Tokyo Olympics UpdatesOlympics Updates: Russia Wins Men’s Gymnastics Gold

Follow our live coverage of the Tokyo Olympics closing ceremony.

Here’s what happened on Monday in Tokyo.

Image
Rayssa Leal, 13, of Brazil captured a silver medal on Monday.Credit...Alexandra Garcia/The New York Times

Want to feel old — even if you’re only 14? The gold and silver medalists in the women’s skateboarding street competition, Momiji Nishiya of Japan and Rayssa Leal of Brazil, are both 13. Four of the eight women in the final were 16 or younger.

Katie Ledecky, the five-time Olympic gold medalist, swam in her first final in Tokyo, the 400-meter freestyle, took the lead, but lost it and the race to Ariarne Titmus of Australia. The nonpareil Adam Peaty of Britain won the 100-meter breaststroke, and the U.S. won its first relay, the men’s 4x100.

An expected close battle among the top three men’s gymnastics teams lived up to its billing as Russia edged Japan and China by 0.103 points for the team title.

But an event that took competitors and audiences alike by surprise was the women’s road race, with Anna Kiesenhofer of Austria taking the gold. Kiesenhofer’s victory was an upset for 38-year-old Annamiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands, who threw her hands up in victory when she crossed the finish line on Sunday, only to realize moments later that she was not, in fact, the winner.

The weight lifter Hidilyn Diaz, competing in the women’s 55-kilogram division, made history by securing the first gold medal for the Philippines and setting two Olympic records in the process.

Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks scored 48 points for Slovenia in a win over Argentina, tying the mark for the second most points in an Olympic game.

There’s little debate who rules skeet shooting after Monday’s action; it’s the United States. Amber English won the women’s event, and Vincent Hancock took the men’s.

South Korea won the men’s archery team event, giving it a clean sweep of team gold medals after having won the mixed and women’s events earlier.

Russia edged out Japan for the men’s gymnastics team gold.

Image
Russia finished just over one-tenth of a point ahead of Japan in the team final.Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

TOKYO — The thud of Daiki Hashimoto’s dismount echoed through Ariake Gymnastics Center after a long night of the Olympic gymnastics men’s team final.

He stuck the landing and did all he could to make his team win. He waved to the smattering of fans in the arena, as well as the many Japanese volunteers, to coax them to their feet, as his admirers leapt and cheered back at him.

But their joy was put on pause. Hashimoto, the teenage Japanese star, and his team needed to wait for the score from the final Russian gymnast to be posted on the leaderboard before they could celebrate. In the end, to their dismay, they would not be celebrating at all.

Nikita Nagornyy of Russia ruined it for the home team, tumbling and twisting as well as he could on the floor exercise — in fact better than he had planned because he added extra tumbling — and his score was enough to eke out the win. Russia claimed the Olympic gold medal, unseating the 2016 Olympic champions, Japan, by finishing with 262.397 points. Japan was second, just 0.103 points behind. China was third. The United States team finished fifth to match its previous two Olympic finishes.

Once the final scores were posted, the Russian gymnasts fell to the ground in exhilaration and relief, while some Japanese gymnasts buried their head in their hands and others stood frozen, stunned by the unexpected loss. There were tears all around.

Artistic Gymnastics: Men’s Team All-Around Final

Floor
Exercise

Pommel
Horse

Rings

Vault

Parallel
Bars

High
Bar

Total

Gold

Russian Olympic Committee
42.632 43.140 44.399 44.765 45.099 42.465 262.500

Silver

Japan
43.700 43.566 42.433 44.232 44.666 43.800 262.397

Bronze

China
42.132 43.966 43.599 44.332 45.199 42.666 261.894

4

Britain
42.432 43.632 41.833 43.032 42.932 41.899 255.760

5

United States
39.965 42.099 42.166 42.899 44.266 43.199 254.594

6

Switzerland
42.066 41.099 40.298 41.999 44.066 41.399 250.927

7

Ukraine
41.232 39.999 40.866 41.499 42.233 40.565 246.394

8

Germany
34.832 39.200 40.333 42.366 42.765 38.999 238.495

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

U.S. women remain undefeated in inaugural Olympic three-on-three basketball tournament.

Image
Rae Lin D’Alie of Italy driving to the basket past Kelsey Plum of the United States.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

As the inaugural three-on-three Olympic basketball tournament rolls on, a reduced-size dream team of American women from the W.N.B.A. is increasingly looking golden.

The United States topped Italy, 17-13, and China, 21-19, on Monday to improve to 6-0. The Americans won the Italy game despite struggling with their 2-point shot (from behind the arc), missing all seven of their attempts. But they managed to get enough points exclusively from the shorter 1-point shots and free throws. Against China they took just two 2’s, but Kelsey Plum made them both.

13

Italy

Women’s Pool Round Pool A

Final

17

United States

The U.S. squad consists of Plum and Jackie Young, both former No. 1 overall draft picks playing with the Las Vegas Aces; Stefanie Dolson of the Chicago Sky, a two-time All-Star; and Allisha Gray of the Dallas Wings, a former rookie of the year.

The team previously beat France, 17-10; Mongolia, 21-9; Romania, 22-11; and a Russia team that was their sternest test, 20-16.

As the only undefeated team, the United States is well positioned for the playoffs. Six of the eight entrants make the playoff stage, but the top two seeds get the advantage of a bye to the semifinals.

The Olympics has clearly slotted three-on-three into its youth-oriented program, along with events like skateboarding and sport climbing. Despite the lack of fans, pop music blares, a hype man enthusiastically touts the game action, and a hip-hop dance troupe performs — for an audience of a handful of befuddled journalists and a few gamely applauding volunteers. “Make some noise for Team Mongolia!” was unsurprisingly not met with a wall of sound on Monday.

Other innovations worked better. The game is quick, played first to 21 points or 10 minutes. It’s played on a half court, and the transitions are rapid fire. No coaching is allowed, and the shot clock is 12 seconds.

The U.S. men are not on hand at the Games. Prospective players were required to compete in qualifying tournaments throughout the year, an unappealing proposition for anyone with a lucrative N.B.A. contract. The group of midlevel European-based players that the United States put together failed to qualify.

But because the W.N.B.A. is a summer league, the opportunity was there to recruit some top players for the qualifiers. And the league has shut down for the duration of the Olympics, to give the United States the strongest possible five-on-five and three-on-three teams.

As it stands, both are the favorites for the gold medal.

Osaka and Djokovic cruised in tennis. And Osaka’s path opened up even more.

Image
Naomi Osaka of Japan played against Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland at Ariake Tennis Park in Tokyo.Credit...Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

The two biggest names in the Olympic tennis tournament enjoyed a hassle-free day of work at Ariake Tennis Park on Monday.

Naomi Osaka of Japan, the biggest star for the host country in these Games, and Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the top-ranked men’s player, both won in straight sets as the harsh heat eased.

For Djokovic, who beat Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany, the win moved him one step closer to the fourth jewel in the Golden Slam he is shooting for — winning all four Grand Slams and the Olympic gold medal in the same year. Steffi Graf is the only previous player to pull off the feat.

Djokovic was not perfect but he was plenty efficient, needing just an hour and a quarter to dispatch the big-hitting German, 6-4, 6-3, and advance into the round of 16. He is 11 wins away from another level of tennis immortality. He lost his serve just once on Monday, did not double fault and served three aces.

Osaka needed just 65 minutes to get past Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland, 6-3, 6-2. Osaka lost just eight points on her serve and won 61 total points to just 36 for Golubic.

Djokovic’s next match should be a fair test — he faces Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the young Spaniard who has been playing well.

As much as any athlete here, Djokovic appears to be feeding off the energy of the Olympics. After his match he spoke of how happy he is here, how much he is enjoying the break from the solitary routine of the tennis tour and the ability to eat and hobnob and share the gym with so many athletes from so many different sports.

“It’s a unique opportunity,” he said. “You chat about sports and life with all these people. It’s something we don’t really get the chance to do.”

Osaka will be a heavy favorite against Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, who is ranked 42nd in the world. And her path toward gold got even easier in Round 2 as two more top competitors were eliminated: third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and Iga Swiatek of Poland, the No. 6 seed.

The most emotional moment of the day came after Paula Badosa of Spain upset Swiatek, the 2020 French Open champion. Swiatek, who takes losses hard, was crying as she approached the net. Badosa, her good friend and occasional practice partner, embraced her and tried to comfort her. “I told her I played amazing and I had to to beat her,” Badosa said. “I said she is going to be at the top for a very long time. She does not have to worry about losing this match to me.”

But Badosa could only do so much. Swiatek sunk into her chair and sobbed into a towel for several minutes.

The early exits for Swiatek and Sabalenka — who lost to Donna Vekic of Croatia — came after the top seeded player in the tournament, Ashleigh Barty of Australia, was bounced in her first match.

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Weight lifter Hidilyn Diaz makes history, securing the first Olympic gold for the Philippines.

Image
Hidilyn Diaz after winning gold, and setting two records, in the women’s 55 kilogram division on Monday.Credit...Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA, via Shutterstock

TOKYO — Until Monday, the Philippines, a sports-mad country of nearly 110 million people, had never won an Olympic gold medal.

But Hidilyn Diaz, a weight lifter at her fourth Olympics, finally broke the Philippines’ nearly century-long drought by capturing a gold in the women’s 55 kilogram division, achieving two Olympic records in the process.

“It’s unbelievable,” she said, caressing the gold medal hanging on her neck. “I expected to win, but when you hold this already, it’s like, Wow, I never thought this would happen today.”

Diaz, 30, said that her record-breaking 127 kilogram lift in the clean and jerk event was the first time she had successfully hefted that much weight. In training, she had maxed out at 125 kilograms, she said.

She also claimed another Olympic record for the total of her two best lifts, one in the snatch and the other in the clean and jerk.

The finale of the 55 kilogram competition provided high drama in a sport that can sometimes feel preordained, given the dominance of a Chinese squad that was expected to prevail in all four weight classes it was contesting in Tokyo.

Diaz, a silver medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, went into the competition hoping to win a medal but the gold seemed like it was the preserve of Liao Qiuyun, the Chinese reigning Asia champion. In the most recent Asia championships, Diaz, who is 4 feet 11 inches, had come in fourth.

But as the other top contenders approached the barbells grim-faced on Monday, Diaz kept smiling. On the final lift, the top three competitors and their coaches scrambled to decide what weight they should call. Too light, and they might be outpaced. Too heavy, and they might not make the lift.

For her last turn, the Chinese competitor cleared 126 kilograms, an Olympic record, with barely a hint of discomfort. To win, Diaz would have to surpass what she had done before — by two kilograms. She pulled the bar to her clavicle, then staggered for a moment as she thrust the barbells into the sky. One Mississippi, two Mississippi.

The gold was hers.

The second youngest of six siblings, Diaz grew up in the southern Philippine city of Zamboanga, a place intermittently seized by sectarian conflict. Her family was poor, and she tried weight lifting as an 11-year-old, tagging along with the older boys of her family.

It turned out she could lift more than the boys. She started out with pieces of wood, then jeep wheel protectors, then blocks of cement.

She eventually was recruited to the Philippine national team, but when sports officials mentioned the 2008 Beijing Olympics to her, she didn’t know what the Games were, she said. As a 17-year-old at those Games, she was the youngest female weight lifter in competition.

In 2012, Diaz sustained an injury that left her mentally and physically drained, she said. Quitting weight lifting, though, didn’t seem an option.

“It was just survival,” she said. “I’m the breadwinner in my family.”

But the fun eventually returned, and Diaz won a silver in Rio. Desperate for a gold medal, the Philippine sporting establishment convinced her not to retire before Tokyo.

The Philippines is crazy for sports. During the years of American colonization, the Y.M.C.A. introduced a new sport played with a ball and fruit baskets. Today, basketball is ubiquitous across the archipelago. Boxing is popular, too, especially after Manny Pacquiao, the longtime champion turned politician, burst onto the scene.

Since the early days of the pandemic, Diaz has been training in Malaysia, staying away from the Philippines, where cases proliferated despite a strict lockdown.

At the Asian championship in Uzbekistan in April, Diaz held back, said Monico Puentevella, a veteran politician who has also served as the head of the national weight lifting federation and the Philippine Olympic Committee. She settled for fourth. The idea was to lull the Chinese into thinking that Diaz had reached her full potential, he said. The ploy seemed to have worked.

“I have been dreaming of this gold medal for so many years,” Puentevella, 75, said. “Now that she’s won, I can die happy.”

Star swimmer Katie Ledecky feels the sting of a first Olympic loss.

Image
Katie Ledecky after receiving her silver medal.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

TOKYO — The moment Katie Ledecky knew would eventually come, though maybe not this soon, happened three-quarters of the way through the 400-meter freestyle Monday morning at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

For 300 meters Ledecky, the world-record holder and defending gold medalist, led Ariarne Titmus of Australia, who had been faster than Ledecky at this distance all year. Ledecky had gone out fast, trying to put Titmus in a hole and maybe make her doubt herself.

It’s what a swimmer does when she knows she might not have as much as the competitor next to her, and it nearly worked. Titmus said that halfway through the race she saw Ledecky a half-second and nearly a body in front of her and started to worry.

But then, 100 meters later off the turn, they were nearly even and, to nobody’s surprise, Titmus pulled ahead to win in a time of 3:56.69 to Ledecky’s 3:57.36. Yet it was still shocking to see Ledecky come up short at a distance that, not long ago, she had been anticipated to own through her career.

At the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016, Ledecky won the 400 free by nearly five seconds. And yet, now, there was Titmus churning past her.

“Surreal,” Titmus said, still breathing heavily several minutes after the triumph. “It’s the biggest thing you can do in your sporting career.”

It was one of the most anticipated showdowns of the Tokyo Games. It seemed Titmus’s race to lose based on her superior times recently, but Ledecky had never lost an individual race at the Olympics, a run that stretched to her surprise win as a 15-year-old nine years ago in London.

The American men, meanwhile, delivered a statement in winning the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, even without Phelps to carry them. The Americans led wire to wire and put up the third-fastest relay time in history. Caeleb Dressel gave the U.S. the early lead, and Blake Pieroni kept it through the halfway mark. Then it was Bowen Becker’s turn. He turned over a half-body length lead to Zach Apple, who took the Americans home.

“My job is easy when I have these three guys leading me out,” Apple said with the gold medal draped around his neck.

But the United States could not reach the podium in the day’s two other finals. Margaret MacNeil of Canada won the 100-meter butterfly, with Torri Huske, the 18-year-old Virginian, coming in fourth. In the 100-meter breaststroke, Adam Peaty of Britain defended his title, with Michael Andrew coming in fourth.

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

How Katie Ledecky’s lead evaporated in the 400-meter freestyle final.

TOKYO — Ariarne Titmus of Australia, not Katie Ledecky of the United States, won the women’s 400-meter freestyle gold. Ledecky, 24, came in as the defending Olympic champion and world-record holder. But Titmus, 20, swam a faster 400 in Australia’s Olympic trials than Ledecky did in hers. In the final on Monday, Titmus reeled in Ledecky after the American had built a lead of more than a body length. Here is how the race unfolded.

First 100 METERS

Ledecky finished the first 100 meters in 57.67 seconds, good for the lead over Titmus’s 57.74.

1

Lap

Titmus

Ledecky

Titmus

2

Ledecky

second 100 meters

Ledecky began to extend her lead in the race’s second 100 meters. At the 200-meter mark, Ledecky was ahead of Titmus by 0.66 seconds.

Titmus

3

Ledecky

Titmus

4

Ledecky

third 100 meters

On the first 50 meters of this segment, Ledecky built a lead of an entire body length over Titmus. But it all changed on the second 50, when Titmus cut that lead in half.

Titmus

5

Ledecky

Titmus

6

Ledecky

fourth 100 meters

Ledecky held on to her slim lead through the first 50, but by the final turn, Titmus had caught her and they battled stroke for stroke in the final 50 meters. In the end, Titmus dethroned Ledecky, by 0.67 seconds.

Titmus

7

Ledecky

Titmus

8

Ledecky

First 100 meters

Ledecky finished the first 100 meters in 57.67 seconds, good for the lead over Titmus’s 57.74.

1

Lap

Titmus

Ledecky

Titmus

2

Ledecky

second 100 meters

Ledecky began to extend her lead in the race’s second 100 meters. At the 200-meter mark, Ledecky was ahead of Titmus by 0.66 seconds.

Titmus

3

Ledecky

Titmus

4

Ledecky

third 100 meters

On the first 50 meters of this segment, Ledecky built a lead of an entire body length over Titmus. But it all changed on the second 50, when Titmus cut that lead in half.

Titmus

5

Ledecky

Titmus

6

Ledecky

fourth 100 meters

Ledecky held on to her slim lead through the first 50, but by the final turn, Titmus had caught her and they battled stroke for stroke in the final 50 meters. In the end, Titmus dethroned Ledecky, by 0.67 seconds.

Titmus

7

Ledecky

Titmus

8

Ledecky

First 100 meters

Ledecky finished the first 100 meters in 57.67 seconds, good for the lead over Titmus’s 57.74.

1

Lap

Titmus

Ledecky

Titmus

2

Ledecky

second 100 meters

Ledecky began to extend her lead in the race’s second 100 meters. At the 200-meter mark, Ledecky was ahead of Titmus by 0.66.

Titmus

3

Ledecky

Titmus

4

Ledecky

third 100 meters

On the first 50 meters of this segment, Ledecky built a lead of an entire body length over Titmus. But it all changed on the second 50, when Titmus cut that lead in half.

Titmus

5

Ledecky

Titmus

6

Ledecky

fourth 100 meters

Ledecky held on to her slim lead through the first 50, but by the final turn, Titmus had caught her and they battled stroke for stroke in the final 50 meters. In the end, Titmus dethroned Ledecky, by 0.67 seconds.

Titmus

7

Ledecky

Titmus

8

Ledecky

By Joe Ward and Larry Buchanan

Two world champions fall in Day 2 of surfing.

Image
John John Florence was eliminated by a fellow American, Kolohe Andino.Credit...James Hill for The New York Times

It started with the luck of the draw. Bad luck.

American surfers John John Florence and Kolohe Andino were placed in the same heat. To qualify for the quarterfinals, one teammate would have to knock the other out.

The conditions at Tsurigasaki Beach were not great, and the nature of the sport is such that the contest can be put on hold — or canceled altogether — if waves are unfavorable. And on Monday morning, after a handful of rounds, the day’s event was put on hold.

Andino, 27, had anticipated conditions that would throw curveballs at the athletes. He spoke with my colleague John Branch before the Games about how that could actually play to his advantage.

“My chances are good, super good,” he said. “I grew up surfing similar waves, my equipment’s really good for that type of waves, and my attitude toward poor waves is good for me: When I’ve done good in the past is when the waves are bad, and everyone’s kind of like, ‘Oh, man,’ and whining about it. I thrive in that.”

Conditions improved just enough for Florence and Andino to compete in the early afternoon. Andino had a strong start and surfed a commanding 8.50 wave. Florence, 28, was unable to catch up, and later told reporters that he struggled to find an open face on a wave in order to pull off any sort of high-scoring maneuver.

The two-time world champion finished with 11.60 points to Andino’s 14.63 points. Quite the victory for a surfer who has never won a championship tour event.

He wasn’t the only world champion to fall.

Earlier on Monday, Stephanie Gilmore of Australia, who has seven world titles to her name, succumbed as well. She had expected these kinds of conditions and even spent a month training in less favorable waves to prepare. But she couldn’t catch up to Bianca Buitendag of South Africa, who had the heat’s highest scoring wave with 7.10 points. Buitendag finished with 13.93 points to Gilmore’s 10.0.

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Momiji Nishiya, 13, grabbed gold in street skateboarding as part of the sport’s youthful surge.

Image
Momiji Nishiya, 13, was one of several teenagers who made the street final in women’s skateboarding.Credit...Alexandra Garcia/The New York Times

TOKYO — Youth was served to a global audience on Monday when two 13-year-old skateboarders fought to the final trick to determine the winner of the women’s street competition.

Momiji Nishiya of Japan looked to echo the winning performance of Yuto Horigome in the men’s competition at the same park a day earlier. She was just a few months older than Rayssa Leal of Brazil, an energetic sprite with flowing hair and a broad smile who was looking to become the youngest female gold medalist in Summer Games history.

Leal went first. She needed a big landing to slip past Nishiya on the scoreboard. She flew through the air, twisted her board below her, slid down a rail and spilled onto the concrete in disappointment. A silver medal and a hug from her mother awaited her exit.

Skateboarding: Women’s Street  ›

Gold

Momiji Nishiya

Japan

Silver

Rayssa Leal

Brazil

Bronze

Funa Nakayama

Japan

The gold belonged to Nishiya, who landed her final three tricks for big scores, all of them necessary to claim victory. She is close to being the youngest gold medalist; that distinction belongs to Marjorie Gestring, a diver who won at age 13 years and 268 days at the 1936 Berlin Games. Nishiya is closer to her 14th birthday.

This contest was infused with generational cross currents, jolting the Olympics with the kind of youthful spirit that it wanted.

“They’ve gotten cool points,” said Alexis Sablone, a 34-year-old skater from Brooklyn, who had been in contention for a medal, a bit to her surprise, then watched as girls less than half her age competed to win the Olympics.

“I was like, We’re finally here,” Sablone said after finishing fourth. “Female skateboarders have reached critical mass. There’s enough now that there will be prodigies. And they’re here.”

These Olympics have become a showcase for youth, especially women, and especially in skateboarding. The youngest Olympic athlete was 12-year-old Hend Zaza of Syria, who lost her opening match in table tennis.

But the next five youngest athletes at the Tokyo Games are female skateboarders. Other sports are sprinkled with young athletes, particularly swimming and diving, but nowhere else is the talent pool of youth as deep as it is in skateboarding.

Four of the eight women in the street final were 16 or younger. Funa Nakayama of Japan, 16, skated to bronze. When you added the ages of the medalists, it came to 42, and somewhere market researchers got excited and stodgy people took notice.

Luka Doncic of the Mavericks scores 48 as Slovenia routs Argentina.

Image
Luka Doncic of Slovenia, left, scoring during a men’s basketball preliminary game on Monday.Credit...Pool photo by Aris Messinis

SAITAMA, Japan — Luka Doncic made his Olympic debut for Slovenia on Monday. He also made sure it was memorable.

Doncic, a two-time N.B.A. All-Star with the Dallas Mavericks, erupted for 48 points as Slovenia blew past Argentina, 118-100, in the first game of men’s basketball group play for both teams.

“He just destroyed us,” said Sergio Hernandez, the Argentina coach.

Doncic’s scoring binge tied him for the second most points in a game at the Olympics (Ed Palubinskas scored 48 points for Australia in 1976), and he probably would have broken the single-game record of 55 points, set by Oscar Schmidt of Brazil in 1988, had the game not been so lopsided.

In an act of benevolence, Doncic grabbed a seat on the bench when Slovenia was ahead by 26 points in the fourth quarter.

“I don’t care about the records,” Doncic said. “We had a win, and that’s what we came here for.”

100

Argentina

Men’s Preliminary Round Group C

Final

118

Slovenia

Doncic, 22, is one of the game’s prodigies — he finished sixth in voting for the N.B.A. Most Valuable Player Award this season, one year after he finished fourth — and he has steadily gone about the business of lifting Slovenia into the global basketball conversation.

In late June, just a few weeks after the Mavericks closed out their season with a first-round playoff loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, Doncic decamped to Lithuania to join his Slovenian teammates for an Olympic qualifying tournament. Slovenia won all four games to earn its first Olympic berth, and Doncic was dominant, averaging 21.3 points, 11.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds.

On Monday, he scored 31 points before halftime and shot 18 of 29 from the field overall. He also had 11 rebounds and 5 assists, though Hernandez seemed surprised when he glanced at the box score afterward: He could have sworn Doncic had finished with more assists. It was cold comfort.

It should be noted that Argentina is pretty good at basketball: The team claimed silver at the most recent world championships, in 2019, and won gold at the 2004 Olympics. Hernandez threw a smorgasbord of defenders at Doncic: some tall, some quick, some athletic. He turned them all into traffic cones.

“We tried everything we would’ve tried with a normal player, but he is not a normal player,” Hernandez said, adding: “He is the best player in the world, including the N.B.A. If there was any doubt in my mind, it is there no more.”

Asked about that assessment, Aleksander Sekulic, the Slovenian coach, said: “I fully agree.”

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

The U.S. men’s rugby sevens team is in the ‘group of death.’ They’ve survived so far.

Image
Joe Schroeder, center, and the U.S. men’s rugby sevens team beat Kenya on Monday.Credit...Ben Stansall/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The American men’s rugby sevens team has made its way through the so-called group of death. After beating Kenya in the morning session on Monday, the U.S. team hung on to beat Ireland, a tougher opponent, 19-17.

The victories were crucial to the Americans’ medal aspirations, especially because they face South Africa, a perennial powerhouse, in the third and final match of the group stage. With two wins already, the Americans have a solid chance of advancing to the quarterfinals.

“You know, it’s all about going into Day 2,” said Perry Baker, the two-time player of the year. “We took care of the first few games, which was very important for us. So I feel good, no matter how we got the win.”

The Americans were ranked second in the world in the 2018-2019 season and expected to convert that run into an Olympic medal before the Tokyo Games were postponed. But they had an uneven start to the 2019-2020 season before it was shut down, and several players have been recuperating from significant injuries.

The U.S. team has not had many chances to test itself against opponents. Teams from New Zealand, South Africa and other rugby nations also faced restrictions on overseas travel, but they have far larger rugby communities in their countries, so they have had more chances to practice.

The Americans’ passing wasn’t sharp against Ireland, but they controlled the clock and were aggressive on defense, which was good enough to beat a tough squad.

The United States dominated the beginning of the game. Baker started the scoring when he sprinted down the left wing for the first try of the match, and the Americans took an early 12-0 lead.

With three minutes remaining, the U.S. led, 19-10. The Irish added a try just before the whistle, but it wasn’t enough.

“I think we know that we’re contenders,” Captain Madison Hughes said. “But every time we get on the pitch, we’ve got to prove that not only to ourselves, but to the rest of the world.”

Forecast calls for strong winds and rain on Tuesday as a typhoon approaches Japan.

Image
Athletes participating in the  triathlon at Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo on Monday. Winds and waves on the periphery of a coming storm could upset Olympic plans in and around the city.Credit...Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

TOKYO — The Summer Olympics have already been hampered by a pandemic and sweltering heat. Starting on Tuesday, athletes and organizers will also have to deal with strong winds and heavy rain, with a typhoon expected to make landfall north of Tokyo.

The storm will most likely avoid a direct hit on the capital, but the winds and waves on the periphery of the storm could upset Olympic plans in and around the city.

A forecast by the Japan Meteorological Agency called for about six inches of rain over a 24-hour period through Wednesday morning, with winds reaching speeds of up to about 45 miles per hour.

Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are essentially the same storm — they are all circular storms that form over warm water, with very low air pressure at the center, and winds greater than 74 miles an hour — but what they are called depends on where they form.

“Hurricane” is used to refer to storms that form in the North Atlantic, the northeastern Pacific, the Caribbean Sea or the Gulf of Mexico, whereas “typhoon” is used for storms that develop in the northwestern Pacific and usually threaten Asia. “Cyclone” refers to storms in the South Pacific and in the Indian Ocean.

As of Monday night, Olympic organizers had only announced schedule changes to rowing and archery. Otherwise, events are expected to proceed as planned, they said.

The forecast is not all bad news, however. Competitors in the surfing event said the storm surge had already stoked bigger waves. And some athletes even welcomed the challenge, like Haley Batten, an American who is scheduled to compete Tuesday on a mountain biking course on the Izu Peninsula, southwest of Tokyo.

“It definitely makes the event even more exciting,” she told reporters on Sunday. “So I’m just embracing the chaos.”

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

The U.S. and Japan, the best two softball teams in the world, will compete for gold on Tuesday.

Image
Kelsey Stewart of the United States running the bases after hitting a walk-off home run against Japan in Yokohama on Monday.Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

YOKOHAMA, Japan — If the previous contests are any indication of what is to come, the gold medal game between the United States and Japan on Tuesday is likely to be another classic between the best two softball teams in the world.

The United States’ 2-1 win over Japan at Yokohama Baseball Stadium on Monday, their final game of round-robin play, didn’t matter much because both teams had already secured their spots in the gold medal game. And the three best pitchers in tournament either barely pitched (Monica Abbott and Cat Osterman of the United States) or not at all (Yukiko Ueno of Japan). Still, the contest showed once again that the two rivals were closely matched.

The last time the teams faced off for a gold medal was in 2008, when Ueno led Japan in a stunning 3-1 upset of the United States, which was seeking its fourth straight top prize. So it was only fitting that after the sport was absent for 13 years from the Olympics, it would return with the very same teams and some of the same cast of characters.

“It’s crazy,” U.S. outfielder Janie Reed said. “It just shows how talented those pitchers are to still be at the top of their game, 13 years later. So hats off to them. But there is also some nostalgia, and it’s really exciting to get to be a part of it.”

Ueno has carried Japan’s pitching staff throughout the 2020 tournament and figures to be on the mound on Tuesday. In 2008, she tossed 413 pitches in three games over the final two days, including outdueling Osterman and Abbott in the gold medal final.

“She’s experienced, but so are we,” center fielder Haylie McCleney, the United States’ best hitter this tournament, said of Ueno. “We’re ready. We figured we would have this matchup, so we’re excited. It’s going to be a good game tomorrow, and everybody should tune in and watch.”

So far, the United States has struggled to score runs at the same pace as Japan. The U.S. won all five of its round-robin games by two runs or fewer, outscoring their opponents 9-2. Japan, though, led by Yamato Fujita, outscored its opponents 18-5 but went 4-1.

“I know there are fans back home grumbling about the offense,” Osterman said, “but the truth is this is a competitive game internationally, and blowouts are not happening anymore.”

Image
Yamato Fujita, Japan’s starting pitcher.Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

Monday was the latest taut matchup. After pitcher Ally Carda coughed up a first-inning run, the United States rallied in the sixth to tie the score. Kelsey Stewart smacked the walk-off blast in the bottom of the next frame. She threw her arms up in the air as she rounded the bases, while her teammates bounced up and down and head coach Ken Eriksen hugged his assistants.

“It was like something you dream about as a little kid: a home run at the Olympics, let alone a walk-off,” Stewart said.

After the victory, Carda, who struck out nine batters, said that even though Monday was just another game, it was useful for further scouting out their rival. “And really, it is just fun,” she added. “We’re both very competitive teams.”

In just over a day, the United States and Japan will line up and do it all over again. But this time, it will be for the top global honor in the sport and with their best on the mound.

“We’re excited to write our chapter in the Olympic softball history book,” McCleney said.

Chinese nationalists are targeting their own athletes on social media.

Image
Yang Qian of China on Saturday, after winning the first gold medal of the Tokyo Games.Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

China has many reasons to be proud of its Olympians in Tokyo, starting with the fact that they have won the most medals so far of any country. But some social media users are turning on their own athletes, accusing them of being insufficiently patriotic.

The attacks come as nationalist fervor is swelling across China, fanned by aggressive diplomatic rhetoric, anti-Western sentiment and the country’s increasing confidence in its role on the global stage.

After Yang Qian, a 21-year-old sharpshooter, claimed the first gold medal of the Games on Saturday, some users on Weibo, a Twitter-like platform, began pouring abuse on her for sharing photographs of her Nike shoe collection in December. Some Chinese have recently pledged to boycott the company for its promise to stop using cotton from the Xinjiang region because of concerns about forced labor. Yang soon deleted the post.

Another sharpshooter, Wang Luyao, drew scorn after failing to qualify for the finals of her event. She posted a selfie on Weibo with the caption, “Sorry everybody, I admit I was weak, see you in three years.” Some users immediately said her inclusion of a selfie proved she had taken the Games too lightly. “Did we send you to the Olympics to represent the country just to be weak?” one popular comment said. Wang also deleted her post.

The nationalist attacks also spread to Hong Kong, which as a semiautonomous territory fields its own Olympic team. A pro-Beijing politician said on Sunday that he “strongly condemned” Ka Long Angus Ng, a badminton player, for competing in a black jersey that did not have the official logo of the Hong Kong government. “If you don’t want to represent Hong Kong, China, then withdraw!” the politician, Nicholas Muk, wrote on Facebook. The color black is often associated with Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters.

In an Instagram post, Ng explained that he had worn his own clothing for the match because his sponsorship deal had ended. He could not wear the Hong Kong logo because its use is regulated by the government, he added. The back of his shirt had included the words “Hong Kong China.”

Facebook users heavily ridiculed Muk’s accusations, and he eventually deleted not just the post but his entire page. The head of Hong Kong’s delegation to Tokyo said on Monday that the episode should not be politicized.

There was also some backlash in mainland China to the nationalist commenters; some social media users pointing out that Yang’s Nike post predated the backlash to the company over Xinjiang cotton. Global Times, a state-owned tabloid, said that 33 Weibo users had been suspended for insulting or defaming Wang, the other sharpshooter.

But Chinese officials, in urging that the Olympics be kept separate from politics, have at times seemed to do just the opposite.

On Saturday, the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka criticized a photograph that Reuters had selected to accompany a story about a Chinese weight lifting gold medalist. The image showed the athlete, Hou Zhihui, with a strained facial expression mid-lift. The embassy, on Twitter, called Reuters “ugly” and “shameless,” suggesting that it had purposely chosen an unflattering image.

But China Daily, a state-owned publication, had also used a similar photograph in its own report about Hou.

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Coronavirus cases in Tokyo continue to pull athletes out of competition.

Image
The rower Finn Florijn of the Netherlands tested positive after his Olympic debut on Friday. His required 10-day quarantine will cut short his participation in the Games.Credit...Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters

Tokyo Olympic organizers on Monday announced 16 new positive coronavirus tests among people connected to the Games. At least 153 people with Olympic credentials, including 19 athletes, have tested positive.

Some athletes who tested positive have not been publicly identified.

The Netherlands team announced that the rower Finn Florijn had tested positive after his Olympic debut on Friday. Florijn, 21, had been scheduled to compete on Saturday, but his required 10-day quarantine will cut short his competition.

The average number of cases in Japan has increased 105 percent in the past two weeks, according to New York Times data.

New Reported Coronavirus Cases at the Olympics

So far, at least 547 people with Olympic credentials, including 32 athletes, have tested positive for the coronavirus in Japan. Others have tested positive before their departure to the Games and are not included in the chart below.

Athletes who have tested positive for the coronavirus

Scientists say that positive tests are expected with daily testing programs, even among the vaccinated. Some athletes who have tested positive have not been publicly identified, and some who tested positive were later cleared to participate in the Games.

Date

Name

Sport

Country

Aug. 4

Anna Chernysheva

Russian Olympic Committee

Karate

Russian Olympic Committee

Aug. 3

Walid Bidani

Algeria

Weightlifting

Algeria

July 30

Sparkle McKnight

Trinidad and Tobago

Track and field

Trinidad and Tobago

Paula Reto

South Africa

Golf

South Africa

Andwuelle Wright

Trinidad and Tobago

Track and field

Trinidad and Tobago

July 29

Germán Chiaraviglio

Argentina

Track and field

Argentina

Sam Kendricks

United States

Track and field

United States

July 28

Bruno Rosetti

Italy

Rowing

Italy

July 27

Mohammed Fardj

Algeria

Wrestling

Algeria

Evangelia Platanioti

Greece

Artistic swimming

Greece

July 26

Jean-Julien Rojer

Netherlands

Tennis

Netherlands

July 25

Samy Colman

Morocco

Equestrian

Morocco

Jon Rahm

Spain

Golf

Spain

Djamel Sedjati

Algeria

Track and field

Algeria

Bilal Tabti

Algeria

Track and field

Algeria

July 24

Bryson DeChambeau

United States

Golf

United States

July 23

Finn Florijn

Netherlands

Rowing

Netherlands

Jelle Geens

Belgium

Triathlon

Belgium

Simon Geschke

Germany

Road cycling

Germany

Frederico Morais

Portugal

Surfing

Portugal

July 22

Taylor Crabb

United States

Beach volleyball

United States

Reshmie Oogink

Netherlands

Taekwondo

Netherlands

Michal Schlegel

Czech Republic

Road cycling

Czech Republic

Marketa Slukova

Czech Republic

Beach volleyball

Czech Republic

July 21

Fernanda Aguirre

Chile

Taekwondo

Chile

Ilya Borodin

Russian Olympic Committee

Swimming

Russian Olympic Committee

Amber Hill

Britain

Shooting

Britain

Candy Jacobs

Netherlands

Skateboarding

Netherlands

Youcef Reguigui

Algeria

Road cycling

Algeria

Pavel Sirucek

Czech Republic

Table tennis

Czech Republic

July 20

Sammy Solís

Mexico

Baseball

Mexico

Sonja Vasic

Serbia

Basketball

Serbia

Hector Velazquez

Mexico

Baseball

Mexico

July 19

Kara Eaker

United States

Gymnastics

United States

Ondrej Perusic

Czech Republic

Beach volleyball

Czech Republic

Katie Lou Samuelson

United States

Three-on-three basketball

United States

July 18

Coco Gauff

United States

Tennis

United States

Kamohelo Mahlatsi

South Africa

Soccer

South Africa

Thabiso Monyane

South Africa

Soccer

South Africa

July 16

Dan Craven

Namibia

Road cycling

Namibia

Alex de Minaur

Australia

Tennis

Australia

July 14

Dan Evans

Britain

Tennis

Britain

July 13

Johanna Konta

Britain

Tennis

Britain

July 3

Milos Vasic

Serbia

Rowing

Serbia

July 2

Hideki Matsuyama

Japan

Golf

Japan

Note: Data is shown by the date in Tokyo when a case was announced. Some athletes tested positive before arriving in Japan. Table includes athletes who tested positive since July 1, 2021.

Sources: Tokyo 2020 organizing committee and staff reports.

By Jasmine C. Lee and John Yoon

The team final arrives for women’s gymnastics on Tuesday, and U.S. women debut in basketball.

Image
Simone Biles leaping into the vault in the preliminaries.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

TOKYO — The United States women’s gymnastics team, and its transcendent star Simone Biles, showed feet of clay in the preliminaries, finishing behind Russia. The slate is wiped clean for Tuesday’s team final, but the unexpectedly shaky performance suddenly adds some drama to what some thought would be an easy coast to gold. The action starts at 7:45 p.m. Tokyo time, 6:45 a.m. Eastern. While the event can be streamed live on the Peacock service in the United States, NBC is expected to hold off the television broadcast until prime time.

There will be four swimming events and four chances for U.S. gold, although none of the Americans are heavy favorites. The Americans to watch are Kieran Smith in the men’s 200 freestyle, Regan Smith in the women’s 100 backstroke, Ryan Murphy in the men’s 100 back and Lilly King in the women’s 100 breaststroke. All the races will be swum over a half-hour period beginning at 10:43 a.m. Tokyo time (9:43 p.m. Eastern on Monday night).

The softball competition was always expected to be a battle between the United States and Japan, and sure enough, those teams will meet in the final. Japan beat the U.S. in the final the last time the sport was in the Olympics, in 2008.

The women’s basketball team makes its debut. Big favorites to win the tournament, they are even bigger favorites to win this game over Nigeria (30 points to be precise).

The women’s soccer team, flat in a 3-0 defeat by Sweden and sharp in a 6-1 victory over New Zealand, has its final pool game against Australia.

And for the horsey set, there will be Olympic prancing. Dressage gets underway with the team event.

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

U.S. broadcast coverage on Tuesday morning includes finals in softball and team gymnastics, and rugby quarterfinals.

Image
The U.S. will face Japan in the softball gold medal game.Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

Here are some highlights of U.S. broadcast coverage on Tuesday morning, including women’s gymnastics, women’s soccer and softball medal games. All times are Eastern.

SOCCER The U.S. women’s team takes on Australia, starting at 4 a.m. on USA Network, for its third match of the Games. After losing to Sweden and winning against New Zealand, the team needs to either draw or win to advance to the quarterfinals.

RUGBY Quarterfinal action in men’s rugby sevens, including the U.S. team playing Great Britain and New Zealand taking on Canada, begins at 4:30 a.m. on NBC SN.

SWIMMING Heats in the men’s 100-meter freestyle and the women’s 200-meter butterfly will be among the races broadcast starting at 6 a.m. on USA.

GYMNASTICS Simone Biles and the U.S. women’s team, and the U.S. men’s team, will compete in the team finals beginning at 6:45 a.m. on Peacock, NBC’s streaming platform.

SOFTBALL The softball tournament comes to an end with the gold medal game at 7 a.m. between the U.S. and Japan on NBC Sports Network. The U.S. lost to Japan in the 2008 final, the last time the sport was in the Olympics.

Who is Ariarne Titmus, the Australian nicknamed the Terminator who beat Katie Ledecky?

Image
Ariarne Titmus of Australia after winning gold in the women’s 400-meter freestyle on Monday.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

Ariarne Titmus of Australia won gold in the women’s 400-meter freestyle on Monday, beating defending champion and world-record holder Katie Ledecky from the United States.

“Surreal,” said Titmus, who is competing in her first Olympics. “It’s the biggest thing you can do in your sporting career.”

Titmus, 20, is from Tasmania, a small island-state off the south coast of Australia. According to her profile on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics website, she began swimming at 7, and her success has earned her the nickname the Terminator.

Titmus joined the Australian Dolphins Swim Team in 2016, and a year later, went on to win a bronze medal in the women’s 4x200-meter freestyle relay at the 2017 World Championships.

At the world short course championships in 2018, an international swimming competition, Titmus won gold medals in the 200-meter freestyle and the 400-meter freestyle, where she also set a world record for the event with her time of 3:53.92.

That year, Titmus also won gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, a multisport event among the various nations of the British Commonwealth held every four years.

Her medal haul continued at the 2019 FINA World Championship in Gwangju, South Korea, where Titmus handed Ledecky her first-ever major international loss, when she won gold in the 400-meter freestyle.

At that same competition, Titmus went on to win gold with her team in the 4x200-meter freestyle, setting a world record in the process. Titmus also won silver in the 200-meter freestyle and bronze in the 800-meter freestyle.

Titmus’s win on Monday earned Australia its second gold medal in the Tokyo Games.

Titmus’s next race will be Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. in Japan (9:30 p.m. Eastern on Monday), where she will compete in the women’s 200-meter freestyle semifinal against the event’s Olympic-record holder, Allison Schmitt from the U.S.

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT