Thank you for joining us for Sunday’s blog.
Do not worry, Monday’s blog is right here:
Prime yourself for badminton finals.
Catch up with the Gadirova twins.
Laura Muir will be in action.
The track cycling begins on Monday, which is very exciting.
There is plenty happening on Monday, much of it involving horses.
The IOC has said Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya “has told us that she feels safe” after the athlete has called on organisers to intercede, claiming her criticisms of the national team’s coaches have led to her being dropped from the team and taken to Tokyo airport against her wishes.
American shot-putter Raven Saunders made the first podium protest of the Tokyo Games, defying IOC regulations and saying: “At the end of the day, we understand it’s bigger than us and it’s bigger than the powers that be.”
Kieran Pender on the most successful day ever for the Australian Olympic team, who are closing in on their highest ever medal haul after four golds on Sunday.
Some more on that uncanny 100m final. Andy Bull on the strange story of Marcell Jacobs:
And Barney Ronay on the all-round weirdness of the event without Usain Bolt
Italian bessies Marcell Jacobs and Gianmarco Tamberi followed up a night playing video games together with an evening in which they both won gold medals. Jabocs pulled off the rare feat of winning the men’s 100m gold as a relative unknown, while Tamberi pulled off the even rarer one of winning a joint-gold medal in an individual discipline.
“We played PlayStation – Formula One and NBA,” revealed Tamberi of their quiet night in. “In NBA I destroyed him! But he is a good friend and we just relaxed. When you are preparing for a big event, it can’t just be Netflix to relax.”
American swimmer Lilly King added her voice to the simmering criticism of the presence of Russian athletes at the Games via the ROC team:
And a quick re-up of our coverage of the major stories from Sunday night. Here’s Sean Ingle on Yulimar Rojas’s world-record triple jump, a first Olympic gold for a Venezuelan female athlete:
It’s right up there with Robbie Fowler arguing against a penalty awarded to him at Highbury.
Update
For those of you just joining us, here’s what you’ve missed over the last eight hours or so.
- Drama in the semi-final of the men’s 400m hurdles as Jamaican Jaheel Hyde was in the lead at the final bend but clipped a hurdle and hit the deck.
- Yulimar Rogas of Venezuela steamed to victory in the women’s triple jump with a world-record distance of 15.67m.
- Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Essa Barshim BOTH won gold in the men’s high jump.
- Marcell Jacobs of Italy won the men’s 100m in 9.80sec, after GB’s Zharnel Hughes was disqualified for a false start.
- Chen Yufei won badminton gold for China in the women’s singles, edging out Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying in a grandstand finish.
- And in a developing story, Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya has called on the IOC to intercede after claiming her criticisms of the national team’s coaches have led to her being dropped from the team and taken to Tokyo airport against her wishes.
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In badminton we’ll see the finals of the women’s doubles, where Indonesia’s pairing take on China’s, and the men’s singles, with Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen up against China’s Long Chen. More medals with me up for grabs in shooting, sailing and wrestling.
And in the weightlifting, Laurel Hubbard will make history as the first transgender athlete to compete at an Olympic Games, in the women’s 87+ kilogram event. The New Zealander is considered a medal contender and will be competing against GB’s Emily Jade Campbell in the final.
More precious metal will be doled out in gymnastics, where Jennifer Gadirova joins her twin sister Jessica in the women’s floor final, with Italy’s 2006 world all-around champion Vanessa Ferrari leading the charge. And we’ll see the finals of the men’s rings and vault, South Korea’s Shin Jea-hwan the marginal favourite for the latter.
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In a busy day of track and field, there will be five medals up for grabs: men’s long jump, women’s 100m hurdles, women’s discus, men’s 3,000m steeplechase and, at 9.40pm Tokyo time, the women’s 5,000m. We’ll also see the semi-finals for the women’s 200m in a year in which six women have run the distance in under 22 seconds for the first time in history. The favourite there is USA’s Gabby Thomas, who set a world lead in each round at the trials, followed by the Jamaican duo of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson.
In the men’s long jump final, Cuban Juan Miguel Echevarria will be the man to beat after producing 8.50m in the qualifying round, while in the hurdles all eyes will be on the Puerto Rican Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who won her semi-final in an Olympic record 12.26 seconds – a top-six time in history.
And last but not least, esteemed lamb-chaser Laura Muir will begin her 1500m campaign, with the heats getting under way in the morning. More on the magic of leftfield farmland training drills here:
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Perhaps most excitingly, the track cycling programme gets under way at the Izu Velodrome. Team GB have taken 20 of the 30 available golds in the last three Games but this year their men’s pursuit team are only fourth-favourites this time out. The bookie’s choice is Denmark, who triumphed in a world record time at the 2020 World Championships in Berlin.
Part of the secret to their success has been Dan Bigham, the British aerodynamicist who switched to Denmark in 2019 after asked him to choose between engineering and riding. “He’s done a lot with our aerodynamics,” said Rasmus Pedersen, one of Denmark’s world record breakers. “He’s super clever. I’m surprised they let him go, especially because we trained with him and he’s a really fast rider. We don’t know why.”
The USA women’s pursuit team, led by world time-trial champion Chloe Dygert, are the ones to beat as far as Laura Kenny and her teammates are concerned. The team pursuit qualifiers for both sexes will be held on Monday but the women’s team sprint will be the only event to reach its completion on Monday, at around 6.10pm Tokyo time. Favourites for the win are a strong German squad, who are defending world champions from 2020 and have a standout star in 23-year-old Emma Hinze.
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Team GB enthusiasts will be turning their eyes to equestrianism, with the eventing team going for gold in team and individual competitions. The trio of Oliver Townend, Laura Collett and Tom McEwen hold a lead of 17.9 penalties in the team event while Townend, the world No 1, holds a narrow advantage over Germany’s Julia Krajewski in the individual medal-race, with Collett occupying the bronze position.
And so to Monday! Let’s have a little glance forward to what’s coming up on day 10…
And our full story on Raven Saunders’ protest. The IOC has banned athletes from protesting on the podium – here’s what Saunders had to say about that:
At the end of the day, we understand it’s bigger than us and it’s bigger than the powers that be. We understand that there’s so many people that are looking up to us, that are looking to see if we say something or if we speak up for them
More here:
Speaking of whom, guess what childhood hobby her mum puts her BMX success down to? (Clue: it’s nothing to do with bikes.)
For UK-based readers – here’s Charlotte Worthington’s gold medal-winning BMX run in full, featuring a historic 360-degree backflip (this coming with the added pressure of having fallen in her first run):
THIS is how you bounce back and win Olympic gold! 🚴#TeamGB's Charlotte Worthington fell on her first run, but she got back up and became the first woman to land a 360-degree backflip in competition 👇#bbcolympics #Tokyo2020
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 1, 2021
The American shot-putter Raven Saunders staged the first podium protest of the 2020 Games after taking silver with 19.79m. Saunders, who is black and gay, formed an “X” with her wrists as she held her arms above her head – to represent, she explained, “the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet” She added that she wanted to give light to “people all around the world who are fighting and don’t have the platform to speak up for themselves”.
A couple of nice lines on the newly crowned World’s Fastest Man™ Marcell Jacobs from the competitors he saw off in the final.
Fred Kerley: “I really don’t know anything about him. He did a fantastic job.”
Andre De Grasse: “I mean, 9.8 from the Italian guy? I didn’t expect that. I thought my main competition would be the Americans.”
And this from the man himself: “My dream was to arrive here and run a final. And we ran a final. And we won a final. It’s amazing. I have no words to describe this moment.”
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Don’t know about you, but my moment of the day came after Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi decided to share the high jump gold, with the Italian showering his rival in hugs, kisses and an aggressive legs-round embrace before collapsing in tears. The Qatari received the onslaught of affection somewhat sheepishly before wandering over to give his coaching team a smile and polite thumbs-up. It was like Georgio Chiellini and Jordi Alba all over again, albeit much sweeter.
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And here’s our man Kieran Pender on the most successful day ever for the Australian Olympic team, powered by the country’s latest swimming colossus:
Harsh Kumar writes: “Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (silver medalist in weightlifting, Tokyo 2020), PV Sindhu (bronze medalist in badminton, Tokyo 2020), Lovlina Borgohain (medal confirmed in boxing, Tokyo 2020), PV Sindhu (silver medalist in badminton, Rio 2016), Sakshi Malik (bronze medalist in wrestling, Rio 2016)
“These are not just ordinary Indian names, but the names of India’s last five Olympic medalists. They are all women. India hasn’t had a male athlete on the podium since 2012. Normally, this would be nothing but a small trivia but for a country where where the bias against women is so deep-rooted, where women are continued to be defined and bounded by the male members of the house, this small piece of trivia is anything but normal.
“Don’t get me wrong, India is a wonderful place, better for women than it has ever been (give or take) but certainly we need to do so much more. Till that time comes, may we all continue to appreciate such extraordinary women who follow their own path. I bow to these Olympians and thank them for inspiring millions like me who try and fight our own battles with determination and self-belief just the way these women do.”
And our report on the two countrymen who won gold medals in the same stadium within a matter of minutes – and the emotional scenes that followed. What’s Italian for Super Sunday?
And second, Barney Ronay gives his verdict on an event still not quite able to find a new identity post-Usain Bolt.
The eye-popping machismo of the Maurice Greene era gave way under Bolt’s aura to a sense of these occasions as an expression of joy, of extreme athletic showmanship. For three Games we came to witness an event, the Bolt residency. There he goes, out there running through the old favourites, the surge, the bow and arrow, the total destruction of the rest of the field.
Konichiwa all. We’ll be previewing all Monday’s events in due course – but to start, here’s some reaction to the 100m victory of Marcell Jacobs, a man who’d run the distance in sub-10sec precisely twice in his life before arriving in Tokyo. First up, Andy Bull on the story behind the near-unknown fastest man on the planet:
And that’s me done. A brilliant Sunday. Over to Alex Hess as we start to look forward to the Monday action at Tokyo 2020. Bye for now!
For UK readers, a nice BBC package with the best of their Sunday action from a Team GB perspective, gold medal performances from Max Whitlock and Charlotte Worthington featuring prominently.
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Also in: the best of today’s photos. Scroll all the way to the bottom for my favourite: Gianmarco Tamberi celebrating his high-jump gold with the Italian flag and his cast: ‘Road to Tokyo
2020
, 2021’
The briefing is in. Your one-stop-shop on everything that happened in Tokyo today and everything we can look forward to tomorrow. I know I keep banging on about it, but it is an excellent newsletter, which you can subscribe to here for the rest of the Games. Enjoy.
High jumper Brandon Starc is better known because of his brother, Australian cricketer, Mitch. Well, he was one clearance away from winning gold and changing that! Alas, it wasn’t to be despite finishing with a result that would have won every Olympics since Sydney. Mitch and th team are currently in Bangladesh ahead of their T20 series - we’ve been sent this footage of them watching on.
When this is all over, I’m getting a BMX. Some sports are welcomed into the Olympic family and we wish they hadn’t been. BMX freestyle, though - wow, what a universally popular addition. Especially coming as it did after the exhilarating BMX racing events on Friday, a highlight of the last three summer Games.
Tom Dart was the urban park for Charlotte Worthington’s stunning victory routine, which included a trick - the 360 degree backflip - never attempted in a women’s competition before, let alone landed.
One of the highlights of the day: Rebeca Andrade’s vault gold. She was already a popular silver medallist in the All-Round, ever so close to winning an event that we all assumed Simone Biles would stroll in until five days ago week. Well, on the vault she went one better with two ambitous leaps, securing Brazil’s first ever gymnastics gold.
From Pichard, below the line. “I supposed San Marino would top the medal table per capita as they have two medals for a population of 34000 inhabitants. To replicate this achievement the UK would have to win 2007 medals. For China it would be 42041 medals.”
As an Australian, I’m always into per capita anything when it comes to measuring Olympic success. It suits our narrative, you see.
Volleyball: The three-time Olympic champions are bounced out of Pool B with Tunisia - the Americans are gutted. Argentina join Not Russia, Brazil and France in the final eight from the Pool B side of the draw. From Pool A, it’s Poland (very fun to watch), Italy, Japan and Canada. The elimination stage for the men begins Tuesday.
And with that, as we near 1am local time, day ten has finally finished in Tokyo. What a memorable and captivating weekend it has been.
Volleyball: Argentina win! Sanchez, who was brought off the bench for the match point, lands the decisive blow. “When it mattered, Argentina found some big, big plays!” The No8 team in the world are through to the quarter finals and the No4, the USA, are eliminated.
Volleyball: The push and pull continues, TJ Sanders saving a certain Argentine winner, keeping the ball alive for an eventual US point. It’s 22-all! Now consecutive service errors - drama! It’s match point! Time out is called by the USA with Argentina serving at 24-23.
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Duncan Scott is the first Briton to win four medals in one Games. Let that fact sink in. Andy Bull spoke to the Scottish freestyler poolside on the final day of competition at the Acquatics Centre.
Volleyball: It’s 12:30am and they’re still going at it in the volleyball. If America’s men, the world No4 team, can’t win this set, they are going home. But “they are definitely going in the right direction now,” says the TV commentator as they pull ahead, leading the third set 14-13. “There has been a real shift in momentum. So make yourselves comfortable, I think we might be here for some time. The wheels are falling off for Argentina - they were half a set away - but before you know it, a massive six-point swing in favour of the USA.”
Max Whitlock, what an athlete, today defending his pommel horse win from Rio. That makes three Olympic championships and six medals. Tumaini Carayol was there and wrote about the win.
Before the final, Whitlock was drawn as the first man up, an experience he had never felt before in a big event. He was already feeling the abject stress of trying to retain a title the world was scrapping for and being thrust up as the opening routine only augmented the stress. But since he emerged on the world stage nine years ago, Whitlock has consistently shown that his success is driven by rare mental fortitude. He did so again, outclassing the field to defend his Olympic gold medal on the pommel horse with a supreme routine that scored 15.583.
As I noted earlier, this is a major developing story. Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, a Belarusian sprinter, is asking to seek asylum rather than being forced to return home, requesting IOC help.
Treat yourself: Here’s Sean Ingle’s race report from the stadium on Marcell Jacobs’ win in the men’s 100m dash.
Jacobs said watching his compatriot Gianmarco Tamberi take gold in the high jump minutes earlier had been a huge lift – and suggested Italy would party again like they did after Euro 2020. “It is amazing, it is fantastic, it is a dream, Olympic champion in the 100m … I have no words,” he said.
Volleyball: Argentina take the second set 25-23 to put themselves two up in this winner-takes-all clash. “Argentina are playing right on the edge but the USA have to believe in some point they’ll drift away from this form and let them back into it,” says the commentator. They can also remind themselves that Brazil went two-nil down on Tuesday before overcoming the world No8 in five sets.
This is one of favourite stories of the Games. I was corresponding with Guy Fraser before the Olympics because he listens to Geoff Lemon and my cricket podcast and it came up in conversation that he was using his his time under Covid self-isolation by giving every Tokyo 2020 athlete a Wikipedia entry. A mighty task. It’s such a beautiful tale, I had to pass it on to the desk. And here it is.
I just sent the piece to Guy, who is chuffed. “I actually had an email on Wikipedia from someone asking how they could help, I clicked on their Profile they and only joined 31 minutes before.”
There it is, the Olympic spirit.
Andy Bull on Team GB’s mighty campaign in the pool. Lap it up.
That’s how it used to be in British Swimming, says Adam Peaty, “like people were happy just to be there”. That’s the way it was in 2012. The Olympic pool was a pretty depressing place to spend those Games if you wanted to see British athletes succeeding. Michael Jamieson won a silver, Becky Adlington won a pair of bronze medals, and there were what seemed a string of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-place finishes, all talking about how delighted they were to be in an Olympic final. It was a similar story at Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, too.
And now, here they are, third in the swimming medal table behind the USA and Australia. They won eight medals this past week, which made it the most successful Olympics the team have had.
And here’s Marcell Jacobs’ triumph. Topped off by the embrace with Gianmarco Tamberi - truly special stuff, no cynicism allowed.
Lamont Marcell Jacobs, your new Olympic men's 100m champion! 🇮🇹🥇https://t.co/qHK4OxWeNR #tokyo2020 #bbcolympics pic.twitter.com/ycZIFmanA1
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 1, 2021
“If I was in that final, I would have definitely walked away with a medal.” Hmm. A deeply disappointed Zharnel Hughes after being disqualified from the 100m final for a huge false start.
You can feel how gutted Zharnel Hughes is 😕https://t.co/qHK4OxWeNR #tokyo2020 #bbcolympics pic.twitter.com/JLOIvHJOyv
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 1, 2021
Jumping below the line for the first time in a while. My apologies - a lot going on. I liked this from Dean Griff in reference to how the men’s high jump concluded: “If England ever reach another Euros or WC final and it’s level after extra time, can we also ask to be declared joint winners and avoid another penalty shootout!”
And from Cropolite: “Women’s triple jump followed immediately by that men’s high jump.... absolutely love the Olympics!”
Lob a thrilling men’s 100m final into that mix and it goes down as one of the most memorable bursts in modern Olympic memory.
Check this out, if you didn’t as it went to air. A stunning moment.
"Can we have two golds? History, my friend!" ❤️
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 1, 2021
The first joint Olympic podium in athletics since 1912!#bbcolympics #Tokyo2020
Volleyball: It took a couple of attempts but Argentina take the first set 25-21! Their five aces proved decisive in that opening stanza.
Hardware. The volleyball continues (and might do for some hours) but we are all sorted for medals on Sunday. And what a day for Australia, my countrymen and women enjoying their most successful day in Olympic history from a gold perspective, snaring four of them to overtake Not Russia, moving into fourth. China and the USA added three each, the latter going past Japan into second.
Volleyball: I am thrilled to report that day ten is not yet complete! We have a late-night men’s volleyball clash between the USA and Argentina. The South Americans took Brazil to five sets in their first match (actually losing after going up two-zip) and are now sitting just outside the quarter final qualification zone at 2-2. Indeed, looking at the Pool B table, this is a must win for both teams. The winner will make the final eight, the loser going home. High stakes!
Handball: Sweden’s men win a thriller over Denmark 33-30! It’s a shame that I only picked this up as the badminton finished, given it was between the top two teams in the world, but not to worry. They are both safely through to the quarter-finals, beginning Tuesday. Sweden begin the elimination stage against Spain with the Danes facing Norway, the No3 ranked team coming into this competition.
Chen Yufei wins badminton gold for China in the women's singles!
21-18, 19-21, 21-18. “A wonderful final,” declares the commentator, “Chen Yufei read the game so well and applied pressure to Tai Tzu Ying.” There are tears of joy between player and coach. Lovely.
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Basketball: Around the grounds, Serbia’s women have knocked off South Korea 65-61 to become the second team to guarantee their place in the quarter-finals, alongside Spain. The group stage will be completed tomorrow, USA v France the best of those matches.
Badminton: Tai Tzu Ying squeezes the advantage back to one but Chen Yufei forces a backhand error. She’s now serving at 16-14.
Badminton: We’re getting a grandstand finish in the women’s singles final as the click strikes 10:45pm local time in Tokyo. China’s Chen Yufei is just holding her advantage, leading 12-10 in the decider over Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying. Make that 13-10, a backhander landing wide. “Her errors have been costly,” laments the commentator. Now to 14-10 - a chance opens up to run away with it for Chen Yufei. “A very revealing reaction from Tai Tzu Ying, bewildered with herself.”
Hockey: India knock out Team GB’s men, taking the quarter-final 3-1. Two early goals set up the triumph, sealed in the final stanza. The world No3 team now play Belgium in their semi on Tuesday, through to the final four for the first time since Moscow 1980!
So India's chaps used to dominate world hockey before they became so ridiculous at cricket. Doing both just doesn't seem fair, tbh. #INDvGBR
— Isabelle Westbury (@izzywestbury) August 1, 2021
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Badminton: It’s all square in the women’s final! Tai Tzu Ying held her nerve after falling behind in the second game to Chen Yufei, eventually taking it 21-19. It’s going to a decider! This is the final medal up for grabs on this captivating tenth evening at Tokyo 2020.
“What’s Italian for Super Sunday?” asks Mysteron_Voice on twitter. “*goes to Google* ... rather disappointingly, ‘Super Domenica’.
Super it was. The celebration from Gianmarco Tamberi upon splitting the gold in the high jump were nothing short of iconic.
And more chaos to begin the Hungary F1 Grand Prix. If you want to follow that in a second tab, do so here with Tom Davies.
Hockey: India score a third goal! They are in the lead 3-1 over Team GB’s men with just three minutes to go.
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A big developing story off the field of play. This from Reuters:
Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Sunday to get involved in her case after saying she had been removed from the national team and taken to Tokyo airport against her wishes over her criticism of national coaches. “I am asking the International Olympic Committee for help,” Tsimanouskaya said in the video, posted on the Telegram channel of the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation, a group that supports athletes jailed or sidelined for their political views. “There is pressure against me. They are trying to get me out of the country without my permission. I am asking the IOC to get involved.”
I’ll post updates from our reporters in Tokyo as they are filed.
Beach volleyball: The final match from the round of 16 has been run and won on the women’s side of the draw, Australians Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar getting the job done in straight sets over the Chinese pair of Wang Xinzin and Xue Chen. They have the chance to replicate the Sydney 2000 heroics of Kerri Pottharst and Natalie Cook at Bondi Beach, and based on how Australia are going so far in these Tokyo Olympics, who would doubt them?
Badminton: We’re at the business end of the women’s gold medal game, Chen Yufei from China taking the first set 21-18 over Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying. She’s also ahead in the second, leading 10-6.
Hockey: But rest assured, the day is not over. Team GB have scored a vital goal to end the third quarter, India still leading 2-1 with 15 minutes to go in their quarter final. The goal came from a scrappy short corner where Sam Ward willed the ball through. Game on.
Athletics: What a night of track and field. All in the space of about 20 minutes, the triple jump WR goes (Yulimar Rogas, you star) then men’s high jumpers Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Essa Barshimagree to split their gold medal then Marcell Jacobs goes and wins the 100m to snare a second gold for Italy. And... exhale. Wow.
Athletics: Goodness me, what a run from Jacobs, who claims Usain Bolt’s crown. Losing Hughes in lane four before the gun was fired, he powered past the Fred Kerley (USA) with 20 to go. The American takes the silver, Andre de Grasse (CAN) the bronze out in lane nine.
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Marcell Jacobs (Italy) wins the men's 100m in 9.80!
From lane three! An extraordinary run! Italy have won two gold medals in ten minutes!
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Zharnel Hughes (GB) disqualified! That’s a huge false start. Unlike in 1996 with Linford Christie and co, there is no latitude or chances these days: when you break, you’re out. They set up to go again.
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Athletics: The finalists for the men’s 100m are on their way to their starting positions. “Perhaps the most open final in this event that there has ever been,” says the world feed caller. “You can make a case for all eight men.” The light show begins at the stadium. Here is the lane draw. Hold on tight, this might be something special.
2 - Akani Simbine (South Africa)
3 - Marcell Jacobs (Italy)
4 - Zharnel Hughes (GB)
5 - Fred Kerley (United States)
6 - Su Bingtian (China)
7 - Ronnie Baker (United States
8 - Enoch Adegoke (Nigeria)
9 - Andre De Grasse (Canada)
Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Essa Barshim BOTH win gold in the high jump!
What a glorious moment! Italian Gianmarco Tamberi missed his final attempt at 2.39m, meaning he was level with Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar) at the end of regulation. An official spoke to the two athletes to discuss the jump-off process and instead they were able to agree to both taking gold medals from the competition! Scenes!
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Yulimar Rogas (Venezuela) wins the women's triple jump!
Athletics: And what a way to do it, smashing the world record by 17cm! It’s the first WR of the meet, travelling 15.67m. That’s is a mark that stood for quarter of a century! A stunning leap to claim gold.
Silver - Patrícia Mamona (Portugal)
Bronze - Ana Peleteiro (Spain)
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Hockey: Team GB are in strife in their men’s quarter final, 2-0 down to India with four minutes to come in the second stanza.
Athletics: Drama in the third semi-final of the men’s 400m hurdles! Jamaican Jaheel Hyde was in the lead at the final bend but clipped a hurdle and hit the deck - that’s the end of his competition. “That is fatigue, pure and simple.” Commonwealth Champion Kyron McMaster (Virgin Islands) and Rasmus Magi (Estonia) take the qualifying spots. We’ll have a list of the eight finalists shortly.
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Athletics: Australian cricket team are watching the high jump closely on tour in Bangladesh, with Brandon Starc the brother of Mitch, a fast-bowler for the national team.
Mitchell Starc and the Aussies tuning into @bstarc_’s Olympics high jump final after training in Dhaka pic.twitter.com/A5X83Qw2ln
— Louis Cameron (@LouisDBCameron) August 1, 2021
Athletics: Australian Brandon Starc misses at 2.39m, missing his take off entirely. “One big jump gets you a medal from here,” notes the excellent world feed commentator. Gianmarco Tamberi’s turn at 2.39m, and he misses too but remains in silver medal position. American Juvaughn Harrison follows suit, also one with more attempt. Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar) remains in front with time on his side and a personal best of 2.43m still to overtake. He’s jumping now at 2.39m though - the pressure on... and he misses his second attempt. “It’s the football equivalent of a penalty shoot out!” from here, according to the caller, with Tamberi able to snatch it if he can get over that problematic height with one of his final two attempts.
Athletics: Alison dos Santos (BRA) cruises to victory with a 47.31 personal best in the second 400m men’s hurdles semi. “This man is a contender!” roars the TV caller. “He makes it look so easy. There are no marks for artistic quality but at the age of 21, he is on the upgrade. The performance of his life in the semi-final. It’s also a South American record time. Qatari Abderrahman Samba joins him as an automatic qualifier for the final this time tomorrow.
Athletics: What a joy it is to watch Yulimar Rogas go through her pre-jump routine. The Venezuelan entertainer is chasing both gold and a new world record, which she would have broken in the second round if she stayed behind the line. She jumps a 15.25 here in the fourth round, 16cm behind the 15.41 from earlier. She’s 40cm ahead of veteran Patrícia Mamona, currently in silver position.
Athletics: Karsten Warholm (NOR) and Rai Benjamin (USA) are through to the men’s 400m hurdles final on Monday. Yasmani Copello (TUR) was third in that first semi (of three), which means his 47.88 time will need to be one of the two quickest of the non-automatic qualifiers.
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Daniel, thank you. What a wonderful time to be taking the baton (sorry) during the business end of a huge stadium night session. We’ll have a winner in the men’s high jump shortly, likewise the women’s triple. To come now, the 400m men’s hurdles semis - three of those running are from the top four fastest men in history, TV tells me. The, once they’ve cleared the track, all eyes will be on the men’s 100m dfinal, the definition of blue-riband. Buckle up.
Further afield, GB’s men are playing India in the quarters of the hockey, we have the Badminton women’s singles final starting shortly - a China v Chinese Taipei affair. Throw in some final-16 action in the beach volleyball, there’s so much to come. Enjoy it with me in the usual ways, drop me a line or fire me a tweet. I can’t wait.
Right then, there’s a second’s hiatus so I’m going to bid you good morrow and pass the baton to Adam Collins, who’ll guide you through the ridiculousness that’s to come: the end of the men’s high jump final, the women’s triple jump final, the men’s 400m hurdles semi-finals and the men’s 100m final. Not bad.
Men’s high jump final: Have a look! Maksim Bedasekau of Belarus failed at 2.35, passed ... and now he nails 2.37! What an inspired call!
Men’s high jump final: Oh my days, Barshim is absolutely on one! He canes 2.37 first go, a season’s best for him, and he looks so smooth out there.
This is glorious!
Mitchell Starc and the Aussies tuning into @bstarc_’s Olympics high jump final after training in Dhaka pic.twitter.com/A5X83Qw2ln
— Louis Cameron (@LouisDBCameron) August 1, 2021
More on Elliot Giles, who bestows upon us yet another Colemanball when he reports that “My legs quite literally fell off!”
That aside, though, he looks in decent spirits.
Men’s high jump final: Here, Tamberi is over 2.35 too! He’s still not missed a jump.
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“Love this Commentary of the 800m semi on BBC,” says Ben Bamford. “Elliot Giles is going to have to run quicker than he’s ever done before – but he is capable of that.”
Ha, of course he is. He actually looked in decent shape coming down the home straight, opening up his legs to show his class, but he faded like Dave McFly and ended up third – in a time not quite quick enough for a fastest-loser slot. Those go to Tual of France and Ben of Spain, both from the first race.
Men’s high jump final: It’s going off! Barshim, Woo and Starc are over 2.35; the rest are still fighting with 2.33.
Men’s 800m semi-finals: Aaaarrrgggh! Amos clips the back of USA’s Jewitt, Jewitt goes down, Amos goes down, and both are finished! But what a man Jewitt is, bending down to shake hands and help his rival off the track; a different character totally loses it there, because that was not on him. Meantime, Rotic of Kenta and Tuka of Bosnia and Herzegovina finish first and second, Rotic waving and pointing in the process.
Men’s 800m semi-finals: The third race is away, with Giles Elliot repping for GB and Jeffrey Riseley for Australia; Nijel Amos of Botswana, who came second to Rudisha with his less aesthetic but extremely effective style, is also involved.
Men’s high jump final: Brandon Starc, younger brother of Mitchell, attacks his third attempt at 2.33 with serious pace, intent and moustache ... and he’s over! We’ve got seven men left, two of whom – Barshim of Qatar and Tamberi of Italy – have cleared each height first go.
Women’s triple jump final: Rojas still leads thanks to the Olympic record she set in round one; Mamona of Portugal is second, a full 50cm behind.
Men’s high jump final: Woo of Korea sails over 2.33, a personal best; Akimenko of ROC and Harrison of USA are also over. Baby, this is serious, as Celine Dion once said.
Men’s 800m semi-finals: A superb run from Australia’s Peter Bol sees him come around the final corner and ease into the lead; Murphy of USA qualifies with him, forcing his way by Tual of France on the line.
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The next men’s 800m semi is away, so here’s an interview from a whole ago with David Rudisha – who, I can assure you, is just as sound a bloke as his running style suggests.
It’s a funny thing, really – the standard of sprinting tends to improve with every Games, but Usain Bolt took things so far away in Beijing that it’ll take a while for the rest of humanity to catch up.
Reflections on the men’s 100m semis – the final will be with us in 57 minutes!
Men’s high jump: Tamberi of Italy goes over at 2.33, joining Barshim and Nedasekau with first-time clearances at the height. The others still involved are currently struggling with 2.30.
Men’s 800m semi-final: Patryk Dobek of Poland looks boxed as they come down the home straight, but Lopez of Mexico allows him through! Dobek wins in 1:44.60 and Korir of Kenya also goes through; Lopez and Bel of Belgium will have to see what happens in the remaining two races, with just the two fastest losers making it.
Yulimar Rojas of Venzuela jumps 15.41m to break the Olympic triple jump record with her first effort in the final!
But Caterine Ibargüen, the defending champion, is still to go.
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Decent ambition, in fairness. Me an all, Laura. Me an all.
Women’s triple jump: The final is underway.
Men’s high jump: Harrison is over at 2.30, likewise Kerr, Ivanyuk, Akimenko, Nedasekau, Woo, Tamberi, Starc, Lovett and Barshim. We’re just getting going, with the bar moving up to 2.30.
Gold! Nadine Derwael of Belgium wins the women's uneven bars!
And by a distance, her 15.200 beating ROC’s Anastasiia Iliankova and USA’s Sunisa Lee, who recorded 14.833 and 14.500 respectively.
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Effort.
Gymnastics: Derwael still leads the uneven bars with just Lu of China and Seitz of Australia to come.
It’s going alright for Great Britain.
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn breaks the Olympic record in qualifying for the final of the women's 100m hurdles!
Athletics: here comes the final semi of the women’s 100m hurdles, and Tapper of Jamaica gets away well, but Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico starts motoring at about 40m and screeches away! She wins in 12.26, a new Olympic record and that is a monstrous run! Tapper hangs onto second in 12.62 – that tells you how much better Camacho-Quinn was – with Visser Of Netherlands and Cunningham of USA taking third and fourth in 12.63 and 12.67 to qualify as fastest losers.
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Athletics: Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar, Django Lovett of Canada, Brandon Starc of Australia, Sanghyeok Woo of Korea and Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus are all clear at 2.30m. Harrison cleared 2.27m at the third time of asking, and will soon try the next height.
Gymnastics: We’ve got the women’s uneven bars final going on, and with four competitors to come, Nina Derwael of Belgium leads from Anastasiia Iliankova of ROC and Sunisa Lee of USA.
Athletics: It’s Brittany Harrison of Jamaica who powers through, winning in a terrific time of 12.40l Harrison is second in 12.51, easing up, with Porter fifth. Clay, though, has a chance, her 12.71 the second-fastest of those not qualified. If someone beats it in the final semi, she’s out; if not, she’s through.
Athletics: Here comes the second women’s 100m semi, and we’ve had two faiuty starts ... and is that a third? Kendra Harrison of USA, the world record holder, goes in this race and so does Tiffany Porter of GB, Liz Clay of Australia too. And it’s Porter who gets a yellow card for a permitted but nevertheless false start...
Read more about the brilliance we’ve just experienced.
Athletics: In the first semi of the women’s 100m hurdles, Tobi Amusan of Nigeria and Devynne Charlton of Bahamas qualified in first and second place; there’s room for two fastest losers here too, so we’ll see how things shake out.
Qualifiers for the men's 100m final
Bigntian Su (China) 9.83
Ronnie Baker (USA) 9.83
Zharnel Hughes (GB) 9.98
Fred Kerley (USA) 9.96
Andre De Grasse (Canada) 9.98
Enoch Adegoke (Nigeria) 10.00
Akani Simbine (RSA) 9.90 (fastest loser)
Lamont Marcell (Italy) 9.84 (fastest loser)
Confirmation that Trayvon Bromell is out!
Gymnastics: Max Whitlock tells BBC he’s “lost for words”, “completely overwhelmed,” and it’s “totally surreal”. It’s been an incredible journey, he says, and retaining the gold is “a million times harder”, noting “the most pressured environment I’ve ever been in”. He’s only getting older, but “experience pays a lot” and he “can’t quite believe it”.
He doesn’t know if it helped going first. It’s easy to say with the gold around his neck now, but every gymnast knows it’s hard to go first and he had to lay down a big routine, he couldn’t wait to see what others did. He can’t believe he’s done it, but he’s done the job, scored near his target score, and knew that if someone beat it, he’d still done his job. He now has six Olympic medals and when he was younger, he only did the sport because he enjoyed it – he wasn’t aiming for or expecting medals. It “feels very, very surreal” and he thinks he’s almost going round in circles trying to make sense of it.
From pommel horsing in his garden – the price of covid – he’s got to here, and he thanks his family for their support, saying he can’t wait to get home. What a lovely man, what an incredible competitor.
Gymnastics: This was a great and affirming win.
Gymnastics: Max Whitlock has another gold dangling around his neck! What a total hero!
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Athletics: Here comes the third man’s semi, and Bingtian Su leads from the gun, but Ronnie Baker of USA and Lamont Marcell of Italy chase. Marcell and Su almost collide on the line, with Su hanging on for a 9.83, Baker getting the same time and Marcell a 9.84. Chijindu Ujah of GB is fifth in 10.11.
Gymnastics: Rhys McClenaghan tells BBC that one finger misplacement cost him, which is elite sport. But he’s an Olympian, has improved, will improve, and will use what happened today for motivation. He’s the first Irishman to qualify for a gymnastics final, brought himself to tears thinking about how motivated he was for this, and will come back hard. This is a really brilliant, mature and inspirational interview; what a young man.
Athletics: In the high jump final, various – JuVaughan Harrison among them – have cleaed 2.24m.
Athletics: Bromell only sneaked through yesterday, and he couldn’t deliver when it mattered! He’s down on his haunches, but he may well have to go!
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Athletics: I think Zharnel Hughes of GB takes this! He does, powering through in a season’s best 9.98, ahead of Enoch Adegoke of Nigeria! Trayvon Bromell of USA, the favourite, is out if he’s not a fastest loser!
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Athletics: Here comes the second semi of the men’s 100m...
Gymnastics: Lee of Chinese Taipei and Kaya of Japan take solver and bronze respectively.
Gymnastics: That was a monstrous effort, it really was. He opted not to defend his floor title, looking to make sure of one, and he absolutely nailed it! Beth Tweddle reckons it was the best routine of his career, which tells you all you need to know – I’ve not a clue what it must take to do that kind of thing on such a stage, because it’s unknowable to all but those who are able. The smoothness, composure and control were absolutely mind-boggling.
Gold! Max Whitlock defends his Olympic title and wins the pommel horse for Great Britain!
What a performance that was! He went first, he dispensed near-perfection, and sat back to enjoy! Six Olympic medals for him now! You’d take it!
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Athletics: Kerley wins in 9.96, De Grasse of Canada qualifies too in 9.98.
Gymnastics: Kameyama of Japan is the last man, and this is nothing like Whitlock’s routine! Whitlock is going to defend his title!
Athletics: Blake gets away well, but the speed endurance isn’t there and Kerley comes through to take it in what I think is a slow time, with a photo for second between De Grasse and Omurwa....
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Athletics: They’re back down again...
Gymnastics: At 22, McClenaghan has time to come again, and he does a decent job getting back on, but he looks devastated because he is. Sport, what an absolute expletive.
Gymnastics: OH NO! RYHS MCCLENAGHAN COMES OFF THE HORSE! He misses a hand placement and winds up face and body down on the horse! That’s horrible to see ... unless you’re Max Whitlock, who can almost taste that gold.
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Athletics: And it’s Prescod of GB who’s penalised! He’s out! Dear me, that’s brutal, and I still, all these years later, cannot grasp the need for this rule. It’s to make sure races go when they’re meant to go, I believe – a telly thing - but seriously, this is the Olympic Games.
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Gymnastics: Kaya of Japan is nowhere near Whitlock, but Rhys McClenaghan of Ireland comes next, and he has a serious chance. This is going to be great; this is intense.
Athletics: The men take their mark for the first 100m semi; the first two go through. And it’s a false start...
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Gymnastics: Lee of Chinese Taipei goes next and performs every skill in flare position – this is lovely stuff! – but is the difficulty enough? No it is not! It’s 6.700, 8..700 for execution, and 15.400 puts him second.
Athletics: The men are out for the first 100m semi. GB’s Reece Prescod runs in lane two, Yoahn Blake of Jamaica in lane five, and Fred Kerley, whose 9.86 makes him the fastest in the field this season, goes in seven.
Gymnastics: David Belyavskiy lays down a decent routine, but it’s not as clean as Whitlock’s – at dismount particularly. Whitlock’s 7.0 difficulty coupled with the cleanliness of his execution makes him almost uncatchable, reckon the Eurosport commentary team, and Belyavskiy takes 14.833 to go second.
Athletics: We’re watching the medal ceremony for the women’s 100m, in which regard check out how beautiful this is.
#TokyoOlympics: "Wha mi send yuh go Tokyo fi do, nuh fi run...cock up gyal, in the name of Jesus." Elaine Thompson's grandmother, Hycenth Thompson, celebrates her victory at the #TokyoOlympics. Elaine broke the Olympic Record with in 10.61s.
— Jamaica Star (@jamaicastar) July 31, 2021
📽️: Nathaniel Stewart #StarSports pic.twitter.com/5KjcIyE5KW
Gymnastics: Ach. Poor Sun Wei of China misses his swing and misses his hand down, so comes off. He gets back on and performs nicely, but he’ll not be troubling the podium today.
Gymnastics: 14.566 for Yoder, which tells you just how ludicrous Whitlock’s performance was. He was so smooth and composed out there; going first made him even more of a problem for the others than otherwise.
Gymnastics: In commentary, they think the gold is almost settled, and USA’a Yoder, who goes next, can’t find anything like as good, a little step-down in his handstand enough to make sure of that.
Gymnastics: IT’S A MONSTER FROM WHITLOCK! 15.583! Beat that! Good luck boys!
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Gymnastics: This is surely good enough for at least a medal from Whitlock. He qualified fifth, but this is going to put the rest of the field right under it...
Gymnastics: Whitlock makes a really good start and he’s looking for 7.00 difficulty or more, and this is almost faultless! He moves up and down the horse, toes together, nails the flares, and the dismount is perfect!
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Gymnastics: Whitlock is ready!
Gymnastics: Louis Smith won pommel-horse silver in 2012 – I was there for that, sort of, if being at the other end of London’s O2 Centre unable to see anything counts. Tweddle says that was the start for British gymnastics: the point at which the team thought success was possible. In fairness, Tweddle had been winning world championship golds for some years prior.
Athletics: We’re just under 20 minutes away from resumption in the stadium, with the men’s high jump final first to start. Yes, it’s nearly JuVaughan Harrison time!
Gymnastics: The medal ceremony for the women’s vault is over; we’re a few minutes away from Whitlock, who’ll be out first. Beth Tweddle reckons it’ll come down to execution, because the difficulties are so close.
An underrated anthem.
Now this is a tracksuit.
The moment Alexander Zverev became an Olympic champion 🥇
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 1, 2021
What a stunning match from both players.
Follow➡ https://t.co/FlwRiujrtW #bbcolympics #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/lqNhqxwSyg
Brandon Starc, Mitch's brother, warming up for the high jump here in Olympic stadium. Ludicrous genes
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) August 1, 2021
assuming there is a Brandon Johnson who is even better, even meaner at the high jump
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) August 1, 2021
Gymnastics: Whitlock tells Eurosport that he doesn’t really think about past results, he just moves forward and thinks he’s got a lot to improve. His daughter is a big motivation, and he plans to keep going until Paris so she can come and see what he does instead of just watching on telly. He tries not to think about medals – the main job is to perform to his best, and if he does, he’ll have a good chance.
Gold! Alexander Zverev of Germany beats Karen Khachanov of ROC 6-3 6-1 to win the men's singles tennis!
It might not compensate for the two-set lead he gave up to Dominic Thiem in last year’s US Open final, but it underlines his improvement and he looks as overjoyed as you’d expect. You get four goes a year to win a major but only one go every four years to win a gold medal – Roger Federer doesn’t have one, nor does Novak Djokovic, and beating him in the semi might rank as the finest performance of Zverev’s career.
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Gymnastics: Coming up in five minutes’ time, Max Whitlock defends the pommel horse gold he won in Rio.
Gymnastics: Back to poor Jade Carey, there’s a school of thought that athletes should be allowed a quick warm-up on the apparatus prior to competition; that might’ve saved her, but the key is really that it’d keep things as safe as possible.
Gymnastics: Andrade is the first Brazilian woman to win artistic gymnastics gold, and she looks pretty pleased with that state of affairs.
Gold! Rebeca Andrade of Brazil wins the women's vault!
That goes with the silver she won in the all-around – what an effort! Skinner of USA comes second – she’s retiring after these Games – and Yeo of Korea takes bronze.
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Tennis: Zverev holds easily for 5-0, and he’s a game away from gold!
Gymnastics: With just Akhaimova to come, Andrade leads in the women’s vault, and a poor landing on her first go looks enough to ensure the gold goes to Brazil...
Yup, you’d take it.
Tennis: Over the last few months it’s looked like Zverev has stepped up a level, and he’s got far too much for Khachanov today. He leads 6-3 4-0, and in very few minutes will be Olympic champion.
Boxing: Roniel Iglesias of Cuba, light-welter champ at London, has beaten Andrei Zamkovoi of ROC on points, to guarantee a bronze and reach the final.
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This is just outrageous.
GB's Charlotte Worthington has smashed her second run in the women's BMX freestyle final out of the park! 👏👏
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 1, 2021
She scores a HUGE 97.50 🙌
📺 Watch live on @BBCiPlayer and @BBCOne
📲 https://t.co/tRBaftzxWl #bbcolympics #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/EuxH6mNxWf
Tennis: Zverev now leads Khachanov by a set and a break, 6-3 3-0.
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Gymnastics: My internet vanishes briefly, but returns to inform me that Rebeca Andrade of Brazil, who finished second in the all-round, now leads from Skinner. Moreno of Mexico is third with Carey of USA fourth. Carey didn’t quite nail her first vault, making a mess of her landing, but came back to perform the second and earn the rich reward of applause from Simone Biles.
Jade Carey 🇺🇸 is off on her steps running down the runway on her first vault and executes only a simple Yurchenko tuck. Receives applause from around the arena as she goes for and lands her second vault, an Amanar. From the stands, @Simone_Biles gives her a standing ovation.
— FIG (@gymnastics) August 1, 2021
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Gymnastics: Skinner gets 15.033 and 14.800, 14.916 combined, and that could be enough for a medal.
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Tennis: Zverev takes the first set against Khachanov 6-3; his first serve and forehand look too much at the moment.
Gymnastics: Reminder that Simone Biles – and her unprecedented Yurchenko double pike – won’t be competing in the vault. She may be feeling good enough to take on the beam final tomorrow, but in the meantime, USA’s Mykayla Skinner gets us underway.
Basketball: In men’s Group C, Spain lead Slovenia 35-33 in the first quarter. If ever you’re in Slovenia, the standard of ice cream is intense.
Gymnastics: We’ve got the women’s vault final up next; eight qualifiers, two vaults. Off we go!
“I see you’ve discovered Sir Menzies Campbell’s Olympic career,” says Fred Carver. He was seriously fast and the British 100m record holder for 17 years. That record was 10.2 seconds, which he set while racing for Stanford University at a Fresno track meet in the summer of 1967 – beating a promising young student athlete called OJ Simpson of USC into second place.”
Golf: Rory McIlroy says he’s loved representing Ireland and doesn’t get to do that often – he loved competing with Shane Lowry, which took him back to amateur days. He missed Rio but is already looking forward to Paris in 2024 and it’d mean a lot to get a medal there; the Games weren’t really on his radar before this week, but they are now, and when he finishes his career he’d love to get himself on the podium.
I cannot wait to see this. This is what it’s all about (and lots of other things besides).
Golf: And here’s a rundown of a belting final round.
Bronze! Pan Cheng Tsung of Taiwain wins the playoff!
Golf: A par at 18 is enough to eliminate Morikawa and snaffle the bronze for Pan! He shot a first-round 74, then responded with 66, 66, 63 – what an effort. And who’d have picked him to outlast Morikawa, Matsuyama and McIlroy in a playoff?
“1964 Tokyo Olympics,” emails Alan. “All I remember (I was nine) is the catchy theme tune: “Dum dee di, di dee di dum”, played over the Olympic flag flapping in the breeze. Couldn’t find it on Youtube.”
We aim to please.
This – and more Tokyo memories – can be found here.
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Tennis: Zverev is already a break up against Khachanov, serving at 3-2. Here’s Tumaini Carayol on him.
Gold! Artem Dolgopyat of Israel wins the men's floor!
He gambled, played safe and it paid off! That’s Israel’s first-ever gymnastics medal, first gold since 2004! Zapata of Spain takes silver with the same score, and Xiao of China the bronze.
Gymnastics: In commentary, they reckon the gold is Israel’s....
Gymnastics: A little misstep off a tumble might be enough to give Dolgopyat gold – he’s more or less in tears already as he waits to see and waves to the camera...
Gymnastics: A clean, solid routine from Xioa of China puts him in with a chance – it’s not as difficult as that attempted by some, but the execution might take him there ... but no! He gets 14.766 and slots into third position! Dolgopyat gets at least silver, and here comes Karimi of Kazakhstan to try and nab the gold!
Gymnastics: Ryu of Korea has to make do with 14.233, and we’ve got two competitors left...
Golf: Munoz misses his birdie put, and with the other four close to the hole, that’ll be it for him, likewise Pereira, whose eight-footer looks in only to whirr around the hole and stay out. Then McIlroy misses too! That wasn’t a dolly, but from five feet you expected him to nail it; can Pan or Morikawa get theirs down? Yes they can! And then there were two.
Gymnastics: Kim of Korea has an absolute mare out there, scraping knees on the flares and botching various landings. He looks pretty happy with life nonetheless and a 13.066 sticks him fifth out of five.
Tennis: Zverev and Khachanov are away in the men’s final, Khachanov holding to 15.
Gymnastics: Dolgopyat qualified with a 15.2 and this won’t be as good as that I don’t think ... and it’s not. 14.933 it is, putting him into the lead, joint with Zapata; if they’re in the medal positions, whoever had the cleaner execution leads ... and it’s Dolgopyat. Israel have never won a gymnastics medal, and their last gold came in 2004, when Gal Friedman won the windsurfing.
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Gymnastics: A couple of iffy landings cost Dolgopyat a few points, but he finishes with a full twisting double back and that should mean the lead....
Gymnastics: Yul Moldauer of USA can only rustle up 13.533, so he goes second. But coming next, it’s Artem Dolgopyat of Israel, who qualified in first place...
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Golf: We got five par-threes at the 10th, so Pan, Morikawa, Pereira, Munoz and McIlroy move to the 11th to see who can be shaken off.
Gymnastics: Rayderley Zapata of Spain, the oldest man in the competition, loves his routine, and a score of 14.933 puts him in the lead. He’ll do well to win with that, but it might get him a medal.
Gymnastics: Nikita Nagornyy of ROC tries a triple backward somersault that, if he can pull it off, will put him in with a great chance of the gold – it’s never been done before. But he can’t land it, steps out, and 13.066 is what he ends up with – plus a lot of credit for shooting his shot.
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Gymnastics: The men are coming out for the floor final, and this should be a belter – it’s my favourite of the disciplines, now that you ask. Max Whitlock defends his pommel horse title in an hour 40.
Email! “Well I never,” says Des Brown. “The last time the Olympics were held in Tokyo in 1964, competing for the Great Britain team in the 200m and 4×100m relay was Menzies Campbell, future Liberal Democrat MP and Party Leader!
Golf: We’ve had five pars, so Pan, Morikawa, Pereira, Munoz and McIlroy will play another hole; Casey and Matsuyama are out.
The first event in the athletics is the men’s high jump final, and it’ll feature JuVaughan Harrison – who’s also in tomorrow’s long jump final. What a ridiculous state of affairs. This his how Beau Dure previewed his Games contribution.
That’s not a typo on the track and field start lists. The 22-year-old athlete, who recently announced he will go pro and give up his remaining eligibility at LSU, will be the first American to compete in both the long jump and the high jump since Jim Thorpe did it in 1912. He’s already the first man to win both events in one NCAA championship meet, doing the double in 2019 and 2021 along with the 2021 indoor championships. In Tokyo, he’ll be a legitimate contender in each – his 2.36-meter jump (vertically) is only a centimeter off the 2021 world lead, and his 8.47-meter jump (horizontally) is No 2 on the world list this year.”
Basketball-playing robots? Go on then.
Gold! Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic win the women's doubles in tennis!
They beat Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic – the singles champion– and Viktorija Golubic 7-5 6-1. Just a couple of months ago, Krejcikova won the French Open out of nowhere, so it’s been an alright summer for her.
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Golf: We’ve had four pars so far, with McIlroy and Matsuyama still to approach the green; Casey is also yet to finish the hold. But Pan, Morikawa, Pereira and Munoz are down in four.
Swimming: Five golds for Caeleb Dressel, and one fo the greatest swimming efforts of all-time.
BMX freestyle: This was incredible.
Golf: The seven contenders are playing the 18th, and whoever plays it best takes bronze; if there’s a tie, those involved in it move on.
Sport always wins because it’s brilliant – sometimes too brilliant for its own good, but brilliant nevertheless.
Gymnastics: However this shakes out, go on Simone.
Boxing: Frazer Clarke of GB is assured of a bronze after Mourad Aliev was disqualified for use of the head – not a development he appreciated.
This wasn’t the first time we’ve seen such – here’s Byun Jong-il in Seoul.
And tomorrow, the cycling only gets underway!
Coming up: Where to even start?
– In gymnastics, starting in 40 minutes, we’ve got the men’s floor final, the women’s vault final, the men’s pommel horse final and the women’s uneven bars final.
– The men’s tennis final, between Khachanov and Zverev, starts as soon as the women’s doubles final is over; that’s likely to be soon, with Krejcikova and Siniakova leading Bencic and Golubic by a set and two breaks.
– The men’s foil bronze medal and gold medal match, in two-and-a-bit-hours.
– In boxing, starting in roughly 90 minutes, the men’s welter and light-heavy semis.
– The women’s 76kg weightlifting final, in three-and-a-half hours.
– And in athletics, starting in just over two-and-a-half hours, we’ve got the men’s high jump final, the men’s 100m semis and final, the women’s 100m hurdles semis, the women’s triple jump final, the men’s 800m semis, the men’s 400m hurdles semis and let’s say it again, the men’s 100m final to end. Oooh yeah!
Golf: Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia, who broke the Olympic record with his round of 61, takes bronze, while for bronze we’ve got a seven-way playoff between Pan, Morikawa, Pereira, Munoz, McIlroy, Matsuyama and Casey. Don’t mind if we do!
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Golf: What a beautiful story that is. Schauffele’s mum moved to Japan when he was two – his grandparents live there – and his dad was a decathlete with Olympic aspirations until an accident deprived him of the site in one eye. But look at his son!
Gold! Xander Schauffele of USA wins the golf!
He’s come close to winning a major and never quite sorted it out, but he wins Olympic gold! You’d take it, and what a competition that was!
Updated
Golf: Birdie put for Paul Casey, about six feet to try and get himself a chance of the bronze ... and down it goes! Now Schauffele will got for par and gold. It’s three feet...
Hello! Much more besides is right – there’s a frankly indecent quantity of sport awaiting us, so let’s dive right in with this: Ghana celebrating their first medal in 29 years, a bronze minimum won in the men’s featherweight boxing by Samuel Tayki.
The whole of Ghana is celebrating your massive win today
— Gh Marshal 💕🇬🇭🇳🇬🇺🇸 (@Gh_Marshal96) August 1, 2021
Samuel Takyi🇬🇭
#Olympics
#Tokyo2020#UnitedByEmotion | #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/H4Q05TMBy6
Right, enough from me, over to Daniel Harris to see you through the conclusion of the golf, and much more besides.
Gold! Women's 3m springboard - Shi Tingmao (CHN)
Shi Tingmao secures a dominant gold with 383.50. Teammate Wang Han wins the silver on 348.75. Krysta Palmer (USA) celebrates bronze with a solid final dive of 66.50 to end on 343.75.
USA’s Hailey Hernandez came in 9th, Australia’s Esther Qin finished 12th.
Golf: Schauffele has played the short-iron of the tournament. He’s wedged to four foot on the last to give himself a very very good chance of a gold medal-winning par. Nerves of steel. Magnificent shot.
Leaders:
-18 Schauffele (USA, 17)
-17 Sabbatini (SVK)
-15 Pan (TPE),
-15 Morikawa (USA)
-15 Pereira (CHI)
-15 Matsuyama (JPN, 17)
-15 McIlroy (IRE)
-15 Munoz (COL)
-15 Casey (GBR, 17)
Golf: Schauffele has laid up on 18, he’ll do well to par from there. Matsuyama has faded in a majestic iron to set up a chance to secure bronze without the need of a playoff. Casey is on the dancefloor in two as well after a sparkling long fairway bunker shot. He faces a much tougher birdie putt though.
Leaders:
-18 Schauffele (USA, 17)
-17 Sabbatini (SVK)
-15 Pan (TPE),
-15 Morikawa (USA)
-15 Pereira (CHI)
-15 Matsuyama (JPN, 17)
-15 McIlroy (IRE)
-15 Munoz (COL)
-15 Casey (GBR, 17)
Golf: Schauffele has gone wild right off the tee at 18. He has a shot out of the trees, but it certainly isn’t going to be a cakewalk to the gold medal from there.
Leaders:
-18 Schauffele (USA, 17)
-17 Sabbatini (SVK)
-15 Pan (TPE),
-15 Morikawa (USA)
-15 Pereira (CHI)
-15 Matsuyama (JPN, 17)
-15 McIlroy (IRE)
-15 Munoz (COL)
-15 Casey (GBR, 17)
Diving: Shi Tingmao has all three of the best dives so far in the women’s 3m springboard final. Teammate Wang Han remains second, but only just ahead of Krysta Palmer (USA) who landed a 73.50 in round three.
Canada’s Jennifer Abel has dropped out of the running following a poor third round effort.
Diving: Shi Tingmao continues her clinic in the women’s 3m springboard final. She has a score of 305.50. Teammate Wang Han remains second on 275.25, Krysta Palmer (USA) is third on 270.65. Nobody else is within touching distance, barring an almighty collapse.
Golf: Schauffele (USA) has splashed out from the greenside bunker at 17 to set up a birdie opportunity to retake the lead outright. AND HE DRAINS IT! Matsuyama misses another makable birdie putt. He has left some shots out there today the home favourite.
Up on 18 McIlroy lips out to head to the clubhouse in the pack on -15. A pack that now contains Paul Casey, who gobbles up the freebie birdie on 17.
Leaders:
-18 Schauffele (USA, 17)
-17 Sabbatini (SVK)
-15 Pan (TPE),
-15 Morikawa (USA)
-15 Pereira (CHI)
-15 Matsuyama (JPN, 17)
-15 McIlroy (IRE)
-15 Munoz (COL)
-15 Casey (GBR, 17)
Golf: Matsuyama (JPN) does everything but birdie 16 to remain in the big group in third on -15. His putts have not dropped at crucial times today.
Leaders: -17 Schauffele (USA, 16), Sabbatini (SVK); -15 Pan (TPE), Morikawa (USA), Pereira (CHI), Matsuyama (JPN, 16), McIlroy (IRE, 16), Munoz (COL, 17).
Diving: Shi Tingmao has all three of the best dives so far in the women’s 3m springboard final. Teammate Wang Han remains second, but only just ahead of Krysta Palmer (USA) who landed a 73.50 in round three.
Canada’s Jennifer Abel has dropped out of the running following a poor third round effort.
Diving: Shi Tingmao backed up her 76.50 with another 76.50 to extend her lead in the women’s 3m springboard final. Teammate Wang Han remains second, but Canada’s Jennifer Abel has narrowed the gap. Krysta Palmer (USA) is still in the mix for a minor medal, but Australia’s Esther Qin has fallen well out of contention.
Golf: Matsuyama (JPN) misses a gimme on 15 to drop to -15 and the logjam for third. That group includes Chile’s Mito Pereira, who signs for a 66, his fourth sub-70 round of the week, Rory McIlroy (IRE), whose massive distance off the tee turns 16 into an easy birdie opportunity, and Sebastian Munoz (COL).
Leaders: -17 Schauffele (USA, 15), Sabbatini (SVK); -15 Pan (TPE), Morikawa (USA), Pereira (CHI), Matsuyama (JPN, 15), McIlroy (IRE, 16), Munoz (COL, 17).
Updated
Golf: It’s incredible how the leaders have bunched late on this final round. Schauffele (USA) settles any nerves from that wild bogey on 14 with a solid par on 15. He is still in control of the gold medal’s destiny with three to play, but Sabbatini (SVK) is sitting pretty in the clubhouse.
Australia’s Cam Smith bogeyed the last to drop out of medal contention at -14. He still signed for a 66 and a very solid four rounds of golf with very little fortune.
Leaders: -17 Schauffele (USA, 15), Sabbatini (SVK); -16 Matsuyama (JPN, 15), -15 Pan (TPE), Morikawa (USA), Pereira (CHI, 17).
Updated
Diving: The women’s 3m springboard final is underway. Australia’s Esther Qin and America’s Krysta Palmer set the early running with opening dives of 67.50. But that was before the Chinese divers got involved - Han Wang registered 72.00, then Shi Tingmao smashed 76.50.
Gold! Men's laser - Matt Wearn (AUS)
Another gold for Australia on this extraordinary day. It was a formality for Matt Wearn who took an unassailable lead into the medal race. He began the event poorly with two low finishes, but from races three to eight he was never out of the top four.
Tonci Stipanovic (CRO) takes silver. Hermann Tomasgaard (NOR) bronze,
Golf: Xander Schauffele has had an absolute horror show on the par-five 14th. He found trouble down the right and had to use all his scrambling skills and composure to drop only one shot. Playing partner Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) meanwhile birdied to move into third place on his own at -16.
Leaders: -17 Schauffele (USA), Sabbatini (SVK); -16 Matsuyama (JPN), -15 Pan (TPE), Smith (AUS), Morikawa (USA).
Updated
Golf: Xander Schauffele is in a spot of bother at the 14th, and his procession to gold may not be as smooth as first thought. He is -18 for now, and Sabbatini has signed for -17.
Behind them, the pack on -15 is growing. Along with McIlroy (IRE), Matsuyama (JPN) and Pan (TPE), we now have Smith (AUS) and Morikawa (USA).
Sailing: The medal race in the men’s laser class is taking place. The gold medal is a foregone conclusion with Australia’s Matt Wearn assured of victory. The battle is on for the minor medals behind him.
The Australian rider likes to describe his sport as gymnastics on a bike. His description sounds outlandish in the abstract, but the way Martin executes backflips, frontflips and spins with grace gives those words real meaning. In the pressure cauldron of a 60-second run, Martin combines the flow of rhythmic gymnastics with the skill of the artistic variety and the height of trampolining. At the Ariake Urban Sports Park, Martin was an aerial gymnast with a BMX bike in tow. His efforts – and those of the other male and female competitors in Tokyo – have put BMX freestyle on the mainstream sporting map, where it will surely stay.
Golf: Rory McIlroy (IRE) is sneaking into medal contention. He’s -4 for his round through 14 holes to move into a tie for third.
Leaders: Schauffele (USA) -18; Sabbatini (SVK) -17; McIlroy (IRE), Matsuyama (JPN), Pan (TPE) -15.
Updated
Golf: Rory Sabbatini (SVK) signs for a -10 round of 61 to set the clubhouse lead on -17. He’s currently on track for a silver medal.
Leaders: Schauffele (USA) -18; Sabbatini (SVK) -17; Matsuyama (JPN) -16; Pan (TPE) -15; Morikawa (USA), McIlroy (IRE), Casey (GBR) -14, Straka (AUT).
Updated
Boxing: Barney’s report from ringside is going to be a thing of beauty. More on this story here.
And Aliev is back! Sitting in the ring again, an hour after the fight started still protesting his DQ. amazing scenes here at the Kokugikan arena.
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) August 1, 2021
Golf: Some incredible scoring in today’s final round.
Sabbatini (SVK) is now -9 for the day and second on -16. C T Pan of Chinese Taipei is -8 through 17 and in a tie for third on -15. And Collin Morikawa is -7 through 16 and up to tied sixth on -14.
Leaders: Schauffele (USA) -18; Sabbatini (SVK) -16; Pan (TPE), Straka (AUT), Matsuyama (JPN) -15; Morikawa (USA), McIlroy (IRE), Casey (GBR) -14.
Updated
Equestrian - In my Team GB wrap recently I neglected to include this:
Impressively placed in eventing after the dressage and cross country.
— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 1, 2021
1⃣st @Oliver_Townend
2⃣nd @CollettEventing
6⃣th @TomMcEwen1
1⃣st in the team event#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/0rfsjpG5Qi
Coming up in the next hour or so there will be medals in the women’s 3m springboard diving, men’s laser (sailing), and we’ll be underway in the tennis doubles finals, beginning with the women’s and Belinda Bencic’s bid for a brace of golds. All those notable Swiss tennis players, and Bencic is guaranteed the best Olympic record of the bunch.
Golf: Xander Schauffele (USA) continues to cruise towards the gold medal. He has moved to -18 through 11 holes and his game and temperament look rock solid.
Three men are tied for second on -15: Rory Sabbatini (SVK) who is -8 for the day, Sepp Straka (AUT), and Hideki Matsuyama (JPN).
Rory McIlroy (IRE) and Paul Casey (GBR) are a shot further back.
Good morning Great Britain! If you’re just waking up and tuning in, here’s a quick update of the Team GB day so far in Tokyo.
- BMX freestyle - Gold to Charlotte Worthington and bronze to Declan Brooks on a day when the new event sparkled in the Tokyo sunshine.
- Swimming - Silver in the men’s 4x100 medley relay final - thanks in no small part to the staggering Adam Peaty.
- Boxing - Pat McCormack and Ben Whittaker are both through to the gold medal bouts in their weight divisions.
- Long Jump - Abigail Irozuru and Jazmin Sawyers are safely through to Tuesday’s final.
- 3000m steeplechase - Elizabeth Bird just qualified for Wednesday’s final.
Plenty more to keep an eye on as we go, including the men’s golf, sailing, and women’s 3m springboard diving, in this afternoon session.
Hockey - Australia prevail after penalty strokes to meet Germany in the semi-finals. The Kookaburras took the lead twice, only for the Netherlands to peg them back on each occasion and take the game to penalty strokes, but in the high pressure situation Australia scored all three of their efforts, the Netherlands failed to score any of theirs.
Hockey - Netherlands have not scored their first two penalty strokes. Huge advantage to Australia.
Boxing:
Wow amazing, ugly scenes at the boxing. Clarke of GB is in the final of the super heavy. Aliev has been disqualified for butting. He is absolutely furious. Almost kicks off in the ring, shoves a camera lens. Backstage could be spicy
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) August 1, 2021
Clarke had cuts on both eyes from head clashes. Aliev storms off. He's going to break something.
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) August 1, 2021
Hockey - Australia and the Netherlands are going to penalty strokes.
Hockey - Australia won four and drew one of their five group matches to top Pool A. The Netherlands won two, drew one, lost two, finishing fourth in Pool B. It’s 2-2 in their quarterfinal with two minutes remaining. Germany await the victor.
Hockey - Into the final period of the men’s quarterfinal and the Netherlands are back level 2-2 with Australia. This one’s going down to the wire.
BMX Racing - Read more on Charlotte Worthington’s incredible gold medal.
Boxing: There’s been plenty to cheer for Team GB in the ring. Welterweight Pat McCormack is on course for a medal of some description, as is light-heavyweight Ben Whittaker.
🥊🥊🥊
— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 1, 2021
Brilliant display from @BenGWhittaker to beat ROC's Imam Khatev 4-1 and he'll fight for gold.#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/0Id6MkyLaz
Hockey - Australia are 2-1 up against the Netherlands with just over one period remaining in their men’s quarterfinal. The winner takes on Germany in the semis. Belgium v Spain and India v GB follow this evening.
Golf: The final round of the men’s golf is getting very very interesting. Xander Schauffele (USA) has established a three shot buffer at the top of the leaderboard. He’s -17 through seven holes.
Behind him there’s a four-way tie for second with Rory Sabbatini (SVK), Sepp Straka (AUT), Hideki Matsuyama (JPN), and Paul Casey (GBR) all in the mix.
They are just one shot better off than three men on -13, and three more on -12. That last bunch includes Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and Australia’s Cam Smith.
Men’s 400m - Michael Cherry (USA) set the fastest time in the first round of heats for the 400m. The three semi-finals take place tomorrow, and they will include defending champion and world record holder Wayde van Niekerk (RSA), Australian Steve Solomon, and American Michael Norman.
Women’s Long Jump - Serbia’s Ivana Španovic set the best mark ahead of Tuesday’s final with a leap of 7.00m. Americans Brittney Reese and Tara Davis qualified with ease, and they will be joined by a pair of Great British athletes, Abigail Irozuru and Jazmin Sawyers, as well as Australian Brook eStratton, who qualified lucky last in 12th.
Women’s 3000m Steeplechase - Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi set the fastest time in qualifying for Wednesday evening’s final. American’s Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs qualified third and fourth fastest while teammate Valerie Constein snuck in 13th quickest. Elizabeth Bird (GBR) qualified 14th, Genevieve Gregson (AUS) 15th.
Women’s Hammer: Poland’s world and Olympic record holder Anita Wlodarczyk absolutely dominated qualifying, setting the leading distance of 76.99. Brooke Andersen (USA) qualified third with 74.00. Compatriots Gwen Berry and Deanna Price also progressed. The final is on Tuesday night.
Right, where were we? Time to catch-up on a hectic morning.
It'll be four gold in one day for Australia. That makes it the most successful day in Australia's Olympic history. Incredible stuff. #Olympics
— Scott Bailey (@ScottBaileyAAP) August 1, 2021
Gold! BMX freestyle men's park - Logan Martin (AUS)
Logan Martin came in with high hopes and he delivered, setting a mark of 93.30 in his opening run that nobody could match. Daniel Dhers (VEN) came very very late with a 92.05 to snatch silver. Declan Brooks (GBR) held onto bronze with 90.80.
Swimming:
🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇
— Kieran Pender (@KieranPender) August 1, 2021
🥈🥈🥈
🥉🥉🥉🥉🥉🥉🥉🥉#Tokyo2020 has been the most successful-ever Olympic campaign for Australia’s @DolphinsAUS, bettering the eight gold medals of 1956. My wrap from the final day https://t.co/thM8gBqEOi
Gymnastics: Simone Biles has withdrawn from the floor final.
Simone has withdrawn from the event final for floor and will make a decision on beam later this week. Either way, we’re all behind you, Simone.
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) August 1, 2021
BMX Freestyle: Keeping an eye on the last few runs of this final now with Australia’s Logan Martin still leading with 93.30 from Declan Brooks (GBR) and Kenneth Tencio (CRC).
Swimming: In amongst all the records broken in the pool, Joseph Trivers has emailed in to remind me not to forget about Canada’s Penny Oleksiak. She was part of her country’s bronze medal-winning 4x100m medley relay unit, making her the most decorated Olympian, male or female, in Canada’s history.
BMX Freestyle: Keeping an eye on the last few runs of this final now with Australia’s Logan Martin still leading with 93.30 from Declan Brooks (GBR) and Kenneth Tencio (CRC).
Swimming: Both Team GB and Australia have enjoyed record breaking meets in the pool.
Record breakers.
— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 1, 2021
Most ever swimming medals for #TeamGB in an Olympics games. pic.twitter.com/CutIRBDW0C
BMX Freestyle: Australia’s pre-race favourite Logan Martin leads in the men’s park final with a run of 93.30. Team GB’s Declan Brooks backed up his early 89.40 with a 90.80 to sit in second for now.
Swimming: Another gold for the legend Caeleb Dressel, and a world record to boot. The US had the strongest quartet, and Dressel’s butterfly sealed the deal. Adam Peaty’s breaststroke earned Team GB silver, once again demonstrating his margin of dominance over his rivals is the greatest of any swimmer at these Games, just phenomenal.
Australia fifth.
Joining Spitz, Biondi and Phelps.
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 1, 2021
Caeleb Dressel is leaving the #TokyoOlympics with 5️⃣ gold medals. pic.twitter.com/jkQham4lAH
Updated
Gold! Men's 4x100m medley relay - USA (WR)
Gold - USA
Silver - GBR
Bronze - Italy
Swimming: USA lead with one leg to go, GBR second...
Swimming: Wow! Adam Peaty is superhuman, he has dragged GBR into the lead after the breaststroke leg. USA second, Italy third.
Swimming: USA (Murphy) lead after the backstroke leg from Italy and China.
Swimming: Time for the final race in the pool, the men’s 4x100m medley relay...
Gold! Women's shot put - Gong Lijao (CHN)
A dominant final from Gong Lijao. She was the only athlete to throw beyond 20m, winning with a distance of 20.58m. She threw the FIVE farthest distances of the final, holding off Raven Saunders (USA) for silver and Valerie Adams (NZL) bronze.
Women’s Shot Put - Just one round of throws remaining and Gong Lijao (CHN) has strengthened her grip on the gold medal position, extending her field leading mark to 20.53. Raven Saunders (USA) is pushing hard in second, Valerie Adams (NZL) is holding on to third.
Updated
BMX Freestyle: This is lovely.
When that 97.50 score drops.
— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 1, 2021
Your BMX freestyle Olympic champion @chazworther! #TeamGB pic.twitter.com/fKPuil1IXD
BMX Freestyle: The men’s park final is underway and Team GB’s Declan Brooks has taken an early lead with 89.40.
Swimming: Emma McKeon - four gold, three bronze. Unbelievable. The most golds by any Australian in a single Games. The most medals at a single Games by any female Olympian in history, tied with Maria Gorokhovskaya in 1952.
Updated
Swimming: Oh my goodness. Cate Campbell... The USA were cruising, dominating the first three legs, but then Cate Campbell from Australia powered through to draw level after 50m, then hold on to touch first in a new Olympic record. Absolutely incredible, and the motif of the meet - Australia powering through late - continues right to the very end. The most successful swim meet in Australia’s Olympic history - and ANOTHER GOLD to Emma McKeon, making her not only the most successful Australian swimmer of all time but the most successful individual female athlete at a single Games. Blimey.
Gold! Women's 4x100m medley relay - Australia OR
Gold - Australia
Silver - USA
Bronze - Canada
Swimming:Still the USA from Australia and Canada after the butterfly leg.
Swimming: After the breaststroke leg the USA (Jacoby) now lead from Australia (Hodges) with Canada losing ground.
Swimming: After the backstroke leg Canada (Masse), Australia (McKeown), and USA (Smith) have put clear water between them and the rest of the field.
Swimming: As well as Australia, the USA, Canada, and Italy all qualified in the 3m 55s range.
Swimming: The final women’s race of the meet is about to get underway. It’s the 4x100m medley relay, and of course it is a stacked field. Even so, Australia’s Emma McKeon is the centre of attention. After securing the 50m freestyle a few minutes ago she is on the brink of yet more history, for herself, and the Australian swim team.
Women’s Shot Put - We’re halfway through the final of the women’s shot put and Gong Lijao (CHN) is in the gold medal position. Raven Saunders (USA) is second, Valerie Adams (NZL) third.
Men’s Hockey: Germany have beaten Argentina 3-1 in their quarterfinal. They will face the winner of Australia v Netherlands, which is up soon.
Gold! BMX Freestyle women's park - Charlotte Worthington (GBR)
Remarkable. Worthington’s first run was a bust, but in her second she stormed to an incredible 97.50! Hannah Roberts (USA) could not improve on her opening 96.10 and has to settle for silver. Bronze to Nikita Ducarroz (SUI).
Australia’s Natalya Diehm ends fifth.
Swimming: 1500m racing is not supposed to be that exciting! Four men were in a race of their own for 10 minutes, but as the Italian dropped off it became a 50m sprint for the medals. After sitting on the shoulder for 1450m, Finke kicked hard at the end to swim past Romanchuk and Wellbrock. Thrilling.
Gold! Men's 1500m freestyle - Robert Finke (USA)
Gold - Robert Finke (USA)
Silver -Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR)
Bronze - Florian Wellbrock (GER)
Swimming: Those same four guys are all within touching distance after 1,000m of the men’s 1,500m freestyle. This is going to be a gripping finish.
Swimming: Kieran Pender was poolside for Emma McKeon’s history-making swim.
Emma McKeon makes Australian Olympic history with women’s 50m freestyle gold https://t.co/WEBuIDhgRG
— Guardian Australia (@GuardianAus) August 1, 2021
BMX Freestyle: Team GB’s Charlotte Worthington has put the cat among the pigeons, nailing her second run to vault into the gold medal position. Hannah Roberts (USA) is back into silver with one run remaining. Natalya Diehm (AUS) has been pushed off the podium.
Swimming: Around 1/3 race distance in the men’s 1500m freestyle and Florian Wellbrock (GER) has taken the lead. There’s a breakaway bunch of four all in a row, with Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR), Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), and Robert Finke (USA). The medals will come from this quartet.
Swimming: Back in the pool, and the final of the men’s 1500m has just begun. Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) leads early from Florian Wellbrock (GER) , Robert Finke (USA) and Daniel Jervis (GBR).
BMX Freestyle: Hannah Roberts (USA) has taken an early stranglehold on the final of the women’s park with an opening run of 96.10. Natalya Diehm (AUS) has started strongly and is currently placed third with 86.00.
Swimming: Wow! Emma McKeon adds the 50m free to the 100m free, and the 4x100m free relay. Throw in a trio of bronze and that’s six medals in the meet, with one event still to come, and ten across her Olympic career. Superstar.
23.81 was the winning time, lowering McKeon’s own Olympic record, set earlier in the meet. Just 0.14 shy of the world record, set by silver medalist Sarah Sjöström (SWE). Defending champion Pernille Blume (DEN) took bronze.
Cate Campbell (AUS) came in seventh, Abbey Weitzeil (USA) eighth.
Emma McKeon at Tokyo in the 50m freestyle:
— Ricky Mangidis (@rickm18) August 1, 2021
Heat: New Olympic Record
Semis: New Olympic Record
Final: New Olympic Record, Gold#Tokyo2020
Updated
Gold! Women's 50m freestyle - Emma McKeon (AUS) OR
Gold - Emma McKeon (AUS) OR
Silver - Sarah Sjöström (SWE)
Bronze - Pernille Blume (DEN)
Updated
Swimming: Now it’s over to the women’s 50m and Emma McKeon’s shot at history. This is a super competitive field.
Swimming: Dressel was out of sight before he even raised his arm out of the water for his first stroke. That’s his fourth gold of the Games, joining his 100m free, 100m fly, and 4x100m free relay. He still has one more to go for later this session.
Manaudou and Fratus were delighted with the minor medals. Ben Proud (GBR) finished a creditable fifth.
Gold! Men's 50m freestyle - Caeleb Dressel (USA) OR
Gold - Caeleb Dressel (USA) gets the 50m/100m freestyle double, becoming only the second man to achieve the feat. What a guy.
Silver - Florent Manaudou (FRA)
Bronze - Bruno Fratus (BRA)
Swimming: Ok, time to focus on the pool for an hour or so, starting with Caleb Dressel and the men’s 50m freestyle.
Women’s Long Jump: We’re in the thick of qualifying, and it’s a pair of Americans - Brittney Reese (6.86m) and Tara Davis (6.85m) leading the way in Pool A, both satisfying the automatic qualification mark. Over in Pool B, Serbia’s Ivana Španovic has the longest jump so far, hitting 7.00m. Abigail Irozuru (GBR) and Brooke Stratton (AUS) have one jump each remaining and both are touch-and-go for qualifying.
Women’s Hammer: Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk absolutely dominated the first qualifying pool with 76.99, miles ahead of second placed Brooke Andersen (USA) 74.00. She is the world and Olympic record holder, after all.
Golf: The final round in the men’s event promises to be thrilling with a stacked field at the top of the leaderboard. We’re about an hour away from the leaders teeing off. Behind them, Viktor Hovland (NOR) has made some early running, picking up three shots to move to -8 (T14).
I'm at the pool, but would highly encourage everyone to get around this. BMX freestyle is insane and Australia has two strong medal chances, inc Logan Martin going for gold as defending world champion. Big #Tokyo2020 https://t.co/l03BwMR6l5
— Kieran Pender (@KieranPender) August 1, 2021
Thanks Tom. Into the deep end we go, one final time, bringing this superb swim meet to its conclusion.
It’s all killer no filler this session with five medal races in the space of an hour or so.
At 10.30am local time we have the men’s 50m freestyle, where the magnificent Caeleb Dressel is sprinting for his fourth gold of these Games.
Then at 10.37 it’s the women’s 50m free, where Australian Emma McKeon is bidding for all sorts of history. If she wins a medal here, and one later in the medley relay, she will become only the second woman to win seven medals at a single Games. She will also overtake Ian Thorpe and Leisel Jones for most career medals. Compatriot Cate Campbell is also in the final, along with world record holder Sarah Sjöström (SWE), and defending champion Pernille Blume (DEN).
There’s a change of pace at 10.44 with the men’s 1500m freestyle.
Then it all gets frantic again with the final events at 11.15 and 11.36 - the women’s then men’s 4x100m medley relays. Again, all eyes on McKeon and Dressel.
Away from the pool there are the finals in the BMX freestyle, featuring Australian, US and British interest, and from 12pm there are quarter-finals of the men’s hockey, including Australia v Netherlands and later India v Team GB. There’s the final round of the golf to keep an eye on, track and field heats, equestrian, sailing, and much more besides. I’m stuffed just reading it all. There’s probably not even enough room for a little pud.
Here’s something from the man with the hardest working fingertips in Tokyo, Kieran Pender, setting the scene.
Updated
Time to hand over the blog to Jonathan Howcroft now. Enjoy the fun ahead...
Caeleb Dressel will go for his fourth gold of the Games in around 30 minutes in the 50m free. He qualified fastest, just ahead of the 2012 champion, France’s excellent Florent Manaudou. Here’s how Dressel got on yesterday (not bad):
A last-16 North American grudge match in the women’s beach volleyball. Canada and the US teams of Bansley and Wilkerson v Claes and Sponcil. The Americans took the first set before the Canadians hit back in the second. It’s 4-4 in the third.
Jen Oram writes in about medal table: “The really important rankings are the ones the Guardian compiles every four years - medals per head of population (NZ currently seems to be way ahead of the others listed in your main top 10) and medals by per capita GDP, in which places like Jamaica and Cuba routinely show up the Americans and Russians and Brits. I look forward to seeing them this year too.
The best ever per capital showing in all Summer Olympics combined (as of 2016)? It’s ... Finland?
Australian swimmer Emma McKeon has history in her sights this morning at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. McKeon already has a bumper haul at the pool - gold in the 100m freestyle, gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay, bronze in the 100m butterfly, bronze in the 4x100m mixed medley relay and bronze in the 4x200m freestyle relay. This morning, McKeon starts as favourite in the women’s 50m freestyle and will swim the butterfly leg for a strong Australian team in women’s 4x100m medley relay.
If McKeon earns a spot on the podium in either race, she will become the most successful-ever Australian at a single Olympics - she currently sits equal with fellow swimmers Shane Gould, Ian Thorpe and Alicia Coutts on the national record of five medals. If McKeon is on the podium in both races, she will join Soviet gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya as the only women to win seven medals at an Olympics in history. Just two men have gone better, with eight medals, including American swimmer Michael Phelps, who did it twice.
The equestrian eventing continues apace (a pretty fast pace - horses can run). GB’s Laura Collett has completed her cross country and has moved into bronze behind Germany’s Julia Krajewski (silver) and GB’s Oliver Townend (gold). In the team standings it’s GB, USA and Switzerland 1-2-3. New Zealand and Australia are seventh and eighth respectively.
The women’s BMX park final will start in 30 minutes, with USA’s Hannah Roberts the favourite for gold. There is also Aussie and GB involvement with Natalya Diehm and Charlotte Worthington in action. You can follow it all with our super special soaraway INDIVIDUAL liveblog. Which gives me more time to get things wrong about equestrian:
JamesStark below the line has come up with an alternative medal table. And it’s looking good for Team GB ...
We have a guaranteed silver (at least) for GB in the boxing for welterweight Pat McCormack after his Irish opponent, Aidan Walsh, withdrew from their semifinal through injury. Not the way you want to win a medal and terrible luck for Walsh.
GB boxer @PatMcCormack14 is guaranteed at least Olympic 🥈 after Irish opponent Aidan Walsh withdraws from today’s SF due to an ankle injury sustained in his QF win.
— Nick Hope - the dyslexic journalist🎙️👨💻🏊🏻♂️ (@NickHopeTV) July 31, 2021
McCormack will now return for the welterweight final vs Iglesias of Cuba or Russian Zamkovoi on Tue in 🇯🇵. pic.twitter.com/znRsFz7AdX
“The decision has been made to withdraw Aidan Walsh from the semi-final of the men’s welterweight competition at the Olympic Games,” read a statement from Team Ireland.
“The Belfast boxer was due to fight in Sunday’s semi-final against Pat McCormack, but due to an ankle injury sustained during his quarter-final bout with Merven Clair, the decision to withdraw him was made in conjunction with his medical team.
“Walsh had initially hoped to compete and waited to give himself every opportunity to do so. However subsequent scans and medical reviews have now ruled out this possibility.
“He will still take home his bronze medal which he won in the quarter-final bout, becoming the 16th [Irish] boxer to bring home a medal from the Olympic Games.”
Updated
When live Olympic TV goes wrong (as someone whose liveblogs are littered with typos, I have sympathy):
Can someone at the BBC let @JJChalmersRM and crew know they are live on the red button 😂😂😂👍👍 @BBCSport pic.twitter.com/ScuwObN8yO
— PaddysPCBuilds (@PaddysPCBuilds) July 31, 2021
The equestrian eventing is underway. It’s the cross country section at the moment (dressage and jumping are the others). Only a few riders have completed their rounds but ... Oliver Townend of GB is out front. That means he leads Germany’s Julia Krajewski and Japan’s Tomoto Kazuma in the overall standings. Australia’s Shane Rose and NZ’s Jonelle Price are fifth and sixth.
Merel Blom of the Netherlands has the best name for their horse: The Quizmaster. I also like Phillip Dutton of USA’s. It’s a simple effort: Z. In the overall team standings, GB lead Germany, New Zealand, Japan and Australia in that order.
But much more equine action to come so things could change quickly.
Australians! And friends of Australia! And people who maybe just like Australian athletes! Here’s our handy guide to Aussies in action today. Emma McKeon aims for swimming history as Australia eye more medals in the pool, Logan Martin goes for BMX gold and the Kookaburras face the Netherlands. Hooray!
The final round of the men’s golf is underway. It’s only the backmarkers out at the moment. New Zealand’s Ryan Fox is -1 for the round after two holes and Australia’s Marc Leishman has just started his. But they are 14 and 13 behind the leader respectively, and won’t trouble the podium.
And speaking of leaders: USA’s Xander Schauffele is in gold on -14, followed by Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama on -13 and GB’s Paul Casey and Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz on -12. Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (-11) and Shane Lowry (-10), GB’s Tommy Fleetwood (-10) and Australia’s Cameron Smith (-9) are also in the mix.
Here’s a full rundown of yesterday’s third round:
Preamble
Hello world! Only a week (and a little bit) until the end of the Games and after the sprint queens yesterday got their stuff done (and, my word, did they get it done) the sprint kings will be out in force tonight in Tokyo. We’ll have live coverage of that later but for now here is my colleague Martin Belam with other highlights from the next 24 hours.
Key events for Sunday 1 August
Altogether now everybody, all events are listed here in local Tokyo time. Add an hour for Sydney, subtract eight hours for Cardiff, 13 hours for New York and 16 hours for San Francisco. If you are reading this on the International Space Station, I’m not sure I can help to be honest.
🌟If you only watch one thing: 9.10am-12.00pm and 7pm-9.55pm Athletics – it’s another packed day at the Olympic stadium. Highlights include the women’s shot put final which starts at 10.35am, the men’s high jump final starts at 7.10pm, the women’s triple jump final is at 8.15pm. And then at 9.50pm in Tokyo, there’s this little thing called the men’s 100m final 🥇
- 7.30am Golf – the final round of the men’s competition, with a reminder that a start that early in Tokyo means this will be on the TV at 11.30pm in the UK tonight, which is dangerous territory if you don’t want to be suckered into staying up all evening like I was last night by the mixed triathlon relay. The leaders’ group tees off at 11.09am 🥇
- 9am-7.50pm Fencing – the final day of fencing for these Games sees the men’s foil team competition 🥇
- 9.30am-9pm Hockey – there are men’s quarter-finals throughout the day, with Team GB v India at 9pm looking the pick of the bunch.
- 10.10am and 11.20am BMX cycling – Sunday sees the women’s park final first, then the men’s park final 🥇
- 10.30am-11.36am Swimming – it is the final morning in the pool, and so the session consists of five finals in short succession. The men’s 50m freestyle, the women’s 50m freestyle, the men’s 1500m freestyle and then the Olympic swimming concludes with the 4x100m medley finals. The women go first at 11.15am, the men wrap up the whole programme at 11.36am 🥇
- 11.00am-1.40pm and 5pm-7.40pm Boxing – the men’s welter and light heavy categories reach the semi-final stage 🥉
- 11.00am-6.15pm Wrestling – the wrestling competition gets under way Sunday, with the men’s Greco-Roman 60kg and 130kg categories, and the women’s freestyle 76kg category all reaching the semi-final stage by the end of the day.
- 12.05pm-3.33pm Sailing – conditions permitting there should be finals in the men’s one person dinghy – laser, and the women’s one person dinghy – laser radial 🥇
- 1pm and 8.30pm Badminton – very much at the sharp end now, the morning session on Sunday features the men’s semi-finals, the evening session the women’s singles bronze and gold medal matches 🥇
- 3pm Diving – Sunday sees the 3m women’s springboard final 🥇
- 5pm Artistic gymnastics – the finals of the men’s floor exercise, the women’s vault, the men’s pommel horse and the women’s uneven bars 🥇
- 3pm Tennis – on centre court we get: the women’s doubles final, then the men’s singles final, and then the mixed doubles final. And then there’s no more tennis left at the Olympics 🥇
You can find our full interactive events schedule here. It updates live during the day with all the scores and results, like a series of little mini-live blogs. I love it.
As it stands
Here’s how the emoji table stood at 11.30pm Tokyo time. China have now equalled the USA for the total number of medals, and I’ve had to break out the New Zealand flag emoji for the first time.
1 🇨🇳 China 🥇 21 🥈 13 🥉 12 total: 46
2 🇯🇵 Japan 🥇 17 🥈 5 🥉 8 total: 30
3 🇺🇸 USA 🥇 16 🥈 17 🥉 13 total: 46
4 ◽️ Not Russia 🥇 11 🥈 15 🥉 11 total: 37
5 🇦🇺 Australia 🥇 10 🥈 3 🥉 14 total: 27
6 🇬🇧 Great Britain 🥇 8 🥈 9 🥉 11 total: 28
7 🇰🇷 South Korea 🥇 5 🥈 4 🥉 7 total: 16
8 🇫🇷 France 🥇 4 🥈 9 🥉 6 total: 19
9 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🥇 4 🥈 7 🥉 5 total: 16
10 🇳🇿 New Zealand 🥇 4 🥈 3 🥉 3 total: 10
Updated
