland
Jamaica
China
Women’s football: Canada have equalised from the penalty spot in the final. It’s Sweden 1-1 Canada midway through the second half. We have a game on our hands!
Jessie Fleming scored the penalty and she has just gone close again. Canada are on top.
Laura Muir has been talking about her silver medal to the BBC.
I don’t know what to say – I’ve worked so hard for so long. I’ve been fourth, fifth twice, sixth and seventh every year since 2015 and with everything last year being postponed and not knowing what was going on - I got a silver!
I just tried to be as best prepared as possible for any situation and I just trained as hard as I could that this would happen and I’ve been so nervous all week. Why is the 1,500m at the end?!
I want to thank everyone supporting me – mum, dad and gran are they’re all supporting me at home – and Jemma I couldn’t wish for a better friend and training partner. And my coach Andy has sacrificed the last 10 years for that four minute performance.
It felt like 3.54 because it was hurting - that last 100m I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my life that someone was going to come past me and I would drop to fourth. I just tried my absolute hardest in that last stretch. That medal is mine.
The Jemma she mentioned is Jemma Reekie (I think), who finished fourth in the 800m final earlier this week.
Janja Garnbret wins gold for Slovenia in the women’s climbing final!
Just as I mention the climbing, Janja Garnbret goes and wins the event. She was first, first and fifth in the three events, leaving her with an unbeatable score of five points.
Two Japanese climbers – Miho Nonaka (45 points) and Akiyo Noguchi (64 points) – have won silver and bronze.
Climbing: there is a lot going on right now. Not just the athletics and the women’s football final but also the women’s climbing final.
Here are the finalists:
Aleksandra Miroslaw (Poland)
Anouck Jaubert (France)
Jessica Pilz (Austria)
Miho Nonaka (Japan)
Chaehyun Seo (South Korea)
Akiyo Noguchi (Japan)
Brooke Raboutou (USA)
Janja Garnbret (Slovenia)
British climber Shauna Coxsey did not make it through.
Climbing has been a big hit at the Games but is it fair?
Kári Tulinius has been in touch via email to discuss the women’s football final, which Sweden lead 1-0 against Canada.
In recent years, women’s finals in major international tournaments have tended to be either tense, gripping affairs or one-sided walkovers. Sweden v Canada somehow manages to be both. The time that the Swedish goalmouth has been in view of the camera could be measured in seconds, and yet the feeling is there that all Canada need is one good counterattack. And if it hadn’t been for an unlucky deflection, the game would still be nil-nil.
The second half has just kicked off.
Laura Muir is enjoying a victory lap with Faith Kipyegon. She has a big smile on her face and rightly so. Muir has won a silver medal for Team GB.
Yes, @lauramuiruns! 🤩
— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 6, 2021
Olympic 1500m silver medallist!#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/k6mvNUEvX1
All hail Allyson Felix!
Ladies and gentlemen, the first woman to ever win 10 #Athletics medals at the Olympics...
— Olympics (@Olympics) August 6, 2021
Take a bow, @allysonfelix! #USA #StrongerTogether | @Tokyo2020 | @WorldAthletics pic.twitter.com/id7qzKEw1l
Faith Kipyegon wins gold in the women’s 1,500m final
Sifan Hassan sets out in the lead. Remember, she is trying to do something no one has done before: win gold in the 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m races.
She keeps the lead throughout much of the race, with Faith Kipyegon on her shoulder. Laura Muir stays with them in third.
But Kipyegon is going for it. She overtakes Hassan late in the race. As does Laura Muir! They have timed that to perfection.
Kipyegon wins gold with an Olympic record; Muir gets silver with a personal best; and Hassan wins bronze. That was a brilliant race from Laura Muir. She is in tears.
Updated
Women’s 1,500m final: Laura Muir will be trying to stop Sifan Hassan. My colleague Sean Ingle has been telling the Muir story.
I love the first line of his article: “When Laura Muir was a teenager, she was so fast that local farmers employed her to catch newborn lambs before they got lost.”
Now for the women’s 1,500m final.
Here are the runners.
Gabriela Debues-Stafford (Canada)
Elle Purrier St. Pierre (USA)
Linden Hall (Australia)
Winnie Nanyondo (Uganda)
Tanaka Nozomi (Japan)
Jessica Hull (Australia)
Freweyni Hailu (Ethiopia)
Marta Pérez (Spain)
Laura Muir (Great Britain)
Faith Kipyegon (Kenya)
Sifan Hassan (Netherlands)
Kristiina Mäki (Czech Republic)
Cory McGee (USA)
Sifan Hassan is trying to make history here. She is trying to win gold in the 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m races at these Games. “Many people think I am crazy,” she says. She won the 10,000m and 1,500m at the World Championships in Doha in 2019 but doing the treble is unprecedented. It is an incredible amount of running: two 5,000m, three 1,500m and one 10,00m. That’s 24,500m over eight days, much of it in incredible heat and humidity.
Women’s football final: It’s Sweden 1-0 Canada at half-time. Canada are yet to have a shot on target.
Allyson Felix has made history with that bronze, her 10th Olympic medal. As my colleague Andy Bull pointed out before the Games, the fact that she is in Tokyo this year is an incredible achievement.
Women’s football final: Sweden have a 1-0 lead over Canada in the final thanks to a goal from Stina Blackstenius.
Shaunae Miller-Uibo wins gold in the women’s 400m!
Miller-Uibo dominated that race, winning with a personal best of 48.36. That was a stunning run. There was no one near her at the end. Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic was second with a personal best and Allyson Felix picked up the bronze – another Olympic medal for her. Jodie Williams finished sixth.
Updated
Women’s 400m final: Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas is probably favourite to retain the 400-metre title from Rio five years ago. She finished last in the 200m final so this is her chance to win gold.
Jodie Williams will be representing Great Britain after running a personal best in her semi-final. The 27-year-old sounded very confident after that race earlier in the week, saying: “I came here to medal. I came here to win, honestly.”
Athletics: the women’s 400m final is up next on the track.
Here is the start list:
Quanera Hayes (USA)
Roxana Gómez (Cuba)
Candice McLeod (Jamaica)
Marileidy Paulino (Dominican Republic)
Stephenie McPherson (Jamaica)
Shaunae Miller-Uibo (Bahamas)
Jodie Williams (Great Britain)
Allyson Felix (USA)
You’ll notice the name Allyson Felix at the end of that list. Felix is one race from history at Tokyo 2020. She is level with Merlene Ottey on nine Olympic medals and can go clear as the most decorated woman in Olympic track and field athletics history with a podium finish in this race. Felix has six golds and three silvers at the Olympics (five of those six golds have come in relays, with her sole individual gold coming in the 200m at London 2012). This is her fifth Olympics, having made her debut at Athens in 2004, when she won 200m silver behind Veronica Campbell.
Andy Bull wrote about Felix before the Games, detailing her achievement in getting this far.
Updated
Women’s football final: Canada pulled off one of the surprises of the Games when they beat USA in the semi-final of the women’s football. It was the first time Canada had beaten USA in 20 years.
That victory in the semi-finals was masterminded by Canada coach Bev Priestman, a 35-year-old from Consett in County Durham. My colleague Louise Taylor has been telling her story.
Men’s 5,000m: Cheptegei missed out on the 10,000m, finishing second behind Selemon Barega, but has got his gold in the 5,000m. Despite the talk about Katir before the race, he didn’t challenge. Andrew Butchart finished 11th.
Joshua Cheptegei wins gold in the men’s 5,000m!
Cheptegei wins gold for Uganda. He had the lead with a lap to go and held off challenges, stepping on the gas to quicken his pace and secure the victory. He won with a time of 12.58.15.
Mohammed Ahmed of Canada picked up silver, with Paul Chelimo of USA throwing himself over to line to earn bronze.
Updated
Women’s football: the final between Sweden and Canada has kicked off. It’s 0-0 after eight minutes. The final was meant to be played earlier today but, due to fears about the heat and humidity in Tokyo, it was pushed back.
Men’s 5,000m: There are a few contenders in the 12-and-a-half-lap race – and a few absentees.
Mo Farah, who won gold in the 5,000m and 10,000m in Rio and London, is gone; and the the reigning 5,000m world champion Muktar Edris did not made the Ethiopia team.
Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda is the world record holder, with a time of 12:35.36, and he won silver in the 10,000m last week, when Jacob Kiplimo won bronze. Selemon Barega, who won the 10,000m race is not competing in the 5,000m. Mohamed Katir is the pick of the runners on the BBC commentary.
Cheptegei has taken an early lead but the pack is right up behind him.
Athletics: the men’s 5,000m final has begun.
Here are the runners:
Luis Grijalva (Guatemala)
Justyn Knight (Canada)
Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli (Kenya)
William Kincaid (USA)
Mohamed Katir (Spain)
Mohammed Ahmed (Canada)
Dawit Fikadu (Bahrain)
Jacob Kiplimo (Uganda)
Jimmy Gressier (France)
Birhanu Balew (Bahrain)
Paul Chelimo (USA)
Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda)
Milkesa Mengesha (Ethiopia)
Oscar Chelimo (Uganda)
Grant Fisher (USA)
Andrew Butchart (Great Britain)
Andrew Butchart will be representing Team GB in the final but he nearly missed the Games altogether over comments he made on a podcast about a Covid test. Strange.
Hi all. Paul here. Thanks Barry. Drop me an email at Paul.Campbell@theguardian.com or send me a tweet.
Sayōnara from me. Thanks for your company and with the women’s football final, men’s 5,000m final and women’s javelin final all either just under way or about to start, I’ll hand over to m’learned friend Paul Campbell.
Skateboarding: Canine pursuit skating hasn’t yet been introduced to the Olympics but looking at this video of some totally rad pugs, I can’t be alone in thinking it can’t come soon enough.
— animals that heal your depression (@legendaryanimaI) August 5, 2021
Modern Pentathlon - Kate French🇬🇧 wins 🥇 in the women's modern pentathlon. It is Great Britain's 9️⃣0️⃣0️⃣th Olympic summer sport medal. #ModernPentathlon #Tokyo2020
— Gracenote Olympic (@GracenoteGold) August 6, 2021
Athletics: Double Olympic 5,000m champion Mo Farah is not at these Games, a state of affairs that means his crown is up for grabs. Those hopeful of winning it are in the stadium and are scheduled to start at 1pm (BST). The women’s javelin final is also being contested, with 12 women duking it out for the podium places.
The IOC president is at it again ...
Thomas Bach, the International Olympic Committee president has hailed athletes for giving “soul” to the Games and admitted he feared for the event after almost all spectators were barred.
However, his claims that the Tokyo Games had “far exceeded my personal expectations”, and had been a great success were widely criticised on Japanese social media with users calling him “an Olympic aristocrat who is trapped in a delusional shell”. Sean Ingle has the latest from Tokyo ...
Athletics: It’s USA, Botswana and Trinidad & Tobago in a one-two-three in the opening heat of the 4x400m and those teams q1ualify automatically for the final. Italy and the Netherlands will have to wait to see if they qualify as fastest losers. Britain finished a disappointing sixth or possibly seventh.
Athletics: For now, our attention turns to the athletics track, where the preliminaries are under way in the men’s 4x400m relay. As I type, the Brits are running in heat one.
Women’s football: The gold medal match between Sweden and Canada is due to kick off in a little over 30 minutes. It could be a belter.
Medals: Great Britain have added to their tally on Day 14, taking gold and bronze in the velodrome, gold in the modern pentathlon, bronze in the women’s hockey and another guaranteed gold or silver in the boxing ring.
Imagine: You come 4th in Rio, you go again, train so hard, ‘Tokyo will be my Games’. The big day comes and it’s going brilliantly, you have one of the biggest leads in #Olympics history. And then a random horse ruins your dream. Crushing for Annika Schleu pic.twitter.com/sbXI3C8Ox1
— Jason Keen (@Jason_Keen) August 6, 2021
Men’s football: Kaoru Mitoma scored a late consolation for Japan in the bronze medal match but it was too little, too late for the hosts. Mexico have beatn them 3-1 to earn themselves a spot on the podium.
Men’s diving: In all the excitement elsewhere, I forgot to confirm that Tom Daley has comfortably qualified for tomorrow’s semi-finals of the men’s individual 10m platform. His team-mate Noah Williams missed out, finishing 27th of the 29 entrants.
Tell us: what are you enjoying most about the Olympics? https://t.co/415mXilrY3
— The Guardian (@guardian) August 6, 2021
Modern pentathlon podium
- Gold: K French (Great Britain)
- Silver: L Asadauskaite (Lithuania)
- Bronze: S Kovacs (Hungary)
Updated
Kate French wins gold for Great Britain
Modern pentathlon: Kate French wins this event pulling a milk float. Not literally, of course ... that would be weird, even by the standards of modern pentathlon.
Updated
Modern pentathlon: Kate French is leading the final event, the laser run.
This is the most chaotic event of the games, @FloydTweet dropped the bombshell that the athletes only meet their horses on the day
— Fadumo #BlackLivesMatter 🇸🇴 (@Fadumo_oo) August 6, 2021
Pierre de Coubertin really chose violence when he said this is the epitome of sport 😂😂 https://t.co/07XfZdX0Ma pic.twitter.com/BpfMKLU9YJ
Men’s football: Mexico have gone 3-0 up in their bronze medal match against hosts Japan and look home and hosed with just 16 minutes to go.
Constantin the Great joins Thierry Henry in the top tier of Irish sporting villains
— Eoin Sheahan (@EoinSheahan) August 6, 2021
Modern pentathlon: Ireland’s Natalya Coyle is another competitor who suffered in the equine lottery. Her mount, Constantin The Great, has proved - to borrow a phrase from racing pundit Ted Walsh - to be a leery aul’ bugger. His repeated refusals in the showjumping round earned Natlaya 66 faults, causing her to plummet from fourth place to 17th in the standings.
Updated
Modern pentathtlon: Kate French is competing for Team GB and after four events she’s in fifth place with the laser run (combined running and shooting) to come at 11.30am (BST). Spare a thought for German Annika Schleu, who began the showjumping in the gold medal position but is now in 31st place after being -no pun intended - saddled with a less than co-operative horse that point blank refused to complete its round. Fo those who may not be aware, competitors don’t rider their own horses, but are instead forced to compete on steeds they’ve just met. They don’t always get on ...
Hmmm. Responding in a tone that could scarcely be more measured to correct a reader = thin skin, according to NordicSkot. An interesting take. It’s always been a common theme below the line in the comments section - if you ignore readers, you’re aloof. If you respond but disagree, you’re thin-skinned.
Awkward? I suppose it might be mildly embarrassing if I’d written the article. But I didn’t and am not sure how acknowledging it was premature would be even remotely awkward. As strange as it may seem, there isn’t actually a Guardian party line on velodrome activities that all our writers are obliged to toe.
Updated
Lavreysen wins men's sprint gold ...
Cycling: Harrie Lavreysen beats his compatriot fairly easily to win. Jeffrey Hoogland settles for silver. It’s a Dutch one-two and Britain’s Jack Carlin gets bronze.
Updated
Cycling: As I try to get a long overdue look in on the women’s modern pentathlon and women’s bouldering (climbing), the cycling keeps getting in the way. It’s the men’s sprint decider in the best of three between Jeffrey Hoogland and Harrie Lavreysen from the Netherlands.
Cycling: Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald couldn’t look more pleased as they are hganded their gold medals for winning the inagural women’s madison, before presenting them to each other.
Their scacely believable score of 78 points will take some beating in the years to come. Britain have won 10 cycling medals (five in the velodrome) in these Games, five of them gold. Early rumours of the demise of track cycling in the UK appear to have been greatly exaggerated.
Updated
Madison tactics: An explainer ...
#Tokyo2020 #Maddison pic.twitter.com/2BOGGNb355
— Rob Whittle (@PolkaDotRob) August 6, 2021
Cycling: Now it’s time for the second leg of the gold medal match in the men’s sprint between Dutch riders Jeffrey Hoogland and Harrie Lavreysen. Hoogland is one up but Lavreysen completes a remarkable recovery down the back straight and out of the final bend to level proceedings.
Carlin takes the bronze
It’s another medal for Great Britain as Carlin survies a late Dmitriev surge off the final bend to win the second leg by a whisker.
Cycling: It’s round two of the bronze medal final between Denis Dmitriev and Jack Carlin, with the Brit leading by one. If he wins this heat he’ll get the bronze medal.
Men’s football: The bronze medal match between Mexico and Japan is under way and the hosts are 2-0 down after 30 minutes. Francisco Cordova and Johan Vasquez with the goals there.
Correction: Apologies to Sarah Marsh, who for some unfathomable reason, I incorrectly referred to as Sarah Brown in the previous post. That error has now been rectified.
Updated
Skateboarding: Sarah Marsh has written an intertesting article about how the success of British bronze medalist Sky Brown has ramped up interest in skateboarding among young girls.
Interestingly, the large photo which illustrates the piece was taken in Stockwell skate park, which is located approximately 30 seconds’ walk from my house.
Hats off to Guardian photographer Martin Godwin, who somehow managed to find a rare window when the seating area right behind young skater Stefani Nurding wasn’t entirely populated by older teenagers smoking “jazz” cigarettes and drinking cheap cider.
Updated
A pair of happy madison winners speak
“I looked up and we had 60 laps to go and I thought I’ve not even touched the pedals,” says Laura Kenny in conversation with the BBC. “We rode so conservatively, we’ve been doing so much work - our coach’s husband is the under-23 lads’ coach and we’ve done this about five times with them and we just ran it like that. I’ve never been so confident about a plan - I want to thank those lads because we wouldn’t have had a race. We just raced it again the same as we have before.
“Unbelievable - I’ve never wanted to win a race so much in all my life and I messaged Jason and said I feel like my Olympics ends today, I love the team pursuit but I felt relief when it was over because this was the one race I wanted to win - I just feel so relieved.”
Over to you, Katie Archibald. ““I’ve been dreaming about having this conversation,” she says, having this conversation. “I’ve never wanted something so much, I’ve never been so nervous but we’ve been so clinical with our approach. We had a change of coach last year for this event, we’re going for the all round and trying to spread between events and it feels so satisfying for it to come off.”
Sir Chris Hoy speaks: “Even for an event as unpredictable as the madison it was the most wonderfully boring team madison I’ve ever seen - the most assured confident race I’ve ever seen at this level - it was outstanding,” he says on BBC.
“They went out and dominated form the word go to win the first sprint - they won by three or four bike lengths every time - they had speed, tactics and complete control. All their rivals were fighting for silver or bronze early on. They took that race by the scruff of the neck.”
Cycling: Hoogland holds off Lavreysen to win a tight opener by half a wheel.
Cycling: It’s first blood to Carlin, who wins wins the first sprint in his best of three bronze medal match against Dmitriev. Now it’s the first of the gold medal match sprints between Dutch compatriots Jeffrey Hoogland and Harrie Lavreysen.
Updated
Cycling: After the “beautiful chaos” of the women’s madison, it’s back to the more mundane fare of the men’s sprint bronze medal final. Britain’s Jack Carlin is up against the ROC’s Denis Dmitriev.
Updated
The Madison is such a beautifully chaotic event usually @bglendenning but the serenity of the GB team's control here is incredible. They've not just won, they've locked it down completely from 80 laps out. Archibald and Kenny finish the track program in style.
— Guy Hornsby (@GuyHornsby) August 6, 2021
Women's madison podium
- Gold: Great Britain (78 points)
- Silver: Denmark (35 points)
- Bronze: ROC (26 points)
- France finished fourth and the Netherlands were fifth.
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It's gold for Team GB in the madison
Cycling: Katie Archibald and Laura Kenny take top spot on the podium in the most emphatic style imaginable. They have crushed their rivals. That’s Kenny’s fifth Olympic gold medal.
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Cycling: Great Britain, Denmark and ROC have lapped the rest of the field. What happened the French? I won’t lie - I have absolutely no idea. There are 12 laps to go.
Cycling: After nine sprints in the women’s madison, Great Britain have 42 points, while their closest rivals, the Netherlands, have 16. France are in the bronze medal position with 12. Barring an accident – and there have been plenty of them – Great Britain will win gold.
Cycling: There are 30 laps to go and Katie Archibald smiles as she nicks the ninth sprint.
Cycling: France and Great Britain launch a breakaway from the rest of the field. France tried to steal a lap but Great Britain were having none of it and closed them down. This Anglo-French alliance are half a lap clear of the fragmented peloton and it already looks like the chasing pack are already fighting it out for bronze.
Cycling: After six sprints in the women’s madison, Katie Archibald and Laura Kenny have something of an early stranglehold on the race. They have amassed 27 points and their closest rivals are the Netherlands with 13. Australia are in third place with seven. There’s still a very long way to go.
Cycling: We’ve had two crashes in the women’s madison, the first one earning Ireland a warning after one of their riders brought down an Italian. Four different riders, among them Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and Hong Kong are taken out in the second crash. As the riders sort themselves out and remount, the Netherlands get a yellow card for causing that pile-up with an ill-judged swap-over. Team GB continue to lead.
Diving: After five rounds of the men’s individual 10m platform preliminaries, the Chinese are dominating, unsurprisingly. Yang Jian and Juan Cao lead the field, while Tom Daley is in fifth position. A reminder: 18 of the 29 entrants qualify for tomorrow’s semi-final and the jig is up for Team GB’s Noah Williams, who is down in 25th place.
Interview: Ruby Tui, the 29-year-old New Zealand sevens rugby star, won plenty of new fans for her candid post-match interviews while her on-field efforts helped make history for her country. Eva Corlett spoke to her ...
Cycling: Just to add to the overall sense of chaos and confusion in the women’s madison, only one rider from each team is “active” at any one time and they can swap over with a teammate using a hand sling-shot whenever they feel like it. Katie Archibald is catapulted in for the first sprint and wins it.
Cycling: The women’s madison is about to start at the velodrome, the first time it’s been included in the Olympic programme. It’s 30 kilometres in length (120 laps), there are sprints every 10 laps with points (5-4-3-2-1) being awarded to the first five riders over the line each time.
What’s more, there are double points on the final sprint and you can also earn yourself 20 points for nicking a lap on your rivals.
Confused? Good.
Katie Archibald and Laura Kenny (nee Trott) are in their respecitve saddles for Great Britain.
Something of the In The Night Gardens about the modern pentathlon set pic.twitter.com/Y7LmiaxBl2
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) August 6, 2021
Cycling: Great Britain’s Katy Marchant is through to the women’s sprint 1/16 finals, having beaten local favourite Yuka Kobayashi to advance.
Diving: A beauty from Tom Daley, who consolidates his position in the top 18 with a near perfect - reporter checks notes - armstand back three somersaults that puts him into sixth position.
Brandon Losciavo from the USA finishes the round, leaving Daley in sixth place with two dives to go. Australia’s Cassiel Rousseau is in ninth. Rylan Wiens from Canada is on the bubble in 18th spot while Team GB’s Noah Williams is 22nd. Australian diver Samuel Frickler is 27th of the 29 competitors. China’s world champion Yang Jian leads the field.
Diving: Noah Williams comes close to clipping the board with his toes on his fourth dive and a subsequent poor entry into the water does his chances of advancing to tomorrow’s semi-finals little good. If you get too close to the platform you can be marked down for excessive danger.
Diving: They’re into round four of six in the men’s 10m platform preliminaries, with 18 of 29 competitors to advance to the semi-finals. Tom Daley is comfortably inside the 18 at the moment, while his British team-mate Noah Williams has some work to do.
Brazil’s Isaac Souza Filho looks out of contention, having just come within a hair’s breadth of smacking his head off the concrete on his fourth effort. He’s marked down accordingly, but at least emerges from the pool unharmed. That was very close.
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Beach volleyball: Standing in the shade after she and her partner Mariafe Artacho del Solar had toiled in the Tokyo heat for a beach volleyball silver medal, Taliqua Clancy attempted to cool down after becoming just the 10th Indigenous Australian in history to win an Olympic medal, writes Kieran Pender. Her nails – painted with the Aboriginal flag – underscored the significance of the moment.
Clancy, a proud Wulli Wulli and Goreng Goreng woman, follows in the footsteps of some of the greats – most notably Nova Peris, with her victory for the Hockeyroos in 1996, and Cathy Freeman, whose iconic 400m race at Sydney 2000 first lit the Olympic fire in Clancy.
Hockey: “Bronze, gold, bronze,” writes Steve McMillan from the Oi Stadium. “Great Britain’s women made history by getting ribbon round their necks for a third straight Olympic Games – take note, men – thanks to Grace Balsdon’s decisive penalty corner strike to win a thrilling, helter-skelter bronze medal final against India.”
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Diving: On his third dive, Tom Daley makes a bit of a mess of the entry but his effort is good enough to move himself up to 12th at the end of Round Three. Noah Williams is in 19th spot, just out of the qualification spots.
Diving: Noah Williams from Team GB gets himself bacdk oin the mix for qualification for the semi-finals in the men’s 10m platform with a good effort. The top 18 qualify for the next round.
Cycling: Back at the velodrome, Jeffrey Hoogland from the Netherlands looks the man to beat in the men’s sprint. Team GB’s Jack Carlin will fancy his chances but needs to see off Hoogland’s compatriot Harrie Lavreysen in their best of three semi-final first. He loses the first leg, unable to cope with Lavreysen’s power dfespite his attempts to pass the Dutchman on his outside on the final bend.
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Kon’nichiwa everybody. Another busy day in the Izu Velodrome has begun with the women’s sprint qualifying, while the men’s 10m preliminary platform diving is under way at the Aquatics Centre. Team GB’s Tom Daley, sitting poolside, furiously clicking-clacking with his now trademark knitting in hand(s), is currently in 18th place but hasn’t dropped any stitches.
And that’s all from me, folks. I now hand you over to Barry Glendenning. Enjoy the rest of the day’s action.
Modern pentathlon: described, rather unjustly, by a Guardian reader earlier today as “a bit hopeless as a sport”, the modern pentathlon is under way and the women’s 200m freestyle heats have now been swum and won. Gulnaz Gubaydullina, not representing Russia at all, swum an Olympic record 2:07.31 to show up early in the event. Now it’s fencing, to be followed by show jumping and then laser run later tonight.
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How about a wrap of the day’s events? Yes, why not indeed.
- Team USA’s April Ross and Alix Klineman won women’s beach volleyball gold, beating Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy in straight sets
- Harry Garside’s dream of Tokyo boxing gold is over after the Australian was beaten comprehensively by Cuba’s Andy Cruz in their men’s light semi-final
- Lisa Carrington’s hopes of a fourth Tokyo 2020 gold medal remain alive after New Zealand finished second to Hungary in a heat of the women’s K4 500m
- Team USA are through to yet another women’s basketball gold medal match after beating Serbia 79-59 in their semi-final
- Team GB boxer Lauren Price is through to the women’s middleweight gold medal bout after beating Dutchwoman Nouchka Fontjin by split decision
- Poland’s Dawid Tomala won gold in only his second 50km racewalk, an event that featured Spaniard Jesús Ángel García in his eighth Olympic Games
- Team GB won women’s hockey bronze after beating India 4-3 at Oi Hockey Stadium
- Two Belarus coaches allegedly involved in attempting to force sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya to return home have had their accreditation stripped by the IOC
Boxing: before we bid goodbye to happenings at the Kokugikan Arena, it would be remiss of us not to acknowledge a second Olympic gold medal for Julio César La Cruz, who now has a heavyweight title to go with the light heavyweight gold he won in Rio. There must be something in the water in Cuba.
Another #Boxing gold for #CUB!
— Olympics (@Olympics) August 6, 2021
Julio la Cruz wins his second Olympic title and his first in the men's heavyweight category. pic.twitter.com/sA0JhK4cLs
Boxing: Back to Harry Garside and his loss to Cuban Andy Cruz in the men’s light semi-final. Here’s what the Australian had to say:
He’s just an exceptional athlete, mate. I always wanted to fight him and see how I stack up against him. He was just too good tonight. I go back to the drawing board, back to the gym and make sure I train harder and I’ll make sure I train harder and I’ll make sure I be better hopefully next time I fight him.
I felt outclassed a little bit, but I had a red hot crack, mate. That’s all Australians do, we have a red hot dip. I’m proud of myself for that, but I really wanted to be the first ever to win an Olympic gold medal. But hopefully he goes far in the tournament and wins the next fight.
Obviously bronze is still good, but the gold medal is what I wanted. But now hopefully I’ve inspired the next generation of boxers and young athletes leading into the 2032 Games. Let’s hope it is our most successful games ever.
Women’s basketball: Team USA are through to yet another Olympic decider after beating Serbia 79-59 in their semi-final at the Saitama Super Arena. The Americans led at every change and were never, ever in doubt. Brittney Griner (15 points) and Chelsea Gray (14 points) led the way for Team USA with Sue Bird and veteran Diana Taurasi chiming in with four assists each.
The Americans will now face either Japan or France in the gold medal match. Unbeaten at the Games since 1992 and shooting for a seventh successive gold medal, Team USA will be overwhelming favourites whomever they come up against.
Boxing: Harry Garside’s dream of Tokyo gold is over after the Australian was beaten comprehensively by Cuba’s Andy Cruz in their men’s light semi-final. Cruz was simply too powerful, too sharp, and will now face Team USA’s Keyshawn Davis after his unanimous triumph over Garside.
But that is bronze for the Melbourne man. He has won Australia’s first Olympic boxing medal in more than three decades.
Harry Garside wins bronze in the men's lightweight category and gives #AUS their first #Boxing medal of #Tokyo2020!@AUSOlympicTeam pic.twitter.com/5Pb5u3GqCG
— Olympics (@Olympics) August 6, 2021
Boxing: more of the same in the second round. Andy Cruz connected with some good rights to the head of Harry Garside and the Australian is really up against it here. The Cuban is working him around the ring, dodging punches as he goes, and is well on top. And now Garside gets the eight-count in the third round! This is only going one way.
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Boxing: the bell has sounded to end the first round and the judges are quite rightly with Andy Cruz. Australia’s Harry Garside has work to do to counter the Cuban’s footwork and intelligent combinations.
Boxing: Team USA’s Keyshawn Davis dominated Armenian Hovhannes Bachkov in the men’s light semi-final and is through by unanimous decision to the gold medal bout, where he will meet either Cuban Andy Cruz or Harry Garside of Australia.
That fight is now barely seconds away.
Boxing: big news for Team GB as Lauren Price wins her middleweight semi-final and is through to the gold medal bout. Price, the Welsh world champion and Commonwealth Games gold medalist, beat Dutchwoman Nouchka Fontjin by split decision.
Price fought her way back after being deducted a point and will face Li Qian in Sunday’s final after the Chinese boxer easily accounted for Zenfira Magomedalieva in the other semi-final.
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Women’s basketball: it’s half-time at Saitama Super Arena and it’s all Team USA. The Americans lead Serbia 41-23 in a mismatch not really befitting an Olympics semi-final. But that is the USA women’s basketball team - they are a cut above. They haven’t lost at the Games since 1992 and are long odds-on to swat Serbia aside and then go on to win a seventh straight Olympic gold medal.
Women’s golf: Team USA’s Nelly Korda, fresh from that scintillating 62 in the second round, fired a more human-like 69 today to lead the women’s strokeplay event by three shots at 15 under with one round to play. India’s Aditi Ashok is alone in second place with four golfers two shots further back on 10 under. Australia’s Hannah Green is among that quartet after carding 67 in the third round. After shooting a lacklustre 71 on Wednesday, Green is now a genuine medal hope.
It’s been a relatively quiet day in Tokyo, but here’s a brief summary of what readers just waking up and tuning in with an interest in Team GB have missed:
- Hockey: the big story of the day so far - the women’s team beat India 4-3 in a helter-skelter bronze medal match to add to their gold in Rio and bronze in London
- Golf: the women’s third round is being played; Mel Reid and Jodi Ewart Shadoff are both well off the pace
- Athletics: no track action this morning, but Jodie WIllians in the 400m final, Laura Muir in the 1500m and 4x100m relays of both genders to come
- Cycling: Katie Archibald and Laura Kenny go for gold in the women’s madison final at the velodrome
- Boxing: Lauren Price is to face Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands in the women’s middleweight semis
Women’s basketball: the first quarter of the semi-final at Saitama Super Arena has gone to script, with Team USA leading Serbia 25-12. Breanna Stewart is leading the way for the Americans with six points but Yvonne Anderson heads all scorers with eight points. Early days but Team USA have all the answers to this point.
Table tennis: Japan have claimed bronze in the men’s team event, beating South Korea 3-1. The blockbuster gold medal match between China and Germany takes place tonight. The Chinese, featuring the towering figures of singles gold medalist Ma Long and Xu Xin, will be strong favourites to claim another table tennis gold.
It's bronze for the hosts!#JPN secures a spot on the men's team #TableTennis podium.@ittfworld @japan_olympic pic.twitter.com/vAJ7ykA3Va
— Olympics (@Olympics) August 6, 2021
I have nothing to add to this.
— Olympics (@Olympics) August 6, 2021
Women’s basketball: Team USA are about to start their semi-final against Serbia. The Americans haven’t lost a game at the Olympics since 1992 and are gunning for a seventh consecutive gold medal. So Serbia are as good as home you’d say.
Japan and France face off in tonight’s other semi-final.
While we’re on tweets from famous folk, here’s one from Sachin Tendulkar. Just a lazy 34.7 million followers. India’s efforts in hockey at Tokyo 2020 were really quite outstanding.
Well done #TeamIndia on giving your best and fighting till the very end. 🏑
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) August 6, 2021
You may have lost the match but you have won our hearts. We are all very proud of you.#Hockey #Olympics #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/zf2QRM5EBE
Canoe sprint: Lisa Carrington, the GOAT in a boat, already has three gold medals to take home from Tokyo 2020 but it might end up being four. The New Zealander this morning finished second to Hungary in a heat of the women’s K4 500m, Carrington and her teammates progressing straight through to the semi-finals. Australia finished fourth in heat two and will need to go via the quarters.
In the men’s K4 500m heats, Australia are into the semis after finishing second to Germany.
A nice tweet here from the self-proclaimed “Professional Pitier Of Fools”, Mr. T (AKA Laurence Tureaud).
Wow! You did it Ladies, Congratulations! @AprilRossBeach and @alixklineman , you Deserve the Gold! You Brought your “A” Game to the A-team! USA All the Way, you made Us Proud! @NBCOlympics @TeamUSA @usavolleyball @USAVBeach #gold #theAteam
— Mr. T (@MrT) August 6, 2021
I wonder how Clubber Lang would have gone in a men’s super heavy event at an Olympic Games. And, no, I don’t think Mr. T’s exploits in “professional” wrestling should be interpreted as a reliable guide. Fool.
Some absolutely stunning pics here. But I must say, my favourite Olympic snaps - with a special mention to diving; those facial expressions are priceless - come from the moment of impact in long jump and triple jump. They beautifully capture a frame in time that is just not possible to see in motion.
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A little harsh on modern pentathlon, TE, but I take your point on the steeds. I also wonder why it’s the riders, and not the horses, who get the recognition in Olympic equestrian events.
To draw a very tenuous link with horse racing, it’s not the jockey who wins the race but the galloper he/she is sat on. I’d be much more comfortable with the nags having medals draped around their necks and the riders getting a special mention to go with a pat and a sugar cube.
Which reminds me, if you recall the story a couple of days ago about horses getting spooked by a statue of a sumo wrestler - and haven’t yet clocked said wrestler - here he is.
@scott_heinrich Here's a pic of the fake sumo wrestler... https://t.co/FPZ5pp7nza
— Leo Addor (@LeoAddor) August 4, 2021
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Boxing: a string - array? pile? row? bunch? heap? - of medals are to be fought for at the Kokugikan Arena this afternoon. Harry Garside, a knockabout bloke from Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, will be punching for Australia when he takes on Cuban Andy Cruz (with bronze assured in the event of defeat) in the lightweight semi-final.
Tired stereotypes should be cast aside when it comes to this pugilist. There is more to Garside than meets the eye.
Women’s hockey: Team GB have won the bronze medal after overcoming India 4-3 at Oi Hockey Stadium. There were ebbs and flows aplenty as the Brits established a 2-0 lead only to find themselves 3-2 behind at the long break after India piled on three goals in four minutes.
But Team GB would not be denied, with second-half goals to captain Hollie Pearne Webb and Grace Balsdon denying India’s women a first Olympic medal to go with the bronze collected by the nation’s men at Tokyo 2020.
Team USA win women's beach volleyball gold!
A clinical, ruthless performance from April Ross and Alix Klineman to beat Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy in straight sets - 21-15, 21-16.
The Americans set up this win with a devastating serving game, putting Australia under intense pressure from the first point to the last. Ross now has a gold medal after claiming silver in London and bronze in Rio. This is now Team USA’s fourth women’s beach volleyball gold. The Australians fell just short here but a silver medal is a good return for an outstanding tournament.
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Women’s hockey: Grace Balsdon has put Team GB 4-3 ahead with just five minutes to play in the bronze medal match against India. Having opened up a 2-0 lead, the Brits then found themselves 3-2 behind but are now within touching distance of an Olympic medal.
Women’s beach volleyball: Team USA’s April Ross and Alix Klineman, already one set up over Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy in the gold medal match, are now turning the screw.
They lead 13-5 in the second set and are cruising on a seemingly unstoppable path towards Olympic glory. The Americans are putting on a serving masterclass on the sand.
Among all the extraordinary performances we’ve witnessed over the past couple of weeks, this should not get overlooked. Eight Olympic Games. Enough said.
History made!
— Olympics (@Olympics) August 6, 2021
✅ Barcelona 1992
✅ Atlanta 1996
✅ Sydney 2000
✅ Athens 2004
✅ Beijing 2008
✅ London 2012
✅ Rio 2016
✅ Tokyo 2020
By taking part in the 50km race walk, Jesús Ángel García just participated in his 8th Olympic Games, most-ever for an athlete in #Athletics 👏 pic.twitter.com/SovrGyngwG
Women’s beach volleyball: Team USA’s April Ross and Alix Klineman have barely put a foot wrong so far in the gold medal match, applying huge service and offensive pressure to take the first set against 21-15 over Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy.
The Australians did show better signs late in that set but they have it all to do to get back into this Olympic decider.
In Tokyo last night Andy Bull and I met a man from the India men’s hockey team staff. He was deliriously happy at India’s men’s bronze, their first hockey medal for 41 years.
He said this was one of the greatest days of his life, that it was impossible to convey the cultural and emotional importance of an Indian hockey medal at the Olympic Games, and, more to the point, that he was going off to look for a bottle of whiskey.
Never mind cricket. Hockey seems to be in some key sense India’s national sport, the one that really presses the buttons. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone, outside of the actual athletes, so hopped up on a sporting success. If they beat England here I’m going looking for him again this evening.
Update on women’s bronze medal match: Team GB have hit back, with a strike from captain Hollie Pearne Webb levelling affairs at 3-3 late in the third quarter against India.
Women’s beach volleyball: Some incredible serving from April Ross has helped USA open up a handy 6-2 lead over Australia duo Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy in the gold medal match. And with that it’s an early time-out for Australia. Let’s see if they can regroup.
Not yet. Now it’s 7-2 to the Americans.
Wow. Big turn of events in the Krystsina Tsimanouskaya situation.
I’m at the Shiokaze Park today for the women’s beach volleyball gold medal match between Australia and the United States.
A win for Aussie pair Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy would be historic - the medal would see Tokyo 2020 overtake Athens 2004 as the most successful Olympics for Australia (with 18 gold medals) and be the nation’s first beach volleyball gold since Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst’s iconic win at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
It is scorching hot here. There’s also no shade for journalists. Woe is me and all that. But I’m just glad I’m not on the sand. A late morning start is really quite inhumane for the athletes. Will the Australians or the Americans be better able to handle the heat?
We’ll find out shortly.
Final warm-ups done, they're ready to fight for the 🥇#TokyoTogether #beachvolleyball @ausvolley pic.twitter.com/1IH5mHUfdp
— AUS Olympic Team (@AUSOlympicTeam) August 6, 2021
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Women’s hockey: India have enjoyed a fabulous time of it at the Oi Hockey Stadium at Tokyo 2020 and the nation’s women are having a fair old go at emulating the men’s team, leading Team GB 3-2 at half-time of their bronze medal encounter.
The Brits were all over the opening exchanges as they opening up a 2-0 lead, but a flurry of strikes - three in four minutes, if you don’t mind! - have handed India the edge at the long break.
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Thanking you, Bryan. Beach volleyball, anyone?
The bronze medal has gone to Switzerland, with Joana Heidrich (spelling is close enough to say no relation) and Anouk Vergé-Dépré beating the Latvians, Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka, in straight sets to claim their nation’s first women’s beach volleyball medal. The big one, USA v Australia, is now less than half an hour away. Get excited.
In the likely event there has been a, ahem, spike in interest in the sport and you’re one of those folk who’d like to have a crack but doesn’t know here to start ... here’s somewhere you can start.
(Note: you don’t have to be a cartoon figure, but it would help)
I’ll now hand off to Scott Heinrich, who will be taking you through the next few hours. Bye for now!
Women’s hockey: And just like that, Team GB are on the board in the bronze medal match. Ellie Rayer is credited with the goal after her cross is deflected by an Indian defender into the goal. Team GB 1-0 India early in the second quarter.
Women’s hockey: Team GB and India are deadlocked at 0-0 through one quarter of their bronze medal match. The British team have won the possession battle and fired three shots on goal to India’s none, but haven’t yet made the pressure count for them.
Women’s golf: It’s moving day at Kasumigaseki Country Club but Nelly Korda is threatening to turn the proceedings into a race for silver. She’e just birdied the par-5 fourth hole to go 15-under for the tournament and five shots clear of the field. She went birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie on this stretch of the course yesterday. Japan’s Mone Inami and India’s Aditi Ashok are tied for second at 10-under.
Men’s 50km walk: Turns out Poland’s Dawid Tomala has won the gold medal today in only the second 50km racewalk he’s ever completed.
“It was an amazing day for me,” he said. “I can’t believe it. I work for it my whole life since I was 15 when I thought for the first time during training I would like to be a (Olympic) gold medallist. At first I thought (I wanted to win Olympic gold in the) 20km, but this year changed everything. I competed over 50km in Dudince (where he finished fifth). This was only the second 50km in my life (he did not finish in a 50m race walk in Dudince in 2017) and I win it (the Olympic title). It is crazy, right?”
Yes. Yes, it is!
Beach volleyball: The Swiss team of Joana Heidrich and Anouk Vergé-Dépré have taken the opening set of the women’s bronze medal match, 21-19, over Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka of Latvia.
Coming up very shortly, we have the women’s beach volleyball bronze medal match, women’s hockey bronze match and the start of the men’s kata karate. I’ll hand over to Bryan Graham, who will be your guide. Bye!
Ever wondered who the oldest and youngest Olympians are? Then wonder no more:
And here are some highlights for Team USA on Day 14:
10.30pm EDT: women’s beach volleyball gold medal match
Alix Klineman and April Ross – the American successors to Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings – face Australia’s Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar. This is Ross’s third Olympics; she’s won silver (in 2012 with Jennifer Kessy) and bronze (in ‘16 with Walsh Jennings). Klineman, 31, partnered with Ross the year after the Rio de Janeiro Games, and this will be her first Olympics. Clancy and Artacho del Solar both competed in Rio, though they weren’t partnered, and neither medaled.
7.30am EDT: men’s 125kg wrestling final
Gable Steveson, an American with little to no international experience, will wrestle Geno Petriashvili of Georgia, a three-time world champion who took bronze in Rio. Steveson, a student at the University of Minnesota, is the reigning Division I champion, and he’s made easy work of his opponents thus far in Tokyo.
8.10am EDT: women’s sport climbing combined lead final
Brooke Raboutou has been climbing competitively since childhood and holds the distinction of being the youngest female climber to achieve several milestones. She’ll compete in the final for the speed and bouldering events earlier in the day, and the lead event will be the final to decide the medals.
8.35am EDT: women’s 400m final
Allyson Felix has two more chances to win a medal in Tokyo and become the most decorated woman in Olympic track and field history. (Felix has nine medals thus far, and a 10th would also tie her with Carl Lewis for the most of any American track and field athlete.) On Friday, she’ll race in the 400m event, where she’ll compete against fellow American Quanera Hayes. Both women have two-year-olds and have spoken out about the challenges of being mothers who are still competing. This is Hayes’s first Olympics.
9.30am EDT: women’s 4x100m relay final
Team USA is coming off two straight gold medals in the event, in Rio and London. In the semi-final, Javianne Oliver, Teahna Daniels, English Gardner and Aleia Hobbs teamed up to place second in their heat, and the US will have a chance at a medal in the final. Their stiffest competitor will be Jamaica, which they beat in the semi-final, but there’s a wrinkle: Jamaica raced there without two of their speediest women, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who will compete in the final.
Day 14 of the Games and Team Australia look like they’ll continue to soar. Australia has three women in the javelin final and two in the 1500m, it’s Australia v USA in the beach volleyball final and Harry Garside goes for a chance at boxing gold. Read the full rundown here:
A question from reader Kurt Perleberg for our US readers: “Has NBC done a good job on their Olympics coverage?” Well, some would say not ...
Canoe Sprint Women’s C2 500m: The heats are on as the sport makes its Olympic debut. The world champion pair of China’s Xu Shixiao and Sun Mengya win with ease - that makes sense what with the world champions bit. Germany’s Lisa Jahn and Sophie Koch are the other qualifiers for the semifinals. Australia’s Bernadette Wallace and Josephine Bulmer finish in seventh.
Women’s golf: There’s a bit of weather on the way in Tokyo but authorities are optimistic the full rounds of the women’s golf tournament will be played, but tomorrow’s fourth round will most likely start earlier to avoid forecasted storms.
Men’s 50k walk: Tomala looks incredibly relaxed as he sits down for a well deserved rest with his gold medal. The 31-year-old looked shattered as he reached the final stages but has understandably perked up now he’s an Olympic champion. He honestly looks like he’s just finished a quick jog round the park.
Men’s 50km walk: And Poland’s Dawid Tomala wins gold! It was an almost flawless race in horrible conditions over a brutal 50km. He raises the Polish flag as he crosses the line. Brilliant stuff. And he manages to stay on his feet as he grins for the cameras. Germany’s Hilman takes silver ... and what’s this? Canada continue their brilliant Olympics as Evan Dunfee comes from nowhere to take bronze from Spain’s Marc Tur.
Men’s 50km walk: Hilbert and Tur are one violation away from being disqualified. There is not way they can catch Tomala so hopefully they concentrate on making it through and collecting their deserved medals.
Men’s 50km walk: One kilometre to go for the heroic Tomala. And he already has the Polish flag in his hand. A little presumptive but he deserves it.
Men’s 50km walk: And Tomala is on the last 2km lap! He pours (hopefully chilled) water over himself. Please give this man an ice bath along with his (probable) gold medal. Tur and Hilbert, in second and third, are two minutes behind as they hear the bell for the last lap. They’ve gained a minute on Tomala in the last few km, but it’s almost certainly not enough.
Men’s 50km walk: Spain’s Marc Tur and Germany’s Jonathan Hilbert are now on their own in second and third. They are exchanging words, perhaps discussing how they will catch Tomala, who has a huge lead. He looks a little ragged, so hopefully there are no rule violations and a disqualification. I think that is the only thing that can stop him.
Men’s 50km walk: 4km to go and Poland’s Tomala has a lead of just under 3 minutes. The chasing pack are catching him up but nowhere near quick enough. At this pace he’ll still win by two minutes or so. The chasing pack looks like it has dropped Canada’s Evan Dunfee and Japan’s Masatora Kawano. Germany’s Jonathan Hilbert, Spain’s Marc Tur and Portugal’s João Vieira look like they will battle for silver and bronze.
Men’s 50km walk: Japan’s Masatora Kawano has done brilliantly to haul himself back into the lead chasing pack after taking a break to vomit. The rigours of the last 10km can cause muscle cramps, gastro-intestinal problems, low sodium, low blood sugar, dehydration or core temperature problems. It’s one of the reasons, the Olympics don’t want this distance at Paris 2024.
Men’s 50km walk: The chasing pack is down to five: Germany’s Jonathan Hilbert, Spain’s Marc Tur, Portugal’s João Vieira, Canada’s Evan Dunfee and Japan’s Masatora Kawano. Our leader, Dawid Tomala of Poland, goes through 44km and his lead is now 3min 11 seconds as he pours water on himself and wisely keeps to the shady side of the road. They’re not closing the gap.
Men’s 50km walk: Tomala’s time over 42km – just about a marathon - was 3hr 12min. Except he walked it. In blistering heat. A lot of the rest of the race will be about managing the heat. Tomala’s lead is just over three minutes with time - and distance - running out for the pack. The TV commentary team point out that that’s around a 750m gap.
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Men’s 50km walk: The temperature is projected to be 31C/88F at the end of the race. This is the last time the 50km will be at the Olympics, so it’s going to go out in brutal heat.
Men’s 50km walk: Australia’s Rhydian Cowley looks in danger of being dropped by the chasing pack at the 40km mark. And with 10km to go Tomala has increased his lead t0 2min 50sec – and doesn’t look like he’s slowing down. What a performance – he’s out on his own, a magnificent solo effort. But the final 10km is (obviously) the toughest.
Men’s 50km walk: Will Tomala’s lightning pace hurt him in the final stages? He’s approaching the 3hr mark and the temperature continues to climb. Canada’s Evan Dunfee has made a small break to try to catch the Pole, but his lead is up from 2min 04sec at the last timecheck to 2min 28sec with 12km to go.
Meanwhile, Spain’s Jesús Ángel García – at the age of 51 and in his eighth Olympics – is in 27th.
Men’s 50km walk: One lovely thing about this event is today is that there are actual real life spectators on the street as Tokyo starts its day. Poland’s Tomala now has a lead of 2min 04sec over the pack with 14km to go. He did the last 5km in 21 minutes! 21! I’m happy if I can run 5km in 25 minutes. And he’s walking! I guess that’s why he’s at the Olympics and I’m typing about it.
Men’s 50km walk: Poland’s Dawid Tomala maintains his lead of nearly two minutes as he slings his bag from the feeding station over his shoulder and tucks into some well deserved water and snacks. Then he throws the rest of the water over his head, which makes sense seeing as it’s already 28C/82F at 8.15am.
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Preamble
Hello Olympics fans. And specifically race walking fans, I know it’s a big day for you. In preparation for today’s blog, I walked earlier.* More than once, it was great.
(*Amusing aside courtesy of Will Unwin).
Things are quietening down a little as the Games approach the final stages, but don’t stop reading because that’s how we make our money and I need to buy some new shoes. Plus the Olympics are great! Here’s my colleague Martin Belam with what to expect today.
Key events for Friday 6 August
All events are listed here in local Tokyo time. Add an hour for Sydney, subtract eight hours for Aberdeen, 13 hours for Washington DC and 16 hours for San Francisco.
🌟If you only watch one thing: 2.30pm-7.30pm Modern pentathlon – you’ll never convince me that the sports making up the modern pentathlon weren’t drawn out of a hat in 1912 when someone asked people to write down things they thought a 13th-century French knight would be able to do, but it is undoubtedly compelling viewing. The women today go swimming from 2.30pm, fencing at 3.45pm, do a bit of showjumping at 5.15pm and then finish it off with a combined cross-country hike and a bit of laser-shooting where you don’t get penalised for misses, but the faster you can hit five targets the faster you can get running again. Unmissable stuff 🥇
- 5.30am and 4.30pm Race walk – yes, that’s 5.30am in Sapporo for the men’s 50km race walk. The women race walk 20km in the afternoon. Imagine having to get up for a 5.30am start 🥇
- 7.30am Golf – two hours after the men start the 50km race walk, it’s a leisurely 7.30am start for round three of the women’s golf
- 10.30am and 7pm Hockey – Team GB’s women go for bronze against India in the morning, then Argentina and the Netherlands hockey it out for the gold in the evening 🥇
- 1.40pm and 8pm Basketball – women’s semi-finals. The US have an approximately 1,057-year long winning streak and face Serbia in the first match. The hosts play France in the evening.
- 3.30pm and 7.50pm Water polo – there are some placing matches as well, but the real meat is the men’s semi-finals. Greece v Hungary in the afternoon, and Serbia v Spain in the evening. Expect fireworks.
- 3.30pm-7.15pm Track cycling – highlights include the women’s madison final at 5.15pm and the men’s sprint finals at 6.35pm 🥇
- 5.30pm, 6.30pm and 9.10pm Sport climbing – it’s the climax of the women’s event in three sessions with the medal at the end 🥇
- 7.30pm Artistic swimming – it is the team technical routine.
- 7.30pm Table tennis – there’s a bronze match earlier at 11am, but in the evening it is the men’s team gold medal match. Can Germany stop China making it a fourth straight win since this event was introduced in 2008? Probably not 🥇
- 7.50pm-10.55pm Athletics – there is only one session in the stadium and it is mostly finals: the women’s javelin, the men’s 5,000m, the women’s 400m, the women’s 1500m – which will feature Lisa Muir and the Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan – and it then ends with the women’s and men’s 4x100m finals 🥇
- 9pm Football – the rescheduled women’s final between Sweden and Canada 🥇
You can find our full interactive events schedule here, and it acts as a live scoreboard during the day.
As it stands
Here’s how the emoji table stood at 10.15pm Tokyo time:
1 🇨🇳 China 🥇 34 🥈 24 🥉 16 total: 74
2 🇺🇸 USA 🥇 29 🥈 35 🥉 27 total: 91
3 🇯🇵 Japan 🥇 22 🥈 10 🥉 14 total: 46
4 🇦🇺 Australia 🥇 17 🥈 5 🥉 19 total: 41
5 ◽️ Not Russia 🥇 16 🥈22 🥉 20 total: 58
6 🇬🇧 Great Britain 🥇 16 🥈 18 🥉 17 total: 51
7 🇩🇪 Germany 🥇 9 🥈 9 🥉 16 total: 34
8 🇫🇷 France 🥇 7 🥈 11 🥉 9 total: 27
9 🇮🇹 Italy 🥇 7 🥈 10 🥉 18 total: 35
10 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🥇 7 🥈 9 🥉 10 total: 26
