The official website of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics has launched a new section covering the sporting events of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It provides updates on the provisional schedule of events, the medal tally, as well as the latest news from the Olympic venues and partners.
The Olympics are just around the corner, which means the torch is being passed from one host city to the next. This year, the Olympics are being held in Tokyo, Japan. And while they may be the best-known sporting event in the country, the Olympics have been around for only 100 years. Up until then, the Olympic Games were held in Greece. Australia and New Zealand also hosted the Games.
The only way to truly experience the World’s Event of the Century is to be there in person. However, if you can’t make it to Japan, this website is a good alternative. We will provide you with all the live updates and results from the Olympics as well as the medal updates and photos from the entire games.. Read more about olympic medal events schedule and let us know what you think.
Tokyo time is 3:04 a.m. on July 25.
Here’s what you should be aware of:
SAITAMA, Japan (Jiji Press) – The United States of America of America of America of America women’s soccer team claimed that the first game was insufficient.
It was one thing to lose a single match, even the Olympic tournament’s first game. The absence of vitality. The lack of direction. They could never embrace the team’s championship mindset, which had been baked into their very being through years of victories and hard work.
Carli Lloyd, a seasoned forward, remarked, “It’s a switch that should never be turned off.” Kelley O’Hara, a teammate, had reduced the answer to a single word.
“We have to come out the next game and be extremely ruthless,” she urged her players privately before of Saturday’s encounter against New Zealand.
The Americans’ ruthless performance in a 6-1 hammering was the polar antithesis of their dismal performance in a shutout defeat to Sweden just three nights before.
The United States had been controlled from beginning to end. They were the ones delivering the thrashing, applying the pressure, and controlling the game on Saturday.
“Being on our front foot, winning every fight, having a physical presence out there,” midfielder Lindsey Horan said. “After that, everything else is up to you.”
The opportunities and goals, the first of which came in the ninth minute, came in virtually every manner imaginable: a Rose Lavelle curler and a Horan header, a clever Christen Press finish and a clinical Alex Morgan finish.
New Zealand added to its agony and inflated the score by scoring two own goals, although even those were insignificant. When the shots and the pressure eventually ended, the outcome was a pleasant 180-degree turn for the US, and a more accurate picture of what a squad full of World Cup winners and Olympic gold medalists is capable of.
“The mindset is what makes this squad really unique,” Lloyd added. “We may spend hours upon hours doing tactical and technical training, but we won’t win until we have the mindset that has been developed for so long, from the beginning of this squad.
“I’ve competed in eight global championships and won four of them. I can assure you that the mindset has helped us win four games.”
After a listless, lifeless loss to Sweden on Wednesday, that attitude has been questioned in recent days. Many of the players had taken the outcome as a personal affront: a humiliating night that hurt their dignity but not their aspirations, a bad day that could only be erased by a great one.
“You know, we don’t go from being a very good team to not being a good team in a matter of days,” defender Crystal Dunn said.
From the first minute, the Americans were adamant about proving their point. Coach Vlatko Andonovski made five changes to his starting lineup, adding in veterans like Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe, as well as Julie Ertz, and sent his squad out on the search, urging them to never give up.
What was the magnitude of the victory? It might have been a lot worse for New Zealand: in the first half, the US had four goals disallowed due to offside rulings.
When asked whether he wanted to recap the match at his press conference, New Zealand Coach Tom Sermanni deadpanned, “Not really.”
Andonovski, on the other hand, was clearly more delighted, although only little more detailed.
He said, “We got here and performed the job we needed to do tonight.” “We wanted to be aggressive, play with a sense of urgency, and be passionate.
“I was very pleased with the approach. We could tell straight away from the first whistle.”
What’s on the horizon for the United States? On Tuesday, the last game in the group will be played in Kashima versus Australia. Its loss to Sweden might have long-term consequences: Sweden beat Australia on Saturday and can now win the group with a victory or a tie against a wounded New Zealand.
The reward is a higher seed in the knockout phase — the winner of the Sweden-United States-Australia group will play a third-place finisher from another group, while the runner-up will almost certainly face the Netherlands or Brazil — as well as the opportunity to gain some momentum.
Based on Saturday’s performance, the United States has recovered that emotion in spades. Their chances of winning a gold medal had been harmed by their first-round defeat. Those expectations, as well as the team’s confidence, may have returned by Saturday night.
“We needed to come out and demonstrate that we wanted this,” Horan added.
On Saturday, members of the US swim team cheered on their colleagues as they raced in heats. Credit… The New York Times/David Mills
TOKYO, JAPAN — As a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus, fans may have been banned from the Games. However, this does not imply that the events are not open to the public.
At some events, a portion of seats has been set aside for national Olympic committees, allowing athletes to attend and, in many cases, disregard regulations prohibiting cheering.
On the opening day of swimming competition, on Saturday night local time, raucous delegations from the United States, Australia, and Germany descended on the Tokyo Aquatics Center to fill a few blocks of an otherwise deserted stadium. Some of the Americans arrived with thunder sticks in hand, ready to motivate their colleagues.
When the American men began competing in the evening session in the gymnastics arena, a sudden clamor erupted from one corner of the building.
The whole US women’s gymnastics team, including champion Simone Biles, had arrived. The ladies would scream, clap, and yell out the name of an American guy as he started an event. There were also around a dozen additional American gymnastics authorities and coaches in attendance.
In the stands, representatives from a number of other nations joined the Americans. In the midst of a rising number of positive coronavirus cases in the athletes’ village, Danusia Francis, a former U.C.L.A. gymnast who is competing for Jamaica, and officials from Turkey, Spain, Italy, and Brazil sat in groups, socially separated, following rules.
“Please don’t use this seat” signs were posted on several of the chairs, reminding guests to give each other room. A lone guy, dressed in Azerbaijani trousers, stood and waved the Azerbaijani flag.
After winning the under-60 kilogram weight class in judo, Japan’s Naohisa Takato clutched his medal. Credit… Reuters/Hannah Mckay
Host nations often exceed in the Olympics, and Japan wasted little time winning its first gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games, fittingly in judo, a sport in which the Japanese are unrivaled.
Naohisa Takato won a gold medal in judo in the under-60 kilogram weight class on the first full day of competition, making up for his poor bronze medal performance in the 2016 Rio Olympics. At Nippon Budokan, the sport’s holiest venue, the three-time world champion defeated Taiwan’s Yang Yung Wei.
Takato, the top-ranked judoka in his weight class, earned gold shortly after Funa Tonaki took silver in the women’s under-48 kilogram division.
In judo, Japan has medal contenders in almost every weight class. The national judo squad is known as “Godzilla Japan” because of their dominance.
On Saturday, Japan’s Kohei Uchimura tumbled from the horizontal bar during the men’s gymnastics qualifying round. Credit… Getty Images/Loic Venance/Agence France-Presse
TOKYO, JAPAN — On Saturday, almost everyone in the gymnastics stadium — fellow gymnasts, coaches, arena workers, and reporters — paused what they were doing to watch Japan’s Kohei Uchimura do his horizontal bar performance, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest male gymnastics ever.
Uchimura, one of Japan’s most renowned and adored sportsmen, swung around the high bar and flew over it in his typical daring and spectacular manner at the opening of his fourth Olympics. Then, during a rapid — maybe too fast — pirouette involving delicate handwork, his hands slipped, and the audience gasped.
Uchimura tripped and landed on the mat with a thunderous thud that reverberated throughout the nation. His chances of earning a gold medal at his home Olympics were dashed after he made a mistake during the men’s qualification event. And that summed up Japan’s experience at the Summer Games: a lot of expectation, followed by a tremendous disappointment.
Uchimura was shocked after failing to qualify for the final.
“I’ve never failed like this in practice, and I have no idea why,” he added. “I’ve also had a lot of success in the Olympics over my career. This is the first time I’ve ever failed.”
For more than a decade, Uchimura, 32, has been a fixture at the top of the sport. He won the all-around in the 2016 Rio Olympics, becoming the first male gymnast to retain his Olympic championship in the event in 44 years. He didn’t lose an all-around event at the world championships or the Olympics from 2009 to 2016. He earned silver in the all-around in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which set the stage for his dominance.
However, he was only participating in the horizontal bar as an event specialist at these Games, not as part of Japan’s four-man team that would compete for the team gold medal. He narrowly made the Olympic squad and expressed gratitude for the opportunity.
Uchimura went out of the stadium after his fall, quietly passing a huge set of Olympic rings on the wall before slipping under the seats, fist-bumping a few colleagues.
He then said that he returned to support his comrades. He claimed they were doing so well that it occurred to him, “Perhaps the team doesn’t need me anymore?” He wouldn’t dare to announce his retirement since he loved gymnastics so much and still had so much to learn.
Japan was in first position in the team competition after two of three qualifying rounds on Saturday, and its gymnasts claimed they were inspired to do their best for Uchimura after his fall because they didn’t want to disappoint him. China came in second and Russia came in third, with just a tenth of a point separating the three teams.
Daiki Hashimoto, 19, of Japan, took first place in both the all-around and the horizontal bar. He said that if he wins the event final, he knows precisely what he would do with his gold medal.
Hashimoto added, “I’ll place the medal around Uchimura’s neck.” “Because he was the one who should have won it.”
| Counting Medals | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
|
Russian Olympic Athletes |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
On Saturday, Novak Djokovic won his first match at Ariake Tennis Park in Tokyo. Credit… The New York Times/Hiroko Masuike
Novak Djokovic continued his pursuit for a “Golden Slam” and an Olympic gold medal on Saturday, defeating Hugo Dellien of Bolivia in straight sets.
Djokovic, the world No. 1, has harder difficulties ahead, and he’s already had a taste of what might be his greatest foe: the scorching Tokyo summer.
When tennis players discuss how the Olympic tennis competition differs from previous tournaments, they are typically referring to the fact that they are competing for national pride and a medal rather than prize money or points in the professional rankings.
There’s that this year, but it’s also shaping up to be one of the hottest and most miserable tennis championships they’ve ever experienced. The temperature was nearing 90 degrees in the shade when play began on Saturday morning. The heat, humidity, and hardcourts combined to make it seem much hotter than it was on the courts.
Temperatures in Australia may reach greater levels on occasion, although it is generally a dry heat. The U.S. Open in late summer in New York and Cincinnati in August both feature hot days, but those days are shorter, and there are evening and night matches as well.
The sun remained high in the sky throughout the day, so there was minimal cover on any of the courts. Tennis events in this area of the globe are held in the autumn for a reason.
Djokovic, who battled early in his career in tough circumstances, is one of the few players in the world who despises the heat.
Djokovic is seldom beaten. He just won his 20th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon earlier this month, making it his third major title of the year. He’s attempting to make history by becoming the first male player to win four Grand Slam singles championships and an Olympic gold medal in the same year.
It’s easy to believe he can’t be beaten, but the combination of opponents only having to win two out of three sets to defeat him — as opposed to three out of five in a Grand Slam — and the tournament’s unusually harsh circumstances offers opponents some rare optimism.
Not Dellien, who was rated 139th in the world and had a little chance of winning. Djokovic broke Dellien’s service in the sixth and eighth games, winning the first set in 35 minutes with a brilliant inside out forehand from one sideline to the other, trying to spend as little energy as possible. From there, Djokovic cruised to victory, winning the second set in only 25 minutes.
Djokovic said he attempted to prepare for the heat by training throughout the day, but stepping onto the court in Tokyo was unlike anything he or many other players had ever encountered, since the suffocating circumstances are there every day. He claimed he felt disoriented on the sunlit side of the court at times and recommended that the matches be started a few hours later, enabling the sportsmen to play far into the evening.
During a break in play, Djokovic. Credit… The New York Times/Hiroko Masuike
He said, “We had some retirements today, and you don’t want to see that.”
Djokovic’s match was the fourth on center court of the day, and he finished it as though punching out his timecard at 5 o’clock.
The heat was on the brink of claiming its first casualty before the opening hour of play on Saturday morning. Sara Errani of Italy failed to respond to the bell in the second set after losing the first set 6-0. During the transition, she sat on her chair for many minutes. Trainers took her blood pressure and wrapped her with ice-filled cloths. She pressed her face into a hose that sprayed chilly air.
Iga Swiatek of Poland remarked, “It’s extremely difficult.”
Swiatek enjoys playing in the cold air and beneath northern Europe’s gloomy sky. She was the only woman to win the French Open while it was held in October. Many players’ most recent tournament was at Wimbledon in London, where the temperature is nothing like Tokyo’s sweltering heat. Swiatek said she went to Nagasaki to acclimatize before arriving in Tokyo, which helped, but a player can only do so much. Dealing with the heat becomes a mental exercise in itself.
“You know it’s not going to be pleasant when you go out,” Medvedev said after defeating Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik in straight sets. “You convince yourself you’ll make things difficult for him. You’re going to put him through hell.”
It was so hot that Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine folded her shirt into a midriff during her defeat against Leylah Fernandez of Canada, while Fabio Fognini of Italy conducted his post-match interviews shirtless with a towel wrapped over his neck.
Even yet, there was one player who seemed to be in her element. Maria Sakkari of Greece, who is perhaps the game’s fittest player and enjoys nothing more than spending several hours in the weight room, said she wouldn’t mind if it was even a few degrees hotter.
Sakkari stated after her straight sets victory against Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit, “I really really enjoy these conditions.” Sakkari seemed to have just stepped out of an air-conditioned room minutes after the win. “In Greece, we grew up playing in the heat. This is nothing out of the ordinary for me. Perhaps a bit hotter, but I felt great out there.”
On Saturday, China’s Yang Qian won the women’s air rifle competition, giving the country its first gold medal of the 2020 Games. Credit… The New York Times/Chang W. Lee
On Saturday, China’s Yang Qian won the first gold of the Olympics in the women’s air rifle event. However, her win was largely due to a poor last shot by her Russian opponent, Anastasiia Galashina, who had the lowest score of the whole eight-woman final, scoring just 8.9 points out of a potential 10.9 on the shot.
Richard Carapaz won gold in the men’s road race six days after finishing third in the Tour de France. This is Ecuador’s second gold medal, after Jefferson Pérez’s racewalking gold in 1996. Silver went to Wout van Aert of Belgium, while bronze went to Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia, who won the Tour de France for the second year in a row.
The US women’s national soccer team bounced back from a shocking setback by defeating New Zealand 6-1 in a “ruthless” performance.
Basketball three-on-three had its Olympic debut, and the US women’s team won both of their first two games, 17-10 against France and 21-9 against Mongolia.
The United States had an unusual opening day without a medal, with sixth-place results in cycling and shooting the best the team could manage, but there are still weeks of competition ahead of them.
On Saturday, Novak Djokovic won a match fought in sweltering heat. Credit… The New York Times/Hiroko Masuike
They swam, they soared, and they lifted.
The 2020 Tokyo Games have officially started after Friday night’s opening ceremony, which was postponed by a year due to the coronavirus epidemic.
Along with weight lifting, gymnastics, and swimming, Saturday’s schedule featured rounds of table tennis and basketball contests, all of which took place in venues with no paying spectators. Here are some pictures from the day.
Credit… The New York Times/Alexandra Garcia
Syria’s Hend Zaza was eliminated in the first round of the women’s singles table tennis tournament. Zaza is the youngest Olympian at this year’s Games, at the age of 12.
Credit: The New York Times/Doug Mills
Windy Cantika Aisah of Indonesia earned bronze in the women’s 49-kilogram weight class on Saturday, giving her nation its first medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
Credit: The New York Times/Chang W. Lee
On Saturday, American men’s gymnast Samuel Mikulak, who is competing in his third Olympics, flew over the parallel bars. Mikulak and the rest of the men’s squad have qualified for the team finals, which will be held next week.
The New York Times’ James Hill is to thank for this image.
During a 3×3 men’s basketball game, Michael Hicks of Poland defended Edgars Krumins of Latvia, a format that made its Olympic debut on Saturday. Latvia went on to win 21-14 over Poland.
Credit: The New York Times/Doug Mills
In heat three of the men’s 400-meter individual medley, swimmers participated.
Credit: The New York Times/Doug Mills
India’s Saikhom Mirabai Chanu won silver in the women’s 49-kilogram weight lifting event. Olympians are putting their medals around their necks rather than receiving them from presenters due to the coronavirus.
On Saturday, players from Russia and Japan competed in three-on-three basketball. Credit… The New York Times’ James Hill
On Saturday, the Olympic premiere of three-on-three basketball showed two things that have been all too uncommon at these pandemic-restricted Games: prolonged loud noise and a crowd.
The cacophony was coming from the speakers, which were blasting a continuous mix of hip-hop and worldwide pop music throughout the day’s activities, a soundtrack that mirrored the International Olympic Committee’s recent effort to include more youth-oriented events in its schedule.
The audience included the combined security teams and entourages of US First Lady Jill Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, who were in attendance to see their nations compete in the women’s tournament. They took up a large portion of one area of the stadium.
“It is really an honor to play in front of my president,” said Mamignan Toure of France, which lost 17-10 to the United States. “Everyone had a positive experience, positive feelings, and positive vibes.”
The relative roughness of three-on-three basketball against conventional five-on-five basketball was on show all day, and spectators — and players — used to N.B.A. or W.N.B.A. regulations may have been shocked to see players getting tangled up on a regular basis.
Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray, Kelsey Plum, and Jackie Young, all members of the American women’s team, play in the W.N.B.A., and they comfortably defeated Mongolia, 21-9, in their second game of the day. The men’s squad, which was made up of former pros rather than NBA players, was also anticipated to perform well in the Games. They did not, however, make it through the qualifying competition and will not be competing in Tokyo.
Plum referred to the toughness of the sport by saying, “It’s a different sport.” “You can study it on video all you want, but when you get in the game, there are a few of instances when I’m like, ‘That was certainly a foul in America, but not here.’”
Because the games are conducted outdoors in a structure resembling a tiny tennis court, several participants struggled, especially during the afternoon sessions, in the sweltering heat, oppressive humidity, and blinding sunshine. A partial cover provided some shade to the court.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles is training at the gymnastics facility. Credit… The New York Times/Chang W. Lee
Simone Biles was asked to pick the happiest moment of her career in a phone interview approximately a week before departing for the Tokyo Olympics.
“It’s probably my time off,” she said.
It was a powerful statement coming from the most decorated gymnast in history, a woman who transformed the sport.
Biles accomplished everything her sport and nation expected of her five years ago. She helped the United States women’s gymnastics team win its third straight team Olympic gold medal and then won three individual gold medals in the all-around, vault, and floor exercise, all while wearing a red, white, and blue ribbon in her hair. She emerged as America’s darling from those Games, the itchy sash worn by every outstanding American female gymnast.
Then, only weeks after she returned from Rio, it was revealed that those in charge of protecting gymnasts and maintaining the sport’s integrity had failed miserably, exposing an ingrained culture of physical and mental abuse.
Lawrence G. Nassar, a longstanding national team doctor, assaulted hundreds of female athletes, including many of Biles’ colleagues — and, though she didn’t know it at the time, Biles herself.
She has said that she feels deceived, which exacerbates the original pain. Despite this, she has managed to put those emotions aside and embrace her newfound power as an independent Black woman who knows her value and has no one to answer to. She has joined top Black female athletes like Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams in exercising her power in sports and culture, and she is no longer simply a sweetie.
Biles is the only Nassar victim, at least the only one who has come out publicly, who will participate in Tokyo, in a display of defiance and resilience in a sport that has traditionally required compliance from its young competitors.
“I’m going to go out there and represent the United States of America, the World Champions Centre, and Black and brown girls all around the world,” she stated over the phone. “At the end of the day, I’m not representing the United States of America Gymnastics.”
On Thursday, Naomi Osaka practiced in Tokyo. The opening round of tennis singles and doubles matches will be broadcast on Saturday. Credit… The New York Times/Hiroko Masuike
On Saturday morning, in the early hours of the United States, NBC and its sister networks will broadcast a complete schedule of Olympic events. All timings are in Eastern Standard Time.
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Soccer: Women’s group play begins at 7:30 a.m. ET on NBCSN, with the United States taking on New Zealand.
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Swimming: The action in the Olympic pool begins at 6 a.m. on Saturday morning on USA. Heats of the men’s and women’s 400-meter individual medleys, as well as the women’s 100-meter butterfly, will be broadcast. The men’s 400-meter freestyle and the women’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay will be shown on NBC on Saturday evening.
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Tennis: The Olympic Channel will broadcast the opening round of men’s and women’s singles and doubles matches live till 10 a.m.
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On Sunday morning in Tokyo, April Ross and Alix Klineman of the United States face Chen Xue and Xinxin Wang of China in beach volleyball. The contest will be broadcast on NBC on Saturday evening.
On Saturday, Nicaraguan Felix Potoy rowed in Tokyo Bay’s Sea Forest Waterway. Credit… Getty Images/Julian Finney
Tokyo 2020 is having a hard time catching a break.
As if a persistent epidemic and Japan’s infamously humid summer heat weren’t enough to worry about, predictions for an impending typhoon have added yet another layer of danger to the Games, which began on Friday.
The US team sent out a warning early Saturday morning, stating that the rowing program will be changed due to “inclement weather forecast.” Races that were initially planned for Monday have been rescheduled for Sunday, while heats in the men’s and women’s eights have been rescheduled for Saturday.
A typhoon struck the Ogasawara Islands, an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean south of Tokyo, late Friday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. According to forecasts, the storm, which was upgraded to a typhoon from a tropical cyclone during the Olympic Stadium’s opening ceremony, is slowly heading north and may hit Tokyo on Tuesday.
The rowing competitions take held in Tokyo Bay, not far from the city center, at Sea Forest Waterway.
At a press conference on Saturday, Christophe Dubi, the International Olympic Committee’s sports director, stated that having Japan’s meteorologists’ predicting skills “is a really significant advantage.”
He added, “We’re lucky to have this technology accessible.” “We didn’t had to make the call on the day” because of the forewarning.
Other than those for rowing, no significant schedule adjustments were anticipated, according to Olympic officials on Saturday.
On Saturday, the race, which started with over 130 riders, was a war of attrition. Credit… Associated Press/Christophe Ena
TOKYO, JAPAN — Richard Carapaz of Ecuador traveled to Japan six days after placing third in the Tour de France, fought the hot weather, pushed his body beyond fatigue, and won gold in the men’s road race on Saturday.
With almost six kilometers to go, Carapaz, 28, pulled away from Brandon McNulty of the United States and raced to the finish, with a 6:05:26 time, comfortably ahead of the following riders.
Carapaz continued pressing toward the applauding fans at Fuji International Speedway after looking over his shoulder and finding no one close. He slammed his handlebars and flung his arms into the air with just a few meters to go.
It was his first Olympic medal and Ecuador’s second gold medal ever. Jefferson Pérez took first place in the men’s 20-kilometer race walk in 1996.
Men’s Road Race – Cycling – Road |
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Wout van Aert of Belgium took silver, finishing 1:07 behind Carapaz. And Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, who beat Carapaz in the Tour de France for the second time in a row less than a week ago, made a last-ditch effort to take third.
The race, which started with over 130 competitors, was a war of attrition.
The 234-kilometer route was made even more difficult by the oppressive heat and humidity. It started at Musashinonomori Park, just west of Tokyo, and ended at Fuji International Speedway in Shizuoka Prefecture, after climbing part of Mt. Fuji. The cyclists weaved through tiny villages and through supporters lining the road on the parts of the route outside of Tokyo.
The cyclists had to climb 4,865 meters in total, making it one of the most difficult races in Olympic history.
The leading group of cyclists was tightly packed for most of the race. However, as they progressed through the difficult final ascents, they started to lag behind. Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium, the 2016 gold winner, pulled out with 52 kilometers to go.
McNulty, Pogacar, and Michael Woods of Canada pushed their way to the front 20 kilometers later. McNulty and Carapaz quickly took the lead. Carapaz, on the other hand, was just too strong in the last six kilometers, and he rode to the finish line alone.
On Friday, the United States took part in the Opening Ceremony. Credit… The New York Times/Alexandra Garcia
On Saturday, the opening day of the Summer Games, Ecuador was given a medal. Kosovo, Thailand, and Iran all performed as well. Russia, which isn’t even competing in the Games, also earned a gold.
The United States, on the other hand, did not.
In the 11 medal events, the United States had a difficult first day. By early evening, either all of the events had concluded or all of the American competitors had been eliminated.
Sixth place finishes for the United States in shooting and cycling. The archery team and all of the fencers were eliminated in the first round. On Saturday, the United States had no competitors in the judo and taekwondo competitions.
One explanation for the poor performance was that no finals, just heats, were conducted in swimming, which is usually an American strength. On Sunday morning, when the first four finals are conducted, the United States will be a strong favorite to win medals. (Those looking for a silver lining might point out that the finals are on Saturday night in the United States, thus making them Day 1 events.)
Overall, American competitors had a good day in the Olympics. Women’s softball, water polo, and three-on-three basketball all took home victories. However, the nation is in an unusual position in the early medal table: at the bottom.
On Saturday, Simone Biles and her colleagues watched the US men’s gymnasts perform. Credit… The New York Times/Chang W. Lee
TOKYO, JAPAN — The men’s Olympic gymnastics team held their own pep rally before Saturday’s qualifying at the Tokyo Games.
They had put up a portable speaker in the warm-up gym. They listened to rap, country, rock ‘n’ roll, techno, and anything else got them relaxed enough to perform at their best.
They reasoned that due of the Covid-19 limitations, there would be no supporters in the stands, so why stress? Their hypothesis seemed to be correct.
The men from the United States qualified fourth overall, ensuring a spot in the team final next week. Despite this, the finish was miles behind the top three teams from Japan, China, and Russia, who were separated by roughly three-tenths of a point. Still, the Americans stated they were pleased of their performance and that they had a good time in the Olympics, which is exactly what they had hoped for.
Sam Mikulak, a six-time national champion in the all-around who is competing in his third Olympics, said, “We were joking about, not taking things too seriously, keeping it light.” On Saturday, he and Brody Malone, a rising senior at Stanford, qualified in the top 24 men, qualifying for the all-around finals.
Since finishing third in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the US men have not won an Olympic medal. They finished sixth in the next two Olympics. With “flawless competition” from the United States and “horrible competition” from nations who qualified before of them, Mikulak claimed it would take a “perfect meet” for them to reach the podium this year.
“It really takes the burden off,” said Shane Wiskus, a Minneapolis resident. We’ve got nothing to lose at this point, right?”
The surprise cheering group that appeared in one area of the stadium aided their performance. Despite the fact that the event was closed to paying spectators, the women’s Olympic squad, including Simone Biles, was there to support their male counterparts.
The team’s pommel horse expert, Alec Yoder, thanked them for their help. He pumped his arms and gestured to the cheering section as Biles and the others present screamed for delight as he completed a stunning pommel horse performance and qualified for the event final. Yoder and Biles, both 24 years old, have been close friends since they were teens.
“It meant a lot to us that they came out to support us,” Yoder added. “It was just sort of cool,” says the narrator.
On Saturday, South Koreans An San and Kim Je Deok won gold in mixed team archery. Credit… The New York Times/Chang W. Lee
TOKYO — At the Olympics, men competed against men and women competed against women for decades, with a few exceptions.
However, the Games are increasingly include mixed-team activities. Mixed-gender track, swimming, and triathlon relays will be held for the first time in Tokyo. New coed team events in judo and shooting, as well as mixed doubles in table tennis, will be included.
On Saturday, the Games’ inaugural mixed event was conducted, with favored South Korea winning the mixed team archery competition.
An San and Kim Je Deok, a 17-year-old, ripped through the field, winning their first three matches 6-0, 6-2, and 5-1. Gabriela Schloesser and Steve Wijler of the Netherlands put up the most fight, gaining a 2-0 lead until South Korea rallied for a 5-3 win, finishing the match with a streak of three flawless tens and a nine.
South Korea has won five of the eight men’s team events and all eight women’s team events at the Olympics, which is unsurprising.
South Korea has won five of the eight men’s team events and all eight women’s team events at the Olympics, which is unsurprising.
In their first-round match, the American duo of Brady Ellison and Mackenzie Brown went down 4-0 against Indonesia, recovered to equalize, but lost in a shootout.
According to the Tokyo Games, Hend Zaza of Syria became the youngest table tennis player ever to participate in the Olympics at the age of 12 years and 204 days. Credit… The New York Times/Alexandra Garcia
TOKYO — Hend Zaza, the youngest Olympian at the Tokyo Games, shed a tear after the last point, after all she had gone through.
Reaching the Olympics at the age of 12 and from a war-torn country like Syria, where finding a secure location to practice with continuous power was a problem, is no minor accomplishment.
Zaza’s Olympic participation, however, was brief. In the first round of the women’s singles table tennis event on Saturday, she was defeated by Liu Jia of Austria in straight sets (4-11, 9-11, 3-11, 5-11). After that, Liu, 39, approached Zaza and hugged him.
Liu, who has a 10-year-old daughter, said, “I felt maternal emotions.” “It was more about the human aspect of this game than the sport side.”
According to the Tokyo Games, Zaza became the youngest table tennis player ever to participate in the Olympics at the age of 12 years and 204 days. She was the youngest Olympian in any sport since Judit Kiss of Hungary, who was 12 at the time, competed in swimming, and Carlos Font of Spain, who was 11 at the time, competed in rowing.
Zaza had hoped for a stronger performance, but the defeat brought an end to a hectic tour. She was a flag bearer for Syria in the opening ceremony the night before her match. She hardly slept due to a late night and a six-hour jet lag – not ideal preparation for Liu, who is competing in her sixth Olympic Games.
“I was expecting for a better match and better performance, but it’s a difficult opponent, so it’s a good lesson for me,” Zaza said via an interpreter. “I’ll work on it next time and hopefully achieve a better result.”
Despite this, Zaza astonished her seasoned opponent with her ability to bounce her long hair about the table.
Liu remarked, “I had to tell myself not to underestimate her.” Zaza, she said, was a “wonderful talent” with a strong sense of rhythm and intuition who only needed more experience.
Zaza started playing table tennis at the age of five, following in his elder brother’s footsteps. Adham Aljamaan, a local coach, saw her and took her under his wing.
Syria has been engulfed in civil conflict throughout the majority of Zaza’s life. According to an article from the International Table Tennis Federation, she practiced on outdated tables with a concrete surface and frequent power outages.
Zaza qualified for the Tokyo Olympics at the age of 11 by beating Mariana Sahakian of Lebanon, who was 42 at the time, in the Western Asia Olympic qualifying event in Jordan last year. After the coronavirus pandemic limitations were removed, the Chinese Olympic Committee encouraged Zaza to train in China, a table tennis powerhouse, she claimed.
“I’ve had a lot of varied experiences in the past five years, particularly with the conflict in the nation, the delay, and the financing for the Olympics,” Zaza added. “It was very difficult. I had to battle for it, though.”
“And this is my advice to everyone who wants to be in the same situation: Fight for your ambition, work hard regardless of the challenges you face, and you will achieve your goal,” she said.
Barbora Hermannova of the Czech Republic is a country in Central Europe. is a country in Central Europe. is a country in Central Europe. is a country in Central Europe. and Slukova, Marketa of the Czech Republic compete in beach volleyball in 2019. Credit… Getty Images/Gerd Schifferl/SEPA.Media
Positive coronavirus tests among Olympic players started to show their consequences on Saturday, hours after the opening ceremony, when a women’s beach volleyball team was forced to withdraw due to an illness.
According to the official score report, Czech players Marketa Slukova and Barbora Hermannova were “unable to play,” handing the victory to their Japanese opponents. At least four members of the Czech Olympic squad have tested positive for doping.
Her result was published on Thursday, and according to Covid-19 rules, she and her playing partner were both ruled out of the Games.
On Saturday, the Tokyo Olympic organizers revealed 17 additional positive tests among those linked to the Games. At least 127 individuals with Olympic credentials have tested positive, including 14 athletes.
Athletes who have been found to be infected with the coronavirus
Positive tests are anticipated with daily testing procedures, according to scientists, even among the vaccinated. Although public reports indicate that occurrences among athletes have been minor or asymptomatic, little information on severity has been published. Some athletes who have tested positive have remained anonymous.
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China’s Hou Zhihui is a crucial athlete in the country’s gold-collecting goal. Credit… The New York Times/David Mills
China’s Hou Zhihui is in a league of her own. She waited and waited while other weight lifters in the women’s 49-kilogram category took turns lifting bigger and heavier weights on Saturday.
In the snatch event, she reported a weight several kilos higher than her closest rival, India’s Mirabai Chanu, who won silver. Hou, 24, set an Olympic record on her second try. She blasted through that record by lifting 94 kg on her third attempt.
With each of her three successful lifts, Hou, 24, established new records in the clean and jerk, finishing at 116 kilos. She also set three additional Olympic records for the overall number of lifts she performed.
Individual members of China’s women’s weight lifting team are not publicly identified. Hou’s goal was briefly mentioned in the Olympics information guide as “to participate in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.”
Individual members of China’s women’s weight lifting team are not publicly identified. Hou’s goal was briefly mentioned in the Olympics information guide as “to participate in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.”
China has established a network of hundreds of governmental sports schools in order to maximize gold harvesting. Coaches scout the kids as they go around the countryside looking for potential world champions. Despite the fact that China’s increasing affluence has made some parents less eager to send their children to such sports schools, the country’s desire for gold persists.
Beijing deliberately targeted sports that are underfunded in the West as it fine-tuned its “gold medal plan.” Women’s sports and disciplines are often underrepresented in the media. Because of the many categories, the Chinese sports system has also cultivated players in sports that award numerous gold medals.
Each national team may compete in a maximum of four weight classes out of seven in women’s weightlifting. It will be regarded an upset if China does not claim gold in each one.
After winning gold, Hou remarked, “The Chinese weightlifting squad is extremely united, and the whole team’s support is quite excellent.” “The only thing on our minds as athletes is to concentrate on our training.”
Amy Chang Chien contributed to this story with her reporting.
The countdown to the start of the Tokyo Olympic Games is over, and the games are officially underway. The opening ceremony is sure to be a spectacular show, with performers and celebrities from around the world. You can keep up with the latest news and updates on the games, including viewing the performances and medals, by visiting the official website of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOCOG).. Read more about olympic medals by country 2021 table and let us know what you think.
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